Missouri voters appear to have approved a statewide ballot initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and require private employers to provide paid sick leave. Proposition A held approximately 58% of the vote, as of 12:30 a.m., according to a preliminary vote count by the Associated Press. Proponents of the measure […]
Health
Posted inElections
Missouri voters restore abortion rights, but access is still on a long legal path
This story was updated at 1 p.m. on Nov. 8. Missouri voters bucked Republicans who control the state on Tuesday when they voted to add the right to abortion and other reproductive health care protections in the state constitution by passing Amendment 3. The measure was approved 51.6% to 48.4%, making Missouri the first state […]
Posted inHealth
What’s in your weed? A Missouri state lab to check industry claims
Missouri plans to spend millions from state marijuana taxes on a laboratory to help regulators keep tabs on the safety and potency of more than $1 billion of joints, edibles and other cannabis products sold annually across the state. Health experts and consumer groups applauded the added regulatory check, outlined in an Oct. 11 report […]
Posted inElections
As money for senior citizens runs out, Jackson County voters consider a new property tax
Janet Baker has to say “no” more often than she would like to the aging Kansas Citians her organization serves. Even to a woman newly confined to a wheelchair who called a couple of weeks ago requesting Meals on Wheels, Baker, executive director of KC Shepherd’s Center, had to say “no.” “This makes me sick,” […]
Posted inHealth
No more banana, spearmint or candy-flavored tobacco products in Kansas City if council votes for ban
At a Thursday afternoon meeting of the Kansas City Council, the ordinance was sent back to committee for further review and discussion. Vanilla custard, chocolate cake, fruit loops or gummy bears. They’re all on the menu at your local vape store. But an ordinance the Kansas City Council will take up today could outlaw them […]
Posted inHealth
An Overland Park pharmacist quit the drug insurance game. He says it could save you money
Nick Romo spent a decade as a pharmacist under the rule of insurance companies and their middlemen. Too often, customers couldn’t get the drugs their doctors prescribed or ran into prices so high they walked away empty-handed. So two years ago, he opened Pharmington Drugs in south Overland Park in rebellion against it all. “I […]
Posted inHealth
Missouri and Kansas keep losing pharmacies, and a key part of health care
Less than two years ago, neighbors near Brush Creek Boulevard and Troost Avenue had choices when they needed to pick up a prescription — or a carton of milk. A CVS pharmacy stood on the northeast corner of their intersection. Its retail rival, Walgreens, was just a block south at Troost and Emanuel Cleaver II […]
Posted inHealth
Kansas City pharmacists’ walkout a year ago highlighted industry troubles. The problems haven’t gone away
Kansas City pharmacists walked off the job last September to protest working conditions and brought widespread attention to the troubled retail pharmacy business. The industry is battling economic pressures, changed buying habits and labor shortages.
Posted inState Government
Air conditioning is coming to some Missouri prisons. But it will take years and cost millions
Missouri lawmakers took a step toward improving conditions in some Missouri prisons last year by setting aside millions to install air conditioning in one of the state’s 17 prisons. That cooler air is still a year and a half away. That decision came as global temperatures broke summertime heat records. Prisoner rights advocates celebrated the […]
Posted inElections
Voters could undo Missouri’s abortion ban: Key things to understanding your vote on Amendment 3
Missourians could be among the nation’s first voters to reverse a near-total abortion ban when they weigh in on Amendment 3 in the Nov. 5 election. Missouri was the first state to enact a near-total ban on abortion in June 2022. Missouri officials signed paperwork triggering the ban to take effect just minutes after the […]