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After students pulled her fifth-grade daughter’s hair, hit and groped her, Wendy Rodas asked to talk with higher-ups in the Center School District. The Spanish-speaking mother hoped the meeting would help resolve the bullying. But technical difficulties with the district’s phone interpretation service nearly derailed the conversation. If she hadn’t brought along bilingual staff members […]

The post Families who rely on interpreters find Kansas City area schools can come up short appeared first on Missouri Independent.

According to a recent report, roughly 35% of rural hospitals in Missouri are at risk of closing as a result of inadequate revenue and low financial reserves. This comes as no surprise as hospitals continue to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, face an increased demand for care, and still see rising supply and […]

The post Rural hospitals rely on the 340B drug pricing program appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Washington University in St. Louis joined University of Missouri Health as the latest provider of care to transgender minors to announce it is canceling pre-existing prescriptions for puberty blockers or hormone-replacement therapy. A new state law restricting access to gender-affirming care bars those under 18 from beginning new treatments. But in a compromise with opponents […]

The post Washington University the second Missouri provider to stop transgender care for minors appeared first on Missouri Independent.

To backers of initiatives intended to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution, the proposed ballot titles written by Secretary of State Jay Aschroft are poison intended to lead to certain defeat at the polls. But an attorney for Ashcroft, arguing Monday to keep the ballot title intact, said the ballot language that begins by saying […]

The post Cole County judge hears case challenging ballot title for Missouri abortion initiatives appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When someone with a medical emergency calls 911, they expect an ambulance to show up. But sometimes, there simply isn’t one available. Most states don’t declare emergency medical services (EMS) to be an “essential service,” meaning the state government isn’t required to provide or fund them. Now, though, a growing number of states are taking […]

The post You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Social isolation during the pandemic put Missouri’s Black moms in greater danger that their partner would kill them. A report from the state’s maternal mortality review board found that from 2018 to 2020, homicide was the third-leading cause of death for Missouri moms. Black women made up 75% of those deaths. Among those homicides, guns […]

The post The pandemic put Missouri mothers at greater violence risk — especially if they were Black appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Richard Batenburg Jr. feels deceived and cheated.  His cannabis brand, Colorado-based The Clear, has been partnering with a licensed Missouri manufacturer to produce pre-rolled joints. Some were infused with a THC concentrate, or distillate, purchased from a Robertsville-based company called Delta Extraction. When the state issued a recall last month of all products made with […]

The post Missouri company at center of cannabis recall used hemp instead of marijuana in products appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Marijuana dispensaries and warehouses across Missouri are holding on to more than 62,000 products in special vaults.  The state suspects that they were infused with a questionable THC concentrate, or distillate, purchased from a Robertsville-based licensed marijuana manufacturer called Delta Extraction.  Delta Extraction is fighting to get the Aug. 14 recall overturned — and one […]

The post Did recalled Missouri cannabis products pose health risks? Regulators aren’t sure  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It can take hours for a sexual assault victim to undergo the multiple swabs, hair samples, blood and urine collections, and other invasive procedures of a sexual assault examination. And then it can take months, sometimes years, for investigators to process that evidence kit. But now, responding to demands from survivors and their advocates, more […]

The post Sexual assault survivors can now track their rape kits in most states appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri inmates will no longer be able to receive books from friends or family under a new policy adopted by the state Department of Corrections. These new restrictions arose after a decision last year to ban all physical mail from entering DOC facilities. The DOC cites contraband and illicit substances arriving through these channels as […]

The post Missouri prison officials restrict inmate access to books from friends or family appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two counties in Missouri’s Bootheel suffer from cancer mortality rates drastically higher than the state or national average.  On the border between them lies a manufacturing facility in Portageville that for more than 50 years has pumped out parts for cars — and according to some residents, also released carcinogenic metals and chemicals into the […]

The post Missouri manufacturer faces accusations it polluted drinking water in the Bootheel appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s Supreme Court will once again determine whether the state has the authority to restrict public funds from going to Planned Parenthood, after the attorney general formally filed its appeal last week of a December ruling that deemed the effort unconstitutional. After the state legislature voted to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements last […]

The post State push to defund Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics continues in appeal appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When being discharged from the hospital after a severe illness or injury, most seniors prefer to return home and receive home healthcare. However, Medicare’s ongoing cuts to the home health program threaten access to care for millions of older Americans and patients with disabilities in need of post-acute care who want to go home when leaving […]

The post Medicare cuts to home health impede patient care for Missouri seniors appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Democrats in Missouri, like their counterparts nationally, will use 2024 to test a new system for determining the party’s presidential preference now that the public primary for all parties has been abolished. Instead of reverting to a caucus-only system, the process used in most elections prior to 2000, the Missouri Democratic Party is seeking comment […]

The post Mail-in ballots, ranked-choice voting part of Missouri Democrat plan for presidential primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Some illnesses and injuries — say, a broken ankle — can send you to numerous health care providers. You might start at urgent care but end up in the emergency room. Referred to an orthopedist, you might eventually land in an outpatient surgery center. Four different stops on your road to recovery. But as supersized […]

The post Some states back hospital mergers despite record of service cuts, price hikes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Recent disputes and lawsuits about how abortion-rights initiative petitions would be summarized on the ballot demonstrates a serious problem with the process required in Missouri before signatures can be collected. Under the current process, the top of the proposal contains an estimated cost written by the state auditor and a short description written by the […]

The post Capitol Perspective: There must be a better way to do ballot descriptions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Allegations that Scotland County Hospital fired a chief executive officer during an illegal closed meeting aren’t enough to make a case that there was a conspiracy against the officer, attorneys for the hospital argued Wednesday. Statements made in that August 2022 meeting are protected because they were among officials of the hospital, attorney Andrew Kinghorn […]

The post Missouri hospital seeks to dismiss slander, conspiracy lawsuit filed by fired CEO appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A private pre-trial detention center in Leavenworth beset with violence when it closed in 2021 could house individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.  For years, Nashville-based CoreCivic operated the Leavenworth Detention Center, which held individuals charged — but not convicted — with federal crimes from Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and western Missouri. Now, it […]

The post Shuttered private jail in Leavenworth could become ICE detention center appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The University of Missouri rolled out its first all-electric, autonomous tractor Tuesday, calling it a “revolutionary piece of technology” that could pioneer new agricultural practices and make farming more efficient and sustainable. The Monarch MK-V tractor, bought with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is the Midwest’s first fully autonomous tractor, according to […]

The post First fully electric, autonomous tractor in the Midwest unveiled in Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona made stops in Kansas and Missouri Tuesday as part of a multi-state tour, labeling internet access “the new pencil” as he discussed the government’s efforts to expand broadband connectivity. During events in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, Cardona discussed a program that subsidizes internet access and community engagement. […]

The post Education secretary calls digital divide ‘equity issue of our moment’ during KC visit appeared first on Missouri Independent.