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With vote-by-mail court fight settled, attention shifts to protections at the polls

2 weeks 4 days ago
Voting rights groups and Democratic officials are looking to defend against what they see as possible election interference from the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, now that they’ve won a major battle over mail ballots. Common Cause, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization, announced a “voter protection” campaign Thursday that would place thousands of […]
Jacob Fischler

Missouri’s literacy gains inspired me to postpone retirement

2 weeks 4 days ago
I’ve worked in education for 30 years, which means I can now retire and receive my full benefits.  But I’m not writing this from my favorite spot on my patio with my dogs beside me and my feet up; instead, I’m writing from my office as an elementary school principal in Phelps County, where I’ve […]
Melissa Wright

Federal court weighs whether it’s too late to revive Missouri’s gerrymandered map

2 weeks 4 days ago
The last legal battle over Missouri’s 2025 redistricting plan played out Thursday, with a panel of federal appeals court judges hearing from Republicans that they should reinstate the map designed to help the GOP flip a Democratic-held congressional seat. The hearing via videoconference before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals featured sharp exchanges over […]
Rudi Keller

Bipartisan push to set rules for college athletes’ pay continues to advance in US Senate

2 weeks 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday took another step forward on a sweeping bipartisan bill to overhaul the college sports world.  The measure, clearing its second procedural hurdle on a 77-22 vote, would set national standards for college athletes’ compensation, provide certain antitrust protections to the NCAA, establish a five-year eligibility timeline for athletes and bar professional […]
Shauneen Miranda

White House yanks nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement

2 weeks 4 days ago
WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday withdrew the nomination of Richard “Lance” Schroyer to lead the agency the president tasked with carrying out his mass deportation campaign, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, had yet to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  […]
Ariana Figueroa

Trump admin aims to shift homelessness grants toward addiction treatment, enforcement

2 weeks 5 days ago
In its latest effort to overhaul federal homelessness funding, the Trump administration is proposing to provide more money to localities that prioritize treatment-first policies such as sober living, more cooperation with law enforcement and more temporary and transitional housing.  It’s a reversal from a decade-long federal approach known as Housing First that sought to permanently […]
Robbie Sequeira

FDA acknowledges estrogen patch shortage, says it’s working to increase supply

2 weeks 5 days ago
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s helping manufacturers increase the supply of estrogen-based hormonal patches and acknowledged a current nationwide shortage as more women seek hormonal therapies for symptoms related to menopause. In a release earlier this month, the FDA said it is expediting actions to increase supply, and said all six manufacturers […]
Kelcie Moseley-Morris

Missouri congressman urged leniency for Ponzi schemer who hired longtime consultant

2 weeks 5 days ago
Weeks before a federal judge in St. Louis sentenced Siddharth Jawahar to 11 years in prison for running a $35 million Ponzi scheme, he hired a prominent Missouri political consulting firm to help generate favorable publicity and support for a lighter sentence. Jawahar’s $10,000 agreement with Axiom Strategies – obtained by federal prosecutors and later […]
Jason Hancock

Working Missourians can’t afford hidden hospital contract games

2 weeks 5 days ago
Every year, the trustees of our carpenters’ health and welfare fund sit down to figure out how much it will cost to keep our members and their families covered. And every year, the number goes up. Not because our members are getting sicker. Not because they’re using more care. It goes up because health care […]
Mark Dalton

US House leaves for campaign break without action on AI, affordability

2 weeks 5 days ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House departed Wednesday for a seven-week campaign break after spending less than two weeks in session during August and September. The extended “district work period” is intended to give incumbents from both political parties time to meet with constituents and fundraise back home before voting in this year’s midterm elections ends […]
Jennifer Shutt

Census data shows US poverty rate drops to lowest on record, but experts are cautious

2 weeks 5 days ago
The official poverty rate in the United States dipped slightly by half a percentage point last year to a historic low of 10.2%, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The supplemental poverty rate, a more holistic figure that includes an individual’s non-cash resources, remained essentially unchanged at 13.1%, according to the bureau’s annual […]
Shalina Chatlani

Past secretaries, union leader call for probe into Education Department slashing

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — Three former U.S. Education Department secretaries and the union representing agency workers on Tuesday urged the department’s top watchdog to investigate the cost and impact of mass firings last year.  Former U.S. Education Secretaries Arne Duncan and John B. King Jr., who led the department during the Obama administration, and Miguel Cardona of the […]
Shauneen Miranda

Bill to set rules for college sports clears first procedural vote in US Senate

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday moved forward on a sweeping bipartisan bill that would set national standards for college athletes’ compensation. The measure breezed through its first procedural vote that needed 60 senators to advance, 74-24.  The legislation is the latest congressional push to overhaul the college sports landscape, which continues to wrestle with […]
Shauneen Miranda

Missouri Republicans ask federal court to revive gerrymandered map, block referendum

2 weeks 6 days ago
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins wants the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to remove a congressional redistricting referendum from the Missouri ballot and order the state to hold the November election under the gerrymandered map Republicans muscled through the Legislature last year. In a filing Tuesday afternoon, state Solicitor General Lou Capozzi, writing on […]
Rudi Keller

FBI’s Patel dodges questions on election interference at rambunctious US Senate hearing

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel sidestepped questions about FBI agents at polling places in the midterm elections at a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday that also featured a tense exchange between GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. With the November midterm elections fast approaching and the parties […]
Ashley Murray

Iran war cost tops $40B and billions more monthly, budget analysis finds

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — The cost of U.S. military operations in Iran has exceeded $40 billion and the war will continue to cost taxpayers between $2 billion and $3 billion per month, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.  The ongoing bombing campaign, which President Donald Trump launched alongside the Israeli government […]
Jennifer Shutt