a Better Bubble™

MoInd 📰

Missouri early voting period opens with a rush that points to high primary turnout

1 week 6 days ago
The first day of early voting in Missouri indicates a strong primary turnout, comparable to or possibly exceeding past primaries where hotly contested ballot measures drew more votes than candidate races. Four times as many voters cast ballots in St. Charles County on Tuesday than on the first day of early voting before the 2024 […]
Rudi Keller

Trump proposal to end employer race, gender reporting advances

1 week 6 days ago
A federal commission voted Tuesday in favor of a Trump administration proposal to rescind requirements that larger employers report the demographics of their workers — information that’s used to help enforce racial and gender antidiscrimination laws. Most employers with 100 or more workers have been required to submit data annually on staff sex, race and […]
Nada Hassanein

Gambling company bankrolls attacks in Missouri Senate District 16 GOP primary

2 weeks ago
An Illinois gambling company seeking to legalize video lottery terminals in Missouri is financing a radio campaign attacking former state Rep. Hannah Kelly in a four-way Republican primary for the state Senate. J&J Ventures of Effingham, Illinois, is the only donor to Legio XIII PAC, a political action committee created May 13, Missouri Ethics Commission […]
Rudi Keller

Republicans in US House approve stopgap spending bill ahead of Oct. 1 deadline

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a stopgap spending bill Tuesday that would keep the government up and running through the fall, sending it to the Senate, where lawmakers expect to rework the measure. Congress must pass a government funding bill before the new fiscal year starts on Oct. 1 in order to avoid a […]
Jennifer Shutt

ICE arrests reach new high

2 weeks ago
Immigration arrests reached 1,593 per day in early July in a new push to detain and deport immigrants that has led to deaths in traffic stops. There were more than 43,000 arrests in June, the highest recorded by the Trump administration, according to statistics released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reflecting new bookings […]
Tim Henderson

Thousands of immigrant kids risk losing legal aid after Trump administration delays funds

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — As many as 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children are at risk of losing their federally funded legal representation due to the Trump administration withholding appropriated funds, immigration attorneys warned Tuesday. For more than six months, the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement has not released $65 million Congress appropriated for legal […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missouri lawmakers fight utility bid to bypass competition on new power lines

2 weeks ago
Electric companies in the Midwest say new large scale powerlines are needed to get more energy onto the grid to serve big power consumers such as artificial intelligence data centers. Now, the utilities argue reducing competition is the fastest way to do it. A group of nine electric transmission utilities, including Ameren and Evergy, is […]
Jana Rose Schleis

Graves-linked group alleges Nathan Willett violated state, federal campaign-finance laws

2 weeks ago
On April 30, the day Nathan Willett’s state Senate campaign committee declared itself dissolved, it sent $165,384.46 — most of its remaining campaign cash — to a small Georgia nonprofit. Seven weeks later, that nonprofit, Grassroots America Inc., contributed $160,384.46 to Conservative Future Fund, a super PAC that has reported spending more than $207,000 in […]
Jason Hancock

Brennan Center report predicts mass voter challenges likely in midterm elections

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Mass voter challenges are likely to occur in the 2026 midterm elections, the Brennan Center for Justice warned Tuesday, with the potential to “undermine the democratic process.” President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been laying the groundwork for questioning the election process in state after state, as Trump has made “election […]
David Lightman

Private investment in youth sports draws state, federal scrutiny

2 weeks ago
Courtney Hamby and her husband spend close to $6,000 per year for their daughter Ellie’s cheer and tumbling classes, competition fees and uniforms. That doesn’t include their travel expenses for multiple out-of-town competitions, including hotel rooms, gas, meals, and sometimes even flights. “This should be something that everyone gets to play, and it shouldn’t be […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Trump proposal will turn federal grants into a system of political favors, Democrats warn

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are pushing back against a proposed Trump administration rule introduced by the Office of Management and Budget that would substantially change the way federal grants are reviewed and distributed. Over the past few weeks, several groups of lawmakers have written public comment letters to Office of Management and Budget Director […]
Amelia Twyman

The feds no longer protect endangered species habitat. States say they can’t pick up the slack

2 weeks 1 day ago
The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe.  But experts say states aren’t equipped for the task. Earlier this month, the Trump administration finalized a major change to the Endangered Species Act, rolling back protections for the forests, wetlands, deserts and other […]
Alex Brown

Trump administration ramps up pressure on indefinite immigrant detention

2 weeks 1 day ago
Seeking to stop a “flood” of court cases freeing immigrants from mandatory detention, the Trump administration is asking an appeals court to put three immigrants back in detention. The immigrants were freed by Texas federal judges in February and March in a case that was upheld by an appeals court panel for Louisiana, Mississippi and […]
Tim Henderson

US Education Department veterans blast Trump plan to transfer programs

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Department of Education officials in Republican and Democratic administrations sounded the alarm Monday over the agency’s efforts to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies.  U.S. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state convened the former officials, along with advocates and educators, at a virtual press […]
Shauneen Miranda

Canadian hockey sticks, wine and cement subject to new Trump tariffs

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ordered 50% tariffs on several Canadian products Monday in response to what his administration describes as retaliatory restrictions on imports of American goods, including alcohol, dairy and automotives. Trump’s three separate proclamations to impose steep tariffs on items like hockey sticks, wine and cement, came just days after he threatened to slap more […]
Ashley Murray

Uncertain congressional map hangs over Missouri’s crowded 5th District GOP primary

2 weeks 1 day ago
The Republican nomination in Missouri’s 5th Congressional District could, in the weeks after the Aug. 4 primary, become a prize not worth having. Six candidates are competing for the nomination in a district Republican lawmakers redrew last year at President Donald Trump’s urging to give their party an advantage over incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel […]
Rudi Keller

ICE officers to wear body cameras at traffic stops, White House border czar says

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — In the wake of two fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers will wear “at least one body camera” during traffic stops, Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, said over the weekend.  Homan, who President Donald Trump has tasked with leading his mass deportation campaign, said in a […]
Ariana Figueroa

Trump administration should preserve Reflecting Pool evidence, judge says

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — A D.C. Superior Court judge on Monday encouraged the Trump administration to preserve the sections of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that it says a Maryland man damaged to ensure the case moves forward.  Associate Judge Todd E. Edelman warned during a status hearing in the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn […]
Jennifer Shutt