LGBTQ+ adults are more likely than other adults to miss healthcare appointments due to cost or other reasons — with a third reporting their health worsened as a result, according to a new survey by health policy research group KFF. Among the 2,640 LGBTQ+ adults surveyed, those who are transgender, younger than 30 and those […]
The Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 22 states sued Amazon Monday, claiming the online retail company used artificial bids to inflate costs for advertisers, bringing in tens of billions of dollars. The complaint alleges that Amazon used an “invented auction participant” to drive up prices for advertising placements and sponsored product spots on […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump does not have to follow a lower court order to stop aboveground construction on his $400 million East Wing ballroom, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 5-4 decision, all but guaranteeing work on the new complex will continue to accelerate. In an opinion from the conservative super-majority, the […]
When the Missouri Supreme Court considers Wednesday whether voters can force a referendum on congressional redistricting, the judges will confront a constitutional question the court has never squarely answered. But decades of Missouri Supreme Court decisions offer clues about how the judges may approach it. A recent analysis of 37 state Supreme Court cases since […]
An order directing Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to use congressional district maps drawn in 2022 for the November election would not pose the technical obstacle described by the state and a Cole County judge, two county clerks told the Missouri Supreme Court in a filing last week. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon, a Democrat, […]
Missouri has good reasons to want a share of the artificial intelligence boom. Billions of dollars in proposed data center investments could bring construction jobs, new tax revenue and economic growth. They could also help position Missouri for an economy increasingly shaped by AI and cloud computing. But these projects come with costs and unanswered […]
WASHINGTON — A federal judge over the weekend allowed the Trump administration to force-feed the man charged with shooting two National Guard members, killing one and injuring another, in the District of Columbia in November. For months, Rahmanullah Lakanwal has refused to eat while incarcerated. The Aug. 29 order from U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta […]
A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday declined the Trump administration’s request to overturn the temporary restraining order she signed last week that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out a rule placing new restrictions on mail-in voting. The 14-day order published Aug. 27 was not appealable, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a brief order […]
Jalapenos. Frozen berries. Beef. Alfalfa sprouts. A summer of food recalls, including the record-shattering cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands, has raised many Americans’ fears of contracting a foodborne illness. The recalls have focused attention on the Trump administration’s decision to cut funding and staff at several public health agencies, and […]
In 14 states, the closure of the closest rural hospital or its obstetric unit would force many Medicaid patients to drive an hour or more to get to another hospital that provides inpatient maternity care, according to an analysis released this week. Nationwide, the median drive time between hospitals providing inpatient maternity care to Medicaid […]
WASHINGTON — Just over two months from midterm elections and four months removed from a U.S. Supreme Court decision that gutted Voting Rights Act protections for majority Black U.S. House districts, and 63 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech there, thousands gathered again at the Lincoln Memorial Friday. […]
Missouri’s largest charter-school sponsor entered August with nearly $3.3 million in its account, which is more than twice what it spent in the previous fiscal year. Now the Missouri Charter Public School Commission is sending some of that money back to the schools it oversees. At its August meeting, the commission approved $685,000 in rebates, […]
Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime. But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping. Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come […]
WASHINGTON — With less than 70 days until midterm elections, Democrats remain favored to regain the majority in the U.S. House. President Donald Trump’s anemic approval ratings amid the war in Iran, concerns over the economy and a coalitional shift within the party mark some of the largest headwinds facing Republicans heading into November, according to […]
Kansas City leaders can seem contemptuous of the voters they answer to. The Royals stadium deal, pushed through without a public vote, is the latest example. That hostility goes back more than a decade — and former Mayor Sly James’ recent column is the latest reminder. James begins an Aug. 23 essay by chastising those […]
Progressive activist Gaby Goldstein thinks her opponents are brilliant. Despite her deeply held liberal politics, she admires the work of conservative groups that for decades have built influence in state governments across the country. “We on the left have left a huge amount of power on the table,” said Goldstein, the founder and president of […]
A veteran Republican politician and attorney will take over the state department responsible for providing support services to almost every other Missouri agency, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Friday. Kurt Schaefer, director of the Department of Natural Resources and a former state Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, will become Commissioner of Administration, Kehoe said in a news […]
WASHINGTON — A developing trade war with Canada could bite Republicans ahead of the upcoming midterm elections as voters worry about rising prices and industries in states with competitive races could suffer. Maine’s lobster industry dodged what officials had warned could be economic havoc Thursday morning when Canada reversed its decision to tax lobster imports at […]
Kansas City-based CBD American Shaman says it destroyed $10 million worth of product this week after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration placed a potent kratom-related opioid manufactured by the company into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA on Wednesday temporarily scheduled mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, along with two related compounds known as MGM-15 and […]
ROSLYN, Wash. — Francisco Martinez hefts a canister filled with a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. A tongue of flame dances above the nozzle. He tips the drip torch forward — whoosh — and a stream of blazing liquid races across the forest floor. In less than a minute, a long wall of fire […]