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Melvin White sits with his generation at a demographic Ground Zero for mental stress. The Schlagle High School junior survived COVID isolation during middle school. He’s never known a world without smartphones. And he’s finishing high school amid the FOMO energy of a social media world in its own adolescence. All of those factors, experts […]

The post More KC schoolkids are asking for help with their mental health. A few are finding it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As part of its ongoing effort to replace diesel-fueled school buses, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it will provide approximately 530 school districts across nearly all states with almost $1 billion to help them purchase clean school buses. The initiative, part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program rebate […]

The post Funds for clean school buses coming to hundreds of districts, White House says  appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A fund to compensate Americans sickened by exposure to atomic bomb tests, uranium mining and radioactive waste expires in just under 15 days, and activists and lawmakers are scrambling to keep the fund active and open to additional victims. A bill to reauthorize and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, often shortened to […]

The post Missouri residents affected by radiation exposure push Congress to extend benefits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, former NBA player Royce White became an outspoken advocate of defunding the police. Over those ensuing months, he appeared at a number of protests and marches in Minnesota – demonstrations that conservative politicians and pundits excoriated. Four years later, White accepted the endorsement of the Minnesota […]

The post What QAnon supporters, butthole sunners and New Age spiritualists have in common appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A proposal to renew compensation for cancer victims who were exposed to radioactive material from the nation’s weapons development without expanding the program to Missouri and several other states amounted to a betrayal, Missouri advocates and lawmakers said Tuesday. Members of Congress from Missouri learned late Tuesday that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to […]

The post U.S. House may consider extending nuclear weapons damages program without Missouri appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Closing arguments in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president concluded Tuesday, leaving the jury to now decide if Donald Trump is guilty of faking reimbursement to his personal lawyer for hush money paid to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election. Just outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse during […]

The post The jury now will decide Trump’s fate in hush money trial, after lengthy closing arguments appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri will have two constitutional amendments on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, one to grant tax exemptions for child care facilities and another to rerun a 2022 election result on police funding thrown out by the state Supreme Court.  Gov. Mike Parson said Tuesday that he would put the two proposals from the General Assembly […]

The post Missouri governor sets vote on tax exemption for child care centers, Kansas City police funding appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Stefani Goerlich, a certified sex therapist and social worker with a private practice in Detroit, sees several dozen clients a month, most of them from underserved and minority backgrounds. She speaks to them about sensitive matters such as gender-affirming care, and building trust takes time. Those hard-won relationships often are upended when clients move away […]

The post Amid mental health crisis, new compact allows social workers to practice across state lines appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The courts cannot shield Missouri’s biggest vendor of games offering cash prizes from criminal prosecution for gambling violations, the Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In a unanimous decision, the court upheld last fall’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Torch Electronics that sought an order barring the Missouri State Highway Patrol from seizing […]

The post Appeals court rules Torch Electronics had no grounds to sue over Missouri gambling enforcement appeared first on Missouri Independent.

State lawmakers tasked the Missouri Veterans Commission with a new mission.  They’ve mandated the commission to make it a top priority to understand why the suicide rate among Missouri’s veterans is nearly double the state rate and one of the highest in the country. After three years of trying, Republican state Rep. Dave Griffith of […]

The post Bill designed to lower suicide rate of Missouri veterans awaits action by governor appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Since recreational weed was legalized in 2022, it has led to more than $19 million going towards three causes — supporting veterans, expanding substance use treatment programs and adding to the Missouri Public Defenders System’s budget. “It is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to […]

The post Legal cannabis in Missouri has generated $19 million for veterans, treatment, public defenders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Cole County Circuit Court judge ruled Friday that Republican James Coyne cannot be blocked from the August primary ballot by Democrat Stephen Webber. Both are seeking the 19th District state Senate seat now held by Republican Caleb Rowden, whose term expires this year. Coyne was selected Tuesday by the Boone County GOP candidate selection […]

The post Court ruling keeps Boone County state Senate candidate on August GOP primary ballot appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Since being elected Boone County Clerk in 2018, Brianna Lennon’s job verifying initiative petition signatures has been pretty easy, with only a few hundred pages to sort through at most.  That changed after state lawmakers cut her county in half when they redrew Congressional maps.  In 2022, after long-fought battles and filibusters over the new […]

The post Boone County new focus of Missouri initiative petition campaigns following redistricting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Here is a tidbit from my years as a newspaper reporter and editor: I never voted in a primary election, never stuck a candidate’s sign in my yard, never had a bumper sticker on my car, never signed a petition, never donated to a campaign. When Sue and I married, she got something more in […]

The post Justice’s distress signal should distress us all appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Over the course of half a dozen trips to Washington, D.C., Dawn Chapman has become accustomed to long days of congressional meetings and questions about St. Louis’ decades-long struggle with radioactive contamination. Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, wraps her feet with duct tape to keep her shoes from giving her blisters, and she and […]

The post Missouri advocates push for compensation for radioactive waste victims as deadline looms appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri’s legislative session closed with a sad and stunning display of how little the loudest lawmakers identifying as “pro-life” care about helping children and families — or governing at all. Even in a session that was historic for its dysfunction and rancor, there were a handful of bipartisan bills that would have made life somewhat […]

The post Missouri lawmakers chose anti-abortion antics over helping children and families appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Three members of Congress introduced a resolution Thursday that’s intended to bring attention to the experiences and challenges people with disabilities face when it comes to reproductive rights. Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley announced the resolution during a press conference with advocates just steps from the U.S. Capitol, saying that under a Supreme […]

The post Forced sterilizations for people with disabilities decried by members of Congress appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has given no indication his name will ever appear on a ballot again after he leaves office at the end of this year.  But the political action committee set up by his supporters to bankroll his political career continues raising and spending money.  During the first three months of 2024, the […]

The post PAC backing term-limited Missouri governor keeps raising, spending campaign cash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As Democrats continue to ramp up their push against the oil industry, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others on Thursday called out big oil companies and their executives for high gas prices heading into the heavily traveled Memorial Day weekend. Republicans in turn have blamed President Joe Biden’s energy policies for high […]

The post Congress, campaigns engage in tug-of-war over gas prices as summer travel begins appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate failed Thursday to advance a border security bill as both parties seek to hone their messages on immigration policy in the runup to November’s elections. The Senate bill failed to advance on a 43-50 procedural vote. The chamber already rejected the measure as part of a broader foreign aid package […]

The post Bipartisan border bill loses support, fails procedural vote in U.S. Senate appeared first on Missouri Independent.