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Johnson County is recruiting gardeners to help prevent flooding in Kansas City

Kansas City sits at the intersection of many rivers — the Missouri River separating downtown from the Northland, the Kansas River in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, and Turkey Creek, the Blue River, Mill Creek and Brush Creek forming a spider web across the bistate area.

And this is no accident, said Heather Schmidt, the stormwater program…

City Council votes to make KC a safe haven for trans health care

For the past year, transgender people in Missouri and their families have been shuttling back and forth to the capitol in Jefferson City to testify against legislation aimed at banning gender-affirming health care. But for the first time on Wednesday, trans Kansas Citians will flock to City Hall to support a measure that could protect…

Trans women of color and the KCPD’s rocky, violent history

Four years ago, a viral video showed two Kansas City police officers slamming a Black transgender woman, Brianna BB Hill, onto the sidewalk, kneeling on her in the face, torso and ribs and forcing her cuffed hands above her head.  In the time since, the officers pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. And Hill was shot…

These five people control Kansas City’s $280 million police budget

A week after Kansas City residents gathered outside Kansas City Police Department headquarters to protest the department’s response to the April 13 shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager, state politicians in Jefferson City are preparing to confirm a nominee to one of KCPD’s most powerful positions.

In early April, Gov. Mike Parson nominated…

When pet owners have to choose between their dog and their home

Staff and volunteers at KC Pet Project understand that every day can bring in new business. On Monday, it was a litter of eight puppies, brought to the shelter by deputies from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department after their owner was evicted from an apartment.

Staffers at the nonprofit, which contracts with the Kansas City…

Why Jackson County prosecutors won’t initially look at race when deciding whether to file cases

In part because of community concerns surrounding missing Black women in Kansas City, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has announced it will mask the race of both suspects and victims on documents that prosecutors review to decide whether to file charges. “Bias occurs everywhere. It doesn’t go just in one direction,” county Prosecutor Jean Peters…

Jackson County anticipates a 30% increase in property values this year

For three weeks, staffers in the Jackson County assessment department have been on a tour. Their venues: packed rooms in public libraries and community centers. Their audience: homeowners with lots of questions about their property taxes. 

With notices of property value assessments expected any time, anxiety among residential property owners is rising. For at least…

Jackson County’s three-month scramble to ban conversion therapy

After three months of maneuvering, three failed votes and four different versions of the same legislation, the Jackson County Legislature on Monday voted unanimously to become the first county government in Missouri to ban anti-LGBT conversion therapy.

The ordinance, effective immediately, prohibits any practice or treatment that seeks to change a minor’s sexual orientation or…

All about Kansas City’s new airport terminal

Nearly one month has passed since the opening of the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, and visitors still seem dazzled as they browse in shops and admire the art in the airy shopping nodes, with the aromas of barbecue and Brazilian dishes drifting from the many restaurants situated around the two concourses.

Since…

KCK kicks off 2023 with a raucous hearing, a rule change and a public feud

At the end of its last meeting of 2022, the Board of Commissioners of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas voted in favor of a rule change that, while seemingly innocuous, has rocked the county government.  The change, which was approved 9 to 1, requires that all items passed by the…

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