Workers in more than 20 cities and states will see the minimum wage increase next month as local governments continue to raise the wage floor amid federal inaction. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not increased since 2009, losing more than 30% of its purchasing power since then because of inflation. Alaska […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration sent Congress a request Wednesday for $87.6 billion in emergency funding to cover the cost of the war in Iran and other expenses. White House budget director Russ Vought wrote in a letter that in addition to addressing “urgent needs” for the Defense Department, the funding would help the U.S. government […]
Content notice: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you are struggling or in crisis, help is available. You can call or text 988 in the U.S. and Canada, or contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. WASHINGTON — Placards featuring 272 names, each with a photo and the […]
For the first time since 2018, patients in Missouri this week were able to obtain medication abortions without leaving the state. The shift came after Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang ruled last week that nearly all abortion regulations challenged by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri are unconstitutional under the abortion-rights amendment voters […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans walked into a lunch with the president on Wednesday looking for ways to unify, but they left the closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill as fractured as ever about policy goals. President Donald Trump said after the huddle that he was “very proud of the party” but didn’t offer any concrete […]
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled the Department of Justice isn’t entitled to access the sensitive personal data of Michigan voters, a setback in President Donald Trump’s push to assert power over state-run elections. The decision moves the country closer to a potential fight at the U.S. Supreme Court over state voter rolls ahead […]
President Donald Trump derailed a housing overhaul that he was set to sign into law Wednesday, canceling a signing ceremony for the broadly popular bipartisan bill until Congress passes an election security measure. Trump had been scheduled to sign the bill, which passed the Senate Monday and House Tuesday with wide margins, during a Capitol ceremony. But […]
The U.S. Postal Service won’t deliver mail ballots in states that refuse to turn over lists of voters under a proposed rule, the agency’s chief executive said Wednesday, angering Democrats who warn the decision will disenfranchise voters. Postmaster General David Steiner defended the rule at a Senate hearing and dismissed accusations that the Postal Service was […]
The state of California and the Trump administration are on course for a major legal clash that could determine whether the state will continue to have unique authority to shape the American automotive market. On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to roll back California’s […]
Missouri courts were supposed to automatically erase eligible marijuana misdemeanors from criminal records by June 8, 2023, six months after voters legalized recreational marijuana. But in a recent St. Louis case, the Missouri State Highway Patrol told an appellate court that “hundreds of thousands” of marijuana offenses may still exist on criminal records that should […]
Seventeen Republican attorneys general have sued California over a state law that requires plastic packaging producers to move away from single-use plastics, alleging that the law will raise costs for consumers across the country. Led by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, the complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District […]
Kate Dineen assumed she would always have access to reproductive healthcare because of where she lived. It came as a shock when she was denied an abortion in 2021 because of gestational limits to the procedure in Massachusetts law. Dineen was 33 weeks into her pregnancy, the third trimester, when a routine ultrasound detected a […]
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants the courts to shield him from disclosing how his office is reviewing a disputed batch of signatures on a referendum petition challenging the state’s new congressional map. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Hoskins is suing People Not Politicians, the political action committee pushing for a referendum. Hoskins is asking […]
WASHINGTON — An appeals court Tuesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to use fast-track deportations within the interior of the country and not just at the Southern border, a key pillar in the president’s mass deportation campaign. The 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia means the […]
By Kaitlin Bender-Thomas/Medill News Service WASHINGTON — Even with a valid driver’s license, Maryse Balthazar knows she lacks protection from what she dreads most: deportation back to Haiti. Balthazar, a nursing assistant, often hesitates to leave her home in South Florida, worried that something as simple as a broken taillight could upend the life she’s […]
Labor and human rights concerns have long been entwined with FIFA and the World Cup. The 2026 games, which are drawing unprecedented international attention to Kansas City, are no different. Activists in Kansas City are using the world’s focus on soccer to highlight workers’ rights, social inequities and safety concerns for immigrants in the cities […]
Mylissa McNeill never expected to be a mother. But when she learned she was pregnant in the spring of 2022, at age 41, she and her partner were happy and excited at the prospect of parenting a little girl they planned to name Maeve. On June 24, 2022, about one month after McNeill discovered she was pregnant, […]
States and cities are loosening building code requirements in an effort to lower construction costs and boost affordable housing. Some of these changes include allowing low-rise apartment buildings to have just one stairway, reducing how often building codes are updated and rolling back specific electrical or fire safety standards. But critics have raised safety concerns, […]
For more than 40 years, Missourians have paid a small sales tax that supports state parks and soil and water protection programs. This year it is on the Aug. 4 ballot for a 10-year renewal. After barely passing the first time it was on the ballot in 1984, the tax has been renewed four times […]
The application window to win one of 77 microbusiness marijuana licenses through a lottery selection will open July 13-27. The selection lottery is scheduled to take place on Sept. 9, and the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation expects to issue the licenses in December, according to a press release issued Monday. Microbusinesses are marijuana facility […]
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