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MoInd šŸ“°

Black voters urged to ignore myth, head to the polls after lackluster turnout last year

9 months ago
When Black voters stay home on election day, the results have major consequences, according to Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. Morial implored attendees at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference Thursday to eschew the myth that their vote does not matter. Black voter turnout was more than […]
William J. Ford

Wearable devices are unlocking a personalized version of health care

9 months ago
For 27-year-old Amanda Lien, the decision to start wearing popular wearable tech devices, like her Apple Watch and Oura Ring, didn’t come lightly. The Chesapeake, Virginia-based content marketing specialist works for a healthcare company, and probably knows more about healthcare data privacy issues than most, she said. She’s also not inclined to wear jewelry on […]
Paige Gross

As immigration raids step up, US citizens predicted at risk for detainment

9 months ago
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh argued in a major case earlier this month that U.S. citizens face few problems in having their immigration status verified if federal agents apprehend them. ā€œIf the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, they promptly let […]
Ariana Figueroa

Educators look to Missouri growth model to measure instructional effectiveness

9 months ago
Measuring academic progress is becoming increasingly important as Missouri schools recover from pandemic-related learning loss, with researchers and the state’s education officials championing growth as a vital metric. St. Louis University’s PRiME Center, a nonpartisan education think tank, held a half-day conference on the campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia Thursday to dig into how […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Former FBI Director Comey indicted on 2 federal charges after Trump urged prosecution

9 months ago
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Thursday on two federal charges, after President Donald Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey, a Trump critic who led an investigation into the president’s first election victory. A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia,Ā indicted Comey on one charge of making false statements to Congress […]
Jacob Fischler

Agriculture secretary announces major crops purchase, antitrust efforts at Kansas City conference

9 months ago
KANSAS CITY — U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday plans to boost American farmers by purchasing millions of bushels of crops. In an effort to increase American exports, the USDA will purchase 417,000 metric tons of commodities immediately to support the international food aid programs. That’s equivalent to more than 16 million […]
Anna Kaminski

TikTok sale to US investors OK’d by Trump in deal valued in billions

9 months ago
A group of U.S. investors will take over the massive video-sharing platform TikTok, President Donald Trump said Thursday. Trump signedĀ an executive order certifying a transaction for TikTok complies with a 2024 law requiring the platform’s Chinese parent company, Byte Dance Ltd., divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.Ā  The company is valued at […]
Jacob Fischler

Democrats argue in court for unannounced visits to immigration detention facilities

9 months ago
WASHINGTON — Attorneys on behalf of a dozen U.S. House Democrats Thursday pushed for a federal judge to force the Trump administration to comply with an appropriations law that allows for unannounced oversight visits at Department of Homeland Security facilities that detain immigrants.Ā Ā  ā€œWe don’t know what detention will look like in the future,ā€ said […]
Ariana Figueroa

ā€˜Let the courts decide’: Kehoe says he will sign gerrymandered Missouri congressional map

9 months ago
The courts will determine if the bill revising Missouri’s congressional districts is constitutional, Gov. Mike Kehoe said Thursday after announcing his plans to sign the measure this weekend. Speaking to reporters after an event in Columbia, Kehoe said he felt confident he was on firm legal ground when he called lawmakers into a special session. […]
Rudi Keller, Steph Quinn

Trump threatens mass firings of federal employees in a government shutdown

9 months ago
WASHINGTON — The White House has sent guidance to departments and agencies, telling them that if a shutdown begins Wednesday, they’re expected to institute mass firings and layoffs.  The two-page memo, shared with States Newsroom by a Trump administration official, says any programs that received funding in the ā€œbig, beautifulā€ law will ā€œcontinue uninterrupted.ā€ But the […]
Jennifer Shutt

Red states pushed child tax credits this year, but the broadest plans fizzled

9 months ago
Earlier this year, some conservative states began to embrace child tax credits that put cash directly into the hands of families raising children. Long favored by liberals, child tax credits can help ease the financial burdens of parenthood and have been shown to slash childhood poverty rates. But despite initial optimism from sponsors and child […]
Kevin Hardy

ā€˜His audience was really Trump’: How new FBI lead used his Missouri AG role to wage a culture war

9 months ago
This story was originally published by ProPublica. After a fight with a Black student in a St. Louis suburb left a white student badly injured in March 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey blamed their school district for unsafe conditions, even though the incident occurred after classes and more than a half-mile from campus. Bailey […]
Jeremy Kohler

The Trump administration’s playbook of coercing speech comes into focus

9 months ago
Sometimes one event brings clarity to other, more ambiguous, actions. ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is such an event. By threatening ABC over a comedian’s on-air comments, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr violated core First Amendment limits on the government. And this event is simply the latest example of a playbook that has […]
Steve Leben

USDA cancels food security report that anti-hunger advocates say showed the effects of food policies

9 months ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has canceled a report that hunger-fighting organizations say was ā€œessentialā€ data to see the results of federal and local policies aimed at ending hunger.Ā  USDA, in a news release about the decision said the reports were ā€œredundant, costly, politicizedā€ and did ā€œnothing more than fear monger.ā€ Paige Chickering, vice chair […]
Cami Koons