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MoInd šŸ“°

Will you be AWOL in the upcoming elections?

1 year 6 months ago

Not voting in the presidential primary and general election is tantamount to an act of dereliction of duty, even desertion when it comes to defending and protecting our democratic republic. At a bare minimum, it certainly can be considered cowardice and laziness. Offended? We should be. Being disappointed or disgusted with the candidates seeking our […]

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Janice Ellis

Low-wage states with cheap housing dominated the post-pandemic jobs boom

1 year 6 months ago

More than half of the nation’s jobs created in the past five years have come in two states: Texas and Florida. They’re at the forefront of a job creation revolution in which states with lower wages and a lower cost of living are gaining the highest share of new jobs, according to a new Stateline […]

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Tim Henderson

Former Kansas councilwoman files federal lawsuit over ā€˜conspiracy’ to silence her and newspaper

1 year 6 months ago

TOPEKA, Kan. — Former Marion Councilwoman Ruth Herbel alleges in federal court that city officials orchestrated an illegal raid of her home — alongside the raid of the Marion County Record — as part of a conspiracy to silence criticism. The Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based law firm that says it represents ā€œeveryday peopleā€ in […]

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Sherman Smith

An obscure drug discount program stifles use of federal lifeline by rural hospitals

1 year 6 months ago

Facing ongoing concerns about rural hospital closures, Capitol Hill lawmakers have introduced a spate of proposals to fix a federal program created to keep lifesaving services in small towns nationwide. In Anamosa, Iowa — a town of fewer than 6,000 residents located more than 900 miles from the nation’s capital — rural hospital leader Eric […]

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Sarah Jane Tribble

New rules protect pregnant workers, but red states sue over abortion provisions

1 year 6 months ago

Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was expecting. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina — the only female employee there. ā€œI actually hid my pregnancy as long as I could because I was scared about what could […]

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Anna Claire Vollers

U.S. Supreme Court chief declines to discuss Alito flag uproar, ethics with Senate Dems

1 year 6 months ago

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told leading Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday he will not meet with them to discuss the court’s code of ethics, following revelations of displays of politically oriented flags at the homes of Justice Samuel Alito. Individual justices will continue to decide their own […]

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Jacob Fischler

An angry Trump pledges to appeal ā€˜this scam’ conviction as Republicans vow resistance

1 year 6 months ago

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon, vowed to launch an appeal based ā€œon many thingsā€ he considered unfair during his New York trial, he said Friday in the lobby of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile Friday, legal and political analysts predicted he will spend little if any time in jail […]

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Ashley Murray

Biden urges Hamas to accept new Israeli ceasefire plan intended to end warĀ 

1 year 6 months ago

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced a ceasefire proposal from Israel on Friday, saying the three-phase plan presented to Hamas represents the best chance to end the war. Biden, speaking from the White House, urged people around the world who have been calling for an end to the war in the Middle East to pressure […]

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Jennifer Shutt

Missouri House chief clerk sues Dean Plocher, Rod Jetton alleging whistleblower retaliation

1 year 6 months ago

The top staff member of the Missouri House filed a lawsuit Friday accusing Speaker Dean Plocher and his chief of staff, Rod Jetton, of harassment and intimidation during battles over ethics charges and hiring decisions. House Chief Clerk Dana Miller’s lawsuit follows months allegations about misconduct by Plocher and a House Ethics Committee investigation that […]

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Rudi Keller

Missouri Medicaid enrollment continues decline, down 200,000 since last June

1 year 6 months ago

Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment has shrunk by around 200,000 people since last summer, as the state continues the process of undoing a COVID-era pause on eligibility checks. The federal suspension on annual renewals expired last year and since then, states have been undergoing the process of re-verifying each participant’s eligibility. From June to April, Missouri’s net […]

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Clara Bates

Safety-Net Health Clinics Cut Services and Staff Amid Medicaid ā€˜Unwinding’

1 year 6 months ago

One of Montana’s largest health clinics that serves people in poverty has cut back services and laid off workers. The retrenchment mirrors similar cuts around the country as safety-net health centers feel the effects of states purging their Medicaid rolls. Billings-based RiverStone Health is eliminating 42 jobs this spring, cutting nearly 10% of its workforce. […]

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Katheryn Houghton

Reactions to Trump conviction fall along party lines in Missouri

1 year 6 months ago

Reactions by Missouri politicians to the felony conviction Thursday of former President Donald Trump fell predictably along partisan lines, with Republicans condemning the verdict and Democrats expressing satisfaction or trolling their partisan foes. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a candidate for the GOP nomination for governor, blamed President Joe Biden for the state of New […]

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Rudi Keller

Free direct filing of federal taxes may be offered soon throughout the U.S.

1 year 6 months ago

WASHINGTON — Taxpayers across the United States could be guaranteed a free public option to file federal tax returns online as the Internal Revenue Service announced plans Thursday to make its Direct File program permanent. The pilot program offered in 12 states from March to April drew roughly 140,000 accepted returns this filing season and […]

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Ashley Murray

Trump found guilty on 34 felony counts in NY hush money trial

1 year 6 months ago

WASHINGTON — Jurors in New York state court on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star ultimately to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president wrapped up in […]

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Ashley Murray

2nd Missouri judge rules counties can stack taxes at marijuana dispensaries

1 year 6 months ago

Buchanan County can collect a special marijuana sales tax on dispensaries within St. Joseph city limits, a judge ruled Wednesday in the second decision granting counties the right to stack taxes on top of city levies. Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg wrote in his two-page ruling that provisions in the recreational marijuana constitutional amendment passed in […]

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Rudi Keller

Independence’s four-day school week draws Missouri auditor probe

1 year 6 months ago

Independence School District Superintendent Dale Herl feels targeted by the state for moving to a four-day school week. On Wednesday, Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced a plan to audit the district. Independence schools aren’t accused of wrongdoing, and no one asked for an audit. Rather, it’s Fitzpatrick’s first foray into conducting more routine audits of […]

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Maria Benevento

A bipartisan push to make air travel easier for new parents packing breast milk and formula

1 year 6 months ago

As the summer travel season approaches, new parents may be navigating airports with their babies — and the complexities of keeping them fed. Despite federal guidelines for airport agents laying out how to treat nursing moms, stories about problem encounters with security sometimes go viral. In 2023, actress and singerĀ Keke PalmerĀ said she was at Houston […]

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Elisha Brown

ā€˜America at her best’: Negro Leagues museum head says stat recognition is bigger than baseball

1 year 6 months ago

The addition of Negro Leagues baseball players’ statistics to MLB’s record books is bigger than baseball, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick said Wednesday. It’s a part of American history. Negro Leagues players were added to the MLB record books this week after a multi-year project by MLB, which decided in 2020 to reclassify […]

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Cuyler Dunn

U.S. House speaker reverses on radiation compensation bill that excluded Missouri

1 year 6 months ago

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office on Wednesday scrapped a proposal to extend a compensation program for victims of radiation exposure without expanding it to thousands of Americans across nine states. In a statement that came less than four hours after Johnson’s office said a proposal to expand the program was too expensive, a spokesperson […]

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Allison Kite

Complaint alleges Jay Ashcroft campaign letter runs afoul of ethics law

1 year 6 months ago

A Jay Ashcroft campaign letter that attacked his opponents Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe as a closeted Democrat and state Sen. Bill Eigel as a ā€œpolitical gadflyā€ shows illegal coordination between his gubernatorial campaign committee and a political action committee, a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission states. Ashcroft’s campaign is denying the allegations. The complaint, […]

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Rudi Keller