MoInd 📰

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court this week seeks to do what law enforcement and legislators have been reluctant to do – shut down Torch Electronics, the vendor behind many of the video machines in convenience stores offering payoffs of hundreds or thousands of dollars. The lawsuit in Missouri’s Western District, which accuses […]

The post Missouri lawsuit accuses Torch Electronics of violating racketeering law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republican election officials from Florida, Ohio and Louisiana on Friday detailed to lawmakers on a U.S. House Administration panel the success of their states’ handling of the 2022 midterm elections, and said they can run their own elections without federal intervention. The chair of the Elections Subcommittee, Florida GOP freshman Rep. Laurel Lee, […]

The post GOP state officials at U.S. House hearing push back against federal election oversight appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The ousted administrator of a northeast Missouri hospital is accusing board members and employees of conspiring to have him fired by falsely claiming he violated federal laws and embezzled millions. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Dr. Randy Tobler claims he has been unable to find employment because of the way he was fired in August […]

The post Fired CEO alleges slander, conspiracy in suit against northeast Missouri hospital appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The divided 118th Congress approved its first bill Friday, after lawmakers in both the House and Senate voted unanimously to send President Joe Biden legislation that would require declassification of intelligence on the origins of COVID-19. The four-page bill, which the House voted 419-0 to clear, would require the Director of National Intelligence to “declassify […]

The post Congress unanimously votes to require declassified information on COVID-19 origins appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri House committee discussed a bill Thursday meant to mirror Illinois’ open-container law for having marijuana in vehicles. The bill from Rep. Kent Haden, R-Mexico, would require all marijuana products in vehicles to be kept in odor-proof and child-proof containers.  “I don’t claim to be an expert on marijuana – I’ve never inhaled,” Haden […]

The post Open-container law for marijuana gets hearing in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Democrats have their first potential 2024 statewide primary contest now that a term-limited lawmaker and a lawyer who’s regularly sued the state’s top leaders for Sunshine Law violations are both in the race for attorney general. State Rep. Sarah Unsicker of Shrewsbury announced her bid for the office in a tweet on Wednesday evening. It […]

The post Democratic candidates jump into race for Missouri attorney general appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The CEO of Norfolk Southern, the railroad operating the train that last month derailed and spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, apologized for the derailment at a U.S. Senate hearing Thursday, but declined solicitations to endorse a bipartisan rail safety bill. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw opened his testimony to the Senate Environment and […]

The post Norfolk Southern CEO apologizes for Ohio crash, but won’t back bipartisan rail safety bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Eleven versions of a proposed initiative petition seeking to roll back Missouri’s ban on abortion by adding protections for the procedure to the state constitution were filed Wednesday with the Secretary of State’s office.  Filed by a St. Louis doctor on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the proposals would […]

The post Group files ballot measures adding abortion protections to Missouri Constitution appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]

The post GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate’s spring break came a day early this year after Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin adjourned the chamber following two days of a Democrat-led filibuster of a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors. As some departed for a now-extended break, strategizing continued in senators’ offices into the evening over the bill. Sponsored by Sen. […]

The post Missouri Senate leaves town early as GOP disagrees on transgender-care bill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that interest rate increases could be higher and come faster if Friday’s unemployment data shows the nation’s labor market isn’t cooling off. Stock indexes fell after his comments. That’s been a familiar pattern over the past year as the federal bank has tried to combat inflation.  A […]

The post Powell signals higher interest rates. Here’s why Friday’s jobs report will affect Fed’s decision appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans mostly agreed Wednesday that scientists and the intelligence community should fully investigate the origins of COVID-19 without political interference over whether the virus emerged from nature or through a lab leak. Members from both political parties said throughout the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing that determining […]

The post Lawmakers hear theories on COVID-19 origins in U.S. House hearing appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Kim Visintine said her son had his first chemotherapy treatment at three weeks old. A year later, Visintine and her husband had $100,000 in medical debt.  Six years later, their son died. But it wasn’t until she found hometown friends on Facebook that Visintine connected her son’s cancer – a rare form of brain tumor called […]

The post ‘World War II hasn’t stopped’: St. Louis residents want relief for radiation sickness appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The so-called mining for digital assets, or cryptocurrency, consumes as much electricity as some entire nations, and U.S. senators explored the issue Tuesday in what they said was their first-ever hearing focused on the energy implications of digital currency. Crypto mining in both Nebraska and Pennsylvania was discussed in particular by the members […]

The post U.S. Senate panel probes how crypto mining increases energy consumption appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Economists on Tuesday urged Congress to address the debt limit quickly, cautioning that simply because U.S. lawmakers have successfully brokered deals before doesn’t mean they will be able to this year. “There is a temptation to brush off the developing debt limit drama, thinking it will end the same way as the others […]

The post Economist warns that ‘heightened dysfunction’ in Congress raises risk of debt default appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a controversial Missouri law — known as the Second Amendment Preservation Act — that penalizes police for enforcing federal gun laws. U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled that the 2021 Missouri law is unconstitutional and “invalid, null, void, and of no effect.” “State and local law enforcement […]

The post Federal judge rules Missouri’s ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’ unconstitutional appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri lawmakers gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill aimed at allowing students to transfer out of their home school district, adding a pair of amendments limiting its scope. The bill was approved Tuesday with 82 legislators voting in support — the exact number needed to reach a majority. Only one Democrat supported the measure, […]

The post Open enrollment legislation wins first-round approval in Missouri House appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri students did worse across the board on the latest round of standardized testing released Tuesday, with 112 districts and charter schools scoring low enough to be classified as provisionally accredited.  But the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE, said it would not downgrade any districts this year because it is the first […]

The post Latest testing data show K-12 student performance dropped dramatically across Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal grand jury issued three subpoenas to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in December demanding records about a pair of St. Louis-area nonprofits and their involvement in a federal child nutrition program.  The state turned over the subpoenas to The Independent as part of a request under the Sunshine Law. Issued […]

The post Federal subpoenas target records of Missouri nonprofits involved in child nutrition program appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday announced new steps the Department of Agriculture is taking to recenter U.S. agriculture and benefit small and midsized operations, including a proposed new “Product of USA” labeling rule and an $89 million expansion of the USDA intermediary lending program. At the National Farmers Union conference in San Francisco, […]

The post U.S. agriculture secretary unveils initiatives aimed at small and midsized operations appeared first on Missouri Independent.