Missouri

The U.S. government averted a crises through the passage of a 45-day spending bill. But that's just one attention-grabbing political fiasco facing the U.S. Three of Missouri's U.S. Representatives share what concerns them within Washington politics.

Hospital systems are merging in deals bring facilities hundreds of miles apart under the same parent company, like St. Luke's and BJC HealthCare. That typically means higher prices for the patients they serve — but federal regulators haven't stepped in to stop consolidation.

Evergy is changing the way it charges for electrical usage beginning in October, moving from a flat rate to one based on demand at different times of day.

With demand high for new COVID vaccines, some CVS pharmacies around the Kansas City area weren't able to give out shots because of a pharmacist walkout. Organizers are demanding better working conditions and said that extremely limited staffing puts CVS pharmacists and patients at risk.

A law passed by the Missouri General Assembly last year made sleeping on state-owned land a Class C misdemeanor. The legislation was modeled off a template by a conservative think tank, but housing advocates say it criminalizes homelessness and was improperly tacked onto an unrelated bill.

Mayor Quinton Lucas is challenging a November 2022 statewide vote that increased the minimum percentage of its budget Kansas City must spend on its police department. Kansas City is the only major city in the U.S. that doesn’t control its police, so while City Council writes the checks, it can't decide how the funds are spent.

After Missouri's new ban took effect on Aug. 28, MU Health stopped providing gender-affirming care for minors, citing “significant legal liability." Washington University in St. Louis also ceased care for transgender youth, even those who were still eligible under the law.

Lucas Kunce, Karla May and Wesley Bell are the major Democratic candidates vying to take on U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley. Some Democrats are wondering if a primary makes sense in a state that’s solidly Republican.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher has been accused of threatening to terminate the employment of a staffer who resisted his plan to give a private company a large contract. He denies the allegations.

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher denies accusations uncovered in public records that he threatened staff when pressing for the legislature to award a lucrative contract to a private company.

The number of bans and restrictions in the U.S. rose 33% in the last school year, according the report from free speech group PEN America. Florida had more bans than any other state, followed by Texas and Missouri.

Gavriela Geller, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau and the American Jewish Committee, says that more education is needed to combat antisemitism in Kansas City communities.