Allison Kite
Data ReporterAllison Kite is a data reporter for The Missouri Independent and Kansas Reflector, with a focus on the environment and agriculture.
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An arbitrator decided Dominic Biscari could only be suspended for three days after he ran a red light in fire truck and crashed into a car, killing the driver, passenger and a bystander. Biscari pleaded guilty to three felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.
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After a 270-acre landfill was proposed for a site just south of Missouri Highway 150 in Kansas City, communities rallied against it. The bill now awaiting Gov. Mike Parson’s signature would prohibit a landfill from being built in Kansas City within a mile of another municipality unless that adjoining city approves the project.
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The Raymore City Council voted unanimously to approve a settlement over the controversial landfill, that would pay developers $3.73 million if they scrap the project. The proposed site is less than a mile from the Creekmoor golf course community, with homes priced as high as $1 million.
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Missouri is home to a host of reliable freshwater systems, but lawmakers worry that dryer states will look to it for supplies. A bill advancing through the Missouri House prohibits exporting water to other states without a permit.
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Critics say the Missouri legislation debated this week could jeopardize the state’s groundwater and 136,000 miles of streams.
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Starting last year when rumors of the proposed project in south Kansas City began circulating, Missouri state Rep. Mike Haffner has pushed legislation meant to give surrounding communities more sway over landfills.
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Liberty Hospital announced it would partner with the University of Kansas Health System to help meet growing demand in the Kansas City suburbs north of the Missouri River. But the idea of a Kansas institution taking over a Missouri hospital sparked opposition from lawmakers in both states.
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The legislation filed by Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin was inspired by Evergy’s rollout of time-of-use pricing plans to its customers last summer, which included a plan that would have quadrupled customers’ charges for energy used at times of high demand.
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The EPA announced a proposed update to the lead and copper rule strengthening President Joe Biden’s earlier goal of eradicating lead pipes.
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Huge swaths of Missouri and Kansas have continued to be stuck in a months-long drought. But El Niño, a months-long weather pattern that typically brings warm winters and extra precipitation to the central U.S., brings hope.