-
A group called "Stop The Ban" is already receiving six-figure donations for its effort to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that would repeal abortion rights in Missouri. The amendment was written by Republican lawmakers and is set to appear on the 2026 ballot.
-
Fred Wellman is the host of the On Democracy podcast, which has been critical of the Republican Party gravitation to Donald Trump. He's the second candidate to join the Democratic primary for the 2nd District, which has become more competitive in recent years.
-
The Unified Government could vote this week on an ordinance that would make it illegal for people to sleep outside on public and private property. But without a single overnight shelter in Wyandotte County, community groups say the crackdown will only worsen conditions for unhoused residents.
-
The Democratic National Committee announced it will send people and money to Missouri, to help a referendum effort aimed at blocking a new congressional map from going into effect.
-
White has served as county executive since 2016. Tens of thousands of signatures were gathered to trigger the special election, which White believes was called illegally.
-
Kansas Republican lawmakers are circulating a petition for a special session to redistrict. The goal is to defeat the state's only Democrat in Congress.
-
The move comes amid President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement practices garnering increasing criticism. Kehoe said that Missouri National Guard troops will help with "administrative, clerical and logistical duties."
-
The federal shutdown will affect people across the United States. NPR's network of member stations explains what will be impacted and where.
-
A rarely-used maneuver could force a vote in the U.S. House on a bill requiring the Justice Department to publicly disclosed unclassified records and documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver has signed onto the petition, but of Missouri's GOP representatives, only Rep. Mark Alford says he will vote to advance the bill.
-
Federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations mandate staff vaccinations for employers that receive funding. But the high court ruled that Katlin Keeran was protected by a 2021 Kansas law making it illegal for employers to question the sincerity of religious beliefs for opting out of vaccines.
-
The fourth lawsuit to be filed over the recent redistricting plan, this one argues that the Missouri Constitution does not allow lawmakers to revise congressional districts without new census data. It also argues that the districts are not legal because they stretch for hundreds of miles across the state.
-
The new map breaks the Kansas-City-based district of Democrat Emmanuel Cleaver into three in an effort to make it more Republican-leaning. It's already facing a torrent of legal challenges plus an initiative petition campaign to defeat it at the ballot.
-
Starting in late 2026, Missouri drivers will no longer leave car dealerships with a temporary tag, and buyers will have to pay sales tax at the time of purchase.
-
Latinos are expected to be 70% of net new homeowners in the U.S. by 2040. Several local programs — mostly in Spanish, but some in English — are designed to help Latinos jump the hurdles that can stand between them and homeownership.
Government
-
Kansas City voters will decide in April whether to increase the city sales tax to help maintain buildings and buy new vehicles for the fire department.The…
-
TOPEKA, Kansas — The same kids who end up in trouble with the law often come from families in disarray.Those families, in turn, regularly turn to the…
-
The KCUR news staff presents the State of Kansas City series as a look ahead to 2020 on topics of importance to the region. Find the State of Kansas City…
-
TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s budget wish list is long: boosting spending on higher education, public safety and human services. She'd…
-
TOPEKA, Kansas — The 2020 Kansas Legislature is underway. And while Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly laid out some of her top priorities during the State of…
-
The Kansas City Council this week will discuss an ambitious proposal to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2030.The measure, dubbed Vision Zero, was…
-
TOPEKA, Kansas — Natalie Zarate entered state custody when she was 11 years old, removed from a physically abusive mother and placed in a group home for…
-
Gov. Laura Kelly announced Wednesday a plan to form a singular agency — the Kansas Department of Human Services — that would absorb social welfare…
-
Kansas City Councilwoman Teresa Loar has come under fire for comments she made about a bike infrastructure plan in the wake of a well-known bicyclist’s…
-
As construction continues on a new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, aviation officials are considering different ways to make the trip from…
Elections
-
Few election cycles in living memory have been quite as chaotic as the 2024 presidential election. A new book from journalists Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen looks at what happened behind the scenes in Washington as the campaign unfolded. The authors are in Kansas City for an American Public Square event on Wednesday.
-
President Trump recently announced his intent to "lead a movement" to end mail-in ballots and the use of voting machines in states' elections. Both are used extensively in Missouri and Kansas, and election officials weigh in about what those changes would mean.
-
A new Missouri law requires the school district to get voter approval to continue the four-day week. But whether Independence voters will weigh in on keeping the shorter schedule may depend on the outcome of a lawsuit the school district filed against the state.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Voters in Prairie Village, Kansas, will be faced with an unusual question on their ballots in about three months: Shall the city abandon the mayor-council form of government? We'll hear about how a fight over zoning and housing wound up in a legal battle over the city government's structure itself.
-
Bailey’s short tenure as attorney general was defined by confrontation with the federal government and local officials, as well as accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding.
-
Former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is visiting Kansas City to speak at an American Public Square event. He spoke with KCUR’s Up To Date about the issues he sees in the modern Democratic party — and why he believes younger leadership and a focus on grassroots organizing can help the party in future elections.
-
Last November, Missouri voters approved a measure that raised the minimum wage and allowed employees to earn paid sick leave. But state lawmakers have ensured that in less than a month, the sick leave requirement is going away.
-
Because Proposition A, which included a minimum wage hike and mandated paid sick leave, was a statute change, lawmakers were able to repeal it. If it returns as a constitutional amendment, it would be harder to change again.