June 3, 2023

Keeping Media and Government Accountable.

Tag: Kansas City

Records request backs up SMSD teacher’s complaints about DEI

The results of a Kansas Open Records Act request to the Shawnee Mission School District back up several of the…

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IRS migration data: taxpayers flee high-tax jurisdictions like Johnson County

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) migration data from 2021, the most recent year available,…

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Texts appear to show collusion between Johnson County official, Gault Center staff to prevent transparency

A series of text messages buried at the bottom of a 618 page document dump appear to show direct collusion…

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tax increase tax hike

Johnson County residents are looking at another big property tax hike

Johnson County is setting taxpayers up for another big property tax increase in 2024, based on the presentation that county…

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Big pay increases for KCK BPU managers come at customers’ expense

The Kansas City Kansas Board of Public Utilities (KCK BPU) charges customers exceptionally high rates for electricity and water, and…

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Big pay increases for JoCo employees mean tax hikes for residents

While the “pronoun pins” the Johnson County government recently purchased are a fairly minor cost to the taxpayers, the big…

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Johnson County spends $4,648 on pronoun lapel pins

Johnson County officials are spending $4,648 on lapel pins and stickers for employees to declare their pronouns, according to emails…

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Nurse practitioner fired over religious exemption for birth control files lawsuit

A Kansas nurse practitioner says she was fired because of her faith — despite having had a religious exemption for…

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KC Scholars program assists students, adults to be college-ready

One family in Kansas City has had three generations find their way to higher education, thanks to KC Scholars, an…

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Hayden not seeking to interfere with elections, simply secure them

Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden has been facing intense criticism for an ongoing probe into possible integrity issues in his…

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Prairie Village diversity commitment seems only skin deep

Prairie Village, Kansas — an affluent suburb of Kansas City — claims to prize diversity. In fact, the city government…

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Big property tax hikes proposed by most officials in Johnson County

As if past property tax increases that far exceed the change in inflation and population aren’t bad enough, most elected…

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Eyebrow threading law gives workers liberty to make a living

In a final victory for a Kansas couple wanting to hire another family member to provide eyebrow threading in their…

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education school student K-12

Lansing school board implements a Parents Bill of Rights

On June 13, 2022, the Lansing, Kansas, Board of Education did what the Kansas Legislature was unable to do, passing…

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Open Enrollment, other education reforms signed into law by governor

Beginning in 2024, open enrollment will permit any Kansas student to transfer schools, based on the receiving school’s capacity, following…

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City of Shawnee votes to make housing more expensive

While the Legislature and Governor Laura Kelly were working in a bipartisan fashion to address issues with affordable rural housing,…

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JoCo officials setting residents up for a big property tax hike

Johnson County officials appear to be setting their residents up for a major property tax hike this year.  Most residential…

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Kansas legislation to target ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions

Earlier this month the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, which includes Kansas City, Kansas, approved the “Safe and Welcoming” ordinance…

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Blue Valley, Olathe: open enrollment brings undesirable students

School officials’ rejection of an open enrollment bill in the Kansas legislature offers a rare glimpse of an elitist attitude…

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Schools won’t talk about getting 135,000 students to grade level

There were about 135,000 students reading and writing below grade level in Kansas in 2019, with about 17,000 of them…

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classroom teacher student education

Survey: public school satisfaction lower than expected

Satisfaction with public schools in some of the state’s largest districts was lower than might be expected pre-COVID, and their…

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City of Gardner backs off pool COVID restrictions

On Monday, Gardner resident Danedri Herbert, took to the podium to blast the Gardner City Council for a decision to…

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KC Monarchs, Royals require masks to watch games

The Kansas City Monarchs, a minor league baseball team, will be allowing spectators this season, opening up season ticket sales…

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Commerce can’t – or won’t – substantiate “jobs created” claim

In late November of last year, the Kansas Department of Commerce announced that there had been $2 billion in new…

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