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Leading Dem on US House education panel, advocates blast student loan changes

1 week 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — Education experts and advocates warned Wednesday that the recent federal student loan system overhaul stemming from the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut law will drive borrowers to private lenders and could derail their higher education plans.  U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Education and […]
Shauneen Miranda

Cyclosporiasis outbreak surges to over 4.1K confirmed cases

1 week 6 days ago
The number of cases of cyclosporiasis — a parasitic infection linked to contaminated water or food that causes severe intestinal issues — has more than doubled to over 4,173 cases across 41 states this week, up from the 1,645 confirmed cases in 34 states reported last week by the federal Centers for Disease Control and […]
Shalina Chatlani

State AGs join legal fight against Trump’s wind farm freeze

2 weeks ago
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general has joined a lawsuit seeking to end the Trump administration’s halt of onshore wind projects in the United States. Last week, 18 states and the District of Columbia moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by wind industry companies against the Department of Defense.  The companies and state […]
Alex Brown

Missouri maternal deaths remain mostly preventable, sixth state report finds

2 weeks ago
From 2019 to 2023, 340 Missourians died while pregnant or within a year after pregnancy. Of those, 108 deaths were classified as pregnancy-related — meaning caused or aggravated by the pregnancy itself — and nearly 80% of them were preventable. The findings were part of the sixth annual Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review, published this month by […]
Anna Spoerre

Trump administration claims court victory in mandatory detention

2 weeks ago
The Trump administration claimed a rare court victory for its embattled immigration detention policy when an appeals court, covering three states with large detention centers, agreed to stay court rulings that freed three Texas immigrants during an appeal.  The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a terse July 21 ruling, agreed to stay three […]
Tim Henderson

US House approves joint measure to curb Congress’ stock trading, require voter ID

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans passed a measure to curb stock trading by members of Congress that was packaged with an unrelated voter ID bill, part of President Donald Trump’s push for major federal involvement in elections. The legislation passed by a vote of 232-198. All Republicans and 13 Democrats voted in favor. The bill faces […]
Ashley Murray

US House GOP pushes through budget blueprint for Iran war funding, farm aid

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Republicans in the U.S. House on Wednesday approved their outline for the third party-line budget measure of the second Trump administration, though they won’t be able to begin work on that package until they reach agreement with their Senate colleagues on a plan forward.  The 216-214 vote on a budget resolution sets up […]
Jennifer Shutt

After a man dies in police custody, residents in a Missouri town demand answers

2 weeks ago
SIKESTON — Not everyone at Lloyd Gilmore’s funeral knew him well. One woman, who had ironed her clothes two days in advance, said she just wanted to be there for his family. School-age children, guided by their parents, approached his open casket in the sanctuary of Cornerstone Baptist Church and peeked inside. Other people looked […]
Cara Anthony

Citing a hunger ‘crisis,’ US mayors call for end to federal SNAP cuts

2 weeks ago
More than 200 American mayors are calling on the federal government to reverse changes that will cost states billions and push millions of people off the food stamp program. This week, the United States Conference of Mayors asked the U.S. Senate’s agriculture committee to reconsider the deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or […]
Kevin Hardy

Trump proposal to end employer race, gender reporting advances

2 weeks 1 day ago
A federal commission voted Tuesday in favor of a Trump administration proposal to rescind requirements that larger employers report the demographics of their workers — information that’s used to help enforce racial and gender antidiscrimination laws. Most employers with 100 or more workers have been required to submit data annually on staff sex, race and […]
Nada Hassanein

Gambling company bankrolls attacks in Missouri Senate District 16 GOP primary

2 weeks 1 day ago
An Illinois gambling company seeking to legalize video lottery terminals in Missouri is financing a radio campaign attacking former state Rep. Hannah Kelly in a four-way Republican primary for the state Senate. J&J Ventures of Effingham, Illinois, is the only donor to Legio XIII PAC, a political action committee created May 13, Missouri Ethics Commission […]
Rudi Keller

Republicans in US House approve stopgap spending bill ahead of Oct. 1 deadline

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a stopgap spending bill Tuesday that would keep the government up and running through the fall, sending it to the Senate, where lawmakers expect to rework the measure. Congress must pass a government funding bill before the new fiscal year starts on Oct. 1 in order to avoid a […]
Jennifer Shutt

ICE arrests reach new high

2 weeks 1 day ago
Immigration arrests reached 1,593 per day in early July in a new push to detain and deport immigrants that has led to deaths in traffic stops. There were more than 43,000 arrests in June, the highest recorded by the Trump administration, according to statistics released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reflecting new bookings […]
Tim Henderson

Thousands of immigrant kids risk losing legal aid after Trump administration delays funds

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — As many as 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children are at risk of losing their federally funded legal representation due to the Trump administration withholding appropriated funds, immigration attorneys warned Tuesday. For more than six months, the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement has not released $65 million Congress appropriated for legal […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missouri lawmakers fight utility bid to bypass competition on new power lines

2 weeks 1 day ago
Electric companies in the Midwest say new large scale powerlines are needed to get more energy onto the grid to serve big power consumers such as artificial intelligence data centers. Now, the utilities argue reducing competition is the fastest way to do it. A group of nine electric transmission utilities, including Ameren and Evergy, is […]
Jana Rose Schleis

Graves-linked group alleges Nathan Willett violated state, federal campaign-finance laws

2 weeks 1 day ago
On April 30, the day Nathan Willett’s state Senate campaign committee declared itself dissolved, it sent $165,384.46 — most of its remaining campaign cash — to a small Georgia nonprofit. Seven weeks later, that nonprofit, Grassroots America Inc., contributed $160,384.46 to Conservative Future Fund, a super PAC that has reported spending more than $207,000 in […]
Jason Hancock