Jefferson City

The Missouri Family Health Council saw a spike in emergency contraception kits following election day. To keep up, volunteers gathered in Jefferson City to help build the kits.

Thousands of people took over the small town of Sedalia, Missouri, on this day in 1974 for the Ozark Music Festival, a party full of nudity, drugs and rock 'n' roll music. Half a century later, people still talk about the lore from that hot wild weekend. Plus: One very fluffy prison resident is changing the men around him in a Missouri correction facility.

Prison can be a lonely, violent place. But one program — or more specifically, one Jefferson City, Missouri, prison resident — is helping change the men around him.

This year’s budget process was criticized by the governor and lawmakers over a lack of transparency.

Three interns in the Missouri Legislature recently helped Missouri school districts gain access to federal funding to help students experiencing homelessness. Why were schools missing out on funding, and how did the interns find it?

The Missouri Senate has been at a standstill since Monday evening when nine Democrats staged a filibuster to stop a GOP bill that would make it tougher to amend the constitution. The record-breaking filibuster comes just days before the session adjourns on Friday.

Missouri Republicans could play a key role in legalizing abortion later this year. Even though many GOP voters don't agree with their party on abortion rights, they may still support other candidates on the ballot. Plus: Adopted from an orphanage in Russia, Anna McCune is pouring her heart into making sure Kansas City's kids don’t experience what she did growing up.

Each year, arts groups from across the state gather in Jefferson City to lobby Missouri lawmakers during their legislative session. For six students from the Kansas City Art Institute, the February trip to Missouri's state Capitol was a chance to leave the art supplies at home and become lobbyists.

Every year, Kansas City artists and students head to Jefferson City for Arts Advocacy Day, a chance to remind Missouri lawmakers about their crafts and why it should be funded. Plus: A new book on the Kansas City Royals digs up forgotten stories about the team.

Last week saw significant developments in two deeply divisive areas of Missouri law. What will lawmakers do with legislation limiting transgender rights and health care this year, and will voters enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution?

Ashcroft, who is also a candidate for Missouri governor, is the latest prominent figure targeted by false crime reports intended to trigger heavy police response.

In Missouri, Lincoln University — a land-grant historically Black university — has been underfunded by roughly $360 million over the past 30 years compared to the University of Missouri, according to a new federal report. Now a bipartisan group of lawmakers are asking the state to look into the inequality.