COVID-19

With vaccine skepticism on the rise, immunization rates in decline and public funds disappearing, the country faces its largest measles outbreak since 2019.

The Trump administration canceled more than $12 billion in public health grants last month. Local public health departments are worried about what that will mean for Kansas Citians.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Senate Bill 29, but the veto was overridden by the Republican-dominated House and Senate. It opens health officials to lawsuits over quarantine decisions and removed their authority to ban public gatherings.

The 2022 Missouri law prevented pharmacists from contacting patients about the efficacy of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine — drugs promoted as COVID medications by right-wing media, despite warnings from health agencies. A judge ruled that gag order was unconstitutional.

The Kansas Supreme Court heard a case this week that stems from a Leawood woman who sought a religious exemption from a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for an occupational therapy job.

Carrie Willis ran a COVID ward at St. Luke’s East Hospital in 2020 and 2021. Five years after Kansas City began restricting gatherings and ordering people to stay at home, Willis says health care — and her life — will never be the same.

Five years ago today, instead of gathering for a festive St. Patrick’s Day parade, Kansas Citians were ordered not to gather in groups, and hospitals began to gear up for the biggest public health crisis of our lives. We look back at the first days of the pandemic through the eyes of a front-line nurse.

The Republican bill was filed in response to a Kansas City ordinance passed last year that bans landlords refusing to lease to prospective tenants solely based on them receiving federal housing assistance.

The National Assessment of Education Progress found Missouri and other states made small gains in some areas, but students are struggling to return to pre-pandemic math and reading levels.

Schools in Missouri received millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid to keep students safe and bolster learning. But with the deadline approaching to spend the money, districts now have to decide which new programs and staff they can pay for themselves.

After a months-long standoff, two factions in the legislature finally agreed on how to spend federal COVID relief money — just days before it would have been sent back to the federal government.

Two factions within the Jackson County legislature risk losing $70 million in federal relief funds because they can't agree on how to spend them. It’s the latest point of contention in a consistently difficult relationship between legislators and the county executive.