Kansas City Area Local, Regional, and State Resources
Resources PDF
Local News
A nonprofit covering Kansas, Missouri, and Kansas City. Part of the Trust Project.
Digital news platform for Kansas City Public Broadcasting Station.
Sponsored by the Institute for Nonprofit News
Has a paywall. Operated by McClatchy Company, which has been privately owned by Chatham Asset Management since 2020.
The NPR station in Kansas City.
Kansas chapter of the nonprofit States Newsroom
Missouri chapter of the nonprofit States Newsroom
Local Political Engagement
Database of State Elections Legislation
The NCSL has many databases tracking bills proposed in each state. This one covers state election legislation and is updated weekly. The Immigration, Collective Bargaining, and Ethics databases may also be of interest.
Record of past and future ballot measures that can be filtered by date, state, etc.
Portal for open meetings in Missouri. If you want to request open records from a specific organization, go to the Sunshine Law page.
Calendar of state board, committee, and agency meetings required by law to be open to the public.
Tracks anti-trans legislation by state.
Local Education
A spreadsheet of book censorship attempts. Can be filtered by date, state, school district, book title, etc. (Despite the 2023 in the spreadsheet title, it is up to date.)
Dashboard to look up Kansas schools by building. Lists graduation/dropout rates, teacher licenses, etc.
Dashboard to look up Missouri schools by district for graduation rates, teacher licenses, etc.
Local Defense Against Law Enforcement
A map showing where police have been called recently, the type of call, and which department responded. The program is only active on the Missouri side of the city.
Directory of KCK Police Patrols
Lists key personnel, patrol boundaries, and office addresses.
Directory of KCMO Police Departments
Lists addresses and phone numbers of every police department in KCMO.
An app that tells you if there have been ICE sightings in your area. It can use a lot of battery, so the creators recommend only turning it on when you need it.
Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance
Hotline for ICE sightings in Kansas City.
Shows location of each traffic camera on local highways. You can play live footage by pressing the play button.
Portal to Request Body Camera Footage
Any resident may request footage from a KCMO police officer’s body camera (though there are restrictions on when and how said footage can be released).
Local Health
You can look up clinical trials recruiting for participants in your city. You can filter by disease, participation criteria, etc.
A dashboard reporting measles cases in Kansas.
Missouri Weekly Influenza Report
A dashboard reporting flu cases across the state
People’s CDC COVID-19 “Weather” Report
Shows COVID-19 levels by state and region.
Water and Wind
The Environmental Protection Agency’s interactive map showing current and forecasted air quality. A low PM2.5 score is healthier.
Map of buildings in KCMO that don’t currently meet city safety codes and are on track to being demolished.
Drinking Water Watch for Kansas
The public website for drinking water violations in Kansas. Despite having a web design from the 90s, the information is up to date.
EWG Tap Water Database – Kansas
Environmental Working Group (EWG) has an intuitive database of drinking water violations across Kansas, but their data only goes up to 2024.
EWG Tap Water Database – Missouri
Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a database of drinking water violations across Missouri, but their data only goes up to 2024.
The government’s map showing the weather in your area. It also has an air quality map, but I find the AirNow map below easier to navigate.
National Consumer Safety
CPSC Product Recalls and Safety Warnings
Recalls for products that have been found to be dangerous or defective
Includes any product regulated by FDA, including drugs, cosmetics, supplements, etc.
United States Department of Agriculture has a list of public health alerts you can filter by state.
*‘reliable’ is a subjective term, we are erring on the side of inclusivity