WASHINGTON — Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee used a hearing Wednesday to continue voicing opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, which the top Democrat on the panel called a distraction from cost-of-living issues voters are more concerned about. Republicans, vying to defend their majority in the House and Senate in the […]
The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether a 2022 law making it a crime for school employees to provide students with “explicit sexual material” violates constitutional free speech protections. The law, which a Jackson County Circuit Court judge struck down last November, “sowed great confusion across Missouri school districts” and spurred school librarians to remove […]
The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday challenging an appeals court’s decision in March directing the state to award cannabis company Hippos LLC 13 facility licenses after finding the 2019 application scoring process was inconsistent. It’s been five years since the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission denied Hippos’ appeal over its applications for marijuana facility licenses, […]
Federal officials charged a Utah letter carrier Tuesday with throwing 300 primary ballots in a church parking lot dumpster, an incident that a top U.S. Justice Department official said made the case for stricter regulations of voting. The prosecution of Damon Matai Seei, of Payson, Utah, showed “voting fraud is real,” acting Deputy Attorney General […]
This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction. Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. […]
Melanie Pierce works with many pregnant women who know they’ll have a long drive ahead of them when labor starts. One of her jobs as a doula living in Mansfield, Missouri, is helping families answer a question that may not be as fraught for women who live closer to a delivery hospital: When is it […]
Kansas City’s Muehlebach Hotel hosted every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. Harry Truman ran much of his political operation from the penthouse suite. It’s where he signed the Truman Doctrine in 1947 and awaited election results in 1948. Once referred to as White House West, it’s one of Missouri’s most storied buildings. The […]
Backers of a Missouri redistricting referendum late on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene for a third time in three weeks in the fight over which congressional map must be used for the Nov. 3 elections. The latest appeal comes as the first votes are being cast and state election officials face conflicting […]
WASHINGTON — A New Hampshire federal judge seemed skeptical during a Tuesday hearing that a civil rights group could continue with a challenge to block President Donald Trump’s second attempt to redefine the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, suggesting that a new lawsuit might be needed. The American Civil Liberties Union last month asked federal […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump faces a “big decision” to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the country, he told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. During a 37-minute speech to his international counterparts including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York City, Trump asked, “Will a deal be made with Iran that […]
Women giving birth in rural communities were more likely than peers in urban areas to receive oral opioid prescriptions for pain upon leaving the hospital after a cesarean section, according to a new analysis of data from half a million C-sections. The study was conducted by researchers at Truveta, a health data and analytics company […]
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. The mistrial in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial earlier this month places her future in doubt, three years after she killed her three children in Duxbury, Massachusetts. […]
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging changes to the way grants are awarded under a program that provides funding for services such as family planning and reproductive health wellness exams. The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and the Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania filed the lawsuit in […]
The Missouri Supreme Court had barely settled the immediate question of which congressional map is legally in effect before some Republicans began looking ahead to drawing another one. Minutes after the court ruled unanimously against use of a gerrymandered map drawn by Republicans last year, GOP state Sen. Nick Schroer posted “8-0 2027” on social […]
School districts around Kansas City know it’s possible, maybe even likely, that Missouri’s governor and lawmakers will choose to not fully fund public schools next year. The state’s foundation formula, the calculation of how much money schools should receive, is enshrined in law. That doesn’t mean lawmakers always choose to provide the full formula amount, […]
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Missouri must use the congressional map passed by Republicans in 2025 for the Nov. 3 election, but the decision was put on hold for a week — leaving election officials to proceed for now under the map they were already using. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
WASHINGTON — Diesel prices hit a record average of $6.51 a gallon Monday, and some in President Donald Trump’s own party are breaking their support for the ongoing war in Iran that has driven fuel prices to staggering levels in the United States and across the globe. Already House Republicans locked in tight races as […]
The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive last week that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public. Individuals and industries may kill endangered animals in the course of logging projects, developments and other activities, it said — so long as the activity’s purpose […]
Four in 10 pediatricians reported kids in immigrant families are avoiding coming in for healthcare out of concerns around immigration status, according to a new survey published Tuesday. More than 1,600 pediatricians responded between April and June to the survey by American Academy of Pediatrics researchers. In the survey, pediatricians were asked whether over the […]
WASHINGTON — The three news organizations that President Donald Trump has barred from entering the White House filed a lawsuit against the administration on Monday. CNN, MS Now and Politico wrote in a joint statement the suit is intended “to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what […]
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