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As demand for weight-loss drugs rises, states grapple with Medicaid coverage

1 week 6 days ago
Over her three-decade career, weight management physician Dr. Sarah Ro has seen hundreds of patients. Many of them are on Medicaid and have become yo-yo dieters who, despite their best efforts at changing their eating habits and lifestyles, cannot seem to shed the pounds hurting their health. “They have a tremendous amount of disease burden,” […]
Shalina Chatlani

Minimum wages are increasing in nearly half the states this year

1 week 6 days ago
The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour. In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to […]
Kevin Hardy

No jail time or fines for Trump in sentencing for NY hush money case

1 week 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his New York hush money case just days before his inauguration, making him the only past and future U.S. president with a criminal record. Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions but the New York state case was the sole one that went to trial. A jury convicted […]
Ashley Murray

How Kansas City is both defined, and held back, by the state line

1 week 6 days ago
As the Kansas City Royals scour the region for a new stadium site, and as the Chiefs weigh whether to renovate Arrowhead or move, a familiar story unfolds. The two states are at it again. Soon after Jackson County voters soundly rejected a ⅜-cent sales to fund a downtown Royals ballpark and similar subsidies to […]
Mark Wiebe

Warden and top supervisor removed from jobs at southwest Missouri prison

1 week 6 days ago
The warden and a top supervisor at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking have been replaced amid allegations contraband was entering the prison through a poorly screened gate. Michele Buckner, a 25-year employee of the Department of Corrections, officially ended her employment with the department on Tuesday, spokeswoman Karen Pojmann wrote in an email […]
Rudi Keller

Missouri lawmakers question Capitol security before upcoming inauguration

1 week 6 days ago
A committee dedicated to the security of the Missouri Capitol convened Thursday to raise concerns ahead of Monday’s inauguration of Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe. Lawmakers are not only worried about the inauguration ceremony and governor’s ball but also the everyday operations of the Capitol Police. President Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate Cindy O’Laughlin read a […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Strong bipartisan support in U.S. Senate advances bill expanding immigration detention

1 week 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans gained more than enough Democratic support Thursday to advance a bill that would greatly expand immigration detention, following a presidential election in which border security was a main theme for President-elect Donald Trump. In an 84-9 procedural vote, 32 Senate Democrats and one independent backed the bill, S. 5, sponsored by Alabama’s […]
Ariana Figueroa

Former President Jimmy Carter honored at state funeral

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — On a wintry Thursday morning, mourners and dignitaries gathered at Washington National Cathedral to honor the life of former President Jimmy Carter. Speakers at Carter’s state funeral, including President Joe Biden and the sons of Carter’s political contemporaries delivering eulogies written by their fathers, described the Georgia native and U.S. Navy veteran as a […]
Shauneen Miranda

Scholarships, degrees and hazing: Missouri higher education bills to watch in 2025

2 weeks ago
Missouri lawmakers are proposing bigger scholarships for students with financial need, allowing more universities to grant engineering and medical degrees, and supporting aid to victims of hazing. Ahead of the 2025 legislative session’s launch on Wednesday, members of the Missouri General Assembly filed more than two dozen bills affecting higher education. To be signed into […]
Maria Benevento

U.S. House Dem, former police officers lambast Trump’s Jan. 6 pardon pledge

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Tennessee Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and two former police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, on Wednesday condemned President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to pardon those charged in connection with the insurrection. Cohen, former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell and former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone said on a […]
Shauneen Miranda

Democrats say U.S. Senate Republicans rushing confirmation of Interior nominee Burgum

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats raised concerns Wednesday that Republicans have scheduled a hearing for one of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees before he completed the necessary paperwork and an FBI background check. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich separately criticized the decision, saying it sets a […]
Jennifer Shutt

Jon Patterson easily wins race for Missouri House speaker over right-wing challenger

2 weeks 1 day ago
The Missouri legislature made history Wednesday as Republicans elected the first Asian-American speaker of the House and the first woman to be president pro tem of the state Senate. In the House, state Rep. Jon Patterson of Lee’s Summit won an overwhelming victory over a challenger from within the Republican conference, state Rep. Justin Sparks, […]
Rudi Keller, Clara Bates

Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to suspend sentencing in New York hush money case

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday to pause his sentencing in a New York hush money case, arguing it cannot go forward in light of the high court’s presidential immunity ruling last summer. Trump, who is days away from his second inauguration, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Manhattan […]
Ashley Murray

Trump calls for avoiding default, possibly using military force for expansion

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump said during a wide-ranging press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday he wanted to see the country’s debt limit addressed while cutting spending and would not rule out military force to expand U.S. territory.  Trump, who will take office Jan. 20 after lawmakers breezily certified the election results Monday, continued to place […]
Shauneen Miranda

U.S. House Republicans seeking to settle debt limit alongside border, taxes

2 weeks 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday his “intention” is to address the country’s debt limit through the reconciliation process, pushing aside the possibility of negotiating a bipartisan compromise with Democrats. The GOP is planning to rely on the complicated budget reconciliation process to pass sweeping changes to immigration and border security as […]
Jennifer Shutt