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In a move highlighting a growing divide among Black leaders and organizations in Missouri over a push to legalize marijuana, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Tuesday announced she would oppose the measure appearing on the Nov. 8 ballot as Amendment 3.  While she supports legalization, Jones said she doesn’t support etching what she believes […]

The post St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones announces opposition to Missouri marijuana amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans have just a handful of frantic days left to convince voters who should control Congress before voting in the Nov. 8 midterm elections ends. The two political parties are spending millions on campaign ads and mailers in the dozens of toss-up races that will determine control of Congress, while President […]

The post Control of U.S. Senate still a guess ahead of midterm elections appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the reliably provocative Georgia Republican, declared on Steve Bannon’s podcast, “War Room,” that if her party wins back a House […]

The post What Fortune 500 companies said after Jan. 6 vs. what they did appeared first on Missouri Independent.

If Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt prevails in next week’s race for U.S. Senate, Gov. Mike Parson is considering tapping one of his top advisers to replace him.  Numerous sources both inside and outside the governor’s office who spoke with The Independent say Parson is leaning towards appointing Andrew Bailey as the state’s next attorney […]

The post Governor’s adviser the frontrunner for Missouri AG job if Eric Schmitt wins Senate seat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The federal government, not state political leaders, initiated an investigation of the care Freeman Health Services in Joplin provided after a denying a woman an emergency abortion, a Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman said Monday. On Aug. 2, Mylissa Farmer came to the emergency room at Freeman Health after her water broke […]

The post State says feds initiated investigation of Missouri hospital that denied emergency abortion appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Monday questioned the legality of race-conscious policies in college admissions, as the justices weighed two cases that could upend the admissions process many colleges use to try to boost diversity on campus. At issue are two cases that challenge the lawfulness of affirmative action at Harvard University, the […]

The post U.S. Supreme Court justices cast doubt on affirmative action in college admissions appeared first on Missouri Independent.

LAKE MEAD, Nev. — The streaks of white on the rock ringing the nation’s largest reservoir show how far its water levels have dropped since it was last full. Lake Mead and nearby Lake Powell, which send water to 40 million people in the Southwest, are at their lowest levels since they were filled in […]

The post Even as drought forces water cutbacks, climate gets short shrift in midterm election appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Average wait times for Missouri Medicaid applicants fell in September below the federally-allowed maximum for the first time in nearly a year.

The post Missouri Medicaid application wait times average 41 days, the lowest in nearly a year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Voting has never been more important. The future well-being of our state and nation may very well depend on voters making informed decisions on Nov. 8. It is imperative voters know where candidates stand on the issues that matter most. But a candidate’s positions on issues don’t form in a vacuum or emerge out of […]

The post Vote. The future of our state and nation is riding on it appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Missouri House Democratic leader Crystal Quade on Friday demanded to know why a state agency is investigating a southwest Missouri hospital that treated a woman featured in an ad attacking Attorney General Eric Schmitt over state abortion laws. Investigators from the Department of Health and Senior Services visited Freeman Health System in Joplin this week, […]

The post Democrat alleges Missouri investigating hospital in retaliation for ad critical of Eric Schmitt appeared first on Missouri Independent.

ALBANY, Ga.—Shayla Jackson knocks three times before slipping a card with voting information under the blue-painted doors of apartments at Wild Pines, a complex tucked behind Albany State University. As a canvasser for the nonpartisan New Georgia Project, a group dedicated to registering Black, brown and young voters and getting them to the polls, she’ll spend her […]

The post All eyes again on the Peach State: Georgia voters asked to decide U.S. Senate control appeared first on Missouri Independent.

PHOENIX — During the first few days that Arizona’s Maricopa County began tabulating early votes, County Recorder Stephen Richer ran between interviews and meetings, responded on Twitter to dozens of voters with questions about the election and held a press conference for reporters. He managed this all while overseeing a staff and volunteers who were verifying voters’ […]

The post ‘Burning the candle at both ends’: Inside one of the nation’s busiest elections offices appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was recovering in the hospital Friday morning after a man in his 40s broke into their San Francisco home in the early morning and “violently assaulted” the 82-year-old, according to a statement from spokesman Drew Hammill. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who has a U.S. […]

The post Paul Pelosi, U.S. House speaker’s husband, attacked inside their San Francisco home appeared first on Missouri Independent.

A study shows about half of children in the United States have detectable levels of lead in their blood, despite federal regulations that ban or restrict its use. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted a new strategy to reduce exposure, particularly in low-income and communities of color that are disproportionately affected. On Thursday, the EPA […]

The post Kids in the Midwest will get more blood screenings under EPA plan to deal with lead threat appeared first on Missouri Independent.

This story was originally published by the Kansas City Beacon.  Over the past seven years, Jackson County has seen three different county executives. After then-County Executive Mike Sanders resigned at the end of 2015 — and went to prison in 2018 for corruption — Fred Arbanas served for one week as interim executive until Frank White  Jr. was […]

The post After decades of Democratic dominance, GOP optimistic in Jackson County executive race appeared first on Missouri Independent.

WASHINGTON — Republicans are eyeing the debt limit and government funding deadlines as a way to force Democrats to the negotiating table for spending cuts, should the GOP regain control of Congress following the midterm elections. Republicans unhappy about government spending could move to shut down the government, a tactic unsuccessful for the GOP in […]

The post A GOP showdown over the debt limit could grip Congress and the nation next year appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The Missouri Baptist Convention and Pro-Choice Missouri don’t often find themselves on the same team.  Same for the Missouri NAACP and Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.  But this year, each is part of an ideologically scattershot constellation of organizations and elected officials that have come out of the woodwork in recent weeks to urge Missourians […]

The post Opposition to Missouri marijuana amendment creating strange political bedfellows appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is awarding grants and loans that total about $759 million to 49 high-speed internet projects in 24 states and in other territories, the department announced Thursday. The total includes nearly $60 million for four Missouri projects. The federal funding is part of the department’s ReConnect Program and is partially funded […]

The post USDA announces another $759 million of grants and loans for rural internet appeared first on Missouri Independent.

The first time St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones publicly spoke about the tragic shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, it was just hours after a shooter took the lives of a 15-year-old student and a health teacher.  Jones was so visibly shaken with grief she could barely get out the words. Now […]

The post St. Louis leaders call for ban on assault rifles following school shooting appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Did you hear her screams? On Sept. 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died after being arrested by “morality police” for wearing her hijab improperly. This particular segment of Iranian law enforcement exists to stop free expression of identity and specifically to target women who show even a shred of femininity. Many of us in […]

The post In Iran, women have put their lives on the line for basic rights. We barely notice appeared first on Missouri Independent.