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ā€˜Iā€™m absolutely being punishedā€™: Dean Plocher accused of retaliating against GOP critics

1 month 2 weeks ago

So far this year, state Rep. Mazzie Christensen has filed 11 bills, ranging from changes to statewide education and public health policy to narrow legislation designed to help a small county in her district.Ā  State Rep. Adam Schwadron has filed 12 bills, including his top priority to create a state fund to defray costs of […]

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Jason Hancock

Love and Black history sharing the same month is instructive

1 month 2 weeks ago

While many of us may not take time to celebrate love or Black history during the month of February, they both hold a lot in common and offer some valuable aspects we might want to consider. Among them: Understanding. Hope. Unity. In love, when we really want to know about a person or thing, we […]

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Janice Ellis

Congress is looking at expanding the child tax credit again. Who would benefit?

1 month 2 weeks ago

WASHINGTON ā€” The bipartisan tax package passed by the U.S. HouseĀ last monthĀ is not a done deal, but the proposalā€™s supporters say it could restore some poverty-reducing benefits that reached millions under the pandemic-era child tax credit expansion. A majority of low-income families who do not currently qualify for the full credit would see some increase […]

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Ashley Murray

Tuberculosis cases rise, but public health agencies say they lack the resources to keep up

1 month 2 weeks ago

Until COVID-19, tuberculosis was the worldā€™s deadliest infectious disease,Ā killing about 1.5 million peopleĀ annually. Contrary to public perception, the disease is still active in the United States. The number of TB cases in the U.S. briefly dropped at the start of the pandemic, but there was a 5% increase in cases in 2022, according to the […]

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Nada Hassanein

Desperate for affordable housing, some cities sweeten tax breaks for developers

1 month 2 weeks ago

Last month, city council members in Fort Worth, Texas, decided developers that received massive tax breaks to build affordable housing would no longer be able to buy their way out of the obligation by paying a $200 annual fee in lieu of each unbuilt low-income unit. In Columbus, Ohio, leaders voted in December to expand […]

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Robbie Sequeira

Effort to place St. Louis police under state control returns in Missouri legislature

1 month 2 weeks ago

Missourians voted in 2013 to return control of the St. Louis police department to local officials, ending more than 150 years of state oversight. And almost immediately, state lawmakers began pushing to get control back. That effort is back again this year, with proponents arguing the experiment with local control has failed, leaving the city […]

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Debra Chandler Landis

With a casino on their phones, more Kansas City gamblers risk addiction

1 month 2 weeks ago

When Andrew Gallamore clocks out of work at his job in Bonner Springs, he clicks on his phone. Sometimes, to bet. His DraftKings app makes dropping $5 or $10 on a prop bet so easy. And once heā€™s back home in Missouri, having even a few dollars riding on how many yards a player may […]

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Suzanne King

Missouri coroner charged with stealing from the dead, lying on death certificates

1 month 2 weeks ago

The coroner of Cape Girardeau County ā€” who admitted to journalists in 2021 that his office simply ā€œdoesnā€™t do COVID deathsā€ and that he didnā€™t personally investigate deaths himself, despite being legally required to do so ā€” was charged Thursday with stealing from a dead person and lying on multiple death certificates. Missouri Attorney General […]

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Rudi Keller

US Senate advances $95.3 billion bill that includes emergency funding for Ukraine, Israel

1 month 2 weeks ago

WASHINGTON ā€” The U.S. Senate moved past a procedural hurdle Thursday to begin work on a $95 billion emergency spending bill that would provide military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The strong 67-32 vote, which could predict eventual approval, came after a tense week on Capitol Hill that began Sunday evening when […]

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Jennifer Shutt

US Supreme Court appears skeptical of Colorado ruling in Trump disqualification case

1 month 2 weeks ago

U.S. Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments Thursday in a landmark case over whether former President Donald Trump should be barred from the 2024 presidential ballot. A majority of the justices, including liberal members of the court, expressed skepticism about a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that said Trump, the GOP presidential frontrunner, is […]

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Quentin Young

One abortion-rights initiative petition is ending in Missouri as another kicks into gear

1 month 2 weeks ago

One of two campaigns hoping to amend the state constitution to roll back Missouriā€™s abortion ban is giving up its push to reach the 2024 ballot.Ā  Jamie Corley, a longtime GOP Congressional staffer, is withdrawing an initiative petition she helped craft that would have added rape and incest exceptions to Missouriā€™s abortion ban and legalize […]

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Anna Spoerre

Presidential caucus has some Missouri Republicans worried about accessibility

1 month 3 weeks ago

Some Boone County Republicans ā€” as well as some state and party officials ā€” are voicing concerns about the partyā€™s March 2 presidential caucus, the first of its kind in Missouri since 2012. Voters face a confusing landscape as the stateā€™s major political parties are being forced to find new ways of nominating presidential candidates […]

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Katie Taranto

Republicans block attempt to add rape, incest exemptions to Missouriā€™s abortion ban

1 month 3 weeks ago

Republicans thwarted an effort to add rape and incest exceptions to Missouriā€™s near-total abortion ban on Wednesday but were unable to push a bill to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements to a vote. Under Missouri law, abortion is illegal except in cases of a medical emergency when ā€œa delay will create a serious […]

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Anna Spoerre

Missouri chief justice calls for action as hundreds wait in jails for mental health services

1 month 3 weeks ago

The number of people languishing in county jails for court-ordered mental health treatment before trial is a problem that must be addressed, both for the well-being of the inmates and their communities but also to make sure justice is fairly administered, Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell told a joint session of the state […]

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Rudi Keller

Here are the key issues facing Supreme Court in Trump 14th Amendment case out of Colorado

1 month 3 weeks ago

In the weeks following the Colorado Supreme Courtā€™sĀ historic 4-3 decisionĀ barring former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot under a Civil War-era insurrection clause, the case was formally appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court twice, presenting the courtā€™s justices with two different frameworks for its widely anticipated review. The ā€œquestions presentedā€ by the Colorado Republican […]

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Chase Woodruff

Missouri lawmakers want to raise teacher pay but anticipate Senate resistance

1 month 3 weeks ago

Legislation boosting teacher recruitment and retention in Missouri is once again a priority of the Missouri House, with a hearing Wednesday morning on a pair of Republican-backed bills. Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly, is sponsoring legislation based on the findings of the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Educationā€™s blue ribbon commission. It […]

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Annelise Hanshaw

Missouri lawmaker hopes to shield cryptocurrency mining from state and local regulation

1 month 3 weeks ago

Mining cryptocurrency requires enormous amounts of computing power and electricity, both to keep the digital calculations going and to cool the machines doing the work. A legislator from St. Charles County wants to make it easier for entrepreneurs to set up their mines in Missouri, proposing legislation that prevents local governments from limiting the locations […]

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Rudi Keller

Sorry to conspiracy theorists. Kansas City loves the Chiefs ā€” and so does most of Missouri

1 month 3 weeks ago

Apparently not everyone is thrilled with the prospect of Kansas City returning to the Super Bowl against San Francisco. ā€œBleh. How uninspired. How anti-climatic. How disappointing,ā€ is how a USA Today story summed up fan reaction outside of the Chiefs Kingdom and the Bay area. Sorry, not sorry. We here in Kansas City believe we […]

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Barbara Shelly

Bidenā€™s natural gas export pause fought over by U.S. House panel

1 month 3 weeks ago

Members of a U.S. House panel on climate and energy issues split along party lines Tuesday about the Biden administrationā€™s recent move to pause new approvals of liquified natural gas exports. Republicans called a hearing to challenge the Energy Departmentā€™sĀ announcement last monthĀ that it would indefinitely bar new LNG permits to non-free-trade partners as it studies […]

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Jacob Fischler

ā€˜Times are desperateā€™: Missouri House gives initial approval to child care tax credits

1 month 3 weeks ago

A bill that would create tax credits designed to make child care more affordable and accessible won initial approval Tuesday from the Missouri House. The bill will need to be approved one more time by the House before it heads to the Missouri Senate. The state continues to grapple with a child care crisis,with about […]

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Anna Spoerre