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Missouri's 2024 legislative session is back after spring break. The annual state budget and a tax that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program are two things that must pass this session. Plus: Some Kansas lawmakers say improving their compensation is key to recruiting young and working class people to run for office.
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In the few days since the 2024 Kansas legislative session started, bills governing mail-in ballots and advance voting applications have already been filed. There is still zero evidence that widespread election fraud happens at the state or national levels.
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In the late 1970s, a group of musicians in Topeka, Kansas, formed what became one of the first all-women mariachi bands in the country. Mariachi Estrella broke down barriers in a male-dominated music scene, before a deadly disaster almost ended the group for good. Decades later, the band’s descendants are ensuring their legacy shines on into the future.
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The United States has a patchwork system of long-term medical care that usually leaves elderly people and their families footing most of the bill. Medicaid can cover much of the cost, but in Kansas and Missouri, seniors and people with disabilities have to earn below the poverty level and have less than $2,000 in assets before they can qualify for Medicaid.
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The Kansas prison system has fired two employees and disciplined six others for insulting, mistreating, and denying medical care to a prisoner after she hurt herself. Plus: Volunteers around the Midwest are working to tag monarch butterflies as part of an effort to learn more about their journey each year to Mexico.
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They're called Bradford pears, Callery pears and about two dozen other names. Scientists say it's time to remove these trees, because they're wreaking havoc. Here's one way to help in Kansas and Missouri.
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Abortion is expected to remain a friction point in the Kansas legislative session, even after last year's vote that protected it as a constitutional right. Plus: How Missouri's economy is taking a toll from tens of thousands of residents still experiencing the symptoms of long COVID.
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Prosecutors say they have already amassed 36,000 pages of evidence in the case against Golubski, and the evidence may only grow as part of their ongoing investigation.
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Prosecutors had urged the judge to keep Golubski, who was indicted last week on charges of violating two women's civil rights when he allegedly assaulted them more than two decades ago, in detention until trial.
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A Dillons grocery store closed. Three central Topeka census tracts became federally designated food deserts. Now a local movement aims to fill the gap.
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The Winter Paralympics are beginning in Beijing, where Topeka native Dan Cnossen will compete as one of the world's best Paralympian cross-country skiers. Plus, Missouri food stamp applicants are suing over the state over a "dysfunctional" system that's shutting them out of benefits.
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With congressional redistricting out of the limelight for now, education issues are moving to the forefront in Topeka and Jefferson City.