Kansas City Council

The director of policy in the mayor’s office testified that in 2017 and 2018, African Americans comprised over 60% of the marijuana arrests in Kansas City although they make up less than 30% of the city’s population.

BlueScope Construction has already pulled $7 million in tax revenue away from schools and libraries and is asking for another $8.4 million in incentives to stay in Kansas City.

Most of the money will go towards supporting small businesses in Clay County, in the form of grants of up to $50,000 each.

The intense meeting also included the introduction of an ordinance that would remove marijuana possession as a violation in the city code.

Tax incentives again become a source of contention, on top of the pandemic cutting into the city’s revenues. But BlueScope Construction says its extension was in the works before the truce between Kansas and Missouri, while Kansas City Public Schools argue it’s not worth the loss in public funding.

The proposed ordinance would retroactively protect protesters cited between May 29 and June 2 on the Country Club Plaza.

Reforms include the use of police body cameras, outside agency review of excessive force incidents, and probable cause statements when officers are involved in shootings.

The City Council is considering an ordinance that stems from the third-party taping last year of alleged excessive force by police against an unarmed, handcuffed transgender woman.

City voters have traditionally supported firefighters, but critics worry the city's tax burden is already too high, especially for low-income residents amid the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Social distancing is key to stopping the spread of the new coronavirus, but giving big-city residents enough space to stay safely apart can be tough.

Kansas lawmakers opt to rein in Gov. Laura Kelly's emergency authorities, the pandemic pushes Kansas City to get creative with its public spaces, and what brought about penguins roaming the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art last week?

The city's rules for reopening limit restaurants' indoor dining, but a proposal would allow them to create makeshift patios on sidewalks and in parking spaces.