Jackson County

The marching band and drill team’s founder, Willie Arthur Smith, is retiring after more than 50 years of entertaining crowds in Kansas City and beyond.

Despite a historically bad season on the baseball field, fans are more focused on the team's impending move to a new stadium in either downtown or North Kansas City. Many of them are unifying over what will be lost when the Royals change zip codes.

Board members voted Wednesday to maintain the district’s current tax levy to address longstanding deferred maintenance, like a lack of central air in some classrooms. The move comes as county property taxes, the district's biggest source of revenue, stand to skyrocket.

After two Jackson County officials were sentenced for wire fraud in 2018, the FBI and Justice Department said they were running an “active investigation” in at least two jurisdictions. What's happened since then? Plus: Homicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality, and experts say the problem is getting worse.

After two Jackson County officials were sentenced in 2018, the FBI and Justice Department said they were running an “active investigation” in at least two jurisdictions. Since then, there’s been silence — meanwhile, one of the officials is back working in Jackson County government again.

Thousands of senior citizens in Jackson County will soon be eligible for a property tax break following this year’s most recent assessments, which saw home values spike by 40% or more. But how will that affect schools?

Residents can book appointments to get updated COVID booster shots at local CVS and Walgreens pharmacies. However, the city's health department says it could be weeks before vaccines are delivered to its clinics.

This year, the Kansas City area had the highest yearly increase in rent among the 50 biggest cities in the country, according to a new study. Renters now pay an average of $1,044 per month in Jackson County, but wages aren't rising with them.

Under the legislation, Jackson County seniors whose homes are valued less than $550,000 can start applying for relief next year.

Independence is the second Jackson County city, after Lee's Summit, to file a lawsuit over the property assessment process. Tens of thousands of property owners have already appealed their assessments, some of which increased by more than 90%.

This week, Jackson County assessment director Gail McCann Beatty fielded questions from the legislature about this year’s problematic property assessments, which saw the value of properties increase by an average of 30%.

The mayor of Lee's Summit says the county has "offered one excuse after another" for it's failure to properly reassess home values and claims the city is missing out on needed tax revenue as a result.