Missouri’s two largest electric utilities want the state’s permission to charge customers for natural gas power plants before they’re completed. Both Evergy and Ameren Missouri asked the Missouri House Utilities Committee on Wednesday to support legislation that would allow them to charge customers for natural, or methane, gas power plants even before they’re completed, saying […]
WASHINGTON — A second federal judge appears ready to issue an order blocking the Trump administration from freezing funding on grant and loan programs, despite a move by the Office of Management and Budget to rescind a controversial memo Wednesday just before the hearing. Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the U.S. District Court […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security late Tuesday revoked an extension of temporary protective status for nearly 600,000 Venezuelans, according to an unpublished Federal Register document obtained by States Newsroom. The New York Times first reported on the decision. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed to lead the agency on Saturday, canceled the […]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans Tuesday blocked a resolution condemning pardons for supporters of President Donald Trump who violently attacked and injured police officers when they broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray requested unanimous consent for the resolution on the floor but was met with opposition from Majority Whip […]
A boost Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe touts as the largest increase in public school funding in two decades will fall about $300 million short of meeting the targets set in state law for public education. He also suggests shifting $50 million into a program that helps pay for students to attend private and religious schools. […]
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe doubled down on his support for a state takeover of the St. Louis Police Department on Tuesday, telling lawmakers during his first State of the State address that crime in the city is “unacceptable.” He also waded carefully into the debate over abortion, stopping short of suggesting any rollback of reproductive […]
The Attorney General’s Office did not violate the Missouri Sunshine Law when it refused to turn over records showing how it fulfilled a request, the Western District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In a split decision, a three-judge panel ruled that the office reasonably concluded the records being sought by St. Louis attorney Elad Gross […]
A backlog of payments due to child care providers is 70% clear after a year-long struggle with the state’s new software, Missouri Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger told lawmakers Tuesday morning. The Missouri Senate Education Committee questioned Eslinger about everything from school accreditation to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Standing out among the interrogation was an […]
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed orders late Monday banning openly transgender service members from the U.S. military and suppressing any diversity initiatives, including prohibiting “un-American” concepts from military educational institutions. An executive order published just before 11 p.m. Eastern under the title “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” expressly forbids from the armed services individuals […]
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled Tuesday the Trump administration must wait until at least next week before it can move forward with pausing federal spending on trillions in grants and loans, though she emphasized the short-term administrative stay might not continue after a Feb. 3 hearing. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan’s decision temporarily […]
A confrontational legislative hearing Monday — with a witness calling a state senator a fascist and lawmakers battling over whether the state should put a bounty on undocumented immigrants — set the tone for this year’s debate on immigration and the state’s role in border security. The most aggressive approach, in a bill filed by […]
Missouri lawmakers are again considering legislation that would increase funding to allow local governments to test for additional radioactive waste around contaminated sites in the St. Louis region. The Missouri House Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs on Monday discussed the bill sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mark Matthiesen of O’Fallon. It’s similar to legislation Matthiesen […]
WASHINGTON — Immigration attorneys Monday detailed the impact on their clients, some of them undocumented children, after the Trump administration last week halted Department of Justice programs that fund nonprofits that provide legal services to immigrants. Meanwhile, over the weekend, the federal government began moving in earnest on President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge of an […]
WASHINGTON — Governors and state legislatures may have to bolster their natural disaster response and recovery efforts in the coming years as President Donald Trump looks for ways to shift the federal government’s role onto states. Trump, who proposed doing away with the Federal Emergency Management Agency altogether while on a tour of disaster scenes […]
WASHINGTON — The confirmations for President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are moving at warp speed, with U.S. Senate floor votes for some and appearances for others before Senate panels this week. Trump’s Cabinet members will be crucial to carrying out his sweeping GOP agenda, which already started bursting out of the floodgates in wide-ranging executive […]
WASHINGTON — Democratic and independent U.S. senators introduced a resolution Monday to condemn President Donald Trump’s clemency for the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, injuring numerous law enforcement officers and sending lawmakers into hiding as they tried to certify the 2020 presidential election results. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New […]
For nearly a year and a half, a woman has been languishing in Greene County jail, waiting to be transferred to a state mental health facility. The woman was charged with a misdemeanor, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered by the court into state-run psychiatric treatment, Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott told The Independent. […]
This time last year, the Missouri Senate was barely functioning. Members of the Freedom Caucus, a renegade group of GOP senators who’ve been at war with party leadership for years, used procedural hijinks to grind the chamber to a halt almost daily. In retaliation, Senate leaders stripped committee assignments from Freedom Caucus members — and […]
Like so many Americans right now (at least those who appreciate a beautifully crafted movie musical), we remain obsessed with “Wicked.” As elder millennials whose day jobs require challenging patriarchal norms around reproductive health, we were excited to see a Hollywood reframe on feminine heroism and the internalized misogyny we grew up on, especially through […]
Ritika Shroff had the typical Gen Z experience with social media. At 13, she signed up for Instagram, then Snapchat. Later, she downloaded TikTok and worked her way through other popular platforms. But in high school, she began to see downsides, feeling pressure when comparing her number of followers, test scores and experiences with those […]