Independence

Independence, Missouri, residents will vote on April 7 for their next mayor and to fill two at-large city council seats. Recent debates over tax incentives for a massive data center could factor into the election.

Construction trades are riding the biggest building boom in decades, in part due to data center projects. But the artificial intelligence that the facilities power could upend the job market for everyone else.

Chef Silvia Miguel provides empanadas and other pastries to coffee shops like Cafe Corazon, as well as restaurants and hotels. Her bakery Pan Caliente will be offering a "rotating lineup" of empanadas to match countries participating in the World Cup.

Independence City Council set to vote Monday night on AI data center tax incentives. Approval would mean the data center developer would pay a fraction of the taxes it would normally owe on buildings, land and equipment.

After a high school teacher told Maci Shaw she would be the best entrepreneur, the 19-year-old listened. Now, she sells her thrifted finds on Depop, Poshmark, Instagram and at popup events around Kansas City.

Some eastern Jackson County residents, frustrated that Kansas City has dominated politics in the county, have been pushing for a "Jackxit." It would be the first time in 150 years that Missouri created a new county, although many elected leaders are skeptical it will gain traction.

The Littlest Library, which opened on Independence Square last week, offers romance and fantasy genres and books in Spanish. It also features a hidden event space.

Test results showed that 96% of the products purchased for the research were actually marijuana or synthetic THC — tetrahydrocannabinol, the main ingredient in a cannabis plant that makes users feel high.

On Nov. 4, voters around Kansas City will decide a number of critical local issues in their communities, including multiple mayoral races, whether to "abandon" Prairie Village's form of government, if Independence can keep its four-day school week, and more.

The Independence board of education first approved a four-day school week in December 2022 to help recruit and retain teachers amid a chronic shortage across the state. Whether the district can keep its shortened week, though, will be decided by voters on Tuesday.

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.

Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick criticized the Independence school district for spending money on a lawsuit attempting to overturn a requirement for a public vote on the four-day school week.