Discrimination

Kansas City’s Transition Center has trained experts in conflict resolution, job training and wellness. Classes are giving hope to an increasing number of repeat offenders that they can make long-term changes and stay out of prison.

The University of Missouri canceled the Legion of Black Collegians' annual 'Black 2 Class Block Party,' which was set to happen Friday. The organization called the decision "a deliberate act of erasure."

Missouri recently became the 28th state to pass the CROWN Act, banning discrimination against Black students' hair. We'll head to a Kansas City salon to hear how local teens are reacting. Plus: Farmers worry that Trump's on-and-off tariffs could hurt America's reputation with one of their biggest buyers, China.

The so-called Crown Act was signed by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe on July 9. Missouri became the 28th state to pass legislation that makes it illegal to discriminate based on the texture or style of one's hair.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe also signed a bill that seeks to support victims of college hazing, and a bill expanding the use of baby safe boxes.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases in the fall that test state laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in sports at publicly funded institutions. Both Missouri and Kansas have passed simii restrictions.

The case centers on a student in the Blue Springs School District. A 5-2 ruling from the state's highest court recently found that the Missouri Human Rights Act “does not cover claims based on gender identity," but it used a definition of "sex" that's more than two decades old.

The state could soon join 27 others banning hair discrimination if Gov. Mike Kehoe signs the proposal into law.

The bill includes a provision prohibiting discrimination against natural Black hairstyles. But many House Democrats argue it also contains language that could protect campus student groups that engage in discriminatory behavior.

The Republican bill was prompted by legislation in Kansas City and other communities that banned landlords from denying leases to renters on the grounds that they receive housing assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers.

A GOP-led bill takes aim at ordinances passed in several Missouri cities to protect tenants from discrimination based on the source of their income — especially tenants who use federal housing choice vouchers to pay rent. But portions of Kansas City would be exempted under the Senate version.

The future of hundreds of investigations into possible civil rights violations at schools across the Midwest, and thousands more nationwide, are in question after the Trump Administration shuttered seven of 12 Department of Education offices charged with running the investigations.