Missouri

A special prosecutor appointed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which secured Johnson’s conviction, concluded that “racist prosecution techniques infected Mr. Johnson’s conviction and death sentence.” The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday denied motions to halt his execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. A special prosecutor is urging the court to stay Johnson's execution after an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.

A sweet smell is filling the air in Old Town Lenexa as Jude’s Rum Cakes begins baking thousands of tasty treats for the holiday season. Plus: You can thank a group of scrappy Kansas City women for the invention of the Crock-Pot as we know it today.

Recreational marijuana will be available in Missouri as early as Feb. 6, 2023. While many details aren’t completely set in stone, here's what we know right now about buying legal weed.

School districts are required by law to help homeless children stay in school. Most Kansas City-area districts take that role seriously, but the Blue Springs School District may be undercounting its unhoused kids — and failing to provide them critical services.

From their small storefront in Old Town Lenexa, Jude’s Rum Cakes has been turning out thousands of tasty treats that ship around the country. It all started with a bottle of Panama rum and one family recipe.

NPR spoke with 26 people who were involved with more than 200 executions across the country — including in Missouri. Most said their health suffered and they had little support to help them cope with their unusual jobs.

A company hired to clean meatpacking plants in Missouri and other Midwest states is accused of illegally using children for potentially dangerous jobs. Plus: Eric Schmitt is heading to D.C. as Missouri's next U.S. Senator, but he'll be entering a very different legislative environment than the one he's used to at home.

The armored truck was carrying profits from medical marijuana sales in Kansas City, Missouri, to a credit union in Colorado. The company claimed that federal and state law enforcement agencies were targeting its armored cars because the civil forfeiture seizures were "very profitable."

A Cole County judge ordered the Missouri Attorney General to pay $12,000 in penalties for violating the Missouri Sunshine Law when it failed to turn over public records that were potentially embarrassing to then-attorney general Josh Hawley.

Missourians voted last week to require Kansas City to spend even more money on its police department, though most Kansas City residents were against it. But the results still left local advocates optimistic about the future. Plus: Kansas nursing homes are struggling to stay staffed and open.

Two of the major private equity firms flipping health care companies have bought and resold businesses in Johnson County that handle home health, surgical products and regulatory compliance. Health care in rural Missouri has also taken a hit as private equity snapped up and, in some cases, closed hospitals — leaving residents with staggering bills and a longer journey to necessary care.