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MoInd šŸ“°

Tumult over Epstein files dogs Trump, derails business on Capitol Hill

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — The fallout over President Donald Trump’s handling of financier and Florida sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case files permeated business on Capitol Hill Thursday, as Senate Democrats urged release of the information. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, Florida, a top Department of Justice official interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and a key figure in the […]
Ashley Murray, Christine Sexton

Democrats, education groups call for Trump to unfreeze K-12 funds

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday slammed the ā€œassaultā€ on public education by President Donald Trump’s administration, underscoring the impact of billions of dollars in funds still frozen for K-12 schools and ongoing efforts to dismantle the Education Department. Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono, who hosted a forum alongside several Democratic colleagues that also heard […]
Shauneen Miranda

ā€˜We’ve already done that’: Missouri lawmakers show little enthusiasm for new congressional maps

1 month ago
As Texas embarks on a special legislative session that includes revising that state’s congressional districts to help Republicans, President Donald Trump is reportedly asking for Missouri to do the same. The reaction among legislative leaders, however, is decidedly negative. Asked by text about a report from Punchbowl News on a new redistricting effort, state Senate […]
Rudi Keller

USDA to ship some DC workers to regional centers, including Kansas City

1 month ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to slash its presence in the Washington, D.C., area by sending employees to five regional hubs, Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday. The department wants to reduce its workforce in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia from 4,600 to less than 2,000 and add workers to regional offices in […]
Jacob Fischler

Medicaid cuts are likely to worsen mental health care in rural America

1 month ago
Across the nation, Medicaid is the single largest payer for mental health care, and in rural America, residents disproportionately rely on the public insurance program. But Medicaid cuts in the massive tax and spending bill signed into law earlier this month will worsen mental health disparities in those communities, experts say, as patients lose coverage […]
Nada Hassanein

Missouri AG sues Planned Parenthood, claims it misled patients over safety of abortion pill

1 month ago
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is suing the national Planned Parenthood organization over its claims regarding the abortion drug mifepristone. Bailey filed the lawsuit against the Planned Parenthood Federation of America on Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court. The lawsuit argues Planned Parenthood’s national organization has misled consumers about the safety of mifepristone, which is […]
Jacob Richey

US House grapples with college athletes’ rights as two panels approve bill on player pay

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — A measure that would set a national framework for college athletes’ compensation got one step closer to becoming law Wednesday after advancing in two separate U.S. House panels. TheĀ bill’s fate remains uncertain as it makes its way through Congress, and Democrats argue that theĀ legislation would give ā€œunchecked authorityā€ to the NCAA on athletes’ […]
Shauneen Miranda

Trump illegally withheld Head Start payments, government watchdog says

1 month ago
The Health and Human Services Department illegally withheld payments from Head Start for the first months of President Donald Trump’s term, a government watchdog reported Wednesday. HHS payments for Head Start this year were significantly behind schedule compared with 2024. That violated the Impoundment Control Act, a law governing the president’s duty to spend congressionally […]
Jacob Fischler

FEMA acting chief says response to Texas flood catastrophe was ā€˜outstanding’

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration official running the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified Wednesday the response to flash flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend served as an ā€œoutstandingā€ model for the rest of the country. His conclusions about the catastrophic flooding, which had a death tollĀ of 135 and included extensive search and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Feds cancel $4.9 billion loan for Grain Belt Express transmission line project

1 month ago
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday it was cancelling a conditional $4.9 billion loan for the Grain Belt Express, a planned transmission line designed to transport electricity generated by wind farms in Kansas across four states, including Missouri. The loan, which was issued by the Biden administration in November 2024, is being cancelled because […]
Jason Hancock

Morality and money mix in Leavenworth’s mass deportation detention center debate

1 month ago
The clergy, 250 strong, gathered on the steps of the Kansas City Convention Center. They proclaimed a clear, moral argument opposing the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign targeting immigrants. ā€œGod knows no borderā€ was among the chants. They were among thousands attending the United Church of Christ General Synod in Kansas City July 11-15. The […]
Mary Sanchez

Trump administration assailed by US House Democrats as ā€˜cruel’ and ā€˜unaccountable’

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday blasted President Donald Trump’s administration for what they called ā€œcrueltyā€ and ā€œlawlessnessā€ in carrying out mass deportations of migrants without legal status. At a forum at the U.S. Capitol, Democrats who sit on the House Homeland Security Committee and others rebuked the administration’s sweeping immigration […]
Shauneen Miranda

US House spending panel votes to rename Kennedy Center Opera House for Melania Trump

1 month ago
Republicans on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to rename the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for first lady Melania Trump. The panel adopted, 33-25,Ā a package of amendments to theĀ bill funding the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal 2026 that included a provision to designate the […]
Jacob Fischler

Missouri Supreme Court rules local governments can’t stack marijuana sales taxes

1 month ago
Cities and counties are not allowed to stack sales taxes on marijuana products, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.Ā  In a 6-1 decision, the state’s highest court concluded the 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana limits the definition of ā€œlocal governmentā€ to allow only one municipality to impose a 3% sales tax — […]
Jason Hancock

ā€˜One big, beautiful’ law provision on Planned Parenthood funding partly blocked by judge

1 month ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday, blocking a provision in Republicans’ ā€œbig, beautifulā€ law that would have barred Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year. District Court Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a 36-page opinion that Planned Parenthood established ā€œa substantial likelihood of success […]
Jennifer Shutt