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MoInd 📰

Denny Hoskins’ terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month

2 weeks 3 days ago
There are rough months in politics. And then there are months when you get summoned before the Missouri Supreme Court, found in contempt, sued repeatedly, accused by a former employee of retaliating against him for raising concerns about misconduct and singled out for criticism by the highest court in the nation. Denny Hoskins had the […]
Jason Hancock

Missouri Independent reporters win investigative journalism prize for foster care series

2 weeks 4 days ago
Reporters Clara Bates and Anna Spoerre were awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism on Saturday by the Missouri Press Association for their reporting on problems in the state’s foster care. The award recognizes reporting that uncovers information not readily available to the public and requires “exceptional journalistic skill, determination and effort.” It includes a […]
Staff Reports

Missouri should take the time to get its next education commissioner right

2 weeks 5 days ago
Missouri education is entering a period of significant change. That makes the search for the state’s next Commissioner of Education more than a personnel decision. It is a decision about who will lead Missouri’s schools through some of the most consequential policy changes the state has undertaken in years. The Missouri State Board of Education […]
Torree Pederson

US Supreme Court again blocks Missouri’s gerrymandered congressional map

2 weeks 5 days ago
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday drove a stake through the heart of Missouri’s undead congressional map, ordering it be buried for the year and for voters to cast ballots in the districts they’ve used the past two election cycles. In a unanimous decision, the court said that state law rules in the case. “In […]
Rudi Keller

CDC’s latest youth behavior report offers a narrower look at teen health

2 weeks 5 days ago
For more than 35 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has surveyed American high school students every two years about their health and behavior. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, established in 1991, draws a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 at public and private schools. Over the years, […]
Amanda Watford

Doctors and hospitals to see lower Medicaid payments in three dozen states

2 weeks 6 days ago
New federal rules likely will force three dozen states to reduce their annual Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals by a total of more than $50 billion — potentially shrinking the number of providers willing to see Medicaid patients, according to a new analysis. The analysis in the peer-reviewed Health Affairs estimates that the 17 […]
Shalina Chatlani

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to permit quick third-country deportations

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Thursday made an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow for rapid third-country deportations of noncitizens to continue, after an appeals court blocked the policy last week. In a brief, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the high court to temporarily halt the appeals court’s order. The […]
Ariana Figueroa

The Fairness Project remains largest funder of effort to stop Missouri abortion ban

2 weeks 6 days ago
Since 2017, a D.C.-based nonprofit called the Fairness Project has poured more than $13 million into Missouri campaigns.  Every campaign it backed that has reached Missouri voters has won. And now it is making its biggest investment yet in the state. In 2024, The Fairness Project gave more than $4.5 million to a citizen-led ballot […]
Anna Spoerre

Missouri should scrutinize all schools, not just St. Louis Public Schools

2 weeks 6 days ago
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s demand that the president of the St. Louis Board of Education testify about the firing of former Superintendent Millicent Borishade raises a larger question: Is this really about accountability, or is accountability being selectively applied? Dr. Borishade has filed an active whistleblower and wrongful-termination lawsuit against the district. Any competent […]
Ray Cummings

FDA nominee faces skepticism on vaccines from Republican senators at confirmation hearing

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration appeared to disappoint senators from both political parties Thursday with how she answered questions about medication abortion access during her confirmation hearing.  Dr. Heidi Overton also faced skepticism from committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, about her work on vaccine policy […]
Jennifer Shutt

Millions of dollars of waste found in Trump administration push for immigration detention

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — Government investigators Thursday released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities. The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found that millions were wasted because DHS began expanding detention operations without putting […]
Ariana Figueroa

More Americans lose SNAP as Congress weighs food stamps’ future

2 weeks 6 days ago
Tens of thousands of Americans continue to lose access to food assistance each month, even as Congress debates slowing down major cuts to federal food stamps. New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows more than 330,000 Americans lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, between May and June, the latest […]
Kevin Hardy

Federal judge orders White House must restore press passes to 3 banned news outlets

2 weeks 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly early Thursday issued an order that temporarily blocks President Donald Trump’s ban of three news organizations from the White House. Kelly, in the eight-page order, said that the White House must “immediately return, reinstate, and restore the White House ‘hard pass’ press credentials held by employees of […]
Jane Norman

Missouri Medicaid enrollee challenges Trump rule on work requirement exemptions

3 weeks ago
Emily Byrd has lost Medicaid coverage twice due to paperwork problems.  Both times, Byrd, of Kansas City, submitted documents requested by the Missouri Department of Social Services. But duplicate letters, late notices and “confusing, inconsistent information” made it difficult for Byrd to regain coverage — the second time forcing them to reapply. The 25-year-old, who […]
Steph Quinn

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley raises privacy alarms over nationwide AI camera network

3 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — A vast and growing network of artificial intelligence-driven Flock cameras could violate constitutional privacy rights, U.S. senators on a Judiciary Committee subcommittee said during a Wednesday hearing. GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, the chair of the Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, said the point of the hearing was to find out “what is […]
Ariana Figueroa

Local taxpayers kept their promise. Missouri must keep its, too.

3 weeks ago
For years, I watched young families chase a familiar version of the American dream: land the right job, save enough money for a down payment, and find a home in a community where they could raise their children safely. One with a reasonable commute, maybe a park nearby and enough room in the backyard to […]
Chris Gaines

Judge skeptical of White House ban of 3 news outlets but holds off on ruling for now

3 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly indicated during a Wednesday hearing he may order the Trump administration to reinstate White House press passes for reporters from three news organizations who had their credentials revoked this weekend.  Kelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said at the beginning of […]
Jennifer Shutt

US Senate Republicans spotlight trans athletes issue as midterms approach

3 weeks ago
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 […]
Shauneen Miranda

Missouri Supreme Court hears appeal of school library ‘explicit sexual material’ law

3 weeks ago
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 […]
Annelise Hanshaw

State asks Missouri Supreme Court to block award of 13 marijuana licenses

3 weeks ago
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, […]
Rebecca Rivas