Dustin Robinson says he was skeptical when a longtime friend first approached him about going into business selling a concentrated kratom compound known as 7-OH. Robinson had served seven years in a Kansas prison for marijuana offenses. Both of his parents struggled with addiction. And when Vince Sanders, owner of CBD American Shaman, began researching […]
The Missouri State Board of Education on Monday named educational consultant Stacey Preis as the state’s interim commissioner, putting a former department official and legislative researcher in charge as the agency navigates a leadership shakeup and a set of major policy changes ordered by Gov. Mike Kehoe. Preis told The Independent that she does not […]
People who carry out mass public shootings often display observable warning signs long before an attack, but those signals are frequently fragmented across friends, family members, coworkers and institutions, making them difficult to piece together, according to a new study from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a nonpartisan […]
Missouri election officials will begin mailing Aug. 4 primary ballots Tuesday to military and overseas voters using the state’s gerrymandered congressional districts, even as the legal status of those districts remains unresolved. Missourians in 28 counties have been assigned to a different congressional district than they were in 2024, thanks to a map that was […]
Days after President Donald Trump’s name was removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a large tarp and scaffolding was still blocking the building’s facade from public view Monday afternoon. Construction crews took Trump’s name off the center early Saturday morning after a federal appeals court upheld a Friday deadline for its […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed a ceasefire with Iran, moving the two countries one step closer to ending the war that began in February. Trump, speaking from the G7 conference in Europe, said the memorandum of understanding ensures Iran cannot possess a nuclear weapon and clears the way for ships […]
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to weigh in on the issue of whether some immigrants with criminal records can be detained indefinitely. The court accepted a case, Genalo v. Black, from New York state involving a legal immigrant from the Dominican Republic arrested by immigration enforcement after an assault conviction and held for 21 months […]
The United States has a shortage of the only first-line medication recommended for pregnant women with syphilis to prevent passing it to their baby, even as congenital syphilis rates have been skyrocketing. Last July, drug manufacturer Pfizer issued a voluntary recall of brand name Bicillin L-A, or penicillin G benzathine — a long-acting injectable of […]
Dr. Quinn James testified in the Missouri Capitol for nine years before lawmakers passed legislation in 2018 that allows chiropractors like him to provide services through the state’s Medicaid program. What convinced lawmakers to get behind the legislation, James told The Independent, were predictions that it could help the state spend less on Medicaid. The […]
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. For the Veterans Crisis Line, dial 988, then press 1. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org. Veterans in the United States die by suicide at higher rates […]
Forty-six percent of U.S. adults — regardless of insurance type — reported struggling to afford healthcare last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research think tank. The report analyzed findings from a December 2025 survey of 10,000 working-age adults across the nation. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson […]
Four days after Missouri lawmakers adjourned in May, a company hoping to crack open the state gambling market with video slot machines donated $200,000 to three of the proposal’s biggest boosters in the General Assembly. Conservative Leadership for Southeast Missouri, the political action committee aligned with state Sen. Jason Bean, a Holcomb Republican, received $100,000. […]
The fight over legalizing slot machines in Missouri gas stations and convenience stores is moving from the Capitol into Republican state Senate primaries. After years of Senate resistance, video lottery backers believe next year could bring a friendlier chamber. But three August primaries could determine how clear that path really is. The contests involve three […]
I have some minor medical issues. So do my kids. Tracking all our medical appointments, getting to the appointments, getting prescriptions, getting insurance to pay for the appointments and prescriptions, paying the bills – this takes up a not insignificant amount of my time and brain space. I am not awesome at handling administrative burden, […]
The Ultimate Fighting Championship cage matches set to take place on the White House South Lawn on Sunday will go on as scheduled, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied an emergency petition from two Virginia plaintiffs to stop the fight until the court litigates allegations that the […]
WASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly two decades, Congress missed a deadline for reauthorization of a key surveillance authority, raising questions about whether the U.S. government can continue to monitor certain communications. Lawmakers have regularly approved short- and long-term extensions for Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act since 2008, clearing the […]
Republican attorneys general from 14 states and 19 GOP members of Congress are asking U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to classify and regulate the abortion medication mifepristone as a water contaminant. Mifepristone is prescribed as part of a two-drug medication regimen to terminate a pregnancy. Studies have shown medication abortion to be safe […]
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration still needs to determine how it will remove nuclear materials from Iran after officials from both countries sign documents to end the war, a senior official said Friday. “This is very combustible stuff, very volatile stuff. We’re not just going to, like, go down there with a backhoe and a […]
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction Friday halting the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for one week, giving the government time to sign a “clear, unambiguous” agreement that the fund is dead. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said from the bench the agreement […]
The New World screwworm has arrived in the United States. For years, ranchers across Southern states have prepared for a potential invasion of the flesh-eating parasite that can wreak havoc on livestock, pets and even humans. Though the United States went decades without a confirmed case of the invasive pest, it’s now made its way […]
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