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Suburbs braced to use the legislature to block a south Kansas City landfill

Kansas City, Kansas, let police exploit Black people, lawsuit says
Five Black women filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas. The suit contends that officials permitted an “open and notorious police protection racket” to victimize the Black community while detectives committed “regular acts of humiliation and exploitation.” Filed late Friday, the 138-page suit names four…


An incumbent versus a barbecue business owner in Wyandotte County
Wyandotte County voters will decide Unified Government’s District 1 at-large seat on Nov. 7. The winner will face decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent and how the county’s chief governing body will address issues like safety, housing and property taxes.

An open Unified Government seat draws two candidates in southern KCK
Kansans will cast votes in dozens of municipal races across the state on Nov. 7, including in Wyandotte County, where half of the Unified Government’s Board of Commissioners will be up for election.
In District 6, which covers the less densely populated areas in south central Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, incumbent Angela Markley…

Two former public officials compete to represent District 4 in central KCK
Five positions on the Unified Government’s Board of Commissioners are up in the Nov. 7, 2023, election, including the District 4 commissioner representing central Kansas City, Kansas.

Who’s running for the Unified Government in KCK’s District 3?
Wyandotte County voters will cast votes on Nov. 7 in an election that will decide half of the Unified Government’s Board of Commissioners. This board is the chief governing body for Kansas City, Kansas, and the rest of Wyandotte County, making decisions related to development, the police department and the budget. The candidates elected this…

On the KCMO ballot: Keep a sales tax or cut 30% of bus funding?
For 20 years, people in Kansas City have paid an extra 3/8-cents sales tax on every purchase they made, to subsidize bus service.
On Nov. 7, voters get to decide whether to continue that tax, which hits poorest families the hardest, or whether to effectively cut nearly a third of the bus service that working-class…

These candidates want to represent Armourdale and Riverview in the Unified Government
On Nov. 7, voters across Wyandotte County will decide who will represent them on a city and county level in a Kansas election that will determine half of the county’s Unified Government.

Voters consider renewing a sales tax for KC East Side projects despite slow progress
If you walk down the hall of KD Academy, watch your step. A tyke might bolt from a room to hug the shins of the man who has come to pick him up. Such a scene unfolded recently as Myron McCant led an afternoon tour of the early learning center he owns and operates with…

Missouri counties want to freeze seniors’ property assessments, but aren’t sure they can
The freezing of property tax assessments for Missourians 62 and older looks, at best, fuzzy. The state adopted a law this year that lets counties give that property tax assessment freeze when homeowners become eligible for Social Security. And it allowed counties to throw in a yearly tax credit to give older residents even more…

These BPU candidates want to govern the electric and water service in KCK
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.

Kansas City’s new Ferris wheel didn’t get tax breaks — but the surrounding entertainment district might
Seemingly overnight, residents and drivers on Interstate 35 awoke to a new addition to the Kansas City skyline: a Ferris wheel. The 150-foot wheel is how many people found out about the Pennway Point development that’s being constructed on the eastern edge of the Westside — a project that’s been in the works for years but…

Does Kansas City overuse jails? Commission looks for better solutions
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.

Half of the BPU board is up for election. Here’s how they keep the lights on in KCK
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.

As more Kansas Citians embrace native lawns, local codes try to keep up
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.

Some Northland bus lines shut down as Kansas City moves away from subsidizing suburban transit
Bus routes go away in Gladstone on Sept.1. To keep the existing RideKC bus lines going, the city faced a bill rocketing up 400%. Instead, Gladstone decided to dump the service — like other parts of the Northland — and shift to a patchwork where riders hop from Uber-like cars for short hauls to buses…
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