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US House grapples with college athletes’ rights as two panels approve bill on player pay

4 weeks 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — A measure that would set a national framework for college athletes’ compensation got one step closer to becoming law Wednesday after advancing in two separate U.S. House panels. TheĀ bill’s fate remains uncertain as it makes its way through Congress, and Democrats argue that theĀ legislation would give ā€œunchecked authorityā€ to the NCAA on athletes’ […]
Shauneen Miranda

Trump illegally withheld Head Start payments, government watchdog says

4 weeks 2 days ago
The Health and Human Services Department illegally withheld payments from Head Start for the first months of President Donald Trump’s term, a government watchdog reported Wednesday. HHS payments for Head Start this year were significantly behind schedule compared with 2024. That violated the Impoundment Control Act, a law governing the president’s duty to spend congressionally […]
Jacob Fischler

FEMA acting chief says response to Texas flood catastrophe was ā€˜outstanding’

4 weeks 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration official running the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified Wednesday the response to flash flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July weekend served as an ā€œoutstandingā€ model for the rest of the country. His conclusions about the catastrophic flooding, which had a death tollĀ of 135 and included extensive search and […]
Jennifer Shutt

Feds cancel $4.9 billion loan for Grain Belt Express transmission line project

4 weeks 2 days ago
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday it was cancelling a conditional $4.9 billion loan for the Grain Belt Express, a planned transmission line designed to transport electricity generated by wind farms in Kansas across four states, including Missouri. The loan, which was issued by the Biden administration in November 2024, is being cancelled because […]
Jason Hancock

Morality and money mix in Leavenworth’s mass deportation detention center debate

1 month ago
The clergy, 250 strong, gathered on the steps of the Kansas City Convention Center. They proclaimed a clear, moral argument opposing the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign targeting immigrants. ā€œGod knows no borderā€ was among the chants. They were among thousands attending the United Church of Christ General Synod in Kansas City July 11-15. The […]
Mary Sanchez

Trump administration assailed by US House Democrats as ā€˜cruel’ and ā€˜unaccountable’

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday blasted President Donald Trump’s administration for what they called ā€œcrueltyā€ and ā€œlawlessnessā€ in carrying out mass deportations of migrants without legal status. At a forum at the U.S. Capitol, Democrats who sit on the House Homeland Security Committee and others rebuked the administration’s sweeping immigration […]
Shauneen Miranda

US House spending panel votes to rename Kennedy Center Opera House for Melania Trump

1 month ago
Republicans on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to rename the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for first lady Melania Trump. The panel adopted, 33-25,Ā a package of amendments to theĀ bill funding the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal 2026 that included a provision to designate the […]
Jacob Fischler

Missouri Supreme Court rules local governments can’t stack marijuana sales taxes

1 month ago
Cities and counties are not allowed to stack sales taxes on marijuana products, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.Ā  In a 6-1 decision, the state’s highest court concluded the 2022 constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana limits the definition of ā€œlocal governmentā€ to allow only one municipality to impose a 3% sales tax — […]
Jason Hancock

ā€˜One big, beautiful’ law provision on Planned Parenthood funding partly blocked by judge

1 month ago
This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday, blocking a provision in Republicans’ ā€œbig, beautifulā€ law that would have barred Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year. District Court Judge Indira Talwani wrote in a 36-page opinion that Planned Parenthood established ā€œa substantial likelihood of success […]
Jennifer Shutt

Missouri cannabis testing director details new random product samplingĀ 

1 month ago
The head of Missouri’s cannabis testing unit said the new unannounced visits to collect product samples shouldn’t impact business, in a podcast by the Missouri Cannabis Regulation Division. ā€œThis is going to be just another arm of compliance, guys,ā€ said Ryan Bernard, the division’s testing and research unit manager. ā€œSo keep this business as usual […]
Rebecca Rivas

Trump tax law runs up deficit by $3.4T, throws 10 million off health insurance, CBO says

1 month ago
WASHINGTON — Republicans’ ā€œbig, beautifulā€ law will add $3.394 trillion to deficits during the next decade and lead 10 million people to lose access to health insurance, according to an analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The updated assessment of the sweeping tax and spending cuts law came weeks after nearly every […]
Jennifer Shutt

No one knows whether Trump’s $50B for rural health will be enough

1 month ago
Congress set aside $50 billion for rural hospitals and medical providers to allay fears over the billions more in historic cuts to federal health care spending that President Donald Trump signed into law on Independence Day. But is that bandage big enough to save struggling rural hospitals? ā€œI have more questions than I have answers,ā€ […]
Anna Claire Vollers

Ameren Missouri gas rates set to rise in September

1 month ago
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved new rates for Ameren’s gas customers, adding around 12%, or $13, to the average customer’s monthly bills. John Coffman, a lawyer for the Consumers Council of Missouri, said rate increases are outpacing both inflation and wage growth. ā€œWe believe that these increases are fueling inflation generally in the […]
Kris Sand

Missouri Republicans call for transparency into Jeffrey Epstein investigation

1 month ago
Outcry over the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files includes calls by leading Missouri Republicans for the president to order the release of as much documentation as possible to put the issue to rest.Ā  U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley told KMOV-TV on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration should ā€œrelease everything they can.ā€ ā€œWhatever […]
Jason Hancock