MoInd 📰

WASHINGTON — A coalition of civil rights groups and union organizations Friday sued the Trump administration to prevent the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling locations during November’s midterm elections. The suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is the second this month, following comments from top Trump officials […]

A growing number of states are making an equal split between parents the default child custody option in divorce cases. Louisiana and Mississippi this year joined at least five other states that have adopted the so-called 50-50 standard — four of them since 2021, as more legislators rework divorce-related laws that remained mostly unchanged for years. The […]

Declining birth rates mean fewer students. And that means more districts grappling with whether to close or merge schools. “The big shrink” is how Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab, described what is happening nationally.  “When there are fewer young people, obviously it’s going to change the shape of public education,” Roza said. […]

It was the call Ray Dlugolecki had been dreading. And one he and other public health officials have been expecting. The assistant director at Jackson County Public Health learned on Sunday afternoon about a confirmed case of measles, not just in his agency’s jurisdiction, but in one of its own buildings. The previous week, an […]

Nearly five years ago, Chase Johnson was cured of breast cancer — but not of the profound anxiety that it would return. When Johnson was originally diagnosed in 2021, the resident of Cary, North Carolina, was only 31 — nearly a decade away from the age at which regular mammograms are recommended — and she […]

New rules going into effect next week allow immigrants’ enrollment in safety net resources to be taken into account for lawful immigration status applications, the latest in the Trump administration’s immigration overhaul. The rules will have wide implications for mixed-status households, as people without lawful status may forgo enrollment in public benefits for their U.S. […]

State cannabis regulators issued a recall Wednesday after random testing found mold in pre-rolled joints sold in the state.  The product, Juicy J’s cherry limeade infused pre-rolls, failed testing for Aspergillus, “a common mold that can be tolerated in small amounts by healthy individuals but may cause adverse health effects in high amounts or in […]

Voting rights groups and Democratic officials are looking to defend against what they see as possible election interference from the Trump administration ahead of the upcoming midterm elections, now that they’ve won a major battle over mail ballots. Common Cause, a nonpartisan pro-democracy organization, announced a “voter protection” campaign Thursday that would place thousands of […]

I’ve worked in education for 30 years, which means I can now retire and receive my full benefits.  But I’m not writing this from my favorite spot on my patio with my dogs beside me and my feet up; instead, I’m writing from my office as an elementary school principal in Phelps County, where I’ve […]

The last legal battle over Missouri’s 2025 redistricting plan played out Thursday, with a panel of federal appeals court judges hearing from Republicans that they should reinstate the map designed to help the GOP flip a Democratic-held congressional seat. The hearing via videoconference before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals featured sharp exchanges over […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday took another step forward on a sweeping bipartisan bill to overhaul the college sports world.  The measure, clearing its second procedural hurdle on a 77-22 vote, would set national standards for college athletes’ compensation, provide certain antitrust protections to the NCAA, establish a five-year eligibility timeline for athletes and bar professional […]

WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday withdrew the nomination of Richard “Lance” Schroyer to lead the agency the president tasked with carrying out his mass deportation campaign, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, had yet to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  […]

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was sued again Wednesday over his handling of the state’s congressional redistricting referendum. The proposed class action is the second filed against Hoskins in less than a week and the third lawsuit against him overall during that span. It seeks damages for voters who cast August primary ballots in […]

In its latest effort to overhaul federal homelessness funding, the Trump administration is proposing to provide more money to localities that prioritize treatment-first policies such as sober living, more cooperation with law enforcement and more temporary and transitional housing.  It’s a reversal from a decade-long federal approach known as Housing First that sought to permanently […]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it’s helping manufacturers increase the supply of estrogen-based hormonal patches and acknowledged a current nationwide shortage as more women seek hormonal therapies for symptoms related to menopause. In a release earlier this month, the FDA said it is expediting actions to increase supply, and said all six manufacturers […]

Weeks before a federal judge in St. Louis sentenced Siddharth Jawahar to 11 years in prison for running a $35 million Ponzi scheme, he hired a prominent Missouri political consulting firm to help generate favorable publicity and support for a lighter sentence. Jawahar’s $10,000 agreement with Axiom Strategies – obtained by federal prosecutors and later […]

Every year, the trustees of our carpenters’ health and welfare fund sit down to figure out how much it will cost to keep our members and their families covered. And every year, the number goes up. Not because our members are getting sicker. Not because they’re using more care. It goes up because health care […]

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three years as inflation continues to dog the economy, largely driven by soaring gas and fuel oil prices while the war in Iran drags on. The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to increase its benchmark interest rate by a […]

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House departed Wednesday for a seven-week campaign break after spending less than two weeks in session during August and September. The extended “district work period” is intended to give incumbents from both political parties time to meet with constituents and fundraise back home before voting in this year’s midterm elections ends […]

WASHINGTON — Voters are much more likely to support U.S. Senate candidates in the November midterm elections if they have a plan to avoid an automatic cut to Social Security benefits in 2032, according to a poll released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation. “Senators elected this fall will be in office in […]