Black Lives Matter

Eric DeValkenaere, who has been in prison for a year and two months, was released at mid-day on Friday, in time to be home for Christmas as his wife had asked of Gov. Mike Parson. The family of Cameron Lamb, the 26-year-old Black man DeValkenaere killed, had long feared Parson would free the former police detective.

Erik DeValkenaere violated the constitutional rights of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb when he entered his backyard without any legal reason, a U.S. District judge ruled, opening the door to financial damages for the family.

Melesa Johnson, who is running for Jackson County Prosecutor, has been labeled as a “bigot” and accused of trying to cut the Kansas City Police Department's budget. She believes her opponents are trying to discredit her with older white male voters.

NFL head Roger Goodell, reacting to Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech, said the league values diversity of opinion. Some fans were quick to argue that hasn't always seemed the case.

Ralph Yarl, 17, filed a civil suit in Clay County Court seeking monetary damages from Andrew “Dan” Lester, along with Lester’s homeowners’ association. The HOA failed to take precautions about a “potentially dangerous individual,” the lawsuit says.

A new federal lawsuit argues that the Missouri law cementing state governance of KCPD was created “to keep Black people enslaved.” One of the women is Narene Crosby, whose son Ryan Stokes was killed by KCPD in 2013.

KCPD says there is an ongoing review and investigation into an altercation caught on cellphone video in the Power & Light District after the Jan. 28 Chiefs’ game.

Students, parents, community leaders and activists held a protest to support Black students in the Shawnee Mission School District after a video of a white male student verbally and physically assaulting a Black female student went viral on social media earlier this week.

Wednesday marks the ninth anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s killing by a white police officer in Ferguson. Now, local officials and community members are urging residents to elect leaders who will protect Black lives.

It's been almost two months since teenager Ralph Yarl was shot in Kansas City's Northland when he accidentally arrived at the wrong house. The case sparked nationwide outrage and attention. But Yarl's family is frustrated with how a Clay County judge is handling the criminal case against accused shooter Andrew Lester.

A Kansas City woman's escape from an Excelsior Springs home where she was being held captive in October sparked outrage, and confirmed fears within the Black community that police weren’t taking reports of missing Black women seriously. More than a month after Kansas City’s chief of police reinstated the department’s Missing Persons Section, community organizations are still wary.

The Mayor's Commission on Reparations met for the first time on Tuesday, May 23 at City Hall. The group’s task is to study how slavery and racial segregation policies over the last century harmed Kansas City’s Black citizens in areas such as education and housing.