The recent decline in overdose deaths hides a tremendous disparity by race: Deaths have fallen only among white people while continuing to rise among people of color, according to a new Stateline analysis of federal data. Health experts in nonwhite communities say they’re finding strategies that work in their areas, but that they still struggle for […]
WASHINGTON — A pro-democracy organization warned Monday that disinformation and violent rhetoric could make the weeks that follow Election Day especially fraught, pushing the country past the upheaval that arose four years ago during the last presidential transition. The comments from three members of the Defend Democracy Project came just days before voting ends on […]
An effort to legalize abortion in Missouri has raised nearly 10 times more than the political action committees seeking to stop it. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind Amendment 3, which would legalize abortion up until the point of fetal viability, has raised more than $30.9 million since launching its campaign in 2023, according […]
Cynara Velazquez became familiar with Michael Halow over the summer. Velazquez is an organizer with the California nonprofit called Cannabis Education Project that San Diego County hired in March to implement its social-equity cannabis program. The group largely helps people who were imprisoned for cannabis apply for a license to sell or grow marijuana. That’s […]
After trying to convince voters that legalized sports betting would boost Missouri education funding, the campaign for Amendment 2 is now focused on the fact that residents already bet in large numbers and allowing it in the state will capture some of the revenue, a spokesman said Monday. Winning for Missouri Education, the committee promoting […]
WASHINGTON — Democrats have increasingly cried out for new rules for the nation’s highest court, and the 2024 presidential election reflects a clear party divide over how Supreme Court justices should behave and whether they should remain on the bench for life. The erasure of a nearly 50-year-old national right to abortion, the granting of […]
Early one morning last year, as state Rep. Josh Bray left his small town of Mount Vernon in southeastern Kentucky to make his way to the Capitol in Frankfort, he decided to count how many drivers he saw texting or distracted by something else. He quit counting after 24 when he saw a truck driver […]
Physician David Mehr addressed a dozen voters gathered Saturday morning at the Columbia headquarters of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the coalition behind a proposed amendment would enshrine the right to abortion in Missouri’s constitution. Meanwhile, physicians greeted volunteers in St. Louis County, and still more gathered in Kansas City, as part of the coalition’s final […]
Missouri plans to spend millions from state marijuana taxes on a laboratory to help regulators keep tabs on the safety and potency of more than $1 billion of joints, edibles and other cannabis products sold annually across the state. Health experts and consumer groups applauded the added regulatory check, outlined in an Oct. 11 report […]
WASHINGTON — As an exceedingly bitter, tight and dark campaign for the presidency moves into its last moments, apprehensive election officials and experts warn Election Day is only the first step. The closing of the polls and end of mail-in voting kick off a nearly three-month process before the next president of the United States […]
In the final days of the presidential election, lies about noncitizens voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely over social media. Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the […]
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s contention that a decrease in teen pregnancy could hurt the state financially and politically is “an absolutely insane argument,” his Democratic rival on the Nov. 5 ballot said Thursday. “Apparently he believes we need more teen pregnancies in Missouri, because otherwise we might lose a congressional seat or federal funding […]
In April 2023, Osage County Clerk Nicci Kammerich agreed to an experiment — she would tally municipal election results by hand, a move urged by residents who argued it would be cheaper, quicker and more secure. The results, Kammerich wrote after the election, were the opposite. The vote count finished three hours later than the […]
The final pre-election fundraising reports for Missouri’s U.S. Senate race show Democrat Lucas Kunce continuing to outpace incumbent Republican Josh Hawley, bringing his total since the start of 2023 to almost three times his rival. In the period from Oct. 1 to Oct. 16, Kunce took in $1.6 million, with two committees raising money for […]
WASHINGTON — Nearly 30 million Americans by Thursday had cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, with 13 million choosing to vote in person at early voting centers and another 17 million submitting mail-in ballots, according to data from the University of Florida’s election lab. The total number of early votes is expected to increase […]
The fate of a partially enacted federal plan to forgive student loans and lower monthly payments is in the hands of a panel of three GOP-appointed judges on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorneys from the federal government and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office made their arguments Thursday afternoon before Judges Raymond Gruender, Ralph […]
With some GOP leaders in Missouri already plotting ways to overturn an abortion-rights amendment if it passes next month, the Republican set to take over as speaker of the state House says lawmakers should abide by the will of the voters. State Rep. Jon Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican expected to become House speaker when […]
DURHAM, N.C. — As a weekend morning in late September dips into the afternoon, Annar Parikh finally gets an eligible voter to answer the door. After Parikh gives a rundown of some of the local candidates in North Carolina’s election, she asks the woman if she plans to vote in the presidential election. “It’s personal,” […]
Of the many annoyances in life, a trip to the local motor vehicle office can rank near the top. In early November, the Missouri Department of Revenue will activate new equipment intended to reduce the aggravation, speed up lines and get all of its systems talking to one another. “With this roll out, there’s going […]
On Halloween night, when the two leading contenders for the U.S. Senate seat on this year’s Missouri ballot hold their second and final debate, moderators have an opportunity to conduct a radical thought experiment. The hosts of the Nexstar televised event could ask U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, the Republican incumbent, and his Democratic challenger, Lucas […]
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