The Beacon

11/20/2025

🫰 Kansas City-area workers are paid less than workers in similar cities.

According to the Mid-America Regional Council, average hourly earnings here run 15% to 20% below peer metros like Minneapolis and Denver.

Frank Lenk, MARC’s director of the Office of Economic Research, told the 2025 KC Economic Outlook event this month that the Kansas City labor market is weakening. He also noted that the area’s economic recovery from the COVID pandemic has been slower than in the rest of the U.S.

“This is a classic Kansas City story,” Lenk said. “We don’t bust as low. … But we don’t boom as high.”

Lenk said that economic boom times generally last longer than busts. In Kansas City that means with each boom-and-bust business cycle, the local economy falls further behind peer metros bit by bit.

While workers produce more than ever, rising costs for food, housing, child care, and health care outpace wage growth, forcing Kansas City families into tough choices.

11/18/2025

Kansas hospitals are suing patients for small sums of money. Newman Regional Health sued 2,648 patients in 2024 alone.

There have been thousands of lawsuits by Kansas hospitals in recent years, including many lawsuits for less than $500. One lawsuit was for just $104.

11/18/2025

This holiday season we're partnering with Urban Produce Push KC to make sure families in our city’s most food insecure neighborhoods have access to fresh, nutrient-rich food. Today through Giving Tuesday (December 2), a portion of every donation we receive will put food on the holiday tables of our neighbors in need. Plus, your donation will be doubled by matching funds from Newsmatch.

Donate to fight food insecurity and support local news today! https://thebeaconnews.org/?form=FUNMQGGUHPD

11/17/2025

Jim and Virginia Stowers had something grand in mind when they gave their fortune to open Stowers Institute for Medical Research 25 years ago.

They hoped the biomedical research they funded would contribute to treatments and cures.

But they believed an even more valuable contribution could be made if their scientists revealed the secrets of life itself. https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/11/17/at-25-stowers-institute-still-searching-for-secrets-of-life/

When the Stowers Institute for Medical Research opened its Kansas City headquarters in 2000, much of the scientific world was skeptical that biomedical research could succeed in the Midwest.

11/14/2025

There have been more than 2,700 wildfires in this year. Climatologist Zach Leasor said changing climate conditions are providing more fuel for fire.

Missouri may not be known as a wildfire-prone state, but there have been more than 2,700 this year. One culprit is power lines.

11/13/2025

Kansas City has been asking the state and federal government for financial help to pay for extra buses during the World Cup.

Kansas City has been asking the state and federal government for financial help to pay for extra buses during the World Cup. The clock is ticking, and the transit agency hasn’t gotten a dime.

11/13/2025

“I’m like, ‘Why are we not fixing this?’” one parent said. “But then we got to know the teachers, and we got to know everyone else, and we got to know the community.”

The proposed school closure is part of a plan that would adjust attendance boundaries and feeder patterns around the district. Families are pushing back.

11/11/2025

The Trump administration appealed a federal judge’s order to pay out full benefits, and the status of what states must pay — or if they will be forced to claw back dollars already paid out — remained uncertain as of Monday evening.

A federal judge ruled the Trump administration must release all of the funds intended for SNAP for the month of November. But changes to who receives SNAP benefits started Nov. 1

11/10/2025

Beginning in January, Rachel Nidin, a 30-year-old sushi chef who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, will have to pay an extra $70 a month for the health insurance she buys through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Paula “PJ” Beasley doesn’t know yet how much her ACA plan will cost next year, but she knows she can’t afford more than the $20 a month she’s currently paying. The 64-year-old Midtown resident already relies on a food pantry to make ends meet.

Nidin plans to figure out a way to pay the higher rate. She needs sinus surgery and couldn’t afford it without insurance.

Beasley may have to go without coverage until Valentine’s Day, her birthday, when she will qualify for Medicare. But that’s a difficult choice for someone with serious health conditions, including thyroid eye disease, which has stolen much of her vision.

After Democrats' demands to save ACA marketplace tax subsidies came up short, millions of Americans are expected to lose health coverage in January.

11/10/2025

Every year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education releases performance scores for public school districts and charter schools. Here's how your district ranked.

While many districts, including Hickman Mills, saw improvements in their scores, some public and charter schools in the Kansas City area fell short of state targets.

11/06/2025

All six Prairie Village United candidates lost their races for council seats on Election Day, signaling voter opposition to taking a $30M city hall project to a public vote.

11/05/2025

Kansas will not redraw its congressional maps this year after Republicans rebelled against party leadership to oppose gerrymandering.

The Kansas Senate had enough support to force a special session, but GOP leadership failed to get 84 House Republicans to agree to return to Topeka.