Kavahn Mansouri
Investigative Reporter, Midwest NewsroomContact: kmansouri@kcur.org
Kavahn Mansouri joined KCUR 89.3 and the Midwest Newsroom from the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat in 2021.
There, his beat focused on covering local government, with a mission to hold elected officials and public agencies accountable. He also contributed to the breaking news beat daily and maintained the paper’s Public Pay Database, which tracks salaries and wages at taxpayer-funded institutions throughout the state.
A native of St. Louis, Kavahn is a graduate of Webster University. He started reporting when he was 15 years old, working on his high school newspaper.
Since Kavahn has honed my craft into investigative reporting, where he seeks to tell stories about how every day people are affected by complex issues. Through interviewing people and documents alike, he aims to uncover stories in which people in power do wrong.
Topic Expertise: Housing, education, Freedom of Information Act, government, gun laws
Local & Demographic Expertise: Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska
Honors & Awards: Knight Chair Award for Best Investigative Reporting (2nd Place, Illinois Press Association), Community Service Reporting (1st place, Illinois Press Association), Freedom of Information Award (1st place, Illinois Press Association)
Memberships: Investigative Reporters and Editors
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Iowa Department of Natural Resources documents show workers at a manure digester in northwest Iowa noted a drop in the digester’s tank but didn’t investigate the issue further. The digester leaked roughly 376,000 gallons of manure water into nearby creeks. -
A grand jury indictment unsealed on Thursday accuses St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, as well as former Alderman John Collins-Muhammad and Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, of taking payments in return for their support for development deals. -
Port Authority of Kansas City commissioners did not move forward with plans to award Lux Living tax incentives on a $55 million deal to develop apartments on the Berkley Riverfront after news stories detailed the developer’s past in St. Louis. -
As details emerge about Lux Living’s legal battles and complaints from its St. Louis property residents, Port Authority members gave a nod to the embattled developer. But one council member isn’t convinced.
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When a Port Authority of Kansas City committee meets Monday afternoon to discuss a major proposed apartment project at Berkley Riverfront, its members may have to consider whether the project’s developer was forthcoming in disclosures about its past. -
The Missouri Supreme Court sent a case involving the Second Amendment Preservation Act back to a lower court on Tuesday. The ruling lets St. Louis and Jackson County argue that the law, which prevents police in Missouri from cooperating with federal officials to enforce gun regulations, is unconstitutional. -
Records show that two Independence police employees reported working more than 1,000 hours of overtime in 2021, raising questions about safety and who's watching extra pay at City Hall. -
As the Russian war against Ukraine continues, so do broadcasts of what critics decry as Kremlin-funded propaganda on KCXL, a radio station in Liberty, Missouri. Pressure is mounting for KCXL to end broadcasts that have kept the station in business. -
Shareholders for Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 23 other papers in the Midwest, re-elected three directors on Thursday. That news could complicate any future takeover bid by Alden Global Capital. -
As contractors worked to clean a wastewater leak in Iowa, E. coli levels in downstream creeks and the nearby Rock River spiked in the days following the leak.
