As a local, Black-led, community-based nonprofit, Coalition with STL Kids spent months talking to hundreds of parents about the troubling state of St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS). We wrote and spoke to the Missouri state auditor’s office and pleaded for an audit of SLPS. We raised concerns about the district’s academic performance, financial management and […]
President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to leave open the possibility that the federal government won’t livestream a military execution planned for December that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said would be public. But Trump also told reporters at the White House that he had “absolutely” approved livestreaming the execution. The apparently contradictory comments came as […]
In the course of a single election cycle, the backlash against data centers has grown from an issue at local planning commission and city council meetings to become a flashpoint in state and federal races across the country. Candidates who once touted data centers as an economic boon have backtracked, and voters in at least three dozen […]
Measles cases for the calendar year surpassed 4,000 for the first time in decades, with as many as five deaths in Pennsylvania, as the federal government steps in with financial help for states but also fans vaccination fears and skepticism. A weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 4,080 cases this […]
Missourians will vote next month on a proposal to set aside and invest state money that could remain untouched for more than a century, with the eventual goal of generating enough earnings to eliminate state taxes. Amendment 7 will ask voters if they would like to enshrine in the state’s constitution a “permanent public endowment […]
A former Cornell University student’s allegations of gang rape in 2024 have renewed attention on a difficult area of sexual assault law. A person can be awake, responsive and even able to move during a sexual encounter while still being so intoxicated or impaired that they cannot understand what is happening or make an informed […]
Missouri is headed toward a potentially painful budget reckoning as state spending continues to outpace revenue growth. The two leading candidates for state auditor agree that should be a major concern for the office. They disagree over what the auditor can — and should — do about it. Republican incumbent Scott Fitzpatrick argues the auditor’s […]
Andrew Bailey has been back in Missouri for about two weeks, and he already has a message. Speaking to a recent gathering of Boone County Republicans, the former attorney general said there’s “a real disconnect right now between where the people are and where some of our leadership is.” He said lobbyists and political consultants […]
The growing attention being given to Missouri’s child welfare system offers a critical opportunity to address not only the challenges with the system, but the circumstances that bring families to a point of crisis — and into contact with the system in the first place. Children’s Division Director Sara Smith has made significant strides within her […]
On Friday morning, the prediction market platform Kalshi gave the Democratic candidate in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race an 87% chance of winning. The volume of trading on the outcome exceeded $1.8 million. This is exactly the type of activity Minnesota and numerous other states want to shut down. “They jeopardize people’s trust in government and […]
President Donald Trump has formed a White House committee to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, escalating even further a lengthy feud with the Federal Reserve Board member. The three-member committee will seek evidence that Cook made false statements in obtaining a mortgage and will hold a closed-door hearing at the White House on Nov. […]
WASHINGTON — Rebecca Myers lives in one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional districts, and tariffs were on her mind as she voted early and in-person in Suffolk, Virginia in late September. The 44-year-old trained social worker said she and her husband, who recently retired after 25 years in the U.S. Navy, are raising […]
Urban hospitals are closing at roughly the same rate as rural ones, and the shuttered hospitals are more likely to have served communities with high poverty rates and fewer transportation options, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal JAMA. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed hospital closures and […]
SPRINGFIELD — Melanie Stinnett and Betsy Fogle have more in common than their political affiliations might suggest. Both came to politics after careers helping Missourians navigate a complicated healthcare system. Both have made improving access to services for people with disabilities a priority. And both worked this year to restore proposed cuts to funding that […]
A perfect storm of harsh immigration enforcement, aging journeymen and a building boom for data centers is wreaking havoc on the nation’s supply of skilled trade workers. Automakers and construction contractors say they need more access to workers through accelerated training, steady immigration and a cultural shift to encourage young people to do the hard, […]
LEE’S SUMMIT — Marching up and down the front steps of split level homes in a Lee’s Summit neighborhood on a recent Monday evening, Democratic state Rep. Keri Ingle was not the first to tell residents about the upcoming election. As her bright pink tennis shoes reached the stoop of the first house on her […]
I am Jane Doe. I was a freshman in college, second semester, when I got a call from my mom that my dad was in the hospital. I should find my older brother and we should come home. In the hour and a half it took me to locate my brother on campus (landlines, kids), […]
WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is demanding his colleagues across the aisle apologize to former special counsel Jack Smith after Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt launched false accusations at a recent hearing and called the former Justice Department official a “dirtbag.” Committee ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., accused his […]
WASHINGTON — A federal judge will rule in the coming days on whether the Trump administration can legally rescind White House press passes for journalists at three news organizations, or if those reporters will be able to continue accessing the grounds while the case continues. U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Timothy J. […]
WASHINGTON — Leading immigration advocates and experts sounded the alarm Wednesday on the Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to undo state laws allowing some immigrants to pay in-state college tuition in the states where they reside. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued 24 states, Washington, D.C., and the University of Delaware since President Donald Trump […]
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