For pregnant women living north of Interstate 70 in central Missouri, there weren’t many places to deliver a baby. Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall was one of them. Now it isn’t. Fitzgibbon delivered 252 babies in 2025. In April, the hospital filed for bankruptcy protection and began sale negotiations for its 60-bed hospital and its 99-bed […]
featuredmo
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 inEducation
Missouri has laws to stop abusers moving from one school to another. Are they enough?
Some parts of the law apply to educators no matter where they work, while others are specific to public schools.
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 inRural
Rural Missouri families face longer drives, riskier births as maternity wards vanish
Melanie Pierce works with many pregnant women who know they’ll have a long drive ahead of them when labor starts. One of her jobs as a doula living in Mansfield, Missouri, is helping families answer a question that may not be as fraught for women who live closer to a delivery hospital: When is it […]
Posted inEducation
Q&A: Meet the first active teacher appointed to Missouri’s State Board of Education
Mike McDonald is the first person appointed to a non-voting role on the board set aside for an active classroom teacher.
Posted inElections
Missouri counties suffered ballot shortages amid high primary turnout
More than half of Jackson County’s polling places experienced shortages of preprinted ballots, leading to long wait times and frustration.
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 inLocal Government
Kansas City conjured a Royals deal without voter approval. That comes at a price
The Kansas City Council voted 11-2 to commit $600 million to the Royals for a new ballpark. Here’s a look at the political and financial math behind the deal.
Posted inEducation
Simple or oversimplified? Missouri prepares to grade schools on an A-to-F scale
Supporters say the plan gives parents more information, but opponents say it could be a source of confusion and stigma.