After Aug. 28, Missouri will end the state’s longstanding practice of seizing foster children’s Social Security benefits to cover the cost of foster care. Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday signed a bill that also bans child marriage and stop child sex abusers from using non-disclosure agreements to silence their victims. The bill was sponsored by […]
Older children in foster care would have their own attorneys and a commission will study how to improve legal representation throughout the foster care system under a bill signed Wednesday by Gov. Mike Kehoe. The provision Republican state Sen. Travis Fitzwater of Holts Summit added to a sweeping foster care bill makes changes to the […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s candidate to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advanced out of a Senate committee Wednesday following a party-line vote, moving her one step closer to confirmation. Susan Monarez’s nomination now goes to the floor, where she will likely secure the backing needed to officially take on the role […]
The U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday lifted lower court injunctions that had blocked attempts by President Donald Trump and his DOGE Service to restructure the federal government. Labor unions, advocates and local governments that sued to block the cuts said the president exceeded his authority with the executive order by moving to dismantle the federal […]
Small towns experiencing population decline often see staples like grocery stores, day cares and schools close, Iowa State University sociology professor David Peters said, leading to less access and hardship. One less-known, missing part of many of these communities is legal representation, Peters said, which leaves people without recourse to handle problems of that nature […]
MU Health Care confirmed Tuesday that it is reviewing a new offer from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield that could restore insurance coverage to an estimated 90,000 Missourians. The news comes a week after a state Senate hearing failed to result in any sort of agreement between the two actors. The initial deadline for negotiations […]
The Fourth of July has just passed, and next year’s holiday will be defined by the 250th anniversary signing of the Declaration of Independence. As we celebrate this milestone, it is important to remind ourselves that everyone’s vote defines a democracy. However, more than 50,000 Missourians are barred from voting because they are on probation […]
President Donald Trump’s administration will pursue a ban on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland as part of an effort to strengthen farm security, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday. Appearing alongside other Cabinet officials, Republican governors and members of Congress at an event outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters in Washington, D.C., Rollins announced […]
TOPEKA — A Leavenworth County District Court judge held off on a decision Monday on whether to lift a temporary restraining order he placed on CoreCivic last month, stopping the company from housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at its vacant Leavenworth prison. Judge John Bryant said he would take CoreCivic’s motion to reconsider […]
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has abandoned plans for mass layoffs but still anticipates the exit of 30,000 employees by the end of the fiscal year. Previous downsizing goals aimed to return the agency to 2019-level staffing of roughly 398,000 employees, which would represent the loss of about 70,000 jobs and a 15% overall […]
WASHINGTON — The federal government cannot withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood for at least the next two weeks, after a district court judge issued a temporary restraining order the same day the organization filed a lawsuit. Republicans included language in their “big, beautiful bill” that would block Medicaid payments from going to Planned Parenthood […]
After years of mourning family and friends who succumbed to aggressive cancers, activists in Missouri finally won federal recognition that radiation released during the development of nuclear weapons is to blame. Since the publication of a six-month investigation by The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press, Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has pressed for […]
ABILENE, Texas — Bolstered by $3.2 million from a former Midland oilman, this West Texas city of 130,000 people is helping the Lone Star State lead a national nuclear energy resurgence. Doug Robison’s 2021 donation to Abilene Christian University helped the institution win federal approval to house an advanced small modular nuclear reactor, which might […]
Not all farmers and ranchers will agree in a discussion about climate change, but it would be difficult to find a Midwest producer who did not value climate-related data addressing drought, precipitation, temperature and frost outlooks. These are all pieces of data gathered and distributed by the Ames-based Midwest Climate Hub, which along with the […]
Despite heading one of the oldest anti-abortion organizations in the country at a time of huge upheaval for abortion rights, John Mize is new to the movement. The father of four became the CEO of Americans United for Life in January 2024. Previously he worked for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, after more than a […]
The front-page headlines in the last few days have been jarring: “Medicaid Cuts May Force Retirees out of Nursing Homes.” While much of the battle over Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill for billionaires is theoretical to many of us who’ve always had health insurance and coverage for things like rehab and even nursing homes, […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended temporary protections Monday for nationals from Nicaragua and Honduras, opening up roughly 76,000 people to deportations by early September. The move is the latest effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to wind down legal statuses, such as Temporary Protected Status, amid an immigration crackdown and pledge […]
Days after President Donald Trump signed a massive budget bill, attorneys for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its state members in Massachusetts and Utah filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a provision they say will affect more than 1 million patients who use their clinics across the U.S. Planned Parenthood says if the defund provision […]
President Donald Trump on Monday threatened tariffs from 25% to 40% on all goods from seven countries, including major U.S. trade partners Japan and South Korea. The tariffs would go into effect Aug. 1, rather than Wednesday, which was the deadline Trump already extended once from an initial April date, Trump wrote in a series […]
A growing number of firearms are being stolen from parked cars, especially in urban areas, according to a new report that highlights a frequently overlooked source of illegally circulating guns. The nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice released an analysis examining five years of gun theft data reported to law enforcement in 16 cities […]
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