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Defining fetal viability among GOP priorities after Missourians overturn abortion ban

7 months 1 week ago
The day he was sworn in as speaker of the Missouri House, Jon Patterson declared that defining fetal viability could be a difficult task.  A surgeon serving his fourth term in the legislature, Patterson said despite the vagueness of the medical phrase, the decision by voters to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban means lawmakers have no […]
Anna Spoerre

U.S. Senate GOP blocks lifeline for TikTok, though CEO will sit with Trump at inaugural

7 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed Republicans Thursday for blocking a last-ditch effort to extend TikTok’s lifespan in the U.S. — even as the video platform’s CEO is expected to be among the tech moguls at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, Sunday marks the deadline set by bipartisan […]
Ashley Murray

Major legal brawl may decide what types of cars Americans can buy

7 months 1 week ago
Blue states are bracing for a battle with the Trump administration over their authority to limit tailpipe emissions, a showdown that will have major repercussions on the types of cars and trucks sold to American drivers. All sides expect President-elect Donald Trump to try to revoke states’ authority to adopt California’s strict rules on the […]
Alex Brown

New U.S. Senate agriculture committee leadership has extensive ties to industry heavyweights

7 months 1 week ago
The new leader of the U.S. Senate’s agriculture committee, Arkansas’ John Boozman, has several ties to meatpacking behemoths, including Tyson Foods, and has recently resisted efforts by his fellow Republicans to reign in their economic power. New Democratic leadership on the committee also has strong agriculture ties, as Sen. Amy Klobuchar has received thousands from […]
Sky Chadde

Kansas City tenant advocates say city’s rental inspection program is too permissive

7 months 1 week ago
Hell Woods has been couch-surfing between two friends’ apartments since their landlord refused to renew their lease in November. A former two-year resident of Quality Hill Towers, Woods joined the building’s tenant union and its now-paused rent strike after months of unresolved bedbug infestations and maintenance issues. Frustrated by the lack of action from management, […]
Mili Mansaray

Cannabis trade group pushes back on Missouri rules to combat ‘predatory’ practices

7 months 1 week ago
Missouri cannabis regulators and the state’s largest marijuana trade group agree that people should be banned from flooding the license lottery with applicants they recruit who are never intended to have any actual control or profits. It’s a practice the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation has called predatory, and efforts to root it out of […]
Rebecca Rivas

U.S. House passes bill banning trans athletes from competing in women’s school sports

7 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — A measure that would bar transgender students from participating on women’s school sports teams consistent with their gender identity passed the U.S. House on Tuesday. The legislation — which advanced 218-206 — came as an increasing number of states have passed laws banning trans athletes from participating in sports in K-12 schools and colleges that […]
Shauneen Miranda

State line competition complicates economic development for the Kansas City metro

7 months 1 week ago
More than five years ago, Kansas and Missouri declared a truce. The two states had for years engaged in a bloodletting competition to lure businesses to their side of the Kansas City region — handing out lucrative incentives to move a corporate headquarters just a few miles across the state line. These deals brought no new […]
Mark Wiebe

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

7 months 1 week 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

Trump would have been convicted on election interference charges, says special counsel

7 months 1 week ago
WASHINGTON — A final report from former Department of Justice prosecutor Jack Smith contends that had President-elect Donald Trump not won in November, he would have been convicted on charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The report was released just after midnight Tuesday, following a court battle to keep the […]
Ashley Murray

USDA finalizes packers and stockyards reform to help chicken farmers

7 months 1 week 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

7 months 1 week 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

7 months 1 week 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

New Missouri governor focuses on crime, education, tax cuts in inaugural address 

7 months 2 weeks ago
Controlling crime, expanding education options and cutting taxes will be the top priorities for Missouri, new Gov. Mike Kehoe said in his inauguration speech. The brief speech, delivered before a crowd gathered on a cold, sunny day outside the Missouri Capitol, also traced the Republican’s journey from a north St. Louis home led by a […]
Rudi Keller

Librarians gain protections in some states as book bans soar

7 months 2 weeks 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