Brandon Azim
Solutions ReporterI was raised on the East Side of Kansas City and feel a strong affinity to communities there. As KCUR's Solutions reporter, I'll be spending time in underserved communities across the metro, exploring how they are responding to their challenges. I will look for evidence to explain why certain responses succeed while others fail, and what we can learn from those outcomes. This might mean sharing successes here or looking into how problems like those in our communities have been successfully addressed elsewhere. Having spent a majority of my life in Kansas City, I want to provide the people I've called friends and family with possible answers to their questions and speak up for those who are not in a position to speak for themselves.
Contact me at brandonazim@kcur.org.
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Kansas City is seeing flooding around the metro, plus downed trees and traffic crashes, after a "confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" was reported in Raytown near the Truman Sports Complex. -
Pools around the Kansas City metro officially opened this weekend, while Johnson County offers even more places to swim. This summer will see a blend of familiar favorites and some new places to try.
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Kansas City says it's completed 25% of an expanded, more targeted road repair program using digital tracking tools that it launched in 2021. But progress on potholes and cracks is hard to measure due the way the city logs data and the cyclical nature of road repairs. -
Port KC has outsourced its lawn service needs to a herd of goats for the third year. They work for food while improving the environment, chewing away invasive brush and clearing the space for walkers and joggers. -
The Kansas City Police Department created an independent missing persons unit in 2023. Two years later, the department reports progress in its effort to solve missing persons cases. But many in the Black community say the numbers mask impatience and frustration over a lack of attention to cases that drag on for decades. -
Saturday's rally was held in conjunction with a nationwide day of action, with nearly 1,400 similar events planned around the nation. Kansas City protesters took aim at the mass federal layoffs and funding cuts led by President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's DOGE. -
Re.Use.Full not only provides drop off points where Kansas Citians can donate their gently used goods, but it also sponsors free, pop-up repair shops with volunteers who will fix your appliances and other household goods so they don’t go into a landfill. -
During March and April this year, Kansas City will work with four area shelters to extend the city's Zero KC emergency cold-weather plan to last the entire year. The new policy eases restrictions for people who've been kept out of shelters because of mental health, addiction or other issues — and adds additional beds. -
Black homeownership is a path to generational wealth, but many Black families in Kansas City have been prevented from buying homes due to decades-old racist lending practices. Habitat for Humanity Kansas City is helping more Black families buy homes. -
Celebratory gunfire is illegal under a new Missouri law, but police fielded dozens of calls after the AFC Championship win on Jan. 26. As neighborhoods brace for even bigger celebrations if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, police are saying the law is hard to enforce.
