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Abortion decision weighs heavily on Missouri Supreme Court judge retention races

10 months 4 weeks ago
If three Missouri Supreme Court judges had their way, voters would not have a say on whether to legalize abortion statewide on this year’s general election ballot. This November, those voters will have the option to use a power they’ve never used before — to boot two of those judges off the state’s high court. […]
Josh Merchant

Rural Missouri groups threaten lawsuit over PFAS in meatpacking sludge

10 months 4 weeks ago
Industrial sludge often offered to Missouri farms as free fertilizer contains “forever chemicals,” several groups threatening to sue the state allege. Two advocacy groups along with a mid-Missouri farmer notified several sludge providers and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources of their intent to sue in a letter dated Wednesday, saying the waste presents “an […]
Allison Kite

Ameren Missouri’s Rush Island coal plant to close following years-long litigation

10 months 4 weeks ago
One of Ameren Missouri’s largest coal plants will shut down Tuesday after more than 13 years of litigation over its failure to comply with federal clean air regulations.  The St. Louis-based electric utility will retire the Rush Island Energy Center, a two-unit 1,178-megawatt coal plant on the banks of the Mississippi River in Jefferson County, […]
Allison Kite

Missouri regulators deny certification for majority of social-equity cannabis license winners

10 months 4 weeks ago
David Huckins, a disabled veteran from Leavenworth, Kan., threw his name into the lottery this spring for a chance to win a social-equity marijuana dispensary license in Missouri. In June, he learned he landed one of 57 microbusiness licenses meant to benefit disadvantaged business owners – including disabled veterans, those with lower incomes and people […]
Rebecca Rivas

Kansas City Chiefs owners fund radio ad campaign opposing Missouri abortion amendment

10 months 4 weeks ago
The family business that owns the Kansas City Chiefs is one of the biggest funders of a political action committee opposing a proposed amendment to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban.  Unity Hunt, the business that controls the assets of the late Lamar Hunt, including the Chiefs, in late September donated $300,000 to the Leadership for America […]
Anna Spoerre

Federal appeals court weighs fate of DACA program

10 months 4 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — After concluding oral arguments Thursday, a panel of federal judges will determine the fate of a program that has shielded from deportation more than half a million immigrants lacking permanent legal status who came into the United States as children. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a 12-year program that was meant […]
Ariana Figueroa

Regenerative farming practices require unlearning past advice

10 months 4 weeks ago
Early on a cool September morning, farmer Josh Payne tends to his flock in Concordia, just east of Kansas City.  As Payne opens the gate, about a thousand sheep round the corner and bound into fresh grass. The pasture the flock grazes was once corn and soybeans, along with the rest of the Payne family […]
Jana Rose Schleis

Challenges persist for St. Louis schools, as NAACP pushes for improved literacy rates

10 months 4 weeks ago
A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. A fired school superintendent and an interim leader without proper state certification. Two government audits, and a shortage of school buses and bus drivers. The start of the 2024-2025 school year has been anything but routine for the St. Louis Public School […]
Debra Chandler Landis

Missouri Chamber backs Democrats in two swing state Senate districts

10 months 4 weeks ago
Democrats hoping to chip away at the GOP supermajority in the Missouri Senate got a big boost last week when its candidates in two swing districts won the endorsement of the state’s largest business advocacy group.  In a third hotly contested district, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry chose not to weigh in at […]
Jason Hancock

Jay Ashcroft joins Midwest secretaries of state at election security summit in Nebraska

10 months 4 weeks ago
OMAHA, Neb. — Four secretaries of state and a federal agency director in cybersecurity described their work Wednesday as a line of defense in upholding election integrity and security ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, in explaining the reason for Wednesday’s summit, asked simply, “Why not?” He said the […]
Zach Wendling

How do you vote amid the hurricane damage? States are learning as they go

10 months 4 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Hurricane season has not only wreaked havoc on people’s lives throughout much of the country, but could also make it more difficult for voters to cast their ballots in hard-hit regions. Other election threats include misinformation and even terrorism, with warnings from the Department of Homeland Security and an arrest in Oklahoma allegedly […]
Jennifer Shutt

Senators demand another antitrust investigation into pharmacy middlemen

10 months 4 weeks ago
A federal antitrust watchdog is already conducting an investigation into, and has filed a lawsuit against, huge pharmacy middlemen. Now two U.S. senators want the Federal Trade Commission to open a separate investigation into an emerging practice of their even bigger parent companies. The middlemen are called pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, and they have […]
Marty Schladen

Republican women falling behind when it comes to running for Congress, experts say

10 months 4 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Republicans are struggling to recruit and elect women to Congress, lagging behind Democrats in ensuring women, who make up half the population, have a strong voice in the halls of power, experts on women in politics said Tuesday. “This year’s data shows clearly that Republican women are falling behind in candidacies, nominations and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri sheriffs’ pension donates $30K to ballot campaign, sparking concerns

10 months 4 weeks ago
The Missouri Sheriffs’ Retirement System last month made a $30,000 investment, hoping for a big return if voters approve a ballot measure imposing a $3 fee on court cases to fund the system’s pensions. The $30,000 contribution to the Committee to Ensure a Future for Sheriffs & Prosecutors, the committee promoting Amendment 6 on the […]
Rudi Keller

Harris rolls out broad Medicare plan to provide long-term care in the home

10 months 4 weeks ago
Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a plan Tuesday that would strengthen Medicare coverage to include long-term care for seniors in their homes, tackling one of the biggest challenges in U.S. health care. The Democratic presidential nominee revealed the proposal while on “The View” — one of several high-profile media appearances this week as she and […]
Shauneen Miranda

Missouri appeals court hears case over local governments stacking sales tax on marijuana

11 months ago
The court debate Tuesday over how Missouri marijuana products get taxed statewide sounded similar to a grammar class on conjunctions and comma placement. The constitutional amendment voters approved in 2022 legalizing recreational marijuana allowed local governments to impose additional sales tax on the products. The big question before the three-judge panel of the Missouri Court […]
Rebecca Rivas

U.S. Supreme Court considers Biden administration regulation of ‘ghost guns’

11 months ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday grappled with whether the Biden administration exceeded its authority when it set regulations for kits that can be assembled into untraceable firearms, and a majority of justices seemed somewhat skeptical the rule was an overreach. In Garland v. VanDerStok, the nine justices are tasked with determining whether a rule issued […]
Ariana Figueroa