Sam Zeff

2 days ago | kcur.org | Sam Zeff

In a matter of hours Wednesday, Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca was criminally charged in Missouri and Kansas in connection with a domestic dispute and the disappearance of his 2-year-old son. The toddler and Abarca have been located and are safe, according to a statement from Shawnee police Wednesday. The pair was last seen in Shawnee, Kansas. Abarca's wife posted on social media over the weekend that she had not seen either her husband or son since Thursday, May 28.

1 month ago | kcur.org | Sam Zeff

This story will be updated. The mother of Cameron Lamb, the Black man shot to death by a white Kansas City police detective in 2019, has reached a multi-million-dollar settlement with the Board of Police Commissioners. In federal court documents filed Tuesday, Lamb’s mother Laurie Bey, along with the mothers of Lamb’s two children, settled the civil rights lawsuit for $4.1 million. Bey sued the board in 2021 for $10 million.

1 month ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Sam Zeff

President Donald Trump’s tariffs could threaten an essential tradition of the most American holiday: Fourth of July fireworks. According to an industry group, 99% of fireworks are made in China. Trump announced a 145% tariff on goods imported from the country earlier this month. “It's just too great of a tariff for us to burden,” said Stacy Schneitter Blake, president of the National Fireworks Association. Her family has been in the fireworks business in St. Joseph, Missouri for 130 years.

1 month ago | kcur.org | Sam Zeff

President Donald Trump’s tariffs could threaten an essential tradition of the most American holiday: Fourth of July fireworks. According to an industry group, 99% of fireworks are made in China. Trump announced a 145% tariff on goods imported from the country earlier this month. “It's just too great of a tariff for us to burden,” said Stacy Schneitter Blake, president of the National Fireworks Association. Her family has been in the fireworks business in St. Joseph, Missouri for 130 years.

2 months ago | ourcommunitynow.com | Sam Zeff

Fire Station 5, at 9th Street and Quindaro Boulevard — just north of downtown Kansas City, Kansas — was built in 1955. The kitchen, where 24 firefighters eat, still looks like it’s right out of the 1950s, but with battered cabinets and missing drawers. "The conditions are a concern," Fire Chief Dennis Rubin told the Unified Government Commission on Thursday night.