a Better Bubbleā„¢

MoInd šŸ“°

HHS to investigate 13 states that require insurers to cover abortions

1 week 3 days ago
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced an investigation into 13 states that require health insurance plans to cover abortion care.Ā  In aĀ news release, the agency said the investigation is based on allegations that the states are coercing health care entities to provide coverage of abortion ā€œcontrary to conscienceā€ and in […]
Sofia Resnick

Nearly $100M in Missouri marijuana tax revenue sits unused despite voter mandate

1 week 3 days ago
About $95 million in Missouri marijuana-tax revenue that voters set aside for veterans services, public defenders and drug-addiction treatment programs sat unspent at the end of the last fiscal year.Ā  And budget projections show that unused pile of cash would still be more than $60 million over the next two years unless lawmakers authorize the […]
Rebecca Rivas, Rudi Keller

In rural Missouri classrooms, a new approach to reading is taking hold

1 week 3 days ago
In early 2026, a small group of first-grade students at Lucy Wortham James Elementary School in St. James, Missouri, sat together sounding out words. Kim Williams, the school’s principal, watched as they worked through the lesson. One young boy caught her attention. ā€œThis student had struggled significantly the year before and often avoided reading tasks,ā€ […]
William Hehemann

Counties with heaviest pesticide use see higher late-stage lymphoma rates

1 week 3 days ago
Seventy-one percent of counties that spray the most glyphosate have late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma incidence rates above the national average, according to a new data analysis from the advocacy group Food and Water Watch. Last month, Investigate Midwest, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship, published an investigation that found 60% of the top […]
Ben Felder

Wildly misguided farm policy creates oceans of red ink for taxpayers

1 week 3 days ago
ā€œCheck here if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, want even more of your money to go into the Farm Subsidy Kitty. Taxes might have to increase in the future to pay for it.ā€ Let’s face it: $1.4 trillion dollars is a lot of dough. Adding $20 billion, $10 billion and then $12 billion […]
Greg Frazier

Trump is forcing coal plants to stay open. It could cost customers billions.

1 week 4 days ago
In an unprecedented use of federal authority, President Donald Trump’s administration has invoked emergency powers to force a series of retiring coal plants to stay open. Utilities, states and grid operators have said the aging plants are expensive, in bad repair and no longer needed to meet regional energy needs. But Trump’s efforts to save […]
Alex Brown

Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead Homeland Security advances to US Senate floor

1 week 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Thursday voted to move forward Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security.Ā  After the 8-7 vote, Mullin’s nomination will head to the Senate floor.Ā  Thursday’s vote comes a day after Mullin, a Republican,Ā appeared before the committee in a […]
Ariana Figueroa

US Senate again refuses to limit Trump’s war in Iran

1 week 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans and one Democrat blocked another War Powers Resolution Wednesday night to stop President Donald Trump from further military action in Iran without authorization from Congress. The resolution failed to advance, 47-53. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke with Democrats to join Republicans in opposing the measure. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted […]
Ashley Murray

Missouri among Republican-led states shifting tax burden toward sales taxes

1 week 4 days ago
There’s no doubt that raising sales taxes in order to lower property taxes will shift more of South Dakota’s tax burden to lower-income residents, Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff said. ā€œIt is regressive,ā€ he said. ā€œThere’s no denying that.ā€ But Mehlhaff said the state’s modest sales tax increase will bring a much-needed reprieve from […]
Kevin Hardy

Trump’s tariffs were ruled illegal. Where’s the refund of $166 billion — plus interest?

1 week 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — Arizona coffee roaster Gabe Hagen is wondering if he’ll ever recoup the tens of thousands of dollars he paid in tariffs to import beans from the world’s major coffee-growing regions in South America, Africa and the Indo-Pacific. Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs as illegal, Hagen […]
Ashley Murray

How the Iran War could impact Missouri’s economy

1 week 4 days ago
As the war in the Middle East expands and begins to disrupt energy markets and shipping routes, its economic effects are already starting to appear. Gas prices have begun to climb, and investors are watching closely for broader impacts on inflation and financial markets. For households and businesses in Missouri, these pressures could intensify and […]
Mamoun Benmamoun

US Senate displays sharp divisions over SAVE voting bill demanded by Trump

1 week 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators debated Wednesday whether the federal government should change how Americans register to vote and cast a ballot, with Republicans maintaining alterations are necessary to safeguard elections and Democrats arguing a new law would add unnecessary obstacles. Tensions over the issue were on full display when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., […]
Jennifer Shutt

Protesters of Iran war spotlight children killed in school bombing

1 week 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — Against a backdrop of children’s backpacks and shoes Wednesday, congressional Democrats protested President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, specifically denouncing an early U.S. strike that killed more than 100 elementary school students in the country’s southern city of Minab. The lawmakers attended the installation organized by peace advocacy group Win Without War nearly […]
Ashley Murray

US House Dems call for Trump administration to cancel guidance to states on jobs program

1 week 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — Two top Democrats on a U.S. House panel Tuesday pushed back against ā€œunprecedentedā€ Trump administration guidance that they said essentially encourages states to try to bypass requirements on how they spend federal money intended to help people find job training and support — potentially opening states up to lawsuits. The Democrats, in aĀ letter […]
Shauneen Miranda

Court orders Missouri to issue 13 marijuana licenses after scoring flaws exposed

1 week 5 days ago
A Missouri appeals court has delivered a sweeping rebuke of the state’s marijuana licensing process, ordering regulators to award Hippos LLC 13 facility licenses after finding the 2019 scoring was inconsistent and, in one case, performed by a grader whose qualifications were never established. The unanimous ruling lands just weeks after a scathing state audit […]
Rebecca Rivas

ā€˜He’s free of all the politics’: How Thom Tillis became what passes for a GOP rebel in DC

1 week 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — Sure, Sen. Thom Tillis has become the most visible, outspoken Republican insider critic of the second Trump administration. But don’t mistake Tillis for a maverick. The North Carolina senator is being who he’s long been, the sort of GOP stalwart known as an establishment Republican. A Republican who’s conservative on fiscal issues, usually […]
David Lightman