WASHINGTON — Congress will not expand access to in vitro fertilization for active duty military members and their families in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill that sets policy for the Pentagon. The House-Senate compromise released this weekend follows months of debate between the two chambers over whether to broaden TRICARE’s coverage […]
Missouri Democrats will keep three of the party’s four top leaders in place for the next two years despite an election result where the party lost every statewide race and failed to make gains in the General Assembly. Former U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan of St. Louis will stay on as party chair, with Yvonne Reeves-Chong […]
For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The practice exists in a legal loophole: It’s illegal under federal law for companies that aren’t accredited by the VA to charge veterans fees for helping file their […]
A snowstorm that swept western Missouri last year left a patient waiting on critical medication they needed to ward off seizures. That patient ended up in a hospital to deliver a dose of the drug. Now, with an increasing number of rural residents relying on mail service to get their prescriptions — and the U.S. […]
Two bills pre-filed before the 2025 legislative session seek to put restrictions on how Missourians can change their gender marker on their state-issued IDs. From 2016 until this August, transgender Missourians could change their gender designation on their licenses with a form and physician signature. The Missouri Department of Revenue pulled the form after a […]
Eric DeValkenaere is going to have his prison sentence commuted. The only suspense remaining is whether the ex-Kansas City cop convicted of murder in the death of a Black man will be back with his family for Christmas. Gov. Mike Parson is on record saying that he “doesn’t like” the fact that DeValkenaere is serving […]
Editor’s Note: This is the sixth installment of an occasional States Newsroom series called When and Where: Abortion Access in America, profiling individuals who have needed abortion care in the U.S. before and after Dobbs. The first installment can be found here, the second installment is here, the third is here, the fourth is here, […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday it will require dairy farms to share samples of unpasteurized milk when requested, in an effort to gather more information about the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Public health officials have tracked the spread of bird flu or H5N1 in domestic poultry flocks for years […]
The economy added 227,000 jobs in November, making for a strong jobs report despite a slight increase in the unemployment rate. Although the labor market has cooled this year, the Trump administration stands to inherit a fairly healthy labor market, with decent job growth across many sectors. The number of jobs was bolstered by the return of […]
The law Congress passed this year to force the Chinese parent company of social media giant TikTok to either sell the service or face a U.S. ban is constitutional, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled Friday. The order from a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals preserves the bipartisan law President Joe Biden […]
A case filed in Cape Girardeau County could have implications for students’ rights to due process and free speech. The case involves a 12-year-old girl identified only by her initials, A.N., who is serving a 180-day suspension from Jackson Junior High School. According to her petition in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, the punishment stems […]
It’s been more than twelve hours since Amendment 3 went into effect in Missouri. No abortions have begun again at the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics. That’s because officials with Planned Parenthood, which operates health centers across the state, said they are still waiting on a judge’s decision on whether to grant an injunction that would […]
WASHINGTON — Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. touted multiple changes and improvements on Thursday to his agency in the wake of two assassination attempts against Donald Trump earlier this year. Rowe testified before the bipartisan congressional task force investigating the two separate attempts on the now president-elect’s life. The hearing wrapped up the […]
Major institutional investors have artificially lowered coal production and raised energy costs for consumers in an effort to lower global carbon emissions, a federal lawsuit claims. Republican attorneys general in 11 states filed a joint lawsuit last month against BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, claiming the organizations’ efforts to pressure coal companies to lower carbon […]
“What stands in the way becomes the way” is among the timeless perspectives of Marcus Aurelius. The mounting challenges now facing local school districts could reveal the elusive path toward unifying the city and county of St. Louis. Though the city and county have been separate since 1876, the ongoing municipal divide contributes to regional […]
While states have cheered the new tax revenue from sports gambling, some new studies have linked the burgeoning industry to lower consumer credit scores, higher credit card debt and less household savings. With access on their cellphones, gamblers can bet more often and easily than in traditional casinos, heightening concerns about problem gambling and the […]
WASHINGTON — The holiday season kicked off on Capitol Hill this week with the official Christmas tree lighting ceremony and the unveiling of a gingerbread replica of the U.S. Capitol — complete with sugar flowers representing all 50 states. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and the Alaska congressional delegation illuminated the 80-foot 2024 […]
It cost $23,518 for Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, a top aide and two police officers on his security detail to attend the Super Bowl in Phoenix last year. The day after the game, the cost was covered by a $24,000 check from the Heavy Constructors Association, a politically-connected trade group. Neither the price of […]
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers railed against what they called “woke” curriculum in schools during a Wednesday hearing in a U.S. House education panel, the latest example of culture wars rocking public education policy. The hearing brought “critical race theory” to the forefront. The academic framework focuses on the social construction of race and has drawn strong […]
The 2024 election was yet another devastating one for Missouri Democrats. In fact, the party hasn’t had a truly successful cycle since 2012, when former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill won re-election and Democrats captured nearly every statewide office. Lucas Kunce lost by 14 points last month to U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, and he still came […]
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