Recently, Richard Jarrold hopped on a bus to get from his office in the east Crossroads to an auto shop in Overland Park. The trip took nearly two hours, four times longer than driving a car. He had to wait for buses at 18th Street and Troost Avenue, at Grand Boulevard and 18th, and once […]
One reason Kansas City has lousy public transit: state line
Posted inState Government
Young inmates could get second chance with resentencing proposal
Ariana Cook was in a bad place in 2020. She was hooked on hard drugs and in love with a “master manipulator.” “I just knew I was gonna marry him and be a hood-rich junkie for the rest of my life,” she said. “I had no care in the world of regaining contact with anyone […]
Posted inState Government
How Kansas City is both defined, and held back, by the state line
The Kansas-Missouri border splits Kansas City and divides the metro region more evenly, and sometimes problematically, than any American metro region cut in two by a state line.
Posted inKansas
Kansas lawmakers consider medical weed again. Is the fifth time the charm?
Kansas lawmakers are likely going to act on medical marijuana in the 2025 session. Maybe. Medical marijuana is becoming a perennial debate in Topeka, and it’s annually unclear how likely it is for a bill to pass. “I have sat through, I don’t know, three interim committee meetings,” said Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park […]
Posted inHealth
Kansas City cannabis companies’ wish for the new year: Lower federal taxes
A steady stream of customers walk into the From the Earth dispensary on Southwest Boulevard each day. They present IDs, make their selections from a large menu of options and leave with small brown paper bags of weed. Though business is usually brisk at this and other Kansas City weed shops — reflected in Missouri’s […]
Posted inBehind the Beacon
The multifaceted work behind the 2024 KC Voter Guide
The 2024 Kansas City Voter Guide was an ambitious, collaborative effort that rallied local media and community organizations under the banner of strengthening civic engagement. Powered by the Kansas City Media Collective (KCMC) in partnership with The Kansas City Star, RevEd, the League of Women Voters Kansas City, and over 200 community partners, the guide […]
Posted inKansas
Kansas Legislature prepares for another round of property tax cuts
Kansas lawmakers started debating tax plans in early 2024 and didn’t agree to a cut until the summer sun shone all across Kansas. The governor vetoed three tax cut bills, and lawmakers returned for a special session where they came to terms on $1.2 billion in cuts over three years. But lawmakers still left disappointed. […]
Posted inHealth
Kansas City just got a new health care report card. Spoiler: It has room to improve
CORRECTION (Jan. 4, 2025): The original story stated that annual health care spending growth jumped more than 9% between 2020 and 2023. That number reflected the compound annual growth. Nothing tosses people into bankruptcy as regularly as health bills. A fourth of us skip care because of the cost. We understand the failures of our […]
Posted inState Government
Kansas Republicans will try again to ban gender-affirming care for minors
Kansas Republicans plan to try to ban gender-affirming care for minors again. That means cutting off access to puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria, and banning gender-affirming surgery for minors, which is incredibly rare. The GOP has tried and failed to pass this ban. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly consistently vetoes the […]
Posted inLabor
Voter-approved minimum wage and sick leave measure under fire in courts and the Capitol
A voter-mandated pay hike for Missouri’s minimum wage workers hasn’t kicked in yet — and conservative lawmakers and business groups are looking to the General Assembly and the courts to block the raise. State legislators have filed three bills to restrict the provisions of Proposition A, which ordered a boost to the minimum wage and […]