Missouri

Olivia Rodrigo gives away free Plan B at Missouri show, calls for 'funding abortion'

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2024

Olivia Rodrigo gives away free Plan B at Missouri show, calls for 'funding abortion'

Doing what Olivia Rodrigo does takes serious guts.

The 21-year-old popstar is being commended by fans and activists after giving away free boxes of Julie âemergency contraception also known as Plan B â at her recent show in St. Louis, Mo.

Nonprofit Missouri Abortion Fund and pro-choice group Right By You handed out the medication alongside information on how to find abortion care, as well as a card that read: âFunding abortion? Itâs a good idea, right?â

“It’s brutal out here in Missouri, but we are here for abortion access and hand out Plan B,” the Missouri Abortion Fund wrote on X, formerly Twitter, referencing Rodrigo’s lyrics.

The show was part of Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour. When kicking off the event in February, the singer also launched a reproductive health initiative, Fund 4 Good, through which a percentage of profits from her concerts go to local chapters of the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Providing an abortion is a Class B Felony in Missouri, carrying a prison sentence of up to 15 years. State legislators passed the total ban in 2019, known as a “trigger ban,” which went into effect immediately once the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The law has no exceptions for rape or incest survivors. In fact, lawmakers in the state recently rejected a law that would have protected victims’ access to the treatment.

Robin Frisella, Community Engagement Director at Missouri Abortion Fund, told Rolling Stonethat the response from concertgoers in St. Louis was “extremely encouraging,” and that many were “very surprised that they were not asked to pay.”

“It was great to hear that response and for new people to find out that we exist,” she said. “I have Gen Z daughters and so I just absolutely love this generation. They’re just curious and want to be empowered. The opportunity to learn more about their own reproductive health care does that.”

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Missouri

Safeguarding health care in rural Missouri demands a new approach

Published

12 hours ago

April 14, 2026

Press Room

Safeguarding health care in rural Missouri demands a new approach

Missouri lawmakers are right to treat the collapse of rural health care as an urgent crisis. Nearly half of the state’s remaining rural hospitals are at risk of closure, and many communities already know what it means to lose emergency rooms, labor and delivery services and timely stroke care. In this environment, legislation allowing MU […]

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Missouri

Montgomery County man pleads guilty in child death involving fentanyl

Published

24 hours ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

Montgomery County man pleads guilty in child death involving fentanyl

A man charged after a 2-year-old was found dead under his care pleaded guilty to charges including murder in connection to the child’s death.

Bryan Danter, identified in court documents as the child’s father, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony murder, second-degree drug trafficking and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records.

Danter was charged in September 2024 with drug trafficking and child endangerment counts after state troopers found a 2-year-old child dead in an apartment, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.

After investigators concluded the child died of exposure to fentanyl, a felony murder charge was added to the case, according to previous reporting. An individual can be charged with felony murder in Missouri when someone dies during the perpetration of a felony.

The probable cause statement filed at the time described guns discovered by state troopers during the child death investigation.

The guns included a pump-action shotgun, a semi-automatic shotgun and a semi-automatic .22- caliber rifle. Troopers said the serial number on the rifle had been sanded off, according to previous reporting.

Since Danter was previously convicted in a felony case and is not allowed to own firearms by law.

Danter has a sentencing hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. June 12.

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Missouri

Missouri women’s basketball adds high-major starting point guard transfer

Published

2 days ago

April 13, 2026

Press Room

Missouri women’s basketball adds high-major starting point guard transfer

Make that two signings for Kellie Harper’s team in the opening week of the transfer portal.

Missouri women’s basketball landed a commitment Sunday from Indiana point guard Nevaeh Caffey, who announced her decision to sign with the Tigers via social media. Caffey is a native of Warrenton, Missouri, who started all 32 Hoosiers games last season as a true freshman.

The Tigers have now made two additions out of the transfer portal since the window opened April 6, with Caffey joining Michigan transfer and freshman shooting guard McKenzie Mathurin.

Caffey is from the St. Louis area and played her high school at Incarnate Word Academy, winning 139 straight games and four straight MSHSAA Class 6 titles with the powerhouse. She was named Miss Show-Me Basketball as a senior in 2025.

In 32 starts, averaging 32.1 minutes on the floor per game, Caffey scored 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game. The 5-foot-10 shot 41.7% from 3-point range on 36 total attempts, and she averaged 3.3 free-throw attempts per game with a 81.3% clip.

Point guard — and guard depth at large — looked likely to be a target area for the Tigers in this transfer window, which will remain open for new entries through April 21.

The Tigers can return Averi Kroenke, who sustained a season-ending injury before the Tigers’ season-opener last year, and have a top-100 high school prospect in Natalya Hodge with the ability to run the point.

With high-major starting experience, Caffey sets up to find a prominent spot in the rotation next year in Columbia.

Five Missouri players have entered the portal and will transfer out of the program this offseason, including core rotation members in guards Chloe Sotell and Shannon Dowell. If there had been no outward movement, Mizzou would not have had any room to work in the transfer portal due to the NCAA’s 15-player roster limit for college basketball programs.

Mizzou has now filled two of those five possible open roster spots.

Frontcourt depth is now the clear-and-obvious major need for Mizzou. The Tigers need experience at both forward and center to round out their roster.

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