Johnson County Health Department

An updated COVID-19 vaccine will be in Kansas City in the next few weeks. The shot combats newer variants more effectively and comes as case numbers creep up across the metro.

A fire at a recycling plant on Friday morning sent smoke billowing miles away, impacting air quality across the metro. By Saturday, fire fighters managed to control the fire and air quality levels in the area are considered "acceptable."

According to county data, COVID positivity is now 6.1%, compared to 2.2% a month ago, but officials caution that's likely an undercount, given that most testing is now being done at home and people may not be reporting their results.

Despite downward case trends, much of the Kansas City area is still rated at the highest level of COVID risk by the federal government.

The new order takes effect on Monday and will last 30 days. Any extension must be approved by the county legislature.

As pressure builds to get people vaccinated before the virus’s more transmissible variants take hold, people throughout Kansas City are finding that the criteria for getting a shot are different from state to state, hospital to hospital.

Johnson County, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, health officials explain the supply and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and political satirist Bassem Youssef adds children's author to his list of talents.

The science supports keeping schools open for the benefit of students, but the coronavirus has so many teachers quarantining, battling anxiety or just burning out that there aren't enough substitutes.

The new guidance, which came out quietly on Wednesday, has stricter thresholds than the gating criteria in use in many school districts across the country.

Even as the number of new known cases shows no decline, some residents are arguing for their children to attend their brick-and-mortar schools.

Why the Johnson County health department has not endorsed in-person learning, the process to review and update Kansas City's master plan for development, and, even after six months of pandemic life, there is still online programming worth streaming.

Many local health departments are desperate to hire contact tracers to track potential spread, as fatigue grows among overworked staff.