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MoInd 📰

Pesticide politics: Inside the corporate push to limit liability

3 months 1 week ago
With billions of dollars at stake, Bayer has gone on the offensive. Billboards along major highways. A social media offensive. Tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations in Missouri alone. And a major push in at least 11 states to change pesticide labeling laws. Such efforts by the agricultural biotech company and others are […]
Mary McCue Bell

Turnover among election officials reaches new high, report finds

3 months 1 week ago
Election officials turned over at the highest rate in at least a quarter century during the last presidential election, according to new research from the Bipartisan Policy Center. An analysis of shifts in election officials published Tuesday found nearly 41% of election officials administering the 2024 election were different than those in 2020. Turnover has […]
Jonathan Shorman

Donald Trump says Missouri will revise congressional districts to favor Republicans

3 months 1 week ago
Missouri “is IN” for redrawing the state’s congressional districts in a special legislative session, President Donald Trump proclaimed Thursday on his social media platform. With Texas moving quickly toward a mid-decade revision of its congressional map to tilt five districts toward the Republican Party, Missouri would now be expected to follow suit to help the […]
Rudi Keller

Missouri activist hopes to open American eyes to injustices experienced by Palestinians

3 months 1 week ago
Palestinians strive to practice “sumud,” Arabic for steadfastness in reference to their dignified, nonviolent resistance to Israel’s occupation of their ancestral lands over the past many decades.  Their resolve to remain is being tested as never before as Israeli military forces slaughter and starve the people of Gaza. Their perseverance and humanity merit expanded global […]
Jeff Stack

‘Alligator Alcatraz’ probed by Dems as ICE detention centers multiply in states

3 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — As the Trump administration moves to expand immigrant detention centers across the country through state partnerships, more than 60 Democratic lawmakers Wednesday pressed top immigration officials for details regarding a quickly constructed facility in the Florida Everglades, dubbed by Republicans as “Alligator Alcatraz.” “Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and […]
Ariana Figueroa

Grants to boost local emergency alert systems in question as public media agency closes

3 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will no longer administer a grant program that has so far provided millions of dollars to local television and radio stations to upgrade the equipment they use to send out emergency alerts. The change comes after Republican lawmakers voted last month to defund the corporation, following a request […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri districts begin new school year with state-mandated cell-phone ban

3 months 2 weeks ago
Amidst a plethora of back-to-school reminders, Missouri public schools are making a special effort to inform parents about a new state law banning cell phones during the school day. The law, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in July, requires school districts to set a policy barring students from using mobile devices except for in emergencies […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking

3 months 2 weeks ago
A recent WalletHub ranking labeled Missouri’s early education system the “worst in the nation,” based on data from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The problem? That label is based not on what’s happening in classrooms, but on what’s codified in state regulations. In other words, Missouri scored low not because we lack […]
Linda Rallo

With more self-driving cars on the road, states put more rules in place

3 months 2 weeks ago
Self-driving vehicle technology continues to advance, prompting a wave of liability and safety regulations from state lawmakers. This year, lawmakers in Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and the District of Columbia enacted legislation to regulate driverless vehicles, according to a database from the National Conference of State Legislatures. While much of the legislation aims to update […]
Madyson Fitzgerald

New work rules could deny food stamps to thousands of veterans

3 months 2 weeks ago
NEW YORK — After a year in the U.S. Navy, Loceny Kamara said he was discharged in 2023, because while on base he had developed mental health issues, including severe anxiety and nightmares, and had fallen into alcoholism. Kamara, 23, went to rehab and managed to get sober for some time while living with family […]
Shalina Chatlani

Former Missouri House Speaker Catherine Hanaway appointed attorney general

3 months 2 weeks ago
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Tuesday that Catherine Hanaway will replace Andrew Bailey as the state’s next attorney general. Bailey, 44, resigned Monday after a little more than two years on the job to become co-deputy director of the FBI.  Hanaway, 61, will be the fourth person to serve as Missouri attorney general since 2018, […]
Jason Hancock

Audit finds Independence school board violated Missouri Sunshine Law

3 months 2 weeks ago
A state audit of the Independence School District found the board discussed the four-day school week and other topics during closed meetings, violating the Missouri Sunshine Law. The district also had problems with cash handling procedures and hadn’t created policies on retaining electronic records, the Aug. 18 audit report said. But overall, the audit “has […]
Maria Benevento

The unseen harvest: Pesticides, cancer and rural Missouri’s health crisis

3 months 2 weeks ago
Nestled in Missouri’s Bootheel is the small town of Kennett, the Dunklin County seat. With just over 10,000 residents, it’s a close-knit community where good-natured teasing is a common show of affection. Once a sprawling swampland, it has since been transformed into an expanse of flat, fertile fields where agriculture stands as the backbone of […]
Alex Cox, Adeleine Halsey, Kyla Pehr, Savvy Sleevar

Women dropping out of Missouri workforce is an economic red alert. Here’s how to fix it

3 months 2 weeks ago
A recent drop in women’s workforce participation is a blinking red light for women and our economy. For nearly a decade, women have driven the growth in overall prime-age labor force participation – strengthening local economies and contributing billions to GDP. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that continuing to advance women’s equality could add trillions […]
Wendy Doyle

Trump, Zelenskyy exit White House talks hopeful about security guarantee for Ukraine

3 months 2 weeks ago
President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies at the White House Monday celebrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concession of NATO-like security protections for Ukraine as part of a future peace deal between the two countries. In a social media post on Monday night, Trump said he called Putin after the meetings were […]
Jacob Fischler

Six GOP states send more than 1,000 National Guard to D.C. for Trump crackdown

3 months 2 weeks ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — Six Republican governors are sending more than 1,000 National Guard members to the District of Columbia after President Donald Trump last week activated 800 members from the district’s Guard as part of his federal takeover of the nation’s capital. The deployment would bring the total number of National Guard troops […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missourians buying health insurance on ACA marketplace face highest rate hikes since 2018

3 months 2 weeks ago
If you are one of the 617,000 people in Missouri or Kansas buying health insurance on  healthcare.gov, expect sticker shock when next year’s premiums are announced. With few exceptions, insurance companies selling health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace plan to increase rates in 2026. In the Kansas City area, all but one carrier […]
Suzanne King

AmeriCorps is under siege. What happens in the communities it serves?

3 months 2 weeks ago
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Daniel Zare worked one-on-one as an AmeriCorps member with students going through rough times in school, lightening teachers’ workload in the classroom. At AmeriCorps Project CHANGE, based in Silver Spring’s Sligo Middle School, Zare was one of several in his group who tracked adolescents’ emotional and social wellbeing over months using […]
Ashley Murray