Josh Merchant

Jan 22, 2025 | missouribusinessalert.com | Josh Merchant

Missouri’s 2025 legislative session is kicking into gear, and lawmakers are weighing in with ideas on how to manage the state’s $455 billion economy. For the next five months, lawmakers will consider what kind of businesses to boost, how landlords will be allowed to manage their properties and whether to overhaul Missouri’s income, sales and property taxes. These bills are only proposals for now. They could be amended — in some cases, dramatically — before they ever come to a vote.

Jan 21, 2025 | thebeaconnews.org | Josh Merchant

Missouri’s 2025 legislative session is kicking into gear, and lawmakers are weighing in with ideas on how to manage the state’s $455 billion economy. For the next five months, lawmakers will consider what kind of businesses to boost, how landlords will be allowed to manage their properties and whether to overhaul Missouri’s income, sales and property taxes. These bills are only proposals for now. They could be amended — in some cases, dramatically — before they ever come to a vote.

Jan 8, 2025 | thebeaconnews.org | Josh Merchant

Kansas City’s road conditions are thawing, coffee shops are reopening and some parents are finally getting to send their children back to school after a five-day bout of cabin fever. But you might want to keep your shovel and snow melt handy, because this may not be the last severe winter storm of the season. Kansas City International Airport recorded 11 inches of snow on Sunday, marking the fourth-largest single-day snowfall since the area’s records began being tracked in 1888.

Dec 19, 2024 | missouriindependent.com | Josh Merchant

Dozens of homes and businesses on four blocks of the Valentine neighborhood have been razed over the past 120 years, demolished one by one from 80 at its peak in 1909 to 30 at the beginning of this year. As 2024 comes to a close, only eight still stand in the area bordered by 33rd and 35th streets, Southwest Trafficway and Pennsylvania Avenue. “It’s like a wasteland,” said Catherine Hayes, a Valentine resident for the past 40 years.

Dec 18, 2024 | thebeaconnews.org | Josh Merchant

TakeawaysKansas City Life Insurance Co. demolished 23 properties in the Valentine neighborhood this fall without presenting clear redevelopment plans to the public. Tensions date back to the 1970s, when residents opposed a plan to redevelop eight blocks of the neighborhood. The problem of vacant lots extends beyond Valentine, with nearly 10% of properties across Kansas City sitting empty.