Kansas City Today

This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead.

Residents of an apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, were kicked out of their homes earlier this year when the city condemned the property for unsafe living conditions, but one change in a law could help. Plus: A Missouri researcher says "radical empathy" can help combat today's conspiracy theories, which may help when you go home for the holidays.

Kansas City found out over the weekend which countries it will host for World Cup games at Arrowhead Stadium next summer. There's even a chance two of the world's greatest players could face off here.

For the past four years, a federal program has given Missouri farmers and hungry families a boost by putting locally grown, fresh food on their tables. But the recently canceled Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement won't provide that help this year.

California startup Deep Fission says it plans to install a nuclear reactor underneath an industrial park in southeast Kansas. Plus, as the United States prepares for the 2026 World Cup, a look at how Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt helped U.S. soccer go pro.

The number of women over 40 having babies is increasing nationwide, even as the overall birth rate declines. Plus, a nonprofit food distributor created its own free marketplace to tackle hunger across the country.

This week, victims of disgraced Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski and other social justice advocates marked one year since Golubski died by suicide on Dec. 2, 2024. That was the day his federal trial was to begin on charges that he violated the civil rights of several women through rape and kidnapping.

Sports betting became legal in Missouri this week. It marks the end of a years-long effort that came down to a statewide vote, and will likely transform the sports industry throughout the state. Plus: Lesser prairie chickens used to roam across Kansas and the Great Plains by the millions, but now there's only a few thousand.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, passed a revised version of its public camping ban — which includes lesser penalties for first time offenses than the initial proposal. Kansas City, Kansas Police called the measure “dignified,” but opponents worry it will criminalize homelessness.

Every year just before the holidays, Scouting America troops across the country collect food items for local pantries, right off our front porches. It's an effort started 40 years ago from here in Missouri.

On Thanksgiving, families will have plenty to debate: politics, football...and pie? Americans also have strong opinions on whether to enjoy pumpkin or sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving. Plus: Holiday get-togethers are on the way, and if you're looking for fun things to do, you might consider a new card or board game.

More than 650,000 people could attend the World Cup in Kansas City next summer, and all of them will need a place to stay. That's why the Kansas City Council is changing its rules around short-term rentals to make it easier for residents to host visitors.

For years, the Missouri Department of Corrections was not actually keeping track of the people who died in state prisons — with partial counts, missing names and flat-out wrong information being standard procedure. That is, until a Marshall Project reporter started asking questions.

Since purchasing the Country Club Plaza more than a year ago, the Gillion Property group has increased its security and made cosmetic repairs. Now, the company plans major construction that contrasts with the Plaza's storybook atmosphere, and asking a Kansas City agency for $1.4 billion in tax breaks.

In rural Medicine Lodge, Kansas, Sarrah and Kyle Miller were sued last month by their local medical clinic for $230 in unpaid medical expenses. Their story is part of a new pattern. Kansas hospitals have filed thousands of lawsuits against their rural patients in recent years, including many for less than $500.

Kansas City officials are waging a war against graffiti, scrubbing surfaces clean only to see them tagged again the next day. Businesses and hotels are fighting back to send the message that downtown is a welcoming, thriving and safe place.

A longtime resident of Columbia, Missouri, remains imprisoned in Texas more than a month after he was detained by federal officers. Owen Ramsingh is a green-card holder who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, but he's now facing deportation due to a drug conviction from when he was a teen.

Now that the government shutdown is over, tens of thousands of furloughed civil servants are back to work in Kansas City. But that doesn't mean all is well. KCUR spoke with a Social Security employee who answers the 1-800 line about her experiences working without pay.

An Independence museum for artwork made out of human hair recently closed its doors for good. Hear the story of the final days of Leila's Hair Museum. Plus: Missouri families have to navigate tough food decisions after getting alpha-gal syndrome from ticks.

The tickborne illness alpha-gal syndrome affects what you can eat. For those who contract it, mealtime becomes a minefield. Plus: American agriculture depends on foreign workers, but President Donald Trump's immigration clampdown is shrinking a farm workforce that many say was already too small.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history appears to be near an end. But weeks without paychecks and cuts to SNAP benefits put many Kansas Citians in desperate situations — and turning to local support systems like food pantries, mental health services and utility assistance programs.

A Kansas City historian is preserving the stories of Mexican Americans who served during Vietnam. The new oral history project is titled "In Their Own Words: Mexican American Vietnam Era Veterans."

As the government shutdown drags on, what's the experience like for federal workers — not just the thousands who have been furloughed, but those left behind to carry on the work without pay? KCUR spoke with an IRS customer service agent about her experiences working through the shutdown, and her worries for the future.

A Kansas City therapist started a walking group in a disadvantaged neighborhood that aims to make sure everyone can keep up. We'll take a Friday stroll with the “Marlborough Unstoppables." Plus, a 1962 plane crash heading to Kansas City killed eight crew members and 37 passengers — in what turned out to be the country's first jet bombing.

A major breach of the KCKPD has revealed a list of alleged officer misconduct for the first time, including allegations of sexual harassment, excessive force, false arrests and more. Even still, some accusations of misconduct by known corrupt cops, such as disgraced former detective Roger Golubski, did not make the list.

Voters in Kansas and Missouri went to the polls yesterday to decide on a range of issues, including how many days kids should be in school and whether they should abandon their current form of government. Today, we bring you election results from across the metro.

Missouri Republicans are facing the sobering reality that the new congressional map they passed in September isn't a done deal. A voter-led referendum could derail the GOP's plans for more favorable congressional lines.

The Independence board of education first approved a four-day school week in December 2022 to help recruit and retain teachers amid a chronic shortage across the state. Whether the district can keep its shortened week, though, will be decided by voters on Tuesday.

Kansas City has been in the national news a lot lately, including one surprising place: stories about the New York City mayoral election. Many national news outlets, most of them conservative-leaning, have zeroed in on candidate Zohran Mamdani's proposals for free bus fare and government-run grocery stores, and they're using Kansas City as a negative example of both.

Students at Ruskin High School in south Kansas City have the newest Teacher of the Year in Missouri — and they're not surprised. Hear from them about why their teacher came out on top. Plus: The number of people experiencing homelessness in Kansas fell this year, but President Donald Trump recently ended federal funding for programs that provide permanent housing with no strings attached.

A Kansas City car salesman has opened a business hosting legal car sideshows. He hopes the space will make city streets safer, after years of complaints from businesses and residents about crowds and violence.

A Kansas college cross-country runner ended up "on the verge of death" from exertional heat stroke during a blistering hot practice in August. Former athletes and trainers say this doesn't surprise them.

The federal government is going on four weeks of being shut down. Beyond the 30,000 federal workers around Kansas City who are working without pay, the shutdown also has trickle-down consequences for local mental health departments.

The traffic cones have all but left Main Street as the Streetcar Extension opens after more than three years of construction, but now drivers will face a new obstacle: transit-only lanes. Plus: Raising giant pumpkins is a labor of love for some Midwest growers, and the pumpkins keep getting bigger and bigger.

Companies are racing to roll out nuclear reactor designs that would be faster to build and could meet rising demand for energy from AI data centers. Two nuclear companies have proposals for new reactors in Kansas. Plus: Data centers are fundamentally changing the landscape for electric utilities in Missouri and beyond.

Thousands of volunteers in Missouri are trying to get enough signatures to force a statewide vote on a congressional map, which state lawmakers recently gerrymandered to favor Republicans. But state officials aren't making it easy for them. Plus: U.S. farmers are experimenting with short corn. It's corn, but shorter!

Missouri legislators recently approved the use of millions in state funding for MOScholars, a K-12 school scholarship program that had previously been supported by tax-deductible donations. But an investigation found that nearly all of those state-funded vouchers were used for religious schools.

Republican leaders are responding to an investigative report that exposed racist messages shared by Young Republican organizations in Kansas and around the country — while Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas GOP is setting a poor example itself. Plus: Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is laying out her agenda, particularly on crime and abortion.

The University of Missouri–Kansas City recently restored one of the last remaining murals of a nearly forgotten Spanish painter. Hear the story of Luis Quintanilla and how he ended up in Kansas City.

Missouri schools now have a bell-to-bell cellphone ban in place. How are students and teachers adapting?

Kansas has more rural hospitals at risk of closure than any other state. Changes at the federal level are further complicating the situation, leaving hospital officials planning for the future.

Troost Avenue was a racial dividing line for decades. Now, Missouri's recent redistricting efforts are using the street to split Kansas City into separate congressional districts. Plus: The Trump administration is promising billions in bailout money for farmers affected by tariffs and facing a tough economy this year.