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The Trump administration illegally overhauled a U.S. Department of Homeland Security computer program in its hunt for noncitizen voters, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision that laid into federal officials for violating the privacy of millions of Americans. The ruling struck at the core of President Donald Trump’s project to assert authority over […]

For some teenagers across the country, the summer is the first opportunity to gain work experience for their nascent resume.  In a handful of states, however, teens who find jobs will find fewer protections under child labor laws. Four states — Indiana, Nebraska, Washington and West Virginia — enacted laws this year that weaken child […]

TOPEKA — Cole Epley isn’t afraid to run for Congress as a “proud progressive.” The 28-year-old believes he’s the best choice for the Democratic nomination in the Wichita-area 4th District because moderate candidates have already shown they can’t defeat incumbent Republican Rep. Ron Estes. In an appearance on the Kansas Reflector podcast, Epley said a […]

The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and a family planning organization in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Health and Human Services agency on Thursday alleging that it is politicizing the Title X grant funding program and violating the intent of the law. Attorneys from the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil […]

American teens are driving less than in previous decades, prompting civic advocates to warn that fewer young people may register to vote. Yet at least one state — New Hampshire — offers insight into how civic groups can work around a lack of registration opportunities to ensure young people can register, as well as the […]

WASHINGTON — When the overhead lights turn off at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, it not only means that night has arrived for Aliaksei Scharbachenia, but that panic attacks will soon follow. The attacks, which started after his detention began last August, he said, have only grown worse, stemming from the fear that he […]

A half dozen Republican governors are pushing alternative labels for June, which is widely recognized in the United States as Pride Month. Without explicitly tying their efforts to a replacement of Pride Month — which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community — GOP governors in states including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Utah have labeled June […]

The birth of Danielle Stewart’s daughter thrust her into advocacy. She tells the story often. “Imagine walking into a hospital to have your first child,” Stewart said. “And leaving on a stretcher alone, paralyzed from your waist down.” Stewart says a failed epidural left her paralyzed from the waist down — a claim at the […]

Democrats are growing hopeful they can recapture the U.S. Senate in this fall’s midterm elections amid President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval ratings.  But they still need nearly everything to break their way against a map that put them at a starting disadvantage, analysts and campaign officials say. At the outset of this election cycle, Republicans […]

As we pause to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we should take the time to evaluate her well-being. All is not well in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Why isn’t it? The leaders whom we have entrusted with her care — her very lifeline — are not doing what it […]

A recent commentary in The Missouri Independent asked what the Missouri Charter Public School commission (MCPSC) is doing with the 1.5% sponsorship fee it receives under state law. It is a fair question, and one we welcome. Because the answer goes to the heart of why charter public schools exist and why families across Missouri […]

Many of Missouri’s abortion regulations, including laws that Planned Parenthood said made it impossible for providers to prescribe medication abortion, were struck down in a ruling Thursday by a Jackson County judge. One of the regulations most widely condemned by abortion rights supporters, a 72-hour waiting period between an initial consultation and an abortion, has […]

Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said at a late morning press conference in Washington, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to […]

U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday to require Congress to sign off on any deployment of federal troops to the polls, as President Donald Trump and his administration refuse to rule out the idea. Fears of troops or other federal agents at voting sites have long loomed over the approaching midterm elections in November. […]

The Trump administration told states last week it will exercise more stringent financial oversight of waivers that states use to design pilot programs under Medicaid, the state-federal program for low-income people and those with disabilities. In letters sent to state Medicaid directors, the administration announced the changes to Section 1115 “demonstration waivers,” which states apply […]

A federal poverty-fighting program focused on reducing unintended pregnancies is about to undergo a major overhaul. Reproductive health clinics use Title X federal grant money to provide birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to people with little or no health insurance. Title X money cannot be used for abortions. The […]

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services received and investigated 43,208 reports of Missouri seniors and adults with disabilities being abused or neglected in 2025. That’s about 1,300 more than the year before. Tim Jackson oversees Adult Protective Services for the state and said the increase in reports is a double-edged sword. “Obviously, we […]

A survey of more than 3,800 people nationwide who gave birth in 2023 and 2024 found those using Medicaid described worse outcomes than those on private insurance, that access to care remains limited for some, and that women often feel unheard and disregarded during pregnancy and labor and delivery. The Listening to Mothers survey, conducted […]

Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 barring state and local governments from imposing new sales taxes on most services — a measure its backers pitched as protection against future taxes on haircuts, car repairs, childcare and other everyday expenses. It passed with nearly 57% of the vote. Under a proposal on the Aug. […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against a transgender healthcare nonprofit Wednesday, accusing it of misleading and coercing parents over gender-affirming treatment for their children.  The FTC’s complaint against the World Professional Association of Transgender Health is the latest in a series of legal actions from the Trump administration against organizations that provide […]