A Jackson County Circuit Court judge struck down a state law criminalizing school employees for supplying “sexually explicit material” to students, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and overbroad in a five-page decision Monday. “This is a real victory for all library professionals who are trained to select age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate material for students in both public […]
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration took major steps Tuesday in trying to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, announcing six interagency agreements signed with other departments that will transfer several of its responsibilities to those agencies. The announcement was immediately met with intense backlash from Democratic members of Congress, […]
This story contains mention of sexual abuse and suicide. If you or a loved one are in crisis, help is available 24 hours a day by dialing 988 or visiting 988hotline.org. WASHINGTON — A bill is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk compelling the release of unclassified investigative files from the case against convicted sex […]
WASHINGTON — More than 60 members of the congressional Democratic Women’s Caucus Tuesday sent a letter to the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raising “extreme concerns” about the treatment of pregnant immigrants in detention. “The health and safety of pregnant women should not be threatened as a result of the administration choosing not […]
For years, the public had no way to know just how many people died in Missouri’s prisons, a Marshall Project investigation found, because the state Department of Corrections wasn’t counting. Instead of annual totals, the department historically responded to public records requests with partial counts, cobbled together from multiple sources. News outlets and researchers unknowingly […]
On May 16, a ruthless tornado tore through parts of St. Louis city, county and the Metro East. In less than 30 minutes, the storm carved a 20-mile scar across north St. Louis, flattening blocks in Fountain Park, Penrose, the Ville and Kingshighway West. Nearly 5,000 homes, churches and businesses were destroyed, with damage estimates […]
For several weeks now, the American right has been embroiled in a bitter internal fight about Nazis and antisemitism. Specifically, the fight has centered on a Nazi sympathizer who keeps finding his way into the orbit of influential conservatives: Nick Fuentes. Fuentes, a far-right activist and Holocaust denier, has summed up his political worldview as […]
Voters across Missouri late last week received a text message urging them to take their names off petitions they may have “accidentally signed.” The message, labeled as the work of the Republican National Committee, dropped the name of Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, saying he had “declared TENS OF THOUSANDS of petition signatures IMPROPERLY […]
Missouri babies and mothers continue to die at higher rates than the national average, a new March of Dimes report found. Now, despite some statewide efforts to improve health outcomes, the threat of federal health care funding cuts could worsen the problem, health care professionals say. The annual Missouri “report card” published Monday by the […]
WASHINGTON — The review council that President Donald Trump tasked with overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency was supposed to release its recommendations before Monday but missed the deadline. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security declined to say when the report would be published, but wrote in a statement that it would “inform […]
When local activist Frank Arcoleo found out over the summer that a data center was coming to his neighborhood in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he said he was furious. There’d been no votes or public hearings. The first phase of the data center project under development there only required administrative approval from a few city officials, based […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday night abruptly changed his tune, telling House Republicans to vote on a bill to compel the Department of Justice to release all files related to its investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 awaiting federal trial. In a post on his social media […]
The Federal Aviation Administration early Monday lifted an order that airlines cut domestic flights to 40 major U.S. airports, as air traffic control staffing levels improve following the six-week government shutdown. The move came just before the busiest travel week of the year, though it was unclear how long it would take for airlines to resume […]
A Korean War veteran from Nebraska named Russell Wood made 35 donations totaling $1,050 over the last year to Bill Eigel’s campaign for St. Charles County executive. The problem is, Wood, who is 92, has never heard of Eigel or set foot in St. Charles County. He told The Independent he had no idea he […]
Though Congress ended the record-setting federal government shutdown, many questions remain for states that were already wading through seismic federal changes. One major uncertainty: whether and how states will be reimbursed for the costs they incurred, as they have been in previous shutdowns. And for the longer term, the shutdown offered a glimpse into the […]
The Trump administration’s tariff appeal could mark the turning point when the U.S. Supreme Court finally stands up to the president. In oral arguments on Nov. 5, a majority of the justices on the court voiced open skepticism over Trump’s claim that he has authority to impose sweeping tariffs under a law that does not […]
Missouri utility regulators on Thursday approved electric rates to ensure large power users on its system are responsible for paying their fair share of the effect their usage has on the power grid and other customers. The Missouri Public Service Commission approved a large-load rate submitted by Evergy, which operates in Kansas and Missouri, and […]
The Missouri Department of Social Services announced Thursday that it will continue to issue partial payments of federal food benefits for November, while updating its systems to resume paying full amounts. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation funding the federal government through the end of January and ending the shutdown […]
WASHINGTON — The record 43-day government shutdown that ended Wednesday night scrambled air travel, interrupted food assistance and forced federal workers to go without a paycheck for weeks. It also cost the U.S. economy about $15 billion per week, White House Council of Economic Advisers Director Kevin Hassett told reporters Thursday.  As the government began to […]
The Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump appears to live on after the head of a nonpartisan state agency appointed himself the new prosecutor in the case. Peter J. Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, will take over the case from embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Skandalakis […]
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