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WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer screenings, […]

The post U.S. judge rules insurers don’t have to cover many free preventive health services appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Despite supply-chain problems amid the lingering effects of the pandemic, 2022 saw major increases in solar and wind power in the United States, though that growth varied by state, according to a report released last month by a nonprofit focused on climate change. Nationally, electricity generated from solar and wind grew 16% from 2021, with wind accounting […]

The post Missouri saw small gains in wind, solar energy capacity last year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators at a hearing on Wednesday grilled the former CEO of Starbucks over allegations that the giant coffee company intimidated, harassed and fired workers who tried to form unions. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, focused on Starbucks’ […]

The post Bernie Sanders confronts former Starbucks CEO over union-busting allegations appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Senate Democrats seized control of the Missouri Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to block a Republican proposal making it harder to change the state constitution. The measure that would impose a 60% threshold as the minimum majority for amendments has already passed the House and, if approved in the Senate, would go before voters in 2024. […]

The post Democratic filibuster blocks vote on bill making it harder to amend Missouri Constitution appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The suicide rate among veterans in Missouri is nearly double the state rate and one of the highest in the country. In hopes of helping veterans and other Missourians facing mental health issues, the Missouri House advanced a bill Wednesday that would require the state to conduct a study on using psilocybin, also known as […]

The post Missouri House backs bill requiring state research on psychedelics to treat depression, PTSD appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Both Republican and Democratic members of the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the Biden administration’s intensely contested expansion of what qualifies as wetlands that the federal government can regulate. The Senate approved a resolution, sponsored by West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, that would revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of […]

The post U.S. Senate clears measure to undo Biden WOTUS rule on wetlands appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Bayer is suing four farmers in the Bootheel of Missouri for illegally spraying older versions of dicamba on its genetically-engineered soybeans, as well as doing so after the state’s cutoff date for spraying the herbicide. The lawsuits, filed in January in federal court in the Eastern District […]

The post Bayer sues Missouri farmers for illegally spraying dicamba, saving and replanting seeds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans tussled with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic committee members over work requirements in federal nutrition programs as well as spending levels for those programs at a Tuesday hearing. Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee charged Vilsack with evading bipartisan oversight in the USDA’s 2021 redesign of the Thrifty Food […]

The post USDA secretary battles with U.S. House Republicans over costs of federal nutrition programs appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As a pandemic policy expires and Missouri begins rechecking eligibility of around 1.6 million people on Medicaid, social services department leadership pledged Tuesday to make the process “as seamless as possible for as many people as we can.” Over the last three years, states have stopped reverifying whether Medicaid recipients on their rolls are still […]

The post Missouri to begin Medicaid renewals, vowing as ‘seamless’ a process as possible appeared first on Missouri Independent.

BRIDGETON — Radioactive waste in the West Lake Landfill is more widespread than previously thought, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. The finding is based on two years of testing at the St. Louis County site, which has held thousands of tons of radioactive waste for decades. An underground “fire” in another […]

The post EPA finds radioactive contamination in more areas of West Lake Landfill appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Election officials on Tuesday detailed to the U.S. Senate Rules Committee how their states countered threats to election workers and worked to combat misinformation and disinformation during the 2022 midterm election. With the 2024 presidential election closely approaching, Senate Rules Committee Chair Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she was concerned about threats to election […]

The post State election officials at U.S. Senate hearing discuss threats to workers, call for funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Advocates for increasing rates for home care workers fell just two votes short of adding $308 million to the Missouri budget on Tuesday as more than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats on a proposal intended to help dire staffing needs of local agencies. The amendment from Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Manchester, would have increased rates for […]

The post Missouri House defeats effort to boost pay for home health aides for people with disabilities appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Financial regulators promised a full review of Silicon Valley Bank’s massive failure as members of a key U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday interrogated the officials about what led to the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history. Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs asked if the Federal Reserve could […]

The post Members of U.S. Senate panel press financial regulators on massive bank failures appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated if enough has changed to prevent a repeat of the infant formula shortage, more than a year after a nationwide crisis began. The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services heard from two experts that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]

The post Infant formula crisis could recur, former FDA official tells Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Nearly one month has passed since the opening of the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, and visitors still seem dazzled as they browse in shops and admire the art in the airy shopping nodes, with the aromas of barbecue and Brazilian dishes drifting […]

The post One month into the new airport terminal, Kansas City has questions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The State of Missouri is responsible for educating our children. To educate Missouri’s kids, the state created a system that allows citizens to form school districts through an election process, each of which is governed by a locally elected board.  This system is designed to honor our history of ensuring that control of public schools […]

The post It’s time for Missouri lawmakers to respect local control of public schools appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Amid rising concerns over potentially deadly flea and tick collars, the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to transfer regulation of such products to another agency drew skepticism from animal and environmental advocates at a virtual public meeting last week. The proposal and meeting came two years after a USA TODAY/Investigate Midwest story revealed the […]

The post EPA plan to transfer Seresto and other pet pesticides to FDA draws concern from advocates appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Natalie Bell was thinking about a career in art after college when a welding class and a delivery of four pizzas changed her career trajectory. “I was taking a delivery out to a construction site and I met an ironworker who I was taking the delivery to,” said Bell, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. “I […]

The post Help wanted: Women needed for U.S. chips manufacturing plan to succeed appeared first on Missouri Independent.

High employee turnover has plagued Missouri’s Department of Social Services for years. The department’s staffing woes have contributed to a range of problems — from foster children languishing in state care for longer than they should be to disabled residents waiting months to receive federal food benefits to investigators unable to keep up with child […]

The post Diversity initiatives within Missouri agencies run into GOP attack on ‘woke’ government appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When I moved from open country to the lush Missouri landscape, I quickly became aware of the many species of birds living in the tangle of green behind my home.  Pulled into the ebb and flow of their presence and their migrations, I became fascinated by the instinct that drives them, the adaptation processes of […]

The post Protecting migratory birds in Missouri can be as easy as flipping a switch appeared first on Missouri Independent.