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Did legislators violate Missouri’s constitution when they overruled counties to clear the way for industrial hog farms across the state? Does new legislation prohibiting local regulation apply to counties that already had their own rules? These are some of the questions before the Missouri Supreme Court in a case challenging the state’s attempt to bar […]

The post Missouri Supreme Court weighs whether counties can regulate CAFOs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Republicans in state capitals across the country are targeting an investing concept known as environmental, social and corporate governance criteria, or ESG for short. Describing these investment criteria as “woke” and “misguided activism,” GOP officials argue that by taking these factors into account when making investment choices, financial institutions are putting ideology ahead of making […]

The post GOP leaders target ‘woke’ investments through state pension funds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — More than 1,600 book titles across 32 states were banned from public schools during the 2021-2022 school year, with the bulk of the ban requests coming from a handful of right-wing groups pushing for censorship of books that feature LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color, a new report issued Monday said. “What I […]

The post An ‘unprecedented flood’ of book bans engulfs U.S. school districts, PEN report says appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For the better part of the past century, the American electric power system evolved around large, mostly fossil fuel power plants delivering electricity to residences, businesses and industry through a network of transmission and distribution wires that collectively came to be called the electric grid. But as the threat of climate change driven by carbon […]

The post Amid a massive American clean energy shift, grid operators play catch-up appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Senate this week will debate an income tax cut that doesn’t immediately lower rates as much as Gov. Mike Parson proposed but would, if passed, promise future reductions. Under a proposal passed on a party-line vote Monday in the Senate Appropriations Committee, the top state income tax rate for next year would be […]

The post Income tax cut plan heads to Missouri Senate floor for debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Health insurance giant Centene Corp. has agreed to pay $165.6 million to Texas to resolve claims that it overcharged the state’s Medicaid program for pharmacy services. It’s the biggest known payout by the nation’s largest Medicaid insurer over its drug pricing practices. The deal was signed July 11 but hadn’t been publicly announced until Monday […]

The post Centene to pay $166 million to Texas in Medicaid drug pricing settlement appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s lawsuit against St. Louis’ use of federal funds to support abortion access will be sent back to the state courts to decide — a move both Schmitt and national abortion-rights groups had hoped for. On Monday, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri Judge Audrey Fleissig sent the […]

The post Missouri AG’s lawsuit against St. Louis abortion access fund sent back to state court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Eighty open cases of child abuse and neglect sat on Matt Cordova’s desk in 2017 during the height of the “hole I found myself buried in,” he remembers. Twenty open cases would have been a lot to handle; 80 was impossible. An investigator at Missouri’s child welfare department for two years, Cordova was tasked with […]

The post ‘This job is impossible’: High turnover, low morale plague Missouri child welfare agency appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Two Newton County sheriff deputies were dispatched to a trailer park north of Neosho to evict a man and his wife on Nov. 13, 2017. According to the deputies, the man refused to leave, fought off the deputies and stole a patrol car that he would later crash in town. The local prosecutor would go […]

The post Missouri Court of Appeals revives ‘old school’ self-defense law in resisting arrest case appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Editor’s note: The following is a condensed excerpt from “Using My Word Power” by columnist Janice Ellis. The book is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books and other major online booksellers. It’s also available at the author’s website, Real Advocacy Journalism. I have been an advocate journalist for nearly four decades, which is nothing […]

The post We all have power within us to do good with our words appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Independent won 14 awards Saturday — including five first place honors — in the annual Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.  The awards were presented at the association’s annual convention in Lake Ozark. The Independent competed in the Dailies Class 2 category. A months-long, multi-story collaboration between The Independent and The Documenting COVID-19 […]

The post The Independent wins 14 journalism awards in annual Missouri Press contest appeared first on Missouri Independent.

LAKE OZARK ‐‐ The Republican trying to get the only statewide office currently held by Democrats pledged Friday he would show no partisan favoritism, while his opponents said only they could provide the independence needed in the office. State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, former state Rep. Alan Green and accountant John Hartwig Jr. met in their […]

The post Missouri auditor candidates spar over independence from partisan influence appeared first on Missouri Independent.

LAKE OZARK– Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who last week accused Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine of dodging debates, refused to show up for the first debate of Missouri’s U.S. Senate campaign on Friday.  Organized by the Missouri Press Association as part of its annual convention in Lake Ozark, Valentine, Libertarian Party candidate Jonathan Dine and Constitution […]

The post Schmitt no-shows Missouri Senate debate, Valentine slams Chinese ownership of farmland appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  The Kansas City Council in late August passed a climate plan intended to drive the city toward a more sustainable future, with goals of becoming “climate neutral” by 2040. Stakeholders from the community worked Kansas City’s 133-page Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan for two years, but it […]

The post Missouri law loomed over Kansas City’s work to design a climate plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When my dad, Lawrence, had cataract surgery in 1994, my sister and I took the day off work. The white supervisor at the bank where I toiled frowned at my request for time off. It was a routine surgery for older people and not worthy of my level of concern, she explained. I pushed back […]

The post What white people get wrong about Black dads appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate won’t vote on legislation to secure marriage equality for millions of Americans until after the midterm elections, bipartisan negotiators announced Thursday. The move follows weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions among five U.S. senators from both political parties who have been drafting an amendment to the House-passed legislation that they hoped would […]

The post U.S. Senate delays same-sex marriage vote until after midterm elections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Hospitals across Missouri are facing a “crisis” caring for patients in acute care settings who can’t find long-term care through the Department of Mental Health due to the agency’s chronic shortage of workers. Patty Morrow, vice president of behavioral health services for Mercy Health, testified during a legislative hearing Wednesday that “the problem is pervasive […]

The post Hospitals in ‘crisis’ as staff shortages persist at Missouri mental health facilities appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first time Maureen Loyacono voted was in 1960, when she cast a ballot for John F. Kennedy. “And I’ve never missed an election since,” said Loyacono, 84, a Kansas City resident who also served as a poll worker for 40 years.   But she’s worried this might be the first election where her vote won’t […]

The post Voters, local election officials working to navigate Missouri’s new voting law appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The special legislative session called by Gov. Mike Parson to cut income taxes began Wednesday, and by the time lawmakers adjourned for the day, one thing was clear — there is no agreement on a plan. And that could upend the governor’s hopes of a quick session. In the state Senate, expected to act first […]

The post Multiple plans emerge as Missouri lawmakers begin governor’s tax cut special session appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Farmers and academics at a Wednesday hearing stressed the need for members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee to support regenerative agriculture farming practices in the upcoming farm bill in order to protect topsoil. U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chair David Scott said he held the hearing to discuss ways policymakers and the Department […]

The post Topsoil protection should be stressed in the next farm bill, U.S. House Ag panel told appeared first on Missouri Independent.