Deborah Phillips walked up to the automatic sliding glass doors of the Sun Fresh in the Blue Parkway Shops on Oct. 26, only to be disappointed. The grocery store had closed for good the night before, citing “declining sales and rising operating costs.” Phillips works down the street and would often come by the store […]
Thomas White
Thomas White covers workforce and economic impact for The Beacon, reporting on policies, programs, and systems that help or hinder everyday people's pursuit of the American Dream. White is an emerging reporter with previous experience at The Community Voice and The Pitch Magazine. The KC-area native spent over a decade in hospitality before earning his journalism degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City as a first-generation college graduate from a working-class family.
Posted inMissouri
Missouri Amendment 6 passes, adding protections for voter-approved laws and direct democracy
Missourians soundly passed Amendment 6 in Tuesday’s midterm election, establishing new protections for voter-led state law changes and preserving current requirements for citizen-led ballot measures. Voters approved the measure, with nearly 60% voting to pass Amendment 6, according to preliminary results from the Associated Press with 94% of votes counted. Previously, lawmakers could use their […]
Posted inElections
Missouri voters reject Amendment 3, preserving abortion rights in the state constitution
Missourians rejected Amendment 3 in Tuesday’s midterm elections, doubling down on their 2024 vote to add a right to reproductive freedom to the state constitution and preserving access to abortion statewide. Voters rejected Amendment 3, with 55% voting against the measure, according to preliminary results. View the rest of Tuesday’s results. Amendment 3 would have […]
Posted inElections
With Proposition A, Missouri voters soundly reject gerrymandered election map
A back-and-forth legal battle left the fate of Missouri’s election map in the hands of voters. Now, the votes are in, and Missouri will stick with the congressional district boundaries lawmakers enacted in 2022. Rejecting Proposition A with 62% of the vote, according to preliminary results, means voters disapproved of state lawmakers changing up voting […]
Posted inElections
Should Jackson County renew COMBAT anti-crime sales tax? What to know before you vote
Voters in Jackson County will decide Nov. 3 whether to keep paying a quarter of a cent anti-crime sales tax for the next 10 years. COMBAT — short for community-backed anti-crime tax — appears on the ballot as Jackson County Question 1. A “yes” vote extends the sales tax for 10 years, while a “no” […]
Posted inEconomics
Moving goods is one of KC’s biggest industries. Record diesel prices make it hard to keep trucking
Ryan Schmuhl started his trucking business — Schmuhl Brothers Inc., based in Kansas City, Kansas — in 1995 with his brother Ty and two big rigs. In 2000, he estimates, a 360-mile round trip cost about $90 in diesel. He said that the same trip, on the same lanes, costs about $490 today. “I used […]
Posted inHousing
New Kansas law makes it easier to add homes to KCK lots. Could it help with shortage?
Wyandotte County has a shortage of more than 4,000 affordable homes. About 23,000 households in the county can’t afford more than $400 a month for rent, according to a report from the county’s health department. Some local leaders say making more housing types available could help. However, some lower-cost housing options such as accessory dwelling […]
Posted inLabor
‘We are human beings’: UMKC workers take their fight for higher pay public
Belkis Cabrera has worked as a custodian at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for 16 years. Each time she and her co-workers earn a merit raise, she said, increasing healthcare costs and inflation swallow it. “We are not asking for much, just respect and enough pay to get by,” Cabrera said through an interpreter at […]
Posted inLocal Government
The good, the bad, the missing: How community benefits for new Royals stadium stack up
The 11-page ‘community impact partnership agreement’ commits at least $55 million back to Kansas City over 30 years. Here’s what the public gets and how it compares to other deals.
Posted inLabor
KC Streetcar workers vote to unionize after record summer, expansion talks
Privately employed KC Streetcar operators, maintenance workers and maintenance technicians vote 41-11 to join Teamsters.