People gather near the Hope Faith Homeless Assistance Campus all day long. Some carry backpacks sagging with belongings. Others come empty-handed. Many have no interest in going inside. Instead, they hang out to chat, organize their belongings, or simply stare into space. In the blocks surrounding Hope Faith at 705 Virginia Ave., people sit in […]
Civic Engagement
Posted inState Government
Republican infighting kills effort to make it harder for voters to change Missouri law
After years of effort, Missouri Republicans were poised to take a step toward making it harder for initiative petitions to pass. For the majority of the spring, Republicans seemed on the same page about a plan they would send to voters on the August ballot. Then the little, fragile unity that remained among Republicans crumbled […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, State Government
Minimum wage, abortion, sports betting, an Ozarks casino: What will land on Missouri ballots?
Whether Missouri legalizes abortion and sports betting, allows a casino at the Lake of the Ozarks or raises the minimum wage hinges on whether state and local officials judge that most of 1.25 million signatures on four petitions are legitimate. The secretary of state’s office has three more weeks to process the petitions and ship […]
Posted inCivic Engagement
Kansas City police jump-started a missing persons unit. Now they need to build trust with Black families
Takeaways: T’Montez Hurt had just started working at a Price Chopper in Grain Valley to save money after a semester away from Missouri Western State University. Then in the early hours of Feb. 1, the 19-year-old placed an anxious phone call to his grandmother, Tecona Donald-Sullivan, saying he thought he’d been drugged. The day before […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, Elections, State Government
Lawmakers want your permission to weaken voters’ ability to change laws, the Missouri Constitution
Takeaways: Missouri voters will likely soon be asked by the lawmakers they elected to strip themselves of some power to put initiative petitions on the ballot — to take action when politicians won’t. Voters could be asked to place further restrictions on the already difficult, and costly, job of passing an initiative petition. One proposal […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, Elections, Local Government
What the stadium tax defeat says about teams, their subsidies and Jackson County voters
Editor’s note (April 4, 2024): This story has been corrected to reflect an error about a Virginia tax package to attract stadiums. The Royals and the Chiefs had everything. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — fresh off of a Super Bowl victory — endorsed a “yes” vote in ads airing on TV and on YouTube. […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, DIY Democracy, State Government
Missouri lawmakers break new ground to stop constitutional amendments — and abortion
Editor’s note (March 25, 2023): This story has been corrected to reflect that the proposal would require a majority support from voters statewide, plus a majority vote in five of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. While state lawmakers across the country stumbled when trying to make it harder for voters to amend state constitutions, Missouri lawmakers […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, Education, Elections
These nine candidates want to be on the North Kansas City school board
All nine candidates responded to our questions about their background, priorities and positions. Here’s what they had to say.
Posted inCivic Engagement, DIY Democracy, State Government
Missouri House and Senate OK two plans making it harder for voters to amend the state constitution
The Republican-controlled Missouri House and Senate advanced two different proposals Thursday that would make it harder for voters to change the state constitution using a constitutional amendment. The Senate passed a bill on a party-line vote that would dramatically crank up the difficulty of passing a constitutional amendment proposed by voters using an initiative petition […]
Posted inCivic Engagement, DIY Democracy, Elections
FAQ: What to know about Missouri’s Democratic presidential primary
Missouri Democrats wanting to weigh in on the party’s nominee for president can either go to the polls this spring or mail in their ballots. A 2022 law eliminated Missouri’s state-run presidential primaries, leaving the parties to sort out their own ways to weigh in on the contests. Democrats decided on a presidential primary and […]