-
The ordinance adds new protections for victims of hate crimes in Kansas City by adding an enhancement penalty for hate-motivated municipal offenses. It is the Kansas City Council’s first major legislative action this year.
-
Donnie Erwin, a 59-year-old Camdenton resident, went missing on Dec. 29, 2013, after he went out for cigarettes and never returned. Nearly a decade later, James Hinkle — who's behind the YouTube channel Echo Divers — found Erwin's car in a tiny pond near Erwin's Camdenton home.
-
Two Missouri senators have filed legislation that would remove the state's remaining restrictions on providing food benefits to those convicted of felony drug offenses. Missouri's rules comprise "one of the nation’s most stringent bans for receiving SNAP benefits."
-
Kansas City, Missouri, has exceeded its record for deadliest year, with 185 homicides in 2023. The city's 51st victim, who was killed in April, ran a popular fish restaurant and taco truck, and was a champion pickleball player.
-
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has launched an effort to charge more cases of retail theft and illegal firearms on the Plaza.
-
The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners recently approved spending $200,000 for another year of ShotSpotter, a surveillance technology, despite a new study that says it doesn't achieve the city's public safety goals.
-
Kansas City is on the brink of breaking the all-time record of 182 yearly homicides, set in 2020. Community organizations, activists, city leadership and law enforcement are searching for answers to stem the tide of death.
-
Businesses and shoppers express worries about personal safety and rising crime on the Plaza, but the numbers show that the largest issues revolve around cars. However, shopping district's enduring legacy of racism tends to heavily influence the discussion.
-
The mall, located about 10 miles east of Kansas City, has been the scene of other violence.
-
Board members of an Overland Park police charity, tasked with assisting the families of fallen officers, used foundation funds to benefit themselves. But it's not clear if they will face any consequences. Plus: How the death of a Kansas City philanthropist turned into the murder trial of the century.
-
After dying suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Kansas City philanthropist Thomas Swope became the focus of one of the most publicized murder trials of the early 20th century. It’s long been suspected that Swope’s nephew-in-law murdered him and other members of his family as part of a plot to steal their fortune — but the events remain unresolved more than 110 years later.
-
From 2001-2021, more than 20% of Kansas City's homicides have occurred in the Santa Fe neighborhood. Last year, the neighborhood became the focus of KC Common Good's efforts to reduce violence by addressing the root causes. Since then, it's seen a 78% decrease in homicides, leaving Marquita Taylor "cautiously optimistic."