MoInd 📰

WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday defended before a U.S. Senate panel his past investigations of President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and alleged role in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Judiciary Committee Republicans repeatedly dissected Smith’s work and accused him of weaponizing the Department of Justice. In a […]

On Monday, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt showed he still knows how old-fashioned politics works. He helped pass a college sports bill he spent months negotiating with Democrats Maria Cantwell and Chris Coons. They disagreed over major provisions, compromised and produced legislation that passed the Senate 77-22. A day later, a different Eric Schmitt showed up. […]

A Cole County Circuit Court judge will decide whether to strike down a 2024 law allowing charter schools in Boone County, a case that could further define Missouri’s constitutional ban on special laws. In a hearing Tuesday morning, attorneys representing Columbia Public Schools asked Circuit Court Judge Emily Fretwell to block a 2024 law that […]

WASHINGTON — The three news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from entering the White House grounds earlier this month have asked a federal judge to ensure their reporters continue to have access after a temporary restraining order expires in early October.  Attorneys for CNN, MS Now and Politico filed paperwork late Monday requesting a […]

Five weeks before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s sprawling effort to identify and remove noncitizen voters hasn’t produced the kind of large purges that could meaningfully affect the midterm elections. Even a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision giving states access to a supercharged Department of Homeland Security computer program to verify voters’ citizenship will have […]

Democratic and Republican governors say they will more aggressively push back on federal overreach regardless of which party controls Washington. Earlier this month, the bipartisan National Governors Association for the first time in over a decade updated its internal principles on federalism — the system of power sharing between Washington, D.C., and the states. That […]

WASHINGTON — Small businesses will once again challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs in federal court this week as they continue to feel the squeeze of the administration’s roller coaster policy on import taxes. Spice importer Burlap & Barrel and rare watch importer Collective Horology will argue Wednesday in the Court of International Trade in New […]

Missouri Republicans are scrambling to organize late campaigns on ballot measures they spent most of the year trying to block from the Nov. 3 election. The party’s State Committee met Saturday in Columbia and passed resolutions asking for a “yes” vote on Proposition A, a referendum on the 2025 redistricting map, and a “no” vote […]

Madison Taylor has spent the past eight days picketing outside her former workplace, Greenlight Dispensary in Springfield. Two weeks ago, Taylor says she and a group of coworkers met outside of work to discuss forming a union. Days later, 12 employees who attended the meeting were fired, she said, after management accused them of consuming […]

Even when Missouri lawmakers fund public schools in accordance with the state’s foundation formula, the level is still inadequate to meet the needs of schools across the state. The practice of selling our public schools short has become the pattern — year after year, irrespective of the need. This year the practice seems to be […]

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan measure to overhaul the college sports landscape got a step closer to becoming law Monday after passing the U.S. Senate. The bill — which sailed through on a 77-22 vote — would set a national framework for college athletes’ compensation, provide certain antitrust protections to the NCAA, establish a five-year eligibility […]

The challenges and dire threats surrounding the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence appear unlikely to move Congress or President Donald Trump to act as the U.S. Senate enters its last week before the midterms.  The rapid emergence of the technology has sparked a host of policy debates, with some warning of an existential threat to […]

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has, once again, infuriated lawmakers from both political parties by using a controversial maneuver to cancel funding previously approved by Congress.  The $810 million in the “pocket rescission” would have gone to refugee assistance programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, a Treasury Department program that provided “debt […]

Private philanthropy will fund two major initiatives underway at the Missouri State Board of Education, but the identities of the donors remain unknown to the public, the state education department and at least one of the contractors doing the work. Earlier this month, the board approved two memorandums of understanding with consultants helping search for […]

More Missouri women had abortions while the state was under a near-total abortion ban than they did in the years before, when abortion was legal but highly restricted. That fact has become a fault line among Missouri conservatives debating Amendment 3 — a divide that could matter in an election recent polling suggests may again […]

There are rough months in politics. And then there are months when you get summoned before the Missouri Supreme Court, found in contempt, sued repeatedly, accused by a former employee of retaliating against him for raising concerns about misconduct and singled out for criticism by the highest court in the nation. Denny Hoskins had the […]

Reporters Clara Bates and Anna Spoerre were awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism on Saturday by the Missouri Press Association for their reporting on problems in the state’s foster care. The award recognizes reporting that uncovers information not readily available to the public and requires “exceptional journalistic skill, determination and effort.” It includes a […]

Missouri education is entering a period of significant change. That makes the search for the state’s next Commissioner of Education more than a personnel decision. It is a decision about who will lead Missouri’s schools through some of the most consequential policy changes the state has undertaken in years. The Missouri State Board of Education […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday drove a stake through the heart of Missouri’s undead congressional map, ordering it be buried for the year and for voters to cast ballots in the districts they’ve used the past two election cycles. In a unanimous decision, the court said that state law rules in the case. “In […]

For more than 35 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has surveyed American high school students every two years about their health and behavior. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, established in 1991, draws a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 at public and private schools. Over the years, […]