Missouri Independent
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Coronavirus
Missouri awards no-bid contract to boost staffing, antibody treatments, field hospitals
A Texas-based company stands to earn upwards of $30 million in Missouri through a no-bid emergency contract to provide health…
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Business
Lawsuit filed over $1.4 billion contract for Missouri prison health care
The dispute over the $1.4 billion contract to provide prisoner health care in Missouri is moving into the courts. Corizon Health, which…
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Coronavirus
Biden opens civil rights probe into states banning school mask mandates
WASHINGTON — Federal education officials have launched civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states that have prohibited school districts from mandating…
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Opinion
Opinion: Everything we know about work is wrong, and the pandemic proves it
So what can the plight of a little cafe tell you about the state of the American economy and the…
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Coronavirus
Missouri ICUs filling as Delta variant wave hits northeast, southeast regions
New cases from the Delta variant wave that has killed more than 1,150 Missourians since June 1 have plateaued but hospital ICUs continue…
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Health
Medicaid expansion delays violate federal law, courts, attorneys say
Attorneys who successfully sued to force Missouri to enact voter-approved Medicaid expansion argued in a letter to state officials Thursday…
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Coronavirus
Lawmakers seek accounting of emergency purchasing authority given to Missouri agencies
Missouri lawmakers pressed for more details Wednesday on the unprecedented decision by state officials to suspend some procurement rules at…
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Coronavirus
Supreme Court rejection of eviction ban cranks up pressure to dole out rental aid
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the last-ditch effort by President Joe Biden’s administration to extend a federal…
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Crime
Judge denies request to block Missouri law invalidating certain federal gun laws
A Cole County judge refused on Friday to block a new state law that declares certain federal gun laws invalid and…
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Coronavirus
Records document millions spent by Missouri agencies under emergency COVID authority
It was mid-March 2020 and the pandemic was unfolding in quick succession. Less than a week after the first suspected…
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Education
Schools to continue mask rules despite legal challenge from Missouri Attorney General
The schools in Gov. Mike Parson’s hometown will continue to require students, teachers and staff to wear masks indoors despite…
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Crime
Longtime Missouri GOP political consultant pleads guilty to felony tax fraud
David Barklage, a veteran Missouri political consultant and lobbyist, pled guilty to a felony tax charge in U.S. District Court…
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Politics
State lawmakers discuss election security in hearing marked by conspiracy theories
The Missouri House Elections Committee convened Tuesday to discuss ways to alter the initiative petition process and improve election security.…
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Education
Missouri attorney general seeks court order blocking school mask mandates
Mandates that require children, staff and faculty to wear masks in school to prevent spread of COVID-19 are next on…
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Education
Advocates urge lawmakers to focus on inequity in education, not critical race theory
Educators, students and advocates urged state lawmakers Monday afternoon to focus on tackling larger issues of inequity across education rather…
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Education
As Missouri students head back to class, state launches new COVID testing program
Monday marked the first day of school for thousands of students across Missouri, and it’s also when schools could begin…
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Coronavirus
FDA grants full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot, now known as ‘Comirnaty’
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has its first fully approved vaccine against COVID-19, with federal health officials announcing Monday the approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s…
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Health
Medicaid director will return as state prepares for expansion
After a months-long leave of absence, the director of Missouri’s Medicaid program is expected to return to his position next…
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Crime
Judge to rule soon on Missouri bill to block enforcement of federal gun laws
Missouri police agencies will know within a week whether they can work with the federal government to enforce certain gun laws, Cole…
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Coronavirus
COVID-19 booster shots to roll out starting next month
WASHINGTON — Top U.S. health officials announced a plan Wednesday to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to Americans starting Sept. 20, with…
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News
DOJ asks court to block Missouri’s ‘Second Amendment Preservation Act’
A Missouri law prohibiting state and local police from enforcing certain federal gun laws has already undermined drug and weapons investigations, the…
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Politics
U.S. House Democrats offer voting rights bill named for John Lewis
WASHINGTON — At the base of the bridge in Selma, Ala., where the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia…
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Coronavirus
National Park Service renews mask mandate for all visitors
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service reinstated on Monday a mask mandate for all visitors, workers and volunteers at NPS…
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Politics
DOJ civil rights official urges Congress to act soon on voting rights
WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official stressed on Monday the need for Congress to pass legislation named after the late…
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Politics
Congress is attempting the biggest expansion of U.S. social programs since FDR
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate passed last week a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill and an even larger budget blueprint that…
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Politics
Trial of GOP lawmaker accused of selling fake stem cell treatment delayed until 2022
A Missouri lawmaker indicted earlier this year for allegedly selling fake stem-cell treatments and fraudulently using federal pandemic relief funds has had…
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Opinion
Opinion: In our mad, polarized, COVID surge summer, the only way out is through
It all kind of piled up this week: COVID hospitalizations and deaths are up. We’re still trying to convince the unvaccinated to get…
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Coronavirus
Missouri COVID death toll ignores antigen-tested cases as official tally tops 10,000
Missouri officially passed the grim milestone of 10,000 COVID-19 deaths Thursday when the Department of Health and Senior Services added…
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Business
Federal infrastructure bill may boost clean energy jobs in Missouri
President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bill targeted at revamping the country’s infrastructure could create jobs for Missourians in the state’s…
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Politics
Legislative redistricting process gets off to rocky start
For hours on Tuesday, the bipartisan commission established to draw new Missouri House districts couldn’t agree on anything. Over and…
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