Savannah Hawley-Bates
Missouri Government and Politics ReporterAs KCUR's local government reporter, I’ll hold our leaders accountable and show how their decisions about development, transit and the economy shape your life. I meet with people at city council meetings, on the picket lines and in their community to break down how power and inequities change our community. Email me at savannahhawley@kcur.org.
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Mario Vasquez is the first Latino person to permanently hold the role. The city manager is one of the most powerful positions in Kansas City, and Vasquez will have to balance large projects with regaining the public’s trust. -
Kansas City will fund its rideshare program for another month while city council determines a long-term transit solution, which may include bringing some bus services under city control. -
Kansas City will end its rideshare service IRIS by the end of Wednesday, leaving more than 100 drivers without a job and hundreds of people with fewer transit options. -
Kansas City officials will soon decide who will become the next city manager. That person will handle everything from the annual budget to road resurfacing and will be responsible for repairing the community’s trust in the city after Brian Platt was fired. -
The State Tax Commission has sent another order to Jackson County, this time about the 2025 assessments. The county's fight over the tax commission’s previous order has cemented a feud between a majority of legislators and County Executive Frank White Jr. -
The project will move the center from its existing site in Platte City to a more central spot in the Northland. With more programs and a higher capacity for students, the new facility is expected to help grow the area’s workforce. -
The county announced today that it will cap assessment increases at 15% this year. It has been embroiled in a monthslong legal battle over an order to roll back its 2023 assessments, which shocked property owners with a major tax increase. -
Business owners are required to tell their workers about their right to paid sick leave on Tuesday. But a bill in the Missouri legislature and a case in the Missouri Supreme Court could take away the provision, which voters widely approved last fall, before it begins May 1. -
Former U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt was instrumental in securing funding for the project to cap a portion of I-670 downtown. But construction on the park is delayed, which means it likely won’t be completed by the 2026 World Cup. -
The ordinance passed by Kansas City Council this week, meant to prevent drastic service cuts and increase oversight, would bring back fares and could end the city’s rideshare service. But KCATA said service reductions are still necessary.
