The first snow of the season started falling early Monday morning, leaving roads slick and slowing down city services across the metro. Trash pickup around Kansas City has been delayed by a day, while streets are still being cleared.

The lesser prairie chicken was once a common sight in the southern Great Plains, but its numbers are dwindling. Even so, it lost federal protections earlier this year for a second time. Now states and landowners are overseeing conservation efforts

Public works has invested substantially in their training equipment ahead of the winter season, with new, upgraded technology to prepare employees for plowing snow in any circumstance.

The Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade normally features dozens of human and horse participants from across the region. The Dec. 6 event is now canceled because of the virus outbreak affecting eight states.

Conservation methods can help rejuvenate farmland, but the startup cost and uncertain results mean a risk many farmers still aren't willing to take. The University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture is trying to research how to improve the practice.

The federal funding package to reopen the government included a one-year extension of certain 2018 Farm Bill programs. Several expired Sept. 30 or would have been null by the end of the year.

Regulators are trying to protect residential customers from high rates while still attracting large energy users, like data centers, to the state.

Scientists say leaving autumn leaves on the ground can add important nutrients to the soil and create needed habitat for insects.

Coffee has gotten a lot more expensive in the U.S. as tariffs seep into the price tag. Even as the Trump administration considers offering some tariff relief, that's putting a strain on roasters, who have no choice but to pass on some of the extra cost to coffee drinkers.

More than 40,000 Missouri food establishments and stores are estimated to be impacted by federal regulations on hemp products, which were included in the new spending package that reopened the federal government.

Strong geomagnetic storms brought colorful northern lights to the skies above many states on Tuesday night, including Missouri and Kansas. Forecasters are expecting more on Wednesday.

Food assistance benefits were cut off in November due to the government shutdown. That’s led a handful of state agencies to post messages blaming Republicans or Democrats for the shutdown on official websites.