MoInd 📰

Destiny Brown thought she had been recruited last year to own and operate a small-scale Missouri cannabis dispensary — and get paid $200,000 to do it.  Cannabis investor Michael Halow told Brown, who is Black, that her disabled veteran status and the marijuana offense on her father’s record qualified her for a Missouri microbusiness license. The […]

As both the internet and social media continue to be among the primary sources of information for a large percentage of the population, our news media must assume responsibility and perform more boldly and consistently the role of fact checker and truth-teller. A recent survey reveals that no single media outlet singularly gains or maintains […]

The Missouri Independent won 24 awards Saturday — including nine first place honors — in the annual Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.  The awards were handed out at the association’s annual convention, which this year was held in Springfield. “Atomic Fallout” — a months-long collaboration between The Independent’s Allison Kite, the Associated Press and […]

SPRINGFIELD — Twenty years of Republican control of the legislature has failed Missouri, giving it the most extreme abortion restrictions in the country and a child care system in crisis, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Crystal Quade said in a debate Friday. Quade said she backs Amendment 3, which would restore abortion rights, and Proposition A, to […]

SPRINGFIELD —The United States should abandon its support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley said Friday during his first debate with challenger Lucas Kunce and two third party candidates. “I do not support continued funding to Ukraine,” Hawley said, adding that he would not support any more aid until […]

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday night that if he loses the election in November to Vice President Kamala Harris, Jewish voters “would really have a lot to do with that.” As the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel nears and the war in Gaza continues, the GOP presidential nominee […]

The decision to keep a constitutional amendment legalizing abortion on the November statewide ballot was decided by a narrowly-divided Missouri Supreme Court, according to opinions released Friday. The majority opinion was written by Judge Paul Wilson, with Chief Justice Mary Russell, Judge Robin Ransom and Judge Brent Powell concurring.  The dissent was authored by Judge […]

WASHINGTON — The country’s next president will need a friendly Congress to make their policy dreams a reality, but control of the two chambers remains deeply uncertain with just weeks until Election Day — and whether the outcome will be a party trifecta in the nation’s capital. Recent projections tilt in favor of Republicans taking […]

A lawsuit filed by transgender children and their parents challenging a one year-old Missouri law restricting minors from accessing cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers heads to trial in Cole County Circuit Court beginning Monday.  Plaintiffs are asking Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter, who typically serves in Wright County, to block the law’s enforcement. Pretrial briefs […]

Missouri plans to execute Marcellus Williams on Sept. 24. If that occurs, he’d be the 100th person executed in our state since 1989, a shameful milestone, and another instance of executing a possibly innocent person. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, since 1973 at least 200 people sentenced to death in the United States […]

When Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman, a Democrat, studied his cable and internet bill last year, he kept seeing recurring charges for app subscriptions he didn’t recognize. Turned out, his 14-year-old daughter had been signing up for subscriptions with introductory rates and never canceling when they rolled over to the full price. “I would question […]

The Federal Reserve’s first key interest rate cut in four years coincides with another major four-year event: the homestretch of the presidential election. Fed Chair Jerome Powell downplayed the central bank’s role in the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, in announcing the half-percentage point cut in its […]

Soon after a series of state laws left a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, Missouri, unable to provide abortions in 2018, it shipped some of its equipment to states where abortion remained accessible. Recovery chairs, surgical equipment, and lighting from the Missouri clinic — all expensive and perfectly good — could still be useful to […]

Missouri corrections officers drenched an inmate with pepper spray and ignored his pleas for help for four hours, responding only when his screaming stopped as he died in the Tipton Correctional Center, a federal lawsuit filed this month alleges. The events that led to Brandon Pace’s death on April 7, 2023, began when correctional officers […]

WASHINGTON — Amid persistent child hunger and food insecurity in the United States, lawmakers and advocates on Wednesday stressed the importance of school meal programs during a U.S. Senate Agriculture subcommittee hearing. Hunger severely impacts kids’ emotional and physical well-being and can lead to negative outcomes in school, research has shown. Last year, 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households, […]

A year ago this week, 27 pharmacists walked off their jobs in and around Kansas City to protest understaffing, low technician pay and burdensome workloads at some CVS-owned pharmacies. Their action forced about a dozen Kansas City-area pharmacies and 10 others in outlying areas to close anywhere from a few hours to two full days. […]

For months, Wendy Rodas felt disempowered and silenced whenever she tried to reach out to her daughter’s Missouri elementary school.  The El Salvadorian mother of three, who primarily speaks Spanish, struggled to communicate with teachers, administrators and district leaders. She made repeated requests for the interpretation services that she — and all public school parents who […]

After weeks of tussling between the two campaigns, Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Democrat Lucas Kunce are finally set to square off in a televised debate less than a week before voters head to the polls. The debate will air Oct 31 on Missouri Nexstar stations, including KTVI/KPLR-St. Louis, WDAF-Kansas City, KRBK-Springfield and KSN-Joplin […]

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s ban on intoxicating hemp products hit another hurdle on Tuesday, resulting in an indefinite pause on a huge part of the effort. Richard Moore, general counsel for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a letter Tuesday that the state’s health regulators will stop embargoing — or tagging […]

WASHINGTON — As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student […]