May 17
Missouri General Assembly wraps up ‘historic’ session
GOP calls year a historic success. Democrats call it a historic failure.
May 17
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is busy behind the scenes
Jay Nixon is a hands-off governor. That’s the word in the statehouse. He’s out of sight, disconnected, a distant presence rather than a dominating force, Republicans and more than a few Democrats say. But six hours spent with the two-term governor just two days before final adjournment revealed a chief executive anything but disengaged.
May 17
Tomas Young film to be screened in downtown KC Sunday
Movie focuses on anti-war efforts of paralyzed Kansas City vet.
May 17
Good Samaritans risk their lives to help a pedestrian injured on highway
Three drivers stopped on a treacherous stretch of U.S. 169 north of the Richards Road ramp after a pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run driver while standing near her disabled car. The 23-year-old victim remains in critical condition.
May 19
The Kansas City Star brings home Kansas sweepstakes award
A number of the paper’s staffers win awards for such things as stories, photos and website.
May 17
Kansas budget negotiations abruptly end
Higher-education funding trips up House-Senate negotiators, and tax policy is up in the air, too.
May 17
Purse snatcher knocks woman to pavement outside KC grocery store
Police arrested a man Thursday night after he allegedly ripped a purse off a 61-year-old woman’s shoulder, causing her to fall to the ground, knocking out several teeth.
May 17
The Kansas death penalty has cobwebs
It may be weeks before Kansans know if prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Kyle Flack, accused of killing four people in Franklin County this spring. It will take far longer — 10 years or more — before anyone in the state is actually put to death for a crime. And that time gap, advocates on both sides of the death penalty debate say, suggests the state remains deeply uneasy about the punishment — an ambivalence that muddies its value.
May 17
KC police identify 24-year-old man shot to death Thursday night
Kansas City police on Friday identified a man shot to death Thursday night in the 4200 block of Flora Avenue as William Crawford, 24, of Kansas City. Crawford was in the driver’s seat of a vehicle when he and a passenger were shot about 10:45 p.m.
May 17
DNA links inmate to 1986 rape of deaf woman
Jackson County prosecutors charged Alphonso Henderson, 50, with robbery, forcible sodomy and three counts of rape. He is in a Virginia federal penitentiary for being a felon in possession of a firearm. His previous record includes convictions for assault, false imprisonment, sodomy and burglary. He was set to be released in about 12 years, but police said the new charges could keep him behind bars much longer.
May 17
Large hail, tornadoes possible with severe storms expected for Sunday, Monday
Warm and humid air is expected move into the area ahead of the severe storm storms. The severe storms are expected late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. Another round of storms are expected to develop Monday.
May 17
Missouri Legislature nears mandatory quitting time
For the fourth straight year, Missouri lawmakers were entering the final day of their annual session with a proposal to overhaul the state's numerous tax credit programs still lingering as a remote possibility.
May 17
I-35 crash in Johnson County causes major delays for commuters headed downtown
The multiple-vehicle crash closed several lanes of northbound Interstate 35 near Antioch Road in Merriam.
May 17
Update: Man killed in St. Louis road rage incident
A man is dead after what police are calling a road rage incident in St. Louis.
May 17
Several communities plan sobriety checkpoints this weekend, next month
Authorities in Mission, Kansas City and Platte County plan to have sobriety checkpoints.
May 16
Two St. Louis officials face theft charges
Two top parks officials have been charged with stealing nearly half a million dollars from the city since 2005. The federal indictment accuses Thomas Stritzel, 43, the city’s chief park ranger, and deputy parks commissioner Joseph Vacca, 55, with three counts of mail fraud apiece related to the alleged theft of roughly $465,000.
May 16
Downtown Mission awaits a street makeover with hope, apprehension
After more than a decade of discussion, Mission is getting set to rebuild its main street, Johnson Drive. But some downtown merchants are anxious about parking, while others complain about costs and disruptions.
May 16
Many reports about priest preceded boy’s suicide, parents say
The motion, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court, is packed with excerpts from depositions of dozens of witnesses — including priests and nuns — and an affidavit from a former school board member at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary School, who said she complained about Monsignor Thomas O’Brien’s alleged inappropriate behavior to a former bishop, then resigned and pulled her son from the school in the 1980s because nothing was done about it.
May 16
Sharp turn makes driver watch his back
Kansas City resident Maynard Small thinks the city went too far in modifying Penn Valley Drive, which many drivers think of as Broadway. He worries about getting rear-ended when he slows down for a sharp turn.
May 16
State of Missouri forces Gordon Parks Elementary School to close
The news, shared with staff and volunteers Thursday, stunned the charter school’s community, which has spent 13 years trying to serve children from the highest levels of poverty.
