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ICE arrests reach new high

1 week 6 days ago
Immigration arrests reached 1,593 per day in early July in a new push to detain and deport immigrants that has led to deaths in traffic stops. There were more than 43,000 arrests in June, the highest recorded by the Trump administration, according to statistics released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reflecting new bookings […]
Tim Henderson

Thousands of immigrant kids risk losing legal aid after Trump administration delays funds

1 week 6 days ago
WASHINGTON — As many as 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children are at risk of losing their federally funded legal representation due to the Trump administration withholding appropriated funds, immigration attorneys warned Tuesday. For more than six months, the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement has not released $65 million Congress appropriated for legal […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missouri lawmakers fight utility bid to bypass competition on new power lines

1 week 6 days ago
Electric companies in the Midwest say new large scale powerlines are needed to get more energy onto the grid to serve big power consumers such as artificial intelligence data centers. Now, the utilities argue reducing competition is the fastest way to do it. A group of nine electric transmission utilities, including Ameren and Evergy, is […]
Jana Rose Schleis

Graves-linked group alleges Nathan Willett violated state, federal campaign-finance laws

2 weeks ago
On April 30, the day Nathan Willett’s state Senate campaign committee declared itself dissolved, it sent $165,384.46 — most of its remaining campaign cash — to a small Georgia nonprofit. Seven weeks later, that nonprofit, Grassroots America Inc., contributed $160,384.46 to Conservative Future Fund, a super PAC that has reported spending more than $207,000 in […]
Jason Hancock

Brennan Center report predicts mass voter challenges likely in midterm elections

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Mass voter challenges are likely to occur in the 2026 midterm elections, the Brennan Center for Justice warned Tuesday, with the potential to “undermine the democratic process.” President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been laying the groundwork for questioning the election process in state after state, as Trump has made “election […]
David Lightman

Private investment in youth sports draws state, federal scrutiny

2 weeks ago
Courtney Hamby and her husband spend close to $6,000 per year for their daughter Ellie’s cheer and tumbling classes, competition fees and uniforms. That doesn’t include their travel expenses for multiple out-of-town competitions, including hotel rooms, gas, meals, and sometimes even flights. “This should be something that everyone gets to play, and it shouldn’t be […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Trump proposal will turn federal grants into a system of political favors, Democrats warn

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Democrats in Congress are pushing back against a proposed Trump administration rule introduced by the Office of Management and Budget that would substantially change the way federal grants are reviewed and distributed. Over the past few weeks, several groups of lawmakers have written public comment letters to Office of Management and Budget Director […]
Amelia Twyman

The feds no longer protect endangered species habitat. States say they can’t pick up the slack

2 weeks ago
The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe.  But experts say states aren’t equipped for the task. Earlier this month, the Trump administration finalized a major change to the Endangered Species Act, rolling back protections for the forests, wetlands, deserts and other […]
Alex Brown

Trump administration ramps up pressure on indefinite immigrant detention

2 weeks ago
Seeking to stop a “flood” of court cases freeing immigrants from mandatory detention, the Trump administration is asking an appeals court to put three immigrants back in detention. The immigrants were freed by Texas federal judges in February and March in a case that was upheld by an appeals court panel for Louisiana, Mississippi and […]
Tim Henderson

US Education Department veterans blast Trump plan to transfer programs

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Department of Education officials in Republican and Democratic administrations sounded the alarm Monday over the agency’s efforts to outsource its special education programs and civil rights enforcement to other agencies.  U.S. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state convened the former officials, along with advocates and educators, at a virtual press […]
Shauneen Miranda

Canadian hockey sticks, wine and cement subject to new Trump tariffs

2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ordered 50% tariffs on several Canadian products Monday in response to what his administration describes as retaliatory restrictions on imports of American goods, including alcohol, dairy and automotives. Trump’s three separate proclamations to impose steep tariffs on items like hockey sticks, wine and cement, came just days after he threatened to slap more […]
Ashley Murray

Uncertain congressional map hangs over Missouri’s crowded 5th District GOP primary

2 weeks ago
The Republican nomination in Missouri’s 5th Congressional District could, in the weeks after the Aug. 4 primary, become a prize not worth having. Six candidates are competing for the nomination in a district Republican lawmakers redrew last year at President Donald Trump’s urging to give their party an advantage over incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel […]
Rudi Keller

ICE officers to wear body cameras at traffic stops, White House border czar says

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — In the wake of two fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers will wear “at least one body camera” during traffic stops, Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, said over the weekend.  Homan, who President Donald Trump has tasked with leading his mass deportation campaign, said in a […]
Ariana Figueroa

Trump administration should preserve Reflecting Pool evidence, judge says

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — A D.C. Superior Court judge on Monday encouraged the Trump administration to preserve the sections of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that it says a Maryland man damaged to ensure the case moves forward.  Associate Judge Todd E. Edelman warned during a status hearing in the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn […]
Jennifer Shutt

FDA: Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sample produced a false positive for cyclospora

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — A top U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said Monday that a false positive report for the parasite cyclospora from a Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce sample does not change the basis for an ongoing agency investigation.  FDA had announced Sunday the false positive on a Taylor Farms lettuce sample, amid an outbreak of cyclosporiasis […]
Sam Gauntt

Immigrants, DHS agents and traffic stops: Violent outcomes repeat across the US

2 weeks 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on July 13 killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national with legal work authorization, in Maine, making him the 22nd person shot at by federal immigration officers during President Donald Trump’s second term.  Nearly all of those 22 incidents – 19 – involved Department of Homeland […]
Ariana Figueroa

Missouri shelves childcare payment overhaul as thousands remain on waitlist

2 weeks 1 day ago
One in five Missouri children eligible for state-paid childcare services isn’t receiving help because there isn’t enough money in the state budget.  There are 7,389 children on the waiting list to be enrolled in the state’s childcare subsidy program, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education told The Independent on Friday.  No children have been […]
Steph Quinn

Feds sue cities and states to block sanctuary policies

2 weeks 1 day ago
As the Trump administration continues its crackdown  on illegal immigration, states and cities that have pushed back with so-called sanctuary policies have faced a barrage of lawsuits from the U.S. Department of Justice. The administration has filed a total of 27 lawsuits against more than 20 cities, counties and states with such policies since Trump returned to […]
Shalina Chatlani

PAC attack mailers bring backlash in GOP primary race for Missouri’s 28th state Senate District

2 weeks 1 day ago
Sam Alexander paints a grim picture of Missouri’s 28th Senate District.  Alexander, an emergency room physician and farmer running for state Senate, said he lays awake at night thinking of the hospitals in financial straits, young people leaving their small towns behind for more work opportunities and senior citizens living month-to-month. “We’re America. We can […]
Anna Spoerre