Last week, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell joined Lucas Kunce in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, with hopes of taking on Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe are two of the biggest names looking to step up to the governor's mansion.

KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with St. Louis Public Radio politics correspondent Jason Rosenbaum on where the 2024 races stand.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Kansas City's first Pride parade was held in 1977 and was spearheaded by Lea Hopkins — a bold, Black, lesbian activist. Nearly a half century later, the 2023 pride parade is being held in a state that saw 48 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed and several new restrictions pass in the last legislative session. From the podcast A People's History of Kansas City, Suzanne Hogan introduces us to Hopkins and her ongoing fight.

Overland Park native Kate Cosentino made waves after she competed on the last season of "The Voice." Despite living in Nashville for the last seven years, she reps Kansas City any chance she gets. KCUR's Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga has her story.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

In January, Alison Anstaett learned her daughter Ella Mae had Batten disease, a rare condition with a difficult and terminal prognosis. The drug showing promise in slowing the disease isn't covered by their insurance because it's still in clinical trials. A year's supply would run them $240,000 each year. KCUR’s Noah Taborda reports the family is trying to raise money to cover expenses.

Politicians have long promised one policy or another would stem the shedding of population that’s defined rural Kansas almost since homesteader days. Dylan Lysen of the Kansas News Service reports the forces making small towns even smaller persist.

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Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

Last week, 17 year old Ralph Yarl made one of his first public appearances since being shot in mid-April while attempting to pick up his siblings in Kansas City's Northland. Yarl, who was shot after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell, walked with hundreds of people on Memorial Day to raise awareness for brain injuries.

KCUR's Steve Kraske spoke with Yarl's mother Cleo Nagbe and the family's lawyer Lee Merritt on Up To Date to discuss Yarl's road to recovery and their frustrations with the handling of the criminal case against 84-year-old suspect Andrew Lester.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Early voting starts today in Kansas City for the June 20 election, but residents may still have some homework to do. Host Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with KCUR reporters Celisa Calacal and Lynn Horsley to learn what's on the ballot and which races to look out for in this pivotal election.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

Missouri lawmakers filed a whopping 48 bills last session that sought to limit or restrict LGBTQ people’s rights, according to the ACLU.

Efforts to make drag shows illegal, or to outlaw public school teachers from talking about sexual orientation in the classroom failed to reach the finish line. But several bills are now on Governor Mike Parson’s desk, including bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth and on transgender girls playing on women's sports teams.

Those bills passed in the Republican-dominated General Assembly over the objections of two of its Kansas City-area members who are openly gay: Democratic Senator Greg Razer of Kansas City and Republican Representative Chris Sander of Lone Jack.

As Pride month begins, the two legislators joined Steve Kraske on KCUR's Up To Date to discuss these measures and how they're impacting the community.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin and Brian Ellison. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

On a single day in April, a pair of stray dogs roaming the streets in northeast Kansas City attacked three separate people, including one child. KC Pet Project, which took over the city's Animal Services division in December 2020, wasn't able to get in touch with the dogs' owner until 24 hours later.

In the two years that KC Pet Project has been at the helm of Kansas City's animal control, the number of citations for things like dangerous dogs and failing to spay or neuter pets has dropped by 46%. The organization says that's evidence their education-first approach is working. But animal rescue groups worry the city should not have outsourced animal control.

Up To Date host Steve Kraske spoke with KCUR's Sam Zeff about why some people in Kansas City are worried about KC Pet Project's contract with the city.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Trevor Grandin, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Transgender Kansans are bracing for a sweeping new law to take effect this summer that restricts their rights and bars them from bathrooms that match their gender identity. As Rose Conlon of the Kansas News Service reports, uncertainty around how it’ll be enforced has left many anxious about what’s to come.

A Kansas City woman’s escape from an Excelsior Springs home in October sparked outrage and confirmed fears that police weren’t taking reports of missing Black women seriously. In response, Kansas City’s Chief of Police reinstated the department’s Missing Persons Unit. As KCUR’s Lawrence Brooks IV reports, more than a month later, community organizations are still wary.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Beating addiction is hard. Finding child care is hard. Finding someone to care for your child while you are in rehab? Even harder. As Blaise Mesa of the Kansas News Service reports, Kansas has few options for those parents fighting addiction.

Last session, Missouri lawmakers passed restrictions on transgender minors accessing treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. And despite some GOP officials saying they have no interest in restricting gender-affirming care to adults, transgender Missourians and their allies are bracing for more barriers. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum has more on how politics and elections could determine the course of transgender-related legislation.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

The Missouri secretary of state’s new rules for libraries are in effect starting today. Among other requirements, libraries are banned from purchasing material that’s “pornographic for minors” and from letting minors borrow materials without their parents’ permission. If they don’t comply, libraries risk losing state funding.

Kimberly Moeller is the president-elect of the Missouri Library Association. She told Nomin Ujiyediin that librarians see the new rules as redundant, burdensome and a form of censorship.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.