MoInd 📰

The Health and Human Services Department illegally withheld payments from Head Start for the first months of President Donald Trump’s term, a government watchdog reported Wednesday. HHS payments for Head Start this year were significantly behind schedule compared with 2024. That violated the Impoundment Control Act, a law governing the president’s duty to spend congressionally […]

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration official running the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified Wednesday the response to flash flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend served as an “outstanding” model for the rest of the country. His conclusions about the catastrophic flooding, which had a death toll of 135 and included extensive search and […]

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday it was cancelling a conditional $4.9 billion loan for the Grain Belt Express, a planned transmission line designed to transport electricity generated by wind farms in Kansas across four states, including Missouri. The loan, which was issued by the Biden administration in November 2024, is being cancelled because […]

The clergy, 250 strong, gathered on the steps of the Kansas City Convention Center. They proclaimed a clear, moral argument opposing the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign targeting immigrants. “God knows no border” was among the chants. They were among thousands attending the United Church of Christ General Synod in Kansas City July 11-15. The […]

For as much promise as artificial intelligence shows in making life better, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is worried. The tech leader who has done so much to develop AI and make it accessible to the public says the technology could have life-altering effects on nearly everything, particularly if deployed by the wrong hands. There’s a […]

This story was originally published by KCUR 89.3.   In July 2023, LaTonya Williams, volunteer president of the school board in St. Joseph, Missouri, posted photos on her personal Facebook page of recent purchases from Target. Among them were rainbow pillows and other colorful items she found in the dollar bin, intended for use at […]

WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday blasted President Donald Trump’s administration for what they called “cruelty” and “lawlessness” in carrying out mass deportations of migrants without legal status. At a forum at the U.S. Capitol, Democrats who sit on the House Homeland Security Committee and others rebuked the administration’s sweeping immigration […]

Republicans on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to rename the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for first lady Melania Trump. The panel adopted, 33-25, a package of amendments to the bill funding the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal 2026 that included a provision to designate the […]

WASHINGTON — House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but halted any possibility of floor action. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he’s sending his members back to their districts until September to avoid “political games” relating to a bipartisan […]

Cities and counties are not allowed to stack sales taxes on marijuana products, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.  In a 6-1 decision, the state’s highest court concluded the 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana limits the definition of “local government” to allow only one municipality to impose a 3% sales tax — […]

Problems with the presentation of a Missouri Sunshine Law case, along with misinterpretation of a lower court ruling, doomed the appeal in a closely watched lawsuit over what must be included in a meeting notice and what constitutes a meeting that can be held on short notice. The Western District Missouri Court of Appeals, in […]

This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday, blocking a provision in Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law that would have barred Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year. District Court Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a 36-page opinion that Planned Parenthood established “a substantial likelihood of success […]

The Missouri Supreme Court isn’t as ready to hear the appeal of a ruling that allowed abortions to resume in the state as Attorney General Andrew Bailey is to argue it in front of the seven judges. In filings for an appeal of Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang’s July 3 preliminary injunction, Bailey’s office […]

The head of Missouri’s cannabis testing unit said the new unannounced visits to collect product samples shouldn’t impact business, in a podcast by the Missouri Cannabis Regulation Division. “This is going to be just another arm of compliance, guys,” said Ryan Bernard, the division’s testing and research unit manager. “So keep this business as usual […]

WASHINGTON — Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law will add $3.394 trillion to deficits during the next decade and lead 10 million people to lose access to health insurance, according to an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The updated assessment of the sweeping tax and spending cuts law came weeks after nearly every […]

Congress set aside $50 billion for rural hospitals and medical providers to allay fears over the billions more in historic cuts to federal health care spending that President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day. But is that bandage big enough to save struggling rural hospitals? “I have more questions than I have answers,” […]

The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved new rates for Ameren’s gas customers, adding around 12%, or $13, to the average customer’s monthly bills. John Coffman, a lawyer for the Consumers Council of Missouri, said rate increases are outpacing both inflation and wage growth. “We believe that these increases are fueling inflation generally in the […]

With hurricane and wildfire season well underway across much of the country, state and local emergency managers say they have little idea how much support the federal government will provide if disaster strikes. And the recent deadly floods in Texas have shown just how dire the need can be. President Donald Trump has imposed severe […]

Outcry over the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files includes calls by leading Missouri Republicans for the president to order the release of as much documentation as possible to put the issue to rest.  U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley told KMOV-TV on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration should “release everything they can.” “Whatever […]

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to once again publish details about the pace at which it plans to spend money approved by Congress. U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote in his ruling that Congress “has sweeping authority” to require the president to post […]