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LGBTQ+ adults more likely to miss or forgo healthcare, survey finds

2 weeks 2 days ago
LGBTQ+ adults are more likely than other adults to miss healthcare appointments due to cost or other reasons — with a third reporting their health worsened as a result, according to a new survey by health policy research group KFF. Among the 2,640 LGBTQ+ adults surveyed, those who are transgender, younger than 30 and those […]
Nada Hassanein

Feds and 22 states sue Amazon, alleging deceptive advertising scheme

2 weeks 2 days ago
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 22 states sued Amazon Monday, claiming the online retail company used artificial bids to inflate costs for advertisers, bringing in tens of billions of dollars. The complaint alleges that Amazon used an “invented auction participant” to drive up prices for advertising placements and sponsored product spots on […]
Alex Brown

US Supreme Court lets Trump move ahead with his White House ballroom project

2 weeks 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump does not have to follow a lower court order to stop aboveground construction on his $400 million East Wing ballroom, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 5-4 decision, all but guaranteeing work on the new complex will continue to accelerate. In an opinion from the conservative super-majority, the […]
Ashley Murray

Missouri redistricting referendum fight puts Supreme Court precedent to the test

2 weeks 2 days ago
When the Missouri Supreme Court considers Wednesday whether voters can force a referendum on congressional redistricting, the judges will confront a constitutional question the court has never squarely answered. But decades of Missouri Supreme Court decisions offer clues about how the judges may approach it. A recent analysis of 37 state Supreme Court cases since […]
Rudi Keller

Missouri wants AI data centers. Communities want answers

2 weeks 2 days ago
Missouri has good reasons to want a share of the artificial intelligence boom. Billions of dollars in proposed data center investments could bring construction jobs, new tax revenue and economic growth. They could also help position Missouri for an economy increasingly shaped by AI and cloud computing. But these projects come with costs and unanswered […]
Mamoun Benmamoun

Judge rules Justice Department can force-feed defendant in National Guard shooting

2 weeks 3 days ago
WASHINGTON — A federal judge over the weekend allowed the Trump administration to force-feed the man charged with shooting two National Guard members, killing one and injuring another, in the District of Columbia in November. For months, Rahmanullah Lakanwal has refused to eat while incarcerated.  The Aug. 29 order from U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta […]
Ariana Figueroa

Judge calls Trump mail ballot rule ‘substantively unconstitutional’ as court battle extends

2 weeks 3 days ago
A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday declined the Trump administration’s request to overturn the temporary restraining order she signed last week that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out a rule placing new restrictions on mail-in voting. The 14-day order published Aug. 27 was not appealable, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a brief order […]
Jacob Fischler

A summer of recalls exposes holes in the nation’s food safety net

2 weeks 3 days ago
Jalapenos. Frozen berries. Beef. Alfalfa sprouts. A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness. The recalls have focused attention on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staff at several public health agencies, and […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Voting rights struggle continues, advocates say at March on Washington anniversary

2 weeks 3 days ago
WASHINGTON — Just over two months from midterm elections and four months removed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted Voting Rights Act protections for majority Black U.S. House districts, and 63 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there, thousands gathered again at the Lincoln Memorial Friday. […]
Ashley Murray

Missouri activists want fewer cameras on citizens and more on politicians

2 weeks 3 days ago
Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime. But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping. Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come […]
Jason Hancock

GOP path to retaining US House majority narrowing as midterms near

2 weeks 3 days ago
WASHINGTON — With less than 70 days until midterm elections, Democrats remain favored to regain the majority in the U.S. House.   President Donald Trump’s anemic approval ratings amid the war in Iran, concerns over the economy and a coalitional shift within the party mark some of the largest headwinds facing Republicans heading into November, according to […]
Shauneen Miranda

Kansas City’s habit of dismissing the voters who say no

2 weeks 5 days ago
Kansas City leaders can seem contemptuous of the voters they answer to. The Royals stadium deal, pushed through without a public vote, is the latest example. That hostility goes back more than a decade — and former Mayor Sly James’ recent column is the latest reminder. James begins an Aug. 23 essay by chastising those […]
Patrick Tuohey

Democrats aim to emulate Republicans in building state power

2 weeks 6 days ago
Progressive activist Gaby Goldstein thinks her opponents are brilliant. Despite her deeply held liberal politics, she admires the work of conservative groups that for decades have built influence in state governments across the country.  “We on the left have left a huge amount of power on the table,” said Goldstein, the founder and president of […]
Kevin Hardy

Missouri governor taps DNR chief to lead agency overseeing state budget and purchasing

2 weeks 6 days ago
A veteran Republican politician and attorney will take over the state department responsible for providing support services to almost every other Missouri agency, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Friday. Kurt Schaefer, director of the Department of Natural Resources and a former state Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, will become Commissioner of Administration, Kehoe said in a news […]
Rudi Keller

Canadian tariffs to further raise prices, a top concern for voters

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — A developing trade war with Canada could bite Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections as voters worry about rising prices and industries in states with competitive races could suffer. Maine’s lobster industry dodged what officials had warned could be economic havoc Thursday morning when Canada reversed its decision to tax lobster imports at […]
Ashley Murray

Missouri kratom company destroys $10M in products after DEA crackdown

2 weeks 6 days ago
Kansas City-based CBD American Shaman says it destroyed $10 million worth of product this week after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration placed a potent kratom-related opioid manufactured by the company into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA on Wednesday temporarily scheduled mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, along with two related compounds known as MGM-15 and […]
Rebecca Rivas

This Washington town is burning. That’s the plan.

2 weeks 6 days ago
ROSLYN, Wash. — Francisco Martinez hefts a canister filled with a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. A tongue of flame dances above the nozzle. He tips the drip torch forward — whoosh — and a stream of blazing liquid races across the forest floor. In less than a minute, a long wall of fire […]
Alex Brown