investigations

The family-owned Marion County Record stands out for holding local officials accountable. That role is becoming increasingly rare as local newspapers vanish across the country.

Officers also raided the home of Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer, who lived with his 98-year-old mother, Joan, The newspaper reported that Joan Meyer, “stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief,” collapsed and died.

The publisher of the newspaper said police were motivated by a confidential source who leaked sensitive documents to the newspaper. The raid followed news stories about a restaurant owner who kicked reporters out of a meeting with a member of Congress, and revelations about the restaurant owner’s conviction for drunken driving.

Kansas City officials hired a private investigator to surveil the city's then-Civil Rights director — something she said was retaliation for raising alarms about a massive development project in the Northland. A report from the Civil Rights office says Kansas City officials let Meta, the parent company for Facebook, ignore the city's diversity hiring rules when constructing a Northland data center.

Friday Night Protest, an activist group that holds weekly demonstrations to honor people killed by the Kansas City Police Department, has taken another step in advocating for police accountability and the victims of police violence.

The U.S. Department of Labor said a company hired to clean meatpacking plants may have used children to work potentially dangerous jobs at facilities in Nebraska and Missouri.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas responds to the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into alleged racial discrimination in the hiring practices of the Kansas City Police Department.

Former detective Roger Golubski, who allegedly used his police badge to exploit vulnerable Black women in Kansas City, Kansas, has been arrested by the FBI. He's charged with sexual assault and kidnapping.

A Kansas City Star investigation found that solidarity within the Kansas City Police Department doesn't extend to its Black officers — who say they've experienced racist discrimination, unequal punishment and even bullying from fellow officers and superiors.

New legislation in Kansas will reduce rape kit backlogs. Advocates say it's another step in the right direction.

An investigative report by the NPR Midwest Newsroom and KCUR reveals disturbing behavior by Kansas City, Kansas, police officers and detectives — but few were ever punished.

For decades, the FBI has been looking into police misconduct in the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department. Even though the department routinely violated the civil rights of residents they were sworn to protect, there have been been few attempts at reforms.