Kansas City Today

Finding affordable, quality childcare that fits their schedule feels like an impossible task for many parents. Kansas City parents navigating the workforce while raising young children say the region needs more options.

A trial that could determine the future of abortion access in Missouri has wrapped up, and the decision is now in the hands of a judge. Planned Parenthood is suing to get several laws targeting abortion providers off the books, but the state got its chance this past week to defend the regulations.

For much of Kansas City's homeless population, seeking medical treatment is not only hard, it can also be demeaning. One nurse practitioner made it her mission to change that.

A new proposal in Missouri's legislature could make Jackson County the first county in the state to be split in 150 years. It's spurred by a Republican lawmaker from eastern Jackson County, but elected leaders are skeptical that it will gain traction.

This week, KCUR's Up To Date marked its final broadcast from 4825 Troost Avenue, as the station is required to move out of our longtime home. Although the offices have long been in disrepair, they have held a lot of good memories, too. Steve Kraske and KCUR staff reflected on the last 40 years of history in the building.

Kansas Citians are taking to the streets to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. After the killing of Renee Good, a former Kansas City resident, a demonstration marched through the Country Club Plaza. Meanwhile, local groups are warning each other about potential ICE activity.

Tumbleweeds have taken over the High Plains. The plant thrives so well in the western part of Kansas that sometimes they can shut down entire neighborhoods or highways. Plus: An inconspicuous insect is changing what survival looks like as climate change remains a threat.

State attorneys will take center stage this week in a trial that could reshape Missouri's abortion regulations. Witnesses are expected to include doctors who view the state's TRAP laws as protective, rather than restrictive. This follows a week where Planned Parenthood leaders testified that the state is imposing standards that are impossible to meet.

Just before Christmas, the University of Missouri-Kansas City informed all tenants of 4825 Troost Ave., the largest of which are KCUR and Classical KC, that they must vacate the building by the end of January. We'll talk about what we know — and what we still don't — about the move.

The Kansas City Royals missed a big deadline to tell Kansas their proposal for STAR bond funding, and top lawmakers say they're no longer interested in talks with the team. The doors may also be closing in Clay County, while Missouri's public financing offer is under threat.

A data center in the Crossroads is one of the first in the country to get a loan for clean energy. Plus: Scientists across the central U.S. say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty under the second Trump administration.

A huge tree is being cut down in Kansas City's Historic Northeast. The burr oak predates even the Revolutionary War and survived as the city sprang up around it. But after a lightning strike and years of disease, Frank the Liberty Tree has reached its end.

The Chiefs are building a new headquarters in Olathe, in addition to their stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. A big Kansas City company is jumping state lines. Add elections on top of all that, and you have the recipe for a dramatic year in Johnson County.

Advocates in Missouri head to court today to argue that the state is unconstitutionally blocking access to abortion care — more than a year after voters chose to overturn the statewide ban. And this trial is all happening as another statewide vote on abortion looms later this year.

What's next for the Kansas City Chiefs after the team's worst season since 2012? We'll hear what could be in store for Mahomes, Kelce, and more in this excerpt from SportsBeat KC, a Kansas City sports podcast from The Star and KCUR Studios.

Missouri lawmakers arrived this week in Jefferson City for the start of the 2026 legislative session, which runs until mid-May. Gov. Mike Kehoe is pushing to eliminate the state income tax, but a smaller budget will likely force spending cuts.

The state of Kansas is luring the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line with funding from STAR Bonds, a unique kind of tax incentive. The team plans to build a $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County and a practice facility worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Olathe.

A new exhibit at the Nerman Museum in Overland Park packs a punch with ceramic lipsticks, guns, and colorful pastel flowers. Over her five-decade career, Kansas City clay artist Linda Lighton created sculptures that speak to some of the thorniest issues of our time.

Missouri lawmakers have passed historically expensive budgets in recent years, but next year will likely be different, according to Missouri state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Democrat from Kansas City. The state's revenue has flatlined when adjusted for inflation, and there is no more surplus of federal money. Nurrenbern said that math means Missouri won't be able to fund all the services it has in prior years.

Native freshwater mussels do important work filtering the water in Midwest rivers. These animals are in trouble, but Kansas has a plan to help them. Plus: We'll hear from farmers around the central U.S. about what made this such a tough year, and what may come in 2026.

The Kansas City Chiefs' planned move across the state line marked an unusually bipartisan success for Kansas elected leaders. In most other ways, state politics in 2025 were marked by Republican wins and Democratic frustrations.

The year 2025 marked the start of a new governor's term in Missouri, and the deepening of Republican control of the General Assembly. As the year ended, the blame and sorrow over the state losing the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning.

As 2025 nears its end, we're catching up on the biggest stories we reported this year. It was a hard year for federal workers in Kansas City, who weathered mass layoffs and the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Hear how that impacted workers' jobs and mental health.

2025 brought a lot of grief for governments in Kansas City, Missouri, and Jackson County: the expensive departure of the city's highest-paid official, a property tax scandal that left the county's top lawmaker rebuked, and the Chiefs' planned move to Kansas. But there's something to look forward to, too: the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

A Kansas City cookbook author gives us a glimpse of her warm kitchen this winter season. Plus, while many people go online or to the mall to shop for presents, some rural towns go all out to try and attract holiday shoppers.

A major tax incentive package approved by Kansas lawmakers will help the Chiefs build a new $3 billion domed stadium in Wyandotte County. Plus: A Classical KC contributor shares memories from Christmases past.

Kansas will end all access to hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender minors in January. To keep getting care for their children, some families are opting to leave the state entirely.

Black student enrollment declined almost 34% at the University of Missouri between 2013-2023 — and Black students there have much to say about why.

This year saw the formation of the Kansas City area's first Women's Pinball League. At 403 Club, in Kansas City, Kansas, beginners and pros of all ages and walks of life gather each Thursday for slap-saves, snacks and sisterhood.

For the first time in 11 years, the Kansas City Chiefs will not be playing in the NFL playoffs. The bad news doesn't stop there: superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes sustained a season-ending injury in last weekend's loss to the San Diego Chargers. The situation has some fans wondering if this is the end of the dynasty, or just a fluke of a season.

Next year, Kansas City's only drinking water treatment plant will celebrate its 100th birthday. It's a milestone worth applauding, for sure, but it's also a reminder that the city has only one place where it makes clean water.

In Missouri and Kansas, the secretary of state is the top election official, a partisan position chosen by voters. But to the frustration of some, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has used his authority to push certain Republican priorities, especially when it comes to ballot issues on redistricting and abortion.

In Kansas City, singles looking for love have a new way to find possible matches: live, in-person and with an audience. Can a local reimagining of “The Dating Game” lead to love in a loveless city? Plus: A disease caused by ticks is on the rise in Missouri, meaning more people are looking for alpha-gal safe ways to eat out.

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.