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WASHINGTON — Amid K-12 teacher shortages, book bans and attacks over critical race theory, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona at a meeting with reporters on Wednesday stressed the need for higher salaries to attract prospective educators to the profession. Cardona also touted the Biden administration’s recent student debt relief announcement in late August. The White House said President Joe Biden […]

The post U.S. education secretary urges boost in teacher pay, touts college debt relief appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Along with leaves turning colors, the fall in even-numbered years often features political campaigns sparring over who is and is not willing to debate. And this year, that biennial squabble is between the candidates seeking Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat. Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the Republican nominee, slapped first, with a tweet on Tuesday accusing […]

The post Missouri Senate hopefuls spar over debates, with press association forum set for next week appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Here’s something I think about all the time while working on our farm: Trash. Not “trash” as in how much manure is generated by animals (there is a lot, but we move our cattle and goats many times a week and they are on pasture 365 days a year, so there is no one spot […]

The post Talking trash: We don’t have to treat our farms like landfills appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri investigators over the last four months have substantiated 10 claims of physical abuse at Agape Boarding School, a Christian reform school in Stockton that faces mounting accusations of abuse, lawsuits and calls for its closure by former students.  According to records turned over to The Independent under Missouri’s Sunshine Law by the state Department […]

The post Missouri substantiated 10 claims of physical abuse at Agape in last four months appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Last week, President Joe Biden moved to codify Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by finalizing a rule to transform DACA into a federal regulation, a move that would help strengthen the legality of the program and benefit many undocumented youths. As a formerly undocumented person, I know just how much DACA can change lives. My life was changed 10 […]

The post Ten years after DACA, undocumented youths in Missouri and across the nation need further change appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has lined up behind a U.S. Supreme Court case legal experts believe could radically reshape how federal elections are conducted by handing more power to state legislatures and blocking state courts from intervening.  Ashcroft announced last week that his office had filed an amicus brief in support of Republicans […]

The post Missouri secretary of state throws support behind controversial election theory appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story originally appeared in Investigate Midwest.  In the weeks prior to leaving his role as U.S. Department of Agriculture chief of staff in January 2021, Joby Young received emails from lobbyists with links to private-industry jobs with titles like “director of government relations,” “project manager, environmental stewardship” and “director of crop insurance.” Private-sector job openings […]

The post In Washington, agricultural policymakers circulate among Farm Bureau, USDA and industry appeared first on Missouri Independent.

In dripping black wetsuits and scuba masks, standing in the middle of a southern Missouri river last month, a state herpetologist and two zookeepers hugged each other and cheered. “Number 10,000!” That day, state herpetologist Jeff Briggler with the Missouri Department of Conservation and two Saint Louis Zoo keepers released into the wild the 10,000th […]

The post Conservationists celebrate milestone in effort to save Missouri’s endangered hellbenders appeared first on Missouri Independent.

As we pause this Labor Day, we should reflect on what the holiday means and remember that elected officials in our city, county, state, the U.S. Senate, and House of Representatives work for us, the people. We are the employer. What guide or criteria should we use to determine who we should hire or rehire […]

The post Elected officials work for us. What criteria should we use to hire them? appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The recent photographs from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope mesmerized millions of Earth-bound mortals, myself included. On display was both the spectacular beauty of deep space and the power and creativity of science. Shortly after those photos arrived on our timelines did we learn of the uptick in cases of polio in the U.S. On […]

The post Hit me with your best shot of science appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A federal report released Thursday shows that Missouri ranks at or near the bottom nationally in terms of processing Medicaid applications in the federally-permitted time.

The post Federal report shows Missouri Medicaid application wait times among worst in nation appeared first on Missouri Independent.

President Joe Biden on Thursday issued a warning against what he described as “MAGA Republicans” and extremist threats to the nation, reminding Americans that democracy is not guaranteed. “We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us,” Biden said in his remarks, delivered outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. […]

The post Sounding the alarm on extremism, Biden says ‘MAGA Republicans’ pose threat to democracy appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Many faculty on the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus see top leader Mun Choi as a man to be feared because he runs the campus through intimidation and bullying — driving away those who disagree with his priorities. And according to a faculty review of Choi’s performance as chancellor released Thursday by the campus Faculty […]

The post University of Missouri faculty survey scorches Mun Choi for poor morale on Columbia campus appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Whether or not Missourians will vote this November on legalizing recreational marijuana could be determined next week.  Cole County Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker faces a Sept. 13 deadline to rule in a lawsuit seeking to block the marijuana initiative petition from the ballot.  The lawsuit, which was filed last month, argues the petition changes […]

The post Lawsuit seeking to knock marijuana legalization off Missouri ballot faces tight deadline appeared first on Missouri Independent.

When the attorney general’s lawsuit challenging St. Louis’ plan to use federal funds to support abortion access was moved to federal court, it didn’t draw much attention. The city requested the change in venue — from St. Louis Circuit Court to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri — in late July […]

The post Abortion-rights groups alarmed by St. Louis moving AG lawsuit to federal court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

It’s been three years since Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner asked a St. Louis circuit judge to set aside the 1995 murder conviction of Lamar Johnson.  It was the first exoneration case Gardner’s conviction-integrity unit had brought forth — and a case that prosecutors statewide were watching closely. But Gardner hit a major roadblock when the […]

The post St. Louis prosecutor asks court to free Lamar Johnson after nearly 30 years in prison appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A Boone County judge granted former Missouri First Lady Sheena Greitens’ request to move the child custody dispute with her ex-husband to Texas, her attorney confirmed Wednesday. The ruling, issued Friday but still under seal by order of Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider, gives Sheena Greitens the thing she asked for soon after her ex-husband […]

The post Sheena Greitens scores victory with order shifting custody case to Texas, attorney says appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. —  President Joe Biden knocked defenders of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol while touting his recent public safety policy wins in a visit to Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “You can’t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection,” Biden said. The president also referenced the FBI search at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence […]

The post Biden touts public safety record, knocks GOP defenders of Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Supreme Court reprimanded St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Tuesday and fined her $750, finding that she violated professional misconduct rules during the investigation of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.  The court’s decision marks the final step in an ethics probe that began in July 2018. It aligns with the recommendation from a […]

The post Missouri Supreme Court fines Kim Gardner $750 for professional misconduct appeared first on Missouri Independent.

KANSAS CITY — A coalition of counties and local health centers on Tuesday urged judges on the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals to review a lower court’s ruling that struck down state health regulations regarding the control of infectious diseases. Attorneys for St. Louis County, Jackson County, the administrator of the Cooper County Public […]

The post Court weighs appeal of Missouri ruling that struck down local power to impose COVID-19 orders appeared first on Missouri Independent.