Josh Merchant is The Beacon's local government reporter in Kansas City. After graduating from Seattle University, Josh earned a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Columbia Journalism School with coursework in data journalism. Josh has contributed reporting to The Seattle Spectator, The South Seattle Emerald and THE CITY in New York. They're a former Beacon intern. At The Beacon, they reported on issues of traffic safety, with a focus on roadway design, as well as tax-incentivized development at a variety of Kansas City agencies. They have lived in Kansas City since 2021.
Kansas City, Missouri
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The Beacon hosted a candidate forum on Sept. 26, where five out of six candidates made their case to voters.
The forum can be watched in its entirety here, and portions have been transcribed below. The candidates’ answers were edited for length and clarity.
One of the most effective ways to make sure someone shows up at their trial is to send them a text reminder with their court date.
But instead of texting criminal defendants, Kansas City spends millions of dollars every year to hold people in jail while they await trial.
The record-breaking heat wave that broiled the Kansas City area in August posed a pricey and foreboding reminder of the vital need for air conditioning — and the expensive energy bills that follow.
In Kansas City, Kansas, electric and water service come from the local government.
Homeowners eager for a lower-maintenance, planet-friendlier lawns are navigating a fine line between going more natural without drawing the wrath of code inspectors or neighbors who see prairie plants as weeds that threaten their home values.
The tension runs high at Prairie Village City Hall these days.
Earlier this month, amid high-stakes debates over whether to squeeze more housing into the leafy Johnson County suburb, a group fighting against possible zoning changes took particular offense to cutting off public comment.
On Aug. 1, voters in Wyandotte County will narrow a crowded field of 15 candidates competing to represent four districts on the Unified Government’s Board of Commissioners, including five candidates in District 3 alone. After the primary election, the top two candidates in each race will move to the Nov. 7 ballot.
Kansas voters won’t find any federal or statewide races on ballots this year, but more than a dozen candidates in the Wyandotte County election are in competitive primary races to represent voters on a city and county level. For 25 years, the Unified Government has served as the municipal government for Kansas City, Kansas, as […]
Half of the members of the Unified Government Board of Commissioners are up for election this fall, with the potential to shape decisions affecting Kansas City, Kansas, and the rest of Wyandotte County for the next four years.
Fifteen candidates are running to represent the four districts in the southeastern corner of the county, including four candidates in the race for District 4, where Harold Johnson has decided not to run for reelection.
In Wyandotte County, half of the commissioners in the Unified Government will be up for election on Aug. 1, and three districts will not have an incumbent. This includes District 2, in which Brian McKiernan has decided not to seek reelection, leaving an open seat being contested by three candidates in the primary.
A last-minute notice that the Port Authority of Kansas City would be considering tax incentives for a set of controversial housing developments at its July 17 board meeting drew a crowd of irate school leaders, neighborhood residents and business owners.
