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MoInd 📰

No survivors found in crash between military helicopter and jet over Potomac River near DC

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday near Reagan National Airport in Virginia just across from the District of Columbia, plunging both aircraft into the Potomac River. “Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,” Jack Potter, head of the Metropolitan Washington […]
Ariana Figueroa, Ashley Murray

Missouri supplemental budget shows shortfall in Medicaid, education funding

2 months 2 weeks ago
Keeping Missouri state government operating through June 30 will cost $2.1 billion more than lawmakers budgeted last year thanks to lowballed spending estimates, sluggish lottery sales and new programs in education and other areas. The election-year budget plan approved last year totaled $51.6 billion after Gov. Mike Parson was finished with vetoes that fell heavily […]
Rudi Keller

RFK Jr. ‘U-turn’ on vaccines, abortion slammed at HHS confirmation hearing

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s alternating views on vaccines, reproductive rights and public health issues were a central focus at his first confirmation hearing Wednesday, with Democratic senators expressing dismay at his nomination and Republicans signaling he’ll likely have their support. Kennedy pledged to bring “radical transparency” to the Department of Health and Human […]
Jennifer Shutt

Trump orders education department to guide states on use of federal funds for ‘school choice’

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday that prioritize school choice funding and seek to end what the administration sees as “radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling.” Trump is carrying through on education-related campaign promises he made as part of his sweeping vision to “save American education.” These efforts mark the latest in a deluge […]
Shauneen Miranda

Open enrollment bill gets public hearing after winning praise from Missouri governor

2 months 2 weeks ago
A Republican lawmaker from Sedalia has once again begun his push to allow some students to enroll in schools outside the district where they live. For the fifth year in a row on Wednesday, the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee debated an open enrollment bill sponsored by state Rep. Brad Pollitt.  As he introduced […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Newest round of Trump moves targets federal employees, care for transgender kids

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s latest actions included an offer to buy out a large swath of the federal workforce, and an order narrowing medical options for transgender children, and some transgender adults. Millions of government employees received an email Tuesday evening instructing them to reply with the word “resign” by Feb. 6 for a […]
Ashley Murray

Missouri utilities push legislation to charge customers upfront costs to build gas plants

2 months 2 weeks ago
Missouri’s two largest electric utilities want the state’s permission to charge customers for natural gas power plants before they’re completed. Both Evergy and Ameren Missouri asked the Missouri House Utilities Committee on Wednesday to support legislation that would allow them to charge customers for natural, or methane, gas power plants even before they’re completed, saying […]
Allison Kite

Second federal judge seems to be prepared to block Trump spending pause

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — A second federal judge appears ready to issue an order blocking the Trump administration from freezing funding on grant and loan programs, despite a move by the Office of Management and Budget to rescind a controversial memo Wednesday just before the hearing. Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court […]
Jennifer Shutt

Extension of temporary protections for Venezuelan immigrants revoked by Trump administration

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security late Tuesday revoked an extension of temporary protective status for nearly 600,000 Venezuelans, according to an unpublished Federal Register document obtained by States Newsroom. The New York Times first reported on the decision. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed to lead the agency on Saturday, canceled the […]
Ariana Figueroa

U.S. Senate GOP blocks resolution condemning Trump pardons of Jan. 6 attackers

2 months 2 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans Tuesday blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray requested unanimous consent for the resolution on the floor but was met with opposition from Majority Whip […]
Ashley Murray

Appeals court rules Missouri attorney general did not violate Sunshine Law 

2 months 3 weeks ago
The Attorney General’s Office did not violate the Missouri Sunshine Law when it refused to turn over records showing how it fulfilled a request, the Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In a split decision, a three-judge panel ruled that the office reasonably concluded the records being sought by St. Louis attorney Elad Gross […]
Rudi Keller

Missouri child care subsidy payment backlog will be resolved next month, commissioner says

2 months 3 weeks ago
A backlog of payments due to child care providers is 70% clear after a year-long struggle with the state’s new software, Missouri Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger told lawmakers Tuesday morning. The Missouri Senate Education Committee questioned Eslinger about everything from school accreditation to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Standing out among the interrogation was an […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Trump issues order prohibiting openly transgender service members in the military

2 months 3 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed orders late Monday banning openly transgender service members from the U.S. military and suppressing any diversity initiatives, including prohibiting “un-American” concepts from military educational institutions. An executive order published just before 11 p.m. Eastern under the title “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” expressly forbids from the armed services individuals […]
Ashley Murray

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on broad swath of federal payments

2 months 3 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled Tuesday the Trump administration must wait until at least next week before it can move forward with pausing federal spending on trillions in grants and loans, though she emphasized the short-term administrative stay might not continue after a Feb. 3 hearing. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan’s decision temporarily […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri bill putting a bounty on undocumented immigrants faces fierce resistance

2 months 3 weeks ago
A confrontational legislative hearing Monday — with a witness calling a state senator a fascist and lawmakers battling over whether the state should put a bounty on undocumented immigrants — set the tone for this year’s debate on immigration and the state’s role in border security. The most aggressive approach, in a bill filed by […]
Rudi Keller

Missouri lawmakers consider funds for radioactive waste testing in St. Louis

2 months 3 weeks ago
Missouri lawmakers are again considering legislation that would increase funding to allow local governments to test for additional radioactive waste around contaminated sites in the St. Louis region. The Missouri House Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs on Monday discussed the bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mark Matthiesen of O’Fallon. It’s similar to legislation Matthiesen […]
Allison Kite

Immigration lawyers decry cutoff of legal help as Trump administration ramps up raids

2 months 3 weeks ago
WASHINGTON — Immigration attorneys Monday detailed the impact on their clients, some of them undocumented children, after the Trump administration last week halted Department of Justice programs that fund nonprofits that provide legal services to immigrants. Meanwhile, over the weekend, the federal government began moving in earnest on President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge of an […]
Ariana Figueroa