The year that was in Missouri

By Frank Morris,

Jacob Smollen

Published December 30, 2025 at 3:00 AM CST

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The year 2025 marked the start of a new governor's term in Missouri, and the deepening of Republican control of the General Assembly. As the year ended, the blame and sorrow over the state losing the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning.

KCUR’s Brian Ellison sat down with Jason Hancock of the Missouri Independent to look back on the year in state government and politics, and to get a preview of what to watch for in 2026.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Frank Morris. This episode was produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

Support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

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Frank Morris

I’ve been at KCUR almost 30 years, working partly for NPR and splitting my time between local and national reporting. I work to bring extra attention to people in the Midwest, my home state of Kansas and of course Kansas City. What I love about this job is having a license to talk to interesting people and then crafting radio stories around their voices. It’s a big responsibility to uphold the truth of those stories while condensing them for lots of other people listening to the radio, and I take it seriously. Email me at frank@kcur.org.

See stories by Frank Morris

Jacob Smollen

Jacob Smollen is the 2025-2026 intern for KCUR Studios. Email him at jsmollen@kcur.org.

See stories by Jacob Smollen

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