MoInd 📰

Samantha Blum hasn’t been able to secure investors for her small-scale marijuana cultivation facility in the two years since Missouri awarded her a microbusiness license. So she and her longtime partner, Anthony La Pietra, decided to give up and fund the entire operation themselves, cashing in La Pietra’s retirement to build a greenhouse in Adrian, […]

Most Missourians, like most Americans, do not want abortion to be a crime.  This is a problem for Missouri Republicans, who demonstrated last legislative session that their top priority is not the business of the state and attending to Missourians’ needs, but the reinstatement of the abortion ban that voters just rejected.  Because they know […]

This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — Seven U.S. Senate Democrats and one independent joined Republicans on Sunday night in advancing legislation to reopen the government and temporarily keep it afloat until the end of January, after a record-breaking shutdown that began Oct. 1. Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan […]

Following a late Friday emergency ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Trump administration has instructed states that authorized full November nutrition assistance benefits to return a portion, another unprecedented reversal for a program that helps 42 million people afford groceries. A Saturday memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states […]

The first flights affected by a new Federal Aviation Administration directive led to widespread delays and cancellations Friday. The FAA will ramp up to a 10% reduction in flights at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports by Nov. 14, starting with a 4% reduction Friday.  More than 1,000 flights had been canceled by 5 p.m. Eastern  […]

WASHINGTON — Senators on Friday said they plan to remain in town for the weekend, a sign negotiations may be picking up to approve a stopgap spending measure and end the government shutdown, now at day 38. A vote on a package of spending bills could come either Saturday or Sunday that would partially fund […]

This report has been updated. The U.S. Department of Agriculture told states Friday it was releasing full November funding for the nation’s major food assistance program that helps 42 million people afford groceries, complying with a federal court order issued Thursday. The midday memo to states contradicted the Trump administration’s weeks-long position that funding the […]

When Rob Connoley shut down his award-winning St. Louis restaurant last year, business was thriving. Tourists and locals alike lauded Bulrush as a destination for Ozark cuisine, making its way into local and national publications as a top restaurant. Profit margins were beyond national averages, and Connoley was a newly awarded James Beard Award finalist. […]

A rainbow of crops fills farmer Abbey Innes’ table at the Columbia Farmers Market: tomatoes, squash, garlic, kale and flower bouquets — all from her and her husband’s 15-acre farm in Howard County. But for a few markets last year, the table was a bit emptier. “We planted hundreds of pounds of seed potatoes and […]

States are moving in sharply different directions on the death penalty, with some looking to broaden when and how executions occur while others try to scale them back or end them entirely. Lawmakers in more than half of the states have introduced over 100 bills this year to either expand or limit capital punishment, to […]

With some early childhood education centers already closing their doors because of the federal government shutdown, local leaders are scrambling to find money to keep Head Start programs available to some of the country’s most vulnerable children. Head Start programs, which serve more than 700,000 low-income children across the country, are almost entirely federally funded. […]

Missouri public schools showed continued improvement in annual performance reports released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Thursday, with 56% of districts and charter schools raising their scores. The state is in its fourth year of the Missouri School Improvement Program 6, which education officials deem “more rigorous” than the previous iteration of […]

This report has been updated. A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration Thursday to pay roughly $9 billion for a full month of nutrition assistance benefits by the next day. Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama, said the administration blew its chance to […]

A newly formed political action committee created to defend the gerrymandered congressional map drawn by Missouri lawmakers received $100,000 this week from national Republicans. On Wednesday, Put Missouri First reported two $50,000 contributions — one from the National Republican Congressional Committee and the other from the Republican National Committee. It marks the first contributions to […]

The United States gained 42,000 jobs in October, the first increase since July as measured by ADP, a private payroll processing company and the only source of jobs estimates during the government shutdown, as federal jobs reports have been paused. ADP’s report, released Wednesday, showed job increases mostly in West Coast states, which gained 37,000 […]

As masked and costumed protesters demonstrate outside federal immigration facilities nationwide, the federal government has sped up the start of a new rule that may expose those protesters to fines and additional penalties. Under the new rule, which took effect Wednesday, those fines can apply to people who commit crimes near federal property as well […]

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who made history as the first woman to hold the speaker’s gavel, announced Thursday she will retire, ending a 40-year legislative career as one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.  Her announcement came after Tuesday’s elections. Pelosi had a hand in crafting what was known as […]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Before Abhinav Kochar traveled from India to the United States to study computer science in late 2023, a consular official interviewed him at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. It’s in a scene repeated countless times around the world each year as foreign students seek access to American higher education. The […]

If Missouri’s newly gerrymandered congressional map makes it to the ballot next year, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants to tell voters it “better reflects statewide voting patterns” and replaces a “gerrymandered” version that “protects incumbent politicians.” Hoskins on Friday sent the proposed ballot language for a referendum petition to Republican Attorney General Catherine […]

Halloween might be over, but the tricks aren’t. As Missourians pack away the costumes and candy, our state’s anti-abortion politicians are still playing dress-up, hoping to trick voters into giving up the rights we fought to win just one year ago. A year ago this week, Missourians made history. We became the first state in […]