
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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Even the poorest-drawing baseball teams can attract more than 1 million fans in a year, far more than any football stadium. As Kansas and Missouri continue their border war over Kansas City sports teams, should they be focused on courting the Royals over the Chiefs?
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Republicans still support changing the process even after watching the most recent Supreme Court nominating process. Democrats say the process is working.
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Experts say the Panasonic plant could tap the breaks on hiring while it waits out economic uncertainty. The company can still collect hundreds of millions of dollars from Kansas even if it does.
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Kansas lawmakers inserted language in the state budget that would restrict what food benefit recipients can buy. Critics say that defining what counts as unhealthy food and drinks is tricky, and the current ban has glaring loopholes.
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As Missouri lawmakers prepare to debate a counter offer to keep the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City, economists say Kansas’ proposal to use STAR bonds may not be financially feasible. “You are not going to generate enough net revenue to cover one of the facilities, let alone two,” one expert says.
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A state law prevents companies like Evergy from being sued if police place cameras on the utility poles they own. Some Kansas lawmakers worry that expands police powers too much.
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With elder abuse cases in Kansas on the rise, investigators are taking on three times the number of cases they can adequately manage. The state says it can't release data on caseloads but advocates say metrics for evaluating elder abuse are lacking.
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Kansas schools now have $10 million in state funding to use AI to detect guns. But ZeroEyes, one of the few companies offering this service, has sent police false alerts before — and it won't say how often.
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Kansas lawmakers made passing property tax relief their top priority this session. But now that it's over, Republicans and Democrats alike are frustrated by a lack of action.
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The Kansas Department of Transportation said that federal steel and aluminum tariffs, which are already in place, are going to make it more expensive to work. Another wave of tariffs are expected on April 2.