School districts have made some progress in addressing the national shortage of school bus drivers, but there still aren’t as many drivers as there were in 2019, according to a new study. The number of drivers has increased by 2,300, or 1.1%, since last year, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group. […]
Most states offering incentives to data centers don’t disclose which companies benefit, according to a new report. At least 36 states have crafted subsidies specifically for data center projects, according to Good Jobs First, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks economic development incentives. But only 11 of those states — Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, […]
Let’s talk about what happens when Josh Hawley gets angry. Missouri’s senior U.S. senator doesn’t take criticism lightly — whether from the press, his colleagues or anyone he perceives as an enemy. His approach? If you get hit, hit back harder. It’s not just a defense mechanism. It’s a political strategy. All criticism draws a […]
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The longest shutdown in U.S. history ended Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a spending package that reopens the government and funds most of it through January. The Oval Office ceremony came just hours after the House voted to approve the legislation, which senators passed earlier in […]
The old cliche that “silence is golden” became “silence is confusing” on Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court as attorneys argued over the power of Missouri lawmakers to gerrymander congressional maps in the middle of a decade. Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh must decide if language missing from the state Constitution’s directive on when and how […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released emails Wednesday they say show President Donald Trump knew about the financier’s abuse of underage girls as far back as 2011. The three emails released by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform were among 23,000 pages of documents turned […]
Families of Black homicide victims in the United States are more likely than any other group to seek financial assistance through state victim compensation programs — and they are the most likely to be denied, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Race and Justice. Researchers analyzed nearly 60,000 homicide-related compensation claims […]
Payments for November for the nation’s main food assistance program have been delayed during the government shutdown, amid a confusing mess of contradicting guidance from the Trump administration and a flurry of court orders in two cases at every level of the federal judiciary. The off-and-on freeze of benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, […]
TOPEKA — The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor. In two of the four agreements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret. “The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and […]
The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back limits on how much companies can charge incarcerated people and their families for phone and video calls. The 2-1 vote in late October reverses rate caps the FCC adopted last year under a 2023 law that allows the agency to set limits on prison phone and video call […]
TOPEKA, Kansas — The Kansas City Chiefs put out a request for proposals to design a new stadium on the Kansas side of the state line and are negotiating for land near the Kansas Speedway, according to two reports from Kansas City area talk show hosts. Pete Mundo of KCMO talk radio broke the news […]
John Grady and his wife Kara opened up their hemp emporium in Rosebud on July 4 — and they say about 60% of their customers are veterans, like Grady, who are treating chronic pain or PTSD with intoxicating hemp products. Monday night, they watched the U.S. Senate vote to approve a spending package to end […]
WASHINGTON — Kentucky’s two U.S. senators sparred this week over the future of the country’s hemp industry — one arguing that a provision attached to the package that will reopen the government will close a problematic loophole and the other contending the language will regulate the industry “to death.” Sen. Mitch McConnell ultimately prevailed and […]
More than 3,000 immigrants who are in Missouri legally but are not citizens are expected to lose eligibility for the nation’s largest federal food assistance program this month due to the massive tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law in July, according to the state’s Department of Social Services. Another 6,000 could […]
The PAC backing Republican Jay Ashcroft’s 2024 bid for governor improperly coordinated with his campaign on a letter attacking his opponents, according to a consent agreement approved by the Missouri Ethics Commission. The Committee for Liberty, which spent $2.9 million promoting Ashcroft’s losing effort, must pay $536 and avoid future violations, states the agreement posted […]
The Trump administration continued Monday to press the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions requiring the federal government pay for full benefits for a major food program, even as Congress appeared to approach an end to the record-breaking government shutdown. Late Sunday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Rhode Island […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on Monday he pardoned his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other people allegedly involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but the president’s federal pardon does not shield members of the group from state charges. Posting to social media early Monday, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin released the […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed. The black box warning, the strongest caution possible from the FDA, was added in the early 2000s after a […]
Until recently, it was not uncommon for Dr. Jeannie Kelly, a high risk obstetrician at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, to diagnose a pregnant patient with Hepatitis C, then refer her to a specialist for what is typically a simple medication treatment. But when those patients returned to her office with another […]
When Missouri Republican lawmakers approved a new district map in September to help their party in Congress, progressive activist Richard von Glahn was ready. Hours after the state legislature passed the gerrymandered map, von Glahn had submitted a proposed ballot petition to put it to the voters. It would be more than a month before […]
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