Blaise Mesa
Reporter, Kansas City BeaconBlaise Mesa is based in Topeka, where he covers the Legislature and state government for the Kansas City Beacon. He previously covered social services and criminal justice for the Kansas News Service. He also worked as a reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal.
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Humans opened a Pandora’s box by moving plants, animals and fungi around the planet where they didn’t live before. Some of those species become so successful in their new surroundings that they crowd out others. Come along on a hunt for rogue Bradford pears, meet the teens turning cityscapes into butterfly havens and learn how to turn invasive plants into delicious food.
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A Kansas judge went against a foster care agency’s recommendation when she placed a girl with a foster parent rather than her grandparents. Critics say the case represents chronic problems with Kansas' heavily privatized foster care system and lack of state oversight.
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Missouri’s first legal sale of cannabis came in early February 2023. Kansas residents could immediately drive over and buy it legally, but risked arrest and prosecution if they brought their joints or gummies across the state line.
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Substance abuse contributes to around 13% of Kansas children entering foster care. Now, Kansas is testing a new Family Treatment Court in rural counties that will help parents complete addiction treatment and reunite with their kids.
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The credit is designed to encourage small businesses to offset costs for their employees and get money shaved off their state tax bill as a reward, but advocates say the Kansas hasn’t done a great job spreading the word.
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Foster youth are more likely to be unemployed, food insecure or homeless. They're the focus of an EPA grant program with a specific goal of training a workforce capable of cleaning up polluted brownfield sites — unused, polluted plots of land.
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By some estimates, Kansas is short more than 84,000 childcare slots in order to meet current demand. And even when they find an opening, families can pay more than their mortgage to keep their kid enrolled. State legislators say fixing the issue is a priority.
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The private foster care agency, KVC Kansas, has fallen short of court-mandated benchmarks for getting mental health treatment for children in its care. And other agencies perform even worse.
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The rate increase was approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission on Tuesday morning. Regulators scaled back Evergy’s proposed electric rate hikes, saving Kansas City-area customers $6.07 a month.
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Protection from abuse orders are a civil process, which means someone is not guaranteed a lawyer. Survivors who often have little legal expertise need to act as their own lawyer.