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This story was originally published on The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Water is critical to America’s meat habit. Cows, pigs and chickens drink it. Farmers clean barns and cool animals with it. Meatpackers sanitize plants and wash their product with it. But, most importantly, water grows the crops needed to feed the millions of […]

The post Meat companies lag behind other corporations in the food industry on sustainable water use appeared first on Missouri Independent.

SLSCO, a Texas-based construction company, made lofty promises to Missouri’s state health department over the summer that, if hired, it could immediately send hundreds of healthcare workers to aid struggling hospitals. As evidence, the company pointed to filling a request within 36 hours for 200 intensive care unit nurses and staff in California, and indicated […]

The post Missouri spent $25 million to aid hospitals. Contract marked by no-shows, high costs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A week ago, I was talking to an educator whose job it is to run training programs for students and adults in higher education. She told me that around a dozen different companies and groups were sponsoring training courses for things like nursing assistants, medical workers, electricians and truck driving. All of the courses were […]

The post Making the simple impossible: We don’t want to admit the real worker shortage problem | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The City of St. Louis is asking a panel of federal judges to reconsider a January decision to allow a lawsuit against city police officers to go to trial.  Short of that, the city is asking for a rehearing in front of the entire U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eighth District to stop […]

The post St. Louis tries to block lawsuit against police officers from going to trial appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Local election officials want new state Senate district maps as soon as possible, Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller told the Judicial Redistricting Commission Friday. But when the panel’s public hearing was over, no one would say when it must be finished. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office provided clarity a few hours later – the […]

The post Judges must produce Missouri Senate map before candidate filing closes appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Americans may be tempted to view the war in Ukraine as an unfortunate, but far away, crisis. As an economist, I know the world is too connected for the U.S. to go unaffected. On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine – and U.S. efforts to thwart or punish it – […]

The post How the Ukraine invasion could affect you: Higher food, gas prices, risk of recession | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The United States and Western allies stepped up economic sanctions on Russia following its escalated attack on Ukraine, President Joe Biden said at the White House on Thursday. Biden had for weeks pledged to impose significant sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin followed through on plans to invade Ukraine. As the invasion ramped […]

The post New U.S. sanctions on Russia target banks, high-tech imports appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first bill sent to Gov. Mike Parson from this year’s legislative session includes a pay raise for state employees, money to fund Medicaid through the end of the fiscal year and federal COVID-19 recovery funding for schools. The Missouri House on Thursday voted 133-12 to pass the $4.6 billion supplemental spending bill approved Wednesday […]

The post Governor signs $4.6B spending plan, House approves bill targeting Medicaid expansion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Three men pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges after admitting plans to attack the power grid “in furtherance of white supremacist ideology,” according to documents unsealed Wednesday. Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Indiana, and of Katy, Texas; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, each pleaded […]

The post Three men plead guilty to plotting a white supremacist attack on power grid appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden Thursday vowed a “united and decisive” wave of sanctions against Russia after the country’s leaders ordered a military assault on Ukraine. Russian military forces began attacking several cities and towns throughout the country, according to multiple news reports. The Washington Post reported that a senior U.S. defense official said the incursion is taking […]

The post Waves of Russian forces launch assault on Ukraine and U.S. prepares added sanctions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon. Robert Petrie takes pride in his job. The 38-year-old started working as a Walmart cart attendant in Sedalia, Missouri, nearly two years ago. He made the move when he said his old job with McDonald’s wasn’t challenging enough anymore – the same reason he decided […]

The post Sheltered workshop or community jobs? Missouri debates disabled adults in the workforce appeared first on Missouri Independent.

With a deadline looming that could cost Missouri almost $2 billion in federal education aid, the bill to distribute the money passed the state Senate on Wednesday after Democrats slammed a zero-dollar funding line as a partisan attack on Planned Parenthood. The $4.6 billion spending bill approved on a 25-7 vote is the first legislation […]

The post Missouri Senate passes $4.6B spending bill with pay raises, federal school funds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

For four months, Gov. Mike Parson tried to convince Missourians that a reporter who discovered a security flaw in a state website was a hacker who deserved criminal prosecution.  His argument crashed headlong into reality on Monday, when the 158-page investigative file produced by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Cole County prosecutor was finally […]

The post Claim that reporter hacked state website was debunked. Parson still says he’s a criminal appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt says he isn’t imposing any conditions on his support for the eventual winner of the Republican primary to succeed him — even if the nominee is former Gov. Eric Greitens.  Blunt was asked about the GOP primary at a press conference following his Wednesday address to the Missouri House. He used […]

The post Blunt offers unconditional support for winner of Missouri GOP Senate primary appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri continuously ranks in the top 10 of states for gun violence deaths and the number of women killed by their partners.  Domestic violence hotlines throughout Missouri receive on average about 200 calls a day, and in 2020 nearly 30,000 individuals received services through the state’s domestic violence programs. The numbers are staggering, yet Missouri […]

The post It’s time Missouri lawmakers close the domestic violence gun loophole | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A beef processing facility 40 miles southeast of downtown Kansas City polluted at least a mile of nearby streams and allowed septic tanks of sewage and entrails to overflow, state regulators found this month.  The facility, the former site of a beef operation that neighbors felt threatened a nearby botanical garden, was referred on Feb. […]

The post Beef processing facility near KC in violation of Missouri regulations for polluting waters appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first day of candidate filing is like the first day of spring training, with everyone excited for the future and hopeful that this is the year of the amazing upset that makes a champion out of last year’s also-ran. It is also the day for sharpening knives in hotly contested primaries, and the Republicans […]

The post Missouri GOP Senate hopefuls trade jabs as candidate filing opens appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Mary Holmes, a 55-year-old St. Louis resident with cancer and other health challenges, says she has struggled to put food on the table for more than a month. Holmes relies on food assistance, but she hasn’t been able to get through the state’s call center line to maintain her federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) […]

The post Federal lawsuit targets Missouri’s ‘dysfunctional’ food assistance program appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Despite plans to invest in its largest solar facility ever, it’s unclear whether Ameren Missouri will keep up with ambitious goals for investments in renewable energy over the next few years.  Ameren is working to purchase a solar farm under development in southern Illinois for use by its Missouri customers. The electric utility, the largest […]

The post Ameren Missouri to acquire its largest solar farm to date appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Even though the cards are often stacked against us, farmers are the ultimate optimists. I’m a 4th generation cattle and grain farmer, and, right now, I’m optimistic that, for the first time since Teddy Roosevelt with the Packer and Stockers Act of 1921, we have a president that is trying to take on corporate control […]

The post Although forever optimists, family farmers are fighting for a future | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.