Earlier this month, a 50-year-old man riding his personal electric scooter in Washington, D.C., was killed when he collided with a woman on a rideshare scooter. In June, a 12-year-old Massachusetts girl died after her electric scooter slammed into a school bus in a suburb of Boston. And in April, an Atlanta woman riding an […]
WASHINGTON — The price health insurance companies charge for employer-sponsored plans increased again this year, as did the deductible many people must pay before those plans begin covering most healthcare costs, according to a survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan health organization KFF. The cost of individual health insurance plans rose to $9,804 on average, […]
When I was pregnant, my ex-husband pinned me against a wall. I was afraid he would kill me. I survived that violence. I also have a felony conviction. And those two parts of my life cannot be separated. My ex-husband and I often used methamphetamine together. Our drug use led to countless arguments, and I […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s midterm travel blitz will continue in the coming days, with Election Day on Nov. 3 now less than two weeks out, headlining rallies in several states hosting hard-fought Senate contests seen as toss-ups. Trump began his October campaign road trip in GOP-friendly states, but has begun venturing into territory that’s deemed […]
Voters in six states are considering ballot measures in the midterm elections that would make it clear that only U.S. citizens may vote — and block local governments from expanding that right to others. Proposed constitutional amendments or law changes in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, South Dakota and West Virginia would explicitly bar noncitizens from voting. […]
State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment. That’s according to a new national survey of nearly 5,000 public servants across all 50 states released today by The People Lab at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. Researchers say the survey, which […]
A federal judge on Wednesday night blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting election-related field operations that could sweep up U.S. citizens in nine states. Judge Araceli MartĂnez-OlguĂn, an appointee of President Joe Biden in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, issued a preliminary injunction after voting rights advocates alleged that Homeland […]
By late afternoon on Sept. 25, Missouri’s Children’s Division was struggling to find enough workers to respond to reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. According to an email obtained by The Independent, every available worker had been assigned at least three reports, yet 29 reports across 20 counties remained unassigned. Fifteen of those reports […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons. It means a lower court order that blocked the policy from going into effect will remain in place for now, and gender-affirming healthcare for transgender inmates […]
A day after the surprise resignation of Missouri’s interim commissioner of education, the State Board of Education announced a new interim leader for the state’s public school oversight agency. Lisa Sireno, deputy commissioner of learning services, will lead the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, according to a news release from the board. Sireno has […]
National Democrats are suing President Donald Trump, accusing his administration of intimidating election officials and asking a federal court to block him from interfering in the midterm elections. The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Washington, D.C., comes as the Trump administration mounts a highly public offensive against voter fraud in California just two weeks before Election […]
Four media organizations, including the Missouri Broadcasters Association and the Missouri Press Association, have filed a lawsuit against the Missouri State Highway Patrol alleging the patrol’s redacted crash reports violate the state’s open records law. The MBA and MPA, alongside Gray Media and Warden Publishing Company Managing Editor Roxie Murphy, are asking the Highway Patrol […]
For decades, manufactured home builders have been working to shed the old image of boxy trailer homes reserved for the outskirts of cities and suburbia. Now, a small change in federal regulations could open the door for architecture welcomed in more neighborhoods. This summer’s sweeping housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, removed […]
HYANNIS, Neb. — With 19 days until Election Day, Dan Osborn sat across from three skeptical voters in a conference room in this blink-and-you-miss-it rural Nebraska town. Osborn, a bearded former union leader and Navy veteran, wants to become the first independent U.S. senator from Nebraska since World War II by defeating Republican Sen. Pete […]
After Missouri banned nearly all abortions in 2022, Valerie Weaver began noticing a troubling change in some of the pregnant patients she cared for in Kansas City. They were arriving to her sicker. Some had developed infections, blood clots or other complications while waiting for treatment. Some were so ill they required general anesthesia rather […]
Just as hopes grew for a breakthrough in United States–Mexico trade talks, an Oct. 15 report by The Wall Street Journal, subsequently reported by Reuters, revealed another roadblock. The two countries were reportedly close to an agreement to lower U.S. tariffs on Mexican automobiles, steel and aluminum. But disagreements within the Trump administration slowed progress. […]
The U.S. Department of Justice is intensifying its campaign against voter fraud with a spree of arrests in the final weeks before Election Day, an effort that voting rights advocates warn risks instilling fear among voters. Over the past week, the Justice Department unveiled election-related criminal charges against 28 noncitizens in California and threatened state […]
Nine states and the District of Columbia lost jobs in the year ending in September, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hit hard by the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce, the District of Columbia suffered the largest percentage job loss, down 3.5% or 25,800 jobs. Montana, […]
Missouri interim Commissioner of Education Stacey Preis resigned Tuesday after just four months on the job amid speculation she was about to be fired. Speaking to reporters while the State Board of Education met in a closed session, Preis didn’t deny her situation but said no one had “directly” told her to resign to avoid […]
Missouri regulators say the state doesn’t need to issue more licenses to grow, manufacture or sell marijuana because the legal cannabis market is meeting consumer demand. But the statewide study behind that conclusion couldn’t answer a key question: whether a small number of companies controls a substantial share of Missouri’s marijuana businesses. The study, released […]
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