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Judge hears arguments over legality of gerrymandered Missouri congressional map

2 weeks 3 days ago
The old cliche that “silence is golden” became “silence is confusing” on Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court as attorneys argued over the power of Missouri lawmakers to gerrymander congressional maps in the middle of a decade.  Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh must decide if language missing from the state Constitution’s directive on when and how […]
Rudi Keller

Jeffery Epstein alleged in newly released emails that Trump ‘knew about the girls’

2 weeks 3 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein released emails Wednesday they say show President Donald Trump knew about the financier’s abuse of underage girls as far back as 2011. The three emails released by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform were among 23,000 pages of documents turned […]
Ashley Murray

Black homicide victims’ families most likely to be denied compensation

2 weeks 3 days ago
Families of Black homicide victims in the United States are more likely than any other group to seek financial assistance through state victim compensation programs — and they are the most likely to be denied, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Race and Justice. Researchers analyzed nearly 60,000 homicide-related compensation claims […]
Amanda Watford

The shutdown tug-of-war over SNAP benefits: a timeline

2 weeks 3 days ago
Payments for November for the nation’s main food assistance program have been delayed during the government shutdown, amid a confusing mess of contradicting guidance from the Trump administration and a flurry of court orders in two cases at every level of the federal judiciary. The off-and-on freeze of benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, […]
Jacob Fischler, Ashley Murray

Kansas county agrees to pay out $3 million over newspaper raid

2 weeks 4 days ago
TOPEKA — The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor. In two of the four agreements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret. “The Sheriff’s Office wishes to express its sincere regrets to Eric and […]
Anna Kaminski

FCC allows prisons, jails to charge more for phone and video calls

2 weeks 4 days ago
The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back limits on how much companies can charge incarcerated people and their families for phone and video calls. The 2-1 vote in late October reverses rate caps the FCC adopted last year under a 2023 law that allows the agency to set limits on prison phone and video call […]
Amanda Watford

Chiefs reportedly put out request for proposals for a new stadium in Kansas

2 weeks 4 days ago
TOPEKA, Kansas — The Kansas City Chiefs put out a request for proposals to design a new stadium on the Kansas side of the state line and are negotiating for land near the Kansas Speedway, according to two reports from Kansas City area talk show hosts.  Pete Mundo of KCMO talk radio broke the news […]
Morgan Chilson

Deal ending government shutdown includes restrictions on intoxicating hemp products

2 weeks 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — Kentucky’s two U.S. senators sparred this week over the future of the country’s hemp industry — one arguing that a provision attached to the package that will reopen the government will close a problematic loophole and the other contending the language will regulate the industry “to death.” Sen. Mitch McConnell ultimately prevailed and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Thousands of refugees, legal immigrants in Missouri could lose food assistance

2 weeks 4 days ago
More than 3,000 immigrants who are in Missouri legally but are not citizens are expected to lose eligibility for the nation’s largest federal food assistance program this month due to the massive tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law in July, according to the state’s Department of Social Services. Another 6,000 could […]
Steph Quinn

PAC tied to Jay Ashcroft’s 2024 Missouri governor campaign fined for violating ethics laws 

2 weeks 4 days ago
The PAC backing Republican Jay Ashcroft’s 2024 bid for governor improperly coordinated with his campaign on a letter attacking his opponents, according to a consent agreement approved by the Missouri Ethics Commission. The Committee for Liberty, which spent $2.9 million promoting Ashcroft’s losing effort, must pay $536 and avoid future violations, states the agreement posted […]
Rudi Keller

Shutdown battle ebbs, but Trump won’t give up trying to withhold full SNAP benefits

2 weeks 4 days ago
The Trump administration continued Monday to press the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions requiring the federal government pay for full benefits for a major food program, even as Congress appeared to approach an end to the record-breaking government shutdown. Late Sunday, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Rhode Island […]
Jacob Fischler

Here’s the list of newly pardoned Trump fake electors, other allies

2 weeks 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced on Monday he pardoned his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other people allegedly involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but the president’s federal pardon does not shield members of the group from state charges. Posting to social media early Monday, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin released the […]
Ariana Figueroa

FDA to remove black box warning from hormone replacement therapy drugs

2 weeks 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed.  The black box warning, the strongest caution possible from the FDA, was added in the early 2000s after a […]
Jennifer Shutt

The midterm ballot measure battles have already begun

2 weeks 5 days ago
When Missouri Republican lawmakers approved a new district map in September to help their party in Congress, progressive activist Richard von Glahn was ready. Hours after the state legislature passed the gerrymandered map, von Glahn had submitted a proposed ballot petition to put it to the voters. It would be more than a month before […]
Jonathan Shorman

New Trump administration rule could override state medical debt protections

2 weeks 5 days ago
A new Trump administration rule issued late last month could override state laws that prevent consumers’ credit reports from including medical debt, potentially weakening financial protections for millions of Americans. In recent years, more than a dozen states have taken steps to keep medical debt from hurting residents’ credit scores, passing laws with bipartisan support. […]
Anna Claire Vollers

‘Blood, sweat and tears’: Missouri cannabis microbusiness owners begin to see light

2 weeks 5 days ago
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, […]
Rebecca Rivas

Missouri GOP using incest victims, miscarrying women as bait to re-ban abortion

2 weeks 5 days ago
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 […]
Bridgette Dunlap

US Senate advances bill to end record-breaking government shutdown

2 weeks 6 days ago
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 […]
Ashley Murray