Missouri and Iowa show little progress in cutting their rates of new cancer cases, according to the latest American Lung Association report. Nebraska and Kansas saw rates of new cases remain below or at the national average.

Since the 2018-19 school year, the Hazelwood School District has increased its rate of investigating student residency eightfold, deploying a team of employees who can use intrusive tactics.

A poll from the Middle West Review asked respondents from 22 states whether they consider themselves Midwesterners. The geographic sample included states not usually listed as part of the region.

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska are part of an emerging “extreme heat belt” that could deliver more scorching days within 30 years. So far, there’s no unified plan to make our dwellings safe in the dangerously high temperatures to come.

Officials agree that clearing the backlog at Missouri’s Children’s Division won’t be easy or quick. “I think this is a business decision when it comes down to it," says one Lee's Summit lawmaker. “If we value the children of Missouri, we have to do more.”

As the nation learns more about the raid of the Marion County Record, staffers at the publication keep working while advocates for press freedom offer support and demand answers from the local police.