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Immigration lawyers fear Laken Riley bill could have broad impact as Trump takes office

3 months ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate this week is moving to pass a bill that immigration attorneys and experts warn could have far-reaching ramifications, such as swamping federal courts with challenges by state attorneys general and subjecting some migrants — including children and teens — to rapid detention and deportation. The legislation, the Laken Riley Act, S. […]
Ariana Figueroa

USDA finalizes packers and stockyards reform to help chicken farmers

3 months ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture finalized a third regulatory reform under the Packers and Stockyards Act, with the latest regulation giving greater stability and fairness to chicken farmers working for major meat companies, according to an announcement Tuesday. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a press conference Monday the regulation came from “the ground up” […]
Cami Koons

Missouri prison deaths increase, bringing renewed calls for scrutiny

3 months ago
Deaths in Missouri prisons hit a new high in 2024. The preliminary total, 139, is two more than the 137 recorded by the Department of Corrections in each of the previous two years and represents the fourth year in the past five where deaths behind bars have averaged 10 or more a month. There were […]
Rudi Keller

Two moments that explain Mike Parson’s six years as Missouri governor

3 months ago
When I think about Mike Parson’s tenure as Missouri governor, which came to an end Monday after six years, two moments jump out to me.  The first came at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Parson steadfastly refused to issue stringent statewide public health orders, instead leaving those decisions in the hands of local officials. […]
Jason Hancock

Librarians gain protections in some states as book bans soar

3 months ago
Karen Grant and fellow school librarians throughout New Jersey have heard an increasingly loud chorus of parents and conservative activists demanding that certain books — often about race, gender and sexuality — be removed from the shelves. In the past year, Grant and her colleagues in the Ewing Public Schools just north of Trenton updated […]
Matt Vasilogambros

No need to provide an avian flu vaccine for humans yet, expert says

3 months ago
An infectious disease expert says the relatively mild cases of avian influenza detected so far among dairy workers don’t warrant making a vaccine available to them, even as they work to contain and prevent spread of the contagious virus among herds. Dr. Shira Doron, an epidemiologist and chief infection control officer for Tufts Medicine in […]
Greg LaRose

Missouri lawmakers unlikely to prioritize teacher pay as past efforts bring growth

3 months ago
More Missouri educators are staying in their jobs following efforts to raise teachers’ base pay and provide alternative measures for certification, the State Board of Education learned last week. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education predicts schools will have fewer vacancies in the future, speaking positively about small gains and outlining a path […]
Annelise Hanshaw

Freedom of the press is more important (and endangered) than ever

3 months ago
The press, so critical to our democratic process, is facing threats on multiple fronts — from the growing influence of social media to the frontal and legal attacks coming from elected officials and others with power. Facebook, the largest social media platform, has decided to end its fact-checking processes, apparently bowing to political pressure and […]
Janice Ellis

Skeptical Supreme Court justices weigh a rescue of TikTok from nearing ban

3 months 1 week ago
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Friday questioned why they should intervene to block a law forcing the sale of TikTok in nine days, saying the short-form video platform’s Chinese parent company does not enjoy First Amendment rights. Lawyers for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and a group of the platform’s users faced sharp questions from justices […]
Jacob Fischler, Ashley Murray

As demand for weight-loss drugs rises, states grapple with Medicaid coverage

3 months 1 week ago
Over her three-decade career, weight management physician Dr. Sarah Ro has seen hundreds of patients. Many of them are on Medicaid and have become yo-yo dieters who, despite their best efforts at changing their eating habits and lifestyles, cannot seem to shed the pounds hurting their health. “They have a tremendous amount of disease burden,” […]
Shalina Chatlani

Minimum wages are increasing in nearly half the states this year

3 months 1 week ago
The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour. In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to […]
Kevin Hardy

No jail time or fines for Trump in sentencing for NY hush money case

3 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his New York hush money case just days before his inauguration, making him the only past and future U.S. president with a criminal record. Trump has faced four criminal prosecutions but the New York state case was the sole one that went to trial. A jury convicted […]
Ashley Murray

How Kansas City is both defined, and held back, by the state line

3 months 1 week ago
As the Kansas City Royals scour the region for a new stadium site, and as the Chiefs weigh whether to renovate Arrowhead or move, a familiar story unfolds. The two states are at it again. Soon after Jackson County voters soundly rejected a â…ś-cent sales to fund a downtown Royals ballpark and similar subsidies to […]
Mark Wiebe

Warden and top supervisor removed from jobs at southwest Missouri prison

3 months 1 week ago
The warden and a top supervisor at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking have been replaced amid allegations contraband was entering the prison through a poorly screened gate. Michele Buckner, a 25-year employee of the Department of Corrections, officially ended her employment with the department on Tuesday, spokeswoman Karen Pojmann wrote in an email […]
Rudi Keller