In the latest updates from the horrific ongoing investigation into Timothy Haslett Jr., The Defender has uncovered disturbing social media posts made by the kidnapper and sexual predator. In the ...

This article is the first release of Power Grab: A Kansas City Defender investigative series on data centers and the communities paying the price for the AI boom. The piece includes reporting ...

Brandon Calloway has heard more than three hundred pitches and helped move more than two million dollars into Black-owned businesses in Kansas City. Here, he opens the judges’ room and tells you ...

Brandon Calloway has heard more than three hundred pitches and helped move more than two million dollars into Black-owned ...

His hands did the work. Maurice Copeland was a tool and die supervisor at the Kansas City Plant for the last twelve of his thirty-two years there, and for most of that time he passed chemicals he did ...

How St. Louis police are using AI facial recognition technology to extend America’s legacy of anti-Black surveillance and control. Left: White cctv camera points under clear blue sky. Right: Photo of ...

Screenshot of a video from Leadership of the 49th Wing and members of the 49th Security Forces Squadron conduct a first-time training exercise demonstrating the VISION 60 Q-UGV ground robot at ...

There is a building on Troost Avenue that holds centuries. Perhaps not in the way that museums hold centuries, behind glass, temperature-controlled, accessible by appointment-only. This building holds ...

The earnings tax is expected to cover roughly 45% of Kansas City’s General Fund. In Kansas City’s FY 2026–27 budget materials, public safety made up about 75% of the General Fund operating budget, ...

SHAWNEE MISSION, KS – In a shocking hate crime at Shawnee Mission East High School, a Black girl and student was viciously attacked by a white male student. The assault left her hospitalized with a ...

The hot water has been out for two weeks. Pests live in the walls. The exterior doors don’t lock. In some apartments the heat has not worked in years. And in some buildings, raw sewage backs up into ...