American teens are driving less than in previous decades, prompting civic advocates to warn that fewer young people may register to vote. Yet at least one state — New Hampshire — offers insight into how civic groups can work around a lack of registration opportunities to ensure young people can register, as well as the […]
WASHINGTON — When the overhead lights turn off at the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, it not only means that night has arrived for Aliaksei Scharbachenia, but that panic attacks will soon follow. The attacks, which started after his detention began last August, he said, have only grown worse, stemming from the fear that he […]
A half dozen Republican governors are pushing alternative labels for June, which is widely recognized in the United States as Pride Month. Without explicitly tying their efforts to a replacement of Pride Month — which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community — GOP governors in states including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Utah have labeled June […]
The birth of Danielle Stewart’s daughter thrust her into advocacy. She tells the story often. “Imagine walking into a hospital to have your first child,” Stewart said. “And leaving on a stretcher alone, paralyzed from your waist down.” Stewart says a failed epidural left her paralyzed from the waist down — a claim at the […]
Democrats are growing hopeful they can recapture the U.S. Senate in this fall’s midterm elections amid President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval ratings. But they still need nearly everything to break their way against a map that put them at a starting disadvantage, analysts and campaign officials say. At the outset of this election cycle, Republicans […]
As we pause to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we should take the time to evaluate her well-being. All is not well in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Why isn’t it? The leaders whom we have entrusted with her care — her very lifeline — are not doing what it […]
A recent commentary in The Missouri Independent asked what the Missouri Charter Public School commission (MCPSC) is doing with the 1.5% sponsorship fee it receives under state law. It is a fair question, and one we welcome. Because the answer goes to the heart of why charter public schools exist and why families across Missouri […]
Many of Missouri’s abortion regulations, including laws that Planned Parenthood said made it impossible for providers to prescribe medication abortion, were struck down in a ruling Thursday by a Jackson County judge. One of the regulations most widely condemned by abortion rights supporters, a 72-hour waiting period between an initial consultation and an abortion, has […]
Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said at a late morning press conference in Washington, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to […]
U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation on Thursday to require Congress to sign off on any deployment of federal troops to the polls, as President Donald Trump and his administration refuse to rule out the idea. Fears of troops or other federal agents at voting sites have long loomed over the approaching midterm elections in November. […]
The Trump administration told states last week it will exercise more stringent financial oversight of waivers that states use to design pilot programs under Medicaid, the state-federal program for low-income people and those with disabilities. In letters sent to state Medicaid directors, the administration announced the changes to Section 1115 “demonstration waivers,” which states apply […]
A federal poverty-fighting program focused on reducing unintended pregnancies is about to undergo a major overhaul. Reproductive health clinics use Title X federal grant money to provide birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to people with little or no health insurance. Title X money cannot be used for abortions. The […]
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services received and investigated 43,208 reports of Missouri seniors and adults with disabilities being abused or neglected in 2025. That’s about 1,300 more than the year before. Tim Jackson oversees Adult Protective Services for the state and said the increase in reports is a double-edged sword. “Obviously, we […]
A survey of more than 3,800 people nationwide who gave birth in 2023 and 2024 found those using Medicaid described worse outcomes than those on private insurance, that access to care remains limited for some, and that women often feel unheard and disregarded during pregnancy and labor and delivery. The Listening to Mothers survey, conducted […]
Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 barring state and local governments from imposing new sales taxes on most services — a measure its backers pitched as protection against future taxes on haircuts, car repairs, childcare and other everyday expenses. It passed with nearly 57% of the vote. Under a proposal on the Aug. […]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against a transgender healthcare nonprofit Wednesday, accusing it of misleading and coercing parents over gender-affirming treatment for their children. The FTC’s complaint against the World Professional Association of Transgender Health is the latest in a series of legal actions from the Trump administration against organizations that provide […]
WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday read to reporters a 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran to stop the ongoing war and allow for further negotiations, but did not release the exact text. The 60-day MOU outlines the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief and reconstruction funds for Iran, and the promise […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified before a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that if confirmed he would ensure natural disaster recovery efforts are “objective” and “fair.” Cameron Hamilton, who worked as acting head of the agency before being fired and ultimately nominated for Senate confirmation by the […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. House and Senate Democrats, mostly from Western states, are demanding transparency from the Interior Department after media reports revealed the Trump administration redirected roughly $90 million in national parks fees to help fund renovations and upcoming celebratory displays in Washington, D.C. The administration’s use of fee revenues to pay for fountain repairs, […]
Before the Power & Light District became the hub of entertainment and economic activity in Kansas City that it is today, the area was blocks of unkempt parking lots and empty storefronts. The district’s overhaul was in part financed through a piece of 2003 legislation called the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act, MODESA for short. […]
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