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Carlos Moreno/KCUR 89.3The Jackson County Legislature will appoint an interim county executive to serve until November 2026. Former County Executive Frank White Jr. was recalled by voters on Sept. 30, and former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes is serving for up to 30 days as temporary county executive. -
Anna Spoerre/Missouri IndependentCole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' proposed ballot language was "fair and sufficient," even though it does not explicitly state that the constitutional amendment would again ban most abortions in Missouri.
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An open letter signed by a majority of Kanas bishops encouraged Kansans to see immigrants as humans, not criminals. Meanwhile, the Kansas Legislature is pushing the governor to "fully cooperate" with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. -
Overland Park is set to replace what flag experts had ranked as one of the worst city flags with a new design that evokes the city’s park identity. The old flag features a plain, white background with Overland Park's name and slogan. -
A new law requires human development videos in classrooms, but leaves it up to local school districts to decide what materials students will see and at what ages. -
Hundreds of workers and civil rights leaders in Kansas City expressed anger over efforts to redraw congressional maps to favor Republicans. Advocates say they're working to keep the same from happening to Missouri, even as President Trump declares that the state "is now IN." -
The police inquiry into Melanie Arroyo, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018 and has served on the Lenexa City Council since 2021, was sparked by a 74-year-old Republican resident who called the Kansas Bureau of Investigation -
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe hasn’t called a special session yet to discuss redistricting, but he indicated he's moving closer towards convening lawmakers. "We’re going to win the Midterms in Missouri again, bigger and better than ever before!” Trump declared Thursday. -
White sent a letter to all Jackson County employees Wednesday announcing his decision — and then, the next day, announced he had been battling kidney cancer. -
U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, a Democrat representing St. Louis County, was repeatedly challenged about the war in Gaza at a town hall that drew about 300 people. The event ended with security officers and police getting into a physical altercation with protesters, but no arrests were made. -
Less than 24 hours after Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced he was resigning to join the Trump administration. Gov. Mike Kehoe selected Hanaway, who was also the first woman to serve as Missouri House Speaker, to fill out more than three years of the GOP statewide official’s term. -
After the resignation of Andrew Bailey to serve in the Trump administration, Catherine Hanaway will be Missouri's fourth attorney general since 2018. She was the first and only woman to serve as speaker of Missouri House of Representatives, and unsuccessfully ran twice for statewide office. -
Legal experts say President Trump lacks the constitutional authority to stop states from offering mail ballots. Both Missouri and Kansas currently allow absentee voting by mail, but Kansas Republican lawmakers recently made it harder by eliminating a three-day grace period. -
The USDA has requested Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and more personal information of Kansans who have received food assistance. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has joined a lawsuit with other states challenging the Trump administration's demands.
Government
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TOPEKA, Kansas — Gov. Laura Kelly appointed lawyer Keynen “KJ” Wall to the Kansas Supreme Court on Wednesday.Wall will fill the seat of former Justice… -
TOPEKA, Kansas — The state lost 13% of its public defenders over the past year.That’s actually an improvement. Nearly a fourth of the state’s public… -
A federal judge in Washington state issued a temporary injunction on Friday blocking Trump administration rule changes that could allow people to share… -
Kansas health officials say the state is ready to deal with the new coronavirus now that Kansans are starting to get sick.Lawmakers still aren’t ready to… -
TOPEKA, Kansas — A pressure campaign led by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly aims to force Republican Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle to drop her blockade… -
TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas has one of the highest rates of suspended drivers in the country, and the majority of those more than 215,000 licenses are… -
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is rethinking some of his proposed budget cuts.The budget Lucas announced earlier this month included major cuts to arts,… -
Kansas lawmakers sped through dozens of bills this past week to keep them alive past a “turn around” deadline marking the midpoint of the session.Measures… -
TOPEKA, Kansas — From 2000 to 2019, the women’s prison population in Kansas rose by 60%. Over the same time period, the men’s population rose by only… -
Conservative Republicans at the Kansas Statehouse are attempting to block passage of Medicaid expansion until lawmakers send a constitutional amendment on…
Elections
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Derron Black is running as a Republican for the first time for a Missouri Senate district in Kansas City's urban core. He says local Democratic leadership has failed to get his community what it needs, and that voters are ready to look elsewhere for help. Plus: What Missouri voters should know about the 2024 races for secretary of state and treasurer. -
A new survey from The Midwest Newsroom and Emerson College Polling Center asked registered voters in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska about measures on Nov. 5 ballots as well as a variety of political, social and economic subjects. -
New legislatures could overhaul school vouchers in Arizona, give the Democratic governor more clout in Kansas, and counter a progressive trend in Minnesota. -
In addition to federal, state and local races, judges will be on the ballot in every Missouri county this November. While some judges are elected in partisan elections, Missouri also has a non-partisan merit selection system. -
According to a recent poll, Republicans have a lead in every statewide race in Missouri. The largest gap between candidates is in the race for secretary of state, the top election official. -
With the election for Johnson County Sheriff now between Democrat Byron Roberson and Republican Doug Bedford, polarizing issues that Calvin Hayden had campaigned on — election skepticism and immigration for example — have dropped in prominence. -
Nearly a third of Missouri’s workforce could get a raise and paid sick time if voters pass Proposition A in November. But some economists and small-business owners say companies may struggle to keep their workforce. -
Voters in a record number of states — including the battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada — are set to decide this fall whether to enact far-reaching changes to how their elections are run. In Missouri, a constitutional amendment could ban ranked-choice voting if it passes in November. -
During the Super Bowl, money changes hands based on the result of almost everything — the coin toss, the color of Gatorade dumped on the winning coach and even the length of the national anthem. Kansas' attempt to cash in on sports betting has yielded paltry results so far, and Missouri voters are considering a similar measure this November. -
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the coalition behind Amendment 3, has raised more than $16 million since launching in January. The largest donations have come from four out-of-state progressive nonprofits that are supporting abortion rights campaigns in several states.
