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Back in September I asked: If each U.S. Senate primary candidate held a Texas Hold ‘Em starting hand, what would they be, and why? Five months later, it’s time for an update.  But first, the rules. In Texas Hold ‘Em, two cards are dealt face down to each player, while five “community cards” are dealt […]

The post Missouri’s GOP Senate primary as a hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, part two: The flop | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The state of Missouri is planning an official end to the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health crisis and will transition to treating the virus as endemic, much like it does the seasonal flu. The target date for when Missouri’s public health agencies would begin treating COVID-19 as endemic is mid-March, the two-year anniversary of […]

The post Missouri plotting official ‘end’ to COVID-19 pandemic as soon as March, document says appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State employees anticipating a raise should be patient and it will arrive as soon as possible, Gov. Mike Parson wrote in a memo Monday to workers waiting for the pay boost he wanted to begin this month. But for some, stretched by working overtime to complete work that would go to unfilled jobs and considering […]

The post Gov. Parson holds out hope for $15 state worker minimum wage appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When Susan Klotz heard the governor had announced he would be allowing the COVID-19 state of emergency to expire at midnight on New Year’s Eve, it sent her and her patients into a panic. Klotz, a family nurse practitioner, started her own clinic in Ash Grove with her husband during the pandemic. To help deal […]

The post ‘A shock’: Healthcare orgs kept in the dark when Missouri ended COVID emergency order appeared first on Missouri Independent.

On the Friday before a drawn-out confirmation battle ended with his ouster from office, Missouri state Health Director Donald Kauerauf wrote an impassioned letter meant to convince conservative legislators who were on the fence about his appointment.  The message: While he believed in vaccines and data and science, he didn’t believe in vaccine mandates. Missourians, […]

The post Before ouster, Missouri health director drafted a letter to senators that was never sent appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]

The post American Farm Bureau Federation claims it’s the ‘voice of agriculture.’ Others beg to differ appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Spire Missouri’s warnings that St. Louis customers could be left without heat this winter if the company’s affiliated pipeline shut down were misleading, left out key context and heightened public panic, an investigation by state regulators concluded.  But staff of the Missouri Public Service Commission won’t pursue a complaint against the natural gas utility because […]

The post Spire ‘created unnecessary panic and confusion’ with warnings of gas outages, regulators say appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News. The Biden administration and state officials are bracing for a great unwinding: Millions of people losing their Medicaid benefits when the pandemic health emergency ends. Some might sign up for different insurance. Many others are bound to get lost in the transition. State Medicaid agencies for […]

The post Why millions on Medicaid are at risk of losing coverage in the months ahead appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Missouri lawmaker facing a 23-count federal indictment for allegedly selling fake stem-cell treatments and fraudulently using federal pandemic relief funds has settled with the state health department, resulting in a three-year probation of her narcotics license while admitting to illegally purchasing and prescribing pharmaceutical drugs. The administrative settlement, signed Jan. 28 with the Missouri […]

The post Missouri lawmaker admits illegally selling prescription drugs, says it was unintentional appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In June 1961, DeVerne Calloway sat down at her typewriter to write a column about the uncertain future of the Freedom Rides organized by the activist group Congress of Racial Equity (CORE). For almost two months, the Freedom Riders had faced severe beatings and harsh arrests in their efforts to challenge segregated interstate buses.  Calloway, […]

The post DeVerne Calloway’s legacy in Missouri politics celebrated during Black History Month appeared first on Missouri Independent.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler scored a major victory on Saturday in her quest for Missouri’s open Senate seat, winning the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley in the crowded GOP primary. Hawley made the announcement at the Missouri GOP’s annual Lincoln Days event in St. Charles. Hartzler is part of a six-way primary, with former […]

The post Josh Hawley endorses Vicky Hartzler in GOP primary for Missouri U.S. Senate seat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When the Missouri Senate recognizes “special guests,” it is normally a pleasant diversion, announcing visits from school groups, constituents or perhaps family. Not on Thursday. Instead, it was another vehicle for airing the Republican factionalism that has shredded this year’s session.  Sen. Mike Cierpiot read prepared remarks about former Sen. Jim Lembke, a political consultant […]

The post Tempers fray as Missouri Senate Republicans fight over Congressional map appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter targeted by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson for uncovering a security flaw in a state-run website won’t face criminal charges. The decision comes after the governor spent months publicly labeling the reporter a “hacker” for discovering the flaw and notifying the state about it. Parson asked the state highway patrol to […]

The post Prosecutor isn’t pressing charges against reporter who found flaw in state website appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Federal government funding runs out in just a week, Congress hasn’t cleared a short-term measure to avoid a shutdown, despite broad bipartisan support — and the latest holdup is over claims the Biden administration wants to pay for crack pipes as part of  “safe smoking” kits. The stopgap spending bill passed the U.S. […]

The post Short-term federal spending patch held up by Tennessee senator over crack pipe controversy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A handful of Republican lawmakers lashed out at the state’s medical marijuana industry Thursday, lobbing accusations of corruption into a Missouri House debate over whether to make it harder to amend the state’s Constitution.  On a mostly party-line 98-53 vote, the Missouri House signed off on legislation Thursday that would require a two-thirds vote of […]

The post Criticism of Missouri medical marijuana system seeps into initiative petition debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.

I recently watched hundreds of videos from the Jan. 6 insurrection. Many of the stark moments from the attack on the U.S. Capitol are well-known — the battle at the west terrace tunnel, the shooting of rioter Ashli Babbitt, the desecration of the Senate chamber. But nothing provides the kind of granular and exhaustive understanding of that day like […]

The post What I learned from watching more than 500 Jan. 6 videos | Opinion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State lawmakers have no authority over how the Missouri Department of Transportation spends the state road fund, as long as it is within constitutional limits, an attorney told Cole County Circuit Judge Cotton Walker during a Thursday hearing. Because the Missouri Constitution says the road fund “stands appropriated without legislative action” at the “sole discretion” […]

The post MoDOT seeks ruling to free state road fund from lawmakers’ control appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As a young girl, state Rep. Raychel Proudie remembers when the beads in her hair would clap together as she walked. Her teachers would call it a “distraction” — the same way they did when her hair was “too high.” “You would come home and tell your mom, or she would get a note about […]

The post Missouri bill to prevent hair discrimination advances on eve of Black History Month appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Clean energy tax credits President Joe Biden proposed in his massive domestic spending and climate measure last year would help electric utilities build resilience and transmission lines, utility CEOs told Biden at a White House event Wednesday. But the $1.9 trillion budget measure, which Biden and allies call Build Back Better, is in limbo because […]

The post Electricity CEOs tout Biden clean energy tax credits, despite stalled plan appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After the conservative caucus once again hijacked proceedings in the Missouri Senate Wednesday afternoon over the state’s redistricting plan, a bipartisan group of women senators denounced what they called the “purely political” way the debate has played out so far. Sen. Elaine Gannon, R-De Soto, took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon and declared it […]

The post As Missouri redistricting filibuster resumes, women senators decry ‘self serving’ debate appeared first on Missouri Independent.