Update: A federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a gang list maintained by the Wichita Police Department will continue, though a judge dismissed three of its seven counts. The lawsuit, filed by Progeny, Kansas Appleseed and the ACLU in April 2021 on behalf of four Black men in Wichita, alleges that the gang list targets […]
Wichita joins a long list of cities where gang data has been challenged
Posted inLocal Government
Jazz in jeopardy: City-owned dangerous buildings at 18th and Vine sit in limbo
Roofs are missing. Cracks and small holes riddle the windows. Debris clutters the exposed interiors. One glass panel facing 18th Street has a painted sign: Paseo Bootery, Shoes and Repairing.
Posted inEconomics
‘Out of sight, out of mind’: Absentee owners allow properties to become dangerous buildings in Kansas City
A majority of these absentee-owned dangerous buildings are concentrated in neighborhoods east of Troost Avenue, a historic economic and racial dividing line in Kansas City.
Posted inLocal Government
How RideKC is trying to build a better bus stop with community partners
Waiting for his RideKC bus Monday afternoon, Norman Tate noticed a new addition outside the East Village Transit Center — a table covered with books, flyers, tote bags, masks and informational flyers. He watched and waited for several minutes, then approached. By the time Tate finished chatting with the two Kansas City Public Library staffers […]
Posted inLocal Government
Sedgwick County jail’s COVID protocols differ from other Kansas counties
In Sedgwick County, COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing — in July, new daily cases averaged about 62 per day. By mid-August, that number more than doubled to nearly 140. That’s beginning to impact the Sedgwick County Detention Facility. After months of nearly no cases, the number of positive cases shot up after just two weeks in […]
Posted inEducation
‘Our founders owned slaves’: William Jewell project reveals truths, prompts calls for change
Project participants hope it will provide a more complete story of the college’s founding — including recognizing the enslaved people who generated wealth used to found the school — and will lead to concrete actions to respond to the findings.Â
Posted inLocal Government
‘Silver tsunami’ rolls through KCMO government
Eighty-five years of experience have walked out of the Kansas City Auditor’s Office in the past year and a half. Two out of three audit managers retired, taking a combined lifetime of experience and institutional knowledge with them. The office is hiring, but new employees will take upwards of a year to start their full […]
Posted inLocal Government
Despite public outcry, KCPD officers will still be given 48 hours to make a statement after a shooting
Forty-eight hours. That’s the window of time a police officer with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department has to give a formal statement following a police killing or other violent incident, according to the department’s latest union contract. The Kansas City Beacon obtained a copy of the bargaining agreement through a public records request. The 48-hour […]
Posted inEconomics
The KC businesses requiring proof of COVID vaccination before entry
Under the current mask order, businesses or gatherings don’t need to enforce the mask mandate if they can determine that everyone inside their venue is fully vaccinated.
Posted inEducation
First-year teachers are Kansas’ future — if schools can keep them
For all the challenges she faced in getting to her first day as a teacher, Kora Snavely could feel any nerves or anxiety melt away when her 20 students filtered into her classroom for the first day of second grade at Meadowlark Elementary in Andover. Snavely, who graduated college in May, wanted to lead her […]