Juliana Garcia

The Westwood City Council voted to pass a proposal that will replace Joe D. Dennis Park, at the corner of 50th Street and Rainbow Boulevard, with several multi-story, mixed-use buildings. Residents protested the project over concerns about its finances, the impact on pedestrians and Westwood's identity.

Republic Services is back in the hot seat with Overland Park, Shawnee, Lenexa and Prairie Village residents, with some residents going without trash pickup for weeks. Two of the cities have fined the waste management company, but none so far have severed their contracts.

Fueled by outrage over efforts to expand affordable housing in Prairie Village, the activist group PV United gathered signatures for three petitions to ditch the city’s current mayor-council form of government and limit construction of multi-family housing. A judge rejected two of those petitions Wednesday afternoon — only to appear to reverse that decision later in the day.

After Aryeh Realty failed to pay more than $450,000 worth of property taxes on site of the former Mission City Mall, the Mission city council voted to terminate its redevelopment agreement. But the city says it has little immediate control over what to do with the site, which has sat vacant for 18 years.

The Good Faith Network, an interfaith coalition of 27 local congregations and houses of worship, is seeking commitments from Johnson County Commission chair Mike Kelly to build a mental health crisis stabilization center and use of state and federal funds to address housing issues in Johnson County.

Wilkes and his wife of 61 years, Wanda, lived in Merriam, Kansas, for nearly six decades. He served two terms as the mayor of Merriam, from 2001 to 2009, and was "instrumental" in the town's growth.

Unleashed Pet Rescue and Adoption failed a state inspection in October, launching the license revocation process, and it has faced growing scrutiny following media reports that animals were housed in unsanitary conditions.

Olivia Bloomfield, who died in 2022, was a Leawood resident and avid traveler who was born with congenital muscular dystrophy. In January, Kansas City Council officially dedicated the universal changing restrooms at KCI in her memory.

Two bills introduced in the Kansas Legislature were drafted by officials in Roeland Park, which has struggled for years to fully eliminate racist deed restrictions that are now illegal to implement but remain stubbornly on the books of homeowners' associations.

The Shawnee Tribe says the state of Kansas should give up ownership of the historic Native American boarding school in Fairway. But this week, the Kaw Nation made an argument that they — as the original inhabitants of the land — should have a say in who controls the site.