a Better Bubble™

MoInd 📰

Harris says she’d back an elimination of the filibuster to restore abortion rights 

11 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Tuesday during a radio interview that she supports changing a Senate procedure in order to codify the right to an abortion. Vice President Harris said she is in favor of ending the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, known as the filibuster, to advance abortion rights legislation. But […]
Ariana Figueroa

In the tightest states, new voting laws could tip the outcome in November

11 months 2 weeks ago
Editor’s note: This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Some voters are already casting early ballots […]
Matt Vasilogambros

Cancer victims implore U.S. House to take up compensation for radiation exposure

11 months 2 weeks ago
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is holding up compensation for generations of Americans who developed cancer after exposure to the nation’s nuclear weapons program, several members of Congress said Tuesday.  At a news conference in Washington, D.C, U.S. House members and Senators stood beside advocates from Missouri and tribal nations in the southwest who have […]
Allison Kite

New stopgap bill in Congress would postpone shutdown deadline to December

11 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Congress is on track to approve legislation this week that will give lawmakers until mid-December to broker agreement on the annual government funding bills that were supposed to become law before the end of this month. The stopgap spending bill, also known as a continuing resolution, has the broad bipartisan support it needs […]
Jennifer Shutt

School shooting damage lasts for years, survivors tell panel of U.S. House Democrats

11 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — The devastating effects of school shootings continue well after shootings occur, according to survivors, experts and educators who spoke at a roundtable U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats held Monday. Democrats scheduled the discussion after the recent school shooting in Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed. Witnesses told the […]
Ariana Figueroa

The Deciders: The issues and states that will determine who wins the White House

11 months 2 weeks ago
Editor’s note: This five-day series explores the priorities of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as they consider the upcoming presidential election. With the outcome expected to be close, these “swing states” may decide the future of the country. It’s been a wild few months in the presidential race: President […]
Kevin Hardy

Key GOP Senator deflates GOP hopes for Nebraska winner-take-all in 2024

11 months 2 weeks ago
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Republican push to change how Nebraska awards its Electoral College votes and boost former President Donald Trump ran into political reality Monday as a key lawmaker, State Sen. Mike McDonnell, announced he won’t support the change. McDonnell, of Omaha, said he had heard from people passionate about the issue who live […]
Aaron Sanderford

Battling experts: Qualifications of witnesses a key in Missouri gender-affirming care case

11 months 2 weeks ago
A case that will determine whether Missouri can continue restricting adolescents’ access to gender-affirming care began Monday in Cole County Circuit Court. The plaintiffs — which include transgender minors, gender-affirming care providers and loved ones — will argue that medical treatments for gender dysphoria are “safe and effective,” attorney Omar Gonzalez Pagan said in opening […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Harris presses Trump to debate again, and Democrats launch ‘chicken’ billboards

11 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is chiding GOP nominee Donald Trump for not agreeing to another presidential debate before voting ends Nov. 5, though he doesn’t appear inclined to change his mind. “Let’s have another debate,” Harris, the Democratic candidate, said Sunday. “There’s more to talk about and the voters of America deserve to […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri Supreme Court rejects death row inmate’s appeal, allowing execution Tuesday

11 months 2 weeks ago
The execution of Marcellus Williams will proceed Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in a decision rejecting efforts to show  a potential juror in his murder trial was excluded based on race. After hearing arguments Monday morning in an expedited appeal, the court unanimously ruled that St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell had not […]
Rudi Keller

Safe storage and minimum age gun laws would curb violence, study says

11 months 2 weeks ago
The deadliest school shooting in Georgia history occurred earlier this month when a 14-year-old gunman, armed with a military-style rifle, killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, a city about an hour northeast of Atlanta. And on Sunday, former President Donald Trump was the target of […]
Amanda Hernandez

Alleged ‘predatory’ contracts continue to surface in Missouri social-equity marijuana program

11 months 2 weeks ago
Destiny Brown thought she had been recruited last year to own and operate a small-scale Missouri cannabis dispensary — and get paid $200,000 to do it.  Cannabis investor Michael Halow told Brown, who is Black, that her disabled veteran status and the marijuana offense on her father’s record qualified her for a Missouri microbusiness license. The […]
Rebecca Rivas

Our news media as fact checker and truth-teller

11 months 2 weeks ago
As both the internet and social media continue to be among the primary sources of information for a large percentage of the population, our news media must assume responsibility and perform more boldly and consistently the role of fact checker and truth-teller. A recent survey reveals that no single media outlet singularly gains or maintains […]
Janice Ellis

The Independent wins 24 journalism awards in annual Missouri Press contest

11 months 2 weeks ago
The Missouri Independent won 24 awards Saturday — including nine first place honors — in the annual Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.  The awards were handed out at the association’s annual convention, which this year was held in Springfield. “Atomic Fallout” — a months-long collaboration between The Independent’s Allison Kite, the Associated Press and […]
Staff Reports

Trump says Jewish voters would be partly to blame for election loss

11 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday night that if he loses the election in November to Vice President Kamala Harris, Jewish voters “would really have a lot to do with that.” As the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel nears and the war in Gaza continues, the GOP presidential nominee […]
Shauneen Miranda

Missouri Supreme Court voted 4-3 to keep abortion on ballot, newly released opinions show

11 months 2 weeks ago
The decision to keep a constitutional amendment legalizing abortion on the November statewide ballot was decided by a narrowly-divided Missouri Supreme Court, according to opinions released Friday. The majority opinion was written by Judge Paul Wilson, with Chief Justice Mary Russell, Judge Robin Ransom and Judge Brent Powell concurring.  The dissent was authored by Judge […]
Anna Spoerre