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MENDON – An old right-of-way under the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad could become the new road for traffic diverted from a dangerous crossing where an Amtrak train derailed after colliding with a truck in June 2022, killing four and injuring almost 150. The double-tracked BNSF line crosses an old railroad corridor, first graded in […]

The post Bypass under rail line would replace crossing site of deadly Missouri Amtrak crash appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Thousands of college students will get hundreds of dollars in compensation as colleges and universities move this summer to settle multimillion-dollar lawsuits stemming from canceled classes and activities during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. While some of the class-action suits against the colleges and universities are still in litigation, and still others dismissed, several major cases have […]

The post Students blocked from campus when COVID hit want money back. Some are getting refunds appeared first on Missouri Independent.

ST. LOUIS — Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in a visit to Missouri on Tuesday would not commit to supporting bipartisan legislation meant to compensate people who have been exposed to radioactive material from U.S. weapons development and production. “I can’t speak for the administration on that particular piece because I just don’t know the answer,” […]

The post Energy secretary stops short of endorsing atomic waste victims fund in Missouri visit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Lawmakers in some states have been laying the groundwork to add geothermal power to the electrical grid and pump underground heat into buildings. Now, a technological breakthrough could dramatically expand those ambitions — and perhaps unleash a new wave of policies to tap into geothermal sources. Last month, a company announced the successful demonstration in the West of […]

The post Tech breakthrough could boost states’ use of geothermal power appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When she enrolled her fourth grader at a St. Louis public school last fall, Krystal Barnett knew she was doing something that has become increasingly rare. Abandoned by thousands of families and dogged by a well-earned reputation for poor performance, the local school system shrank over the past few decades to a fraction of its […]

The post St. Louis schools face one of the steepest post-pandemic climbs anywhere appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When University of Missouri student Puna Neumeier finishes a day of classes, she can’t think about homework. Her pressing worries are getting food, paying rent and taking care of her mother, who is disabled. “As a caretaker and daughter, I have to be in charge of getting the food, cooking the food, serving the food, […]

The post Loss of benefits brings Missouri college food insecurity to the forefront appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — As a former bartender and current tipped worker, Trupti Patel knows that customers tend to get grabby when there is alcohol involved. After working in the food service industry for more than a decade, she is accustomed to dealing with drunk customers who get out of hand, especially if they become belligerent or […]

The post States seek to let teens as young as 14 serve booze in restaurants appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A pair of Republican legislators, along with an anti-abortion activist, filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the cost estimate of an initiative petition seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the Missouri constitution.  State Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, and state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, are named plaintiffs in litigation along with Kathy Forck, a longtime […]

The post GOP legislators file lawsuit challenging cost estimate of Missouri abortion-rights amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The year started out strong for advocates trying to make it easier for people with felony convictions to regain their voting rights. In March, the Democratic-led legislatures in Minnesota and New Mexico enacted measures that cleared a pathway for residents serving prison time for felonies to regain their right to vote upon being released. It […]

The post In reversal, some states make it harder for people with felony convictions to vote appeared first on Missouri Independent.

One in four Missouri nursing homes hasn’t had a standard inspection in two or more years, according to recently-updated federal data. Federal law requires states conduct an unannounced comprehensive inspection for each long-term care facility at least every 15 months to assess compliance with federal health and safety rules.  During those visits, inspectors generally spend […]

The post A quarter of Missouri nursing homes haven’t had health inspection in years appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It wasn’t the first time Ventrese Curry’s granddaughter had gotten into trouble at school. A seventh grader at a charter school in St. Louis, she had a long history of disrupting her classes and getting into confrontations with teachers. Several times, the school issued a suspension and sent Curry’s granddaughter home. In each instance, the […]

The post The newest form of school discipline: Kicking kids out of class and into virtual learning appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Amid all the political dysfunction occurring at every level of our government, and historic indictments of a former president, what really hangs in the balance is the very survival and future of our democracy. We each have a defining decision to make in the coming months. What are we willing to do to save democracy, […]

The post Each of us has to stand for something. Will you stand for democracy? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by ProPublica. As soon as Lisa Casteel learned her 78-year-old mother had agreed to sell her Kansas City home to a “We Buy Ugly Houses” franchise for far below its market value, she contacted the buyer to halt the deal. In her letter to the company, she invoked a Kansas […]

The post Homeowners trying to escape ‘We Buy Ugly Houses’ deals find little relief in state, federal laws appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Weeks after former President Donald Trump lost his bid for a second term, the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election found its way to Missouri.  Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and one of Trump’s lawyers, appeared via Zoom before a Missouri House oversight committee in December 2020 to […]

The post False fraud claims a focus of Rudy Giuliani’s 2020 Missouri testimony, St. Louis defamation suit appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The top priority of many Missouri parents and educators is school safety, according to a survey presented at the latest State Board of Education meeting. But statewide safety improvements for schools didn’t garner much traction during the legislative session that ended in May, with most proposals dying without ever making it to the full House […]

The post Missouri takes steps to address school safety largely through its budget appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer” has focused new attention on the legacies of the Manhattan Project – the World War II program to develop nuclear weapons. As the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, approach, it’s a timely moment to look further at dilemmas wrought by the […]

The post The nuclear arms race’s legacy: Contamination, staggering cleanup costs and a culture of secrecy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony charges in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after a federal grand jury handed up an indictment against the former chief executive related to the 2020 election. Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, was released under the conditions that […]

The post Trump pleads not guilty to charges he sought to subvert 2020 election appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — A deadline for a year’s worth of backdated benefits is fast approaching for U.S. veterans suffering illnesses after exposure to open burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxins. Nearly a year ago, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act, a law supporters describe as the largest expansion of veteran benefits in U.S. history. The law […]

The post Veterans exposed to burn pits, toxins urged to apply for retroactive benefits appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Cole County judge promised Thursday he would rule quickly after a Sept. 11 trial over the language voters will see when they consider an initiative petition to reinstate the right to an abortion. At a hearing on challenges to the ballot titles written for six proposed petitions, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem told attorneys that […]

The post Trial set for Sept. 11 on ballot title for Missouri abortion rights amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Faced with growing calls for the public release of police disciplinary records, lawmakers in almost every state have grappled with how to balance revealing law enforcement misdeeds and protecting officers’ privacy and safety. Fueled by public outrage over the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and other high-profile incidents of police […]

The post After George Floyd’s murder, more states require release of police disciplinary records appeared first on Missouri Independent.