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Former Missouri AG shelves rule on social media moderation as he leaves office

6 months ago
One of former Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s headline-grabbing actions — a rule that would have required social media companies to provide third-party content moderators — was quietly dropped just before he resigned. Bailey became co-deputy director of the FBI on Monday and was replaced as attorney general by Catherine Hanaway. The rule for social […]
Rudi Keller

One urban crossroad, 3 new districts: Kansas City braces for Missouri gerrymander

6 months ago
KANSAS CITY  — A man slept on the cool, gray steps of Independence Boulevard Christian Church, the building and its columns shielding his body from the midday sun on a recent weekday. A few others lingered in the shade under nearby trees. On Monday evenings, the more-than-century-old church in Historic Northeast Kansas City opens its […]
Jonathan Shorman

RFK Jr. lists 100+ recommendations to ā€˜Make America Healthy Again’

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration released its strategy to Make America Healthy Again on Tuesday, which officials hope will reduce chronic diseases and align federal policy with their beliefs.Ā  Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a briefing on the strategy the 128 ā€œrecommendations are things that I’ve been dreaming about […]
Jennifer Shutt

Supreme Court rules Trump administration can refuse to spend $4B in foreign aid for now

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Trump administration can temporarily hold on to $4 billion in foreign aid funding approved by Congress, overturning a lower court’s order and continuing a struggle over who controls the nation’s purse strings.Ā  The one-page ruling from the emergency docket, signed by Chief Justice John G. […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri House passes gerrymandered congressional map, limits on initiative petitions

6 months ago
Bills creating a gerrymandered congressional map and making it virtually impossible to change the state constitution through the initiative petition process are on their way to the Missouri Senate. The Missouri House gave final approval to both proposals Tuesday after two days of contentious debate.Ā  Gov. Mike Kehoe called the legislature back into session after […]
Jason Hancock

Wagers on touchdowns, strikeouts and even penalties: States eye limits on prop bets

6 months ago
As a bankruptcy attorney, New Jersey Assemblymember Dan Hutchison said he sees clients ā€œall the timeā€ whose betting on football and baseball quickly leads to missed car payments, delinquent mortgages and, ultimately, bankruptcy. The rise of live, in-game bets — in which a gambler could place more than 200 individual bets during a baseball game […]
Kevin Hardy

Catherine Hanaway takes over as Missouri attorney general vowing a ā€˜different style’

6 months ago
Catherine Hanaway had nothing but kind words Monday about the man who she was replacing as Missouri’s attorney general.Ā  In an interview with The Independent shortly after taking the oath of office in a private ceremony in Jefferson City, Hanaway said now-former Attorney General Andrew Bailey was committed to upholding the constitution and protecting the […]
Anna Spoerre

Missouri House advances bill to make it harder for voters to amend state constitution

6 months ago
The Missouri House gave initial approval Monday to legislation that would increase the threshold to pass constitutional amendments proposed through initiative petition. The bill passed largely along partisan lines, with five Republicans voting in opposition. It needs to be approved by the House one more time before heading to the Senate. If it passes that […]
Annelise Hanshaw

US Supreme Court OKs racial profiling in Los Angeles immigration enforcement

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a lower court’s ban on immigration agents’ racial profiling of Latinos in Southern California, backing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The order is temporary as the suit continues in lower courts, but it indicates a majority of the court is likely to side with the Trump administration’s […]
Ariana Figueroa

Trump penalty of $83M in E. Jean Carroll case upheld by appeals court

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld that President Donald Trump must pay an $83 million penalty for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019, rejecting Trump’s argument that presidential immunity shields him from the punishment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan reaffirmed a lower court decision denying […]
Ashley Murray

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to let it block $4B in foreign aid funding

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling and allow it to withhold $4 billion in foreign aid that was previously approved by Congress. The case is one of many lawsuits challenging the White House’s efforts to supersede Congress’ spending authority by canceling funding without lawmakers’ […]
Jennifer Shutt

Trump campaigned on closing the Education Department. Reality is more difficult.

6 months ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s aim to shutter the Education Department faces steep hurdles in Congress, where Republicans’ legislative efforts to abolish the agency remain stalled and appropriators have rejected many of his proposed cuts to education spending. After campaigning last year on a pledge to shut down the department, Trump came into office promising to […]
Shauneen Miranda

New Missouri attorney general inherits more than 120 pending Sunshine Law requests

6 months ago
There will be more than 120 public records requests sitting on Catherine Hanaway’s desk when she takes the oath of office Monday morning to become Missouri’s next attorney general. Some of the requests are months old, but all but one were submitted this year, said Stephanie Whitaker, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office. And whileĀ higher […]
Jason Hancock

Our democratic form of government will not survive if we remain silent

6 months ago
What will it take to wake us up to protect and fight for our democratic form of government with all its imperfections and the way of life it provides? It has not survived thus far without courageous voices defending it. It will neither survive today nor move forward without our courageous voices. Let us keep […]
Janice Ellis

What it’s like enduring a heat wave in a Missouri prison

6 months ago
In May, Missouri became one of the northernmost states to hear arguments for better heat mitigation in state prisons after the MacArthur Justice Center filed a class action lawsuit alleging that one prison’s conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment for those forced to endure dangerous temperatures with little to no relief. The facility, Algoa Correctional […]
Ivy Scott

States break with FDA restrictions on COVID vaccines, ensuring broader access

6 months ago
Several states, including Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York and Pennsylvania, announced this week that they would be breaking with restrictive eligibility policies unveiled last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines for the fall season. In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Friday […]
Shalina Chatlani