May 18
Obama has been the subject of uncomfortable comparisons
“This is Nixonian,” said the Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs. “This is a president whose inner Nixon is being revealed.”
May 18
Winners and losers from the 2013 session of the Missouri General Assembly
Jefferson City nightlife, Kansas envy and organized labor found success, but things were tough for Gov. Jay Nixon and House Speaker Tim Jones.
May 17
Kansas bill gags all gun lobbying
Kansas state government could be barred from lobbying for or against gun control in Washington by a gag rule designed to prevent local governments from lobbying in favor of gun control at the Statehouse.
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
Kansas budget negotiations abruptly end
Higher-education funding trips up House-Senate negotiators, and tax policy is up in the air, too.
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 16
Top Kansas House Democrat: Staffer faces discipline over tweets
House Minority Leader Paul Davis of Lawrence said he'll take an unspecified “course of administrative action” against Tyler Longpine, his director of special projects, for posting disparaging tweets about Republican legislators.
May 16
Education spending, state worker pay cap hold up Kansas budget negotiations
Kansas House and Senate negotiators resumed budget talks Thursday, reaching agreement on numerous issues that included authorizing the state to issue $202 million in bonding to construct a new federal research lab in Manhattan.
May 16
Legislation to curb Missouri welfare fraud sent to governor
Missouri welfare recipients could not spend their cash benefits at casinos, liquor stores or adult-entertainment establishments under legislation sent to Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday.
May 16
Missouri House OKs new historic preservation tax credit plan
The Missouri House has made a final offer to senators on a plan authorizing new business incentives and trimming some existing tax credits.
May 16
Kansas lawmakers agree to issue biodefense lab bonds
Kansas House and Senate budget negotiators have agreed to authorize issuing $202 million in bonds to build a federal biodefense research lab in Manhattan.
May 16
Missouri legislation would let sheriffs print gun permits
Missouri lawmakers want county sheriffs rather than the state Revenue Department to print concealed weapons permits. The Senate passed legislation 24-5 on Thursday handing the task to sheriffs. The measure now heads to Gov. Jay Nixon.
May 16
Kansas City government, by committee
Kansas City Mayor Sly James has passed the midway point in his first term, and the grades are pretty good. But he walks a path that was paved by others.
May 16
Path to legal pot a long, wild trip
It's one thing to legalize marijuana. It's another to figure out how to sell it, grow it, regulate it, test it and tax it.
May 15
Senate Dem revives media shield law
A top Senate Democrat plans to revive legislation that would protect journalists and their employers from revealing their sources, days after it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly obtained Associated Press phone records.
May 15
Benghazi emails show CIA deputy director did most of editing on talking points
President Barack Obama succumbed to days of withering criticism Wednesday, releasing dozens of emails in an effort to demonstrate that the White House did not try to cover up information about the September 2012 attacks on diplomatic facilities in Libya that killed four Americans.
May 15
Benghazi emails show internal jostling within agencies
White House releases dozens of emails regarding the 2012 attacks in Libya.
May 15
KC Council committee endorses more stringent ethics rules
The City Council’s Finance and Ethics Committee supports new rules that require more frequent disclosure of gifts and that call for an ethics compliance officer. The full council votes May 23 on the new ethics code.
May 15
Obama fires IRS chief
Moving to quell a growing scandal, President Barack Obama on Wednesday fired the acting chief of the Internal Revenue Service and vowed to work closely with Congress in determining who ordered lower-level employees to target tea party groups and other conservative organizations.
