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Kacen J. Bayless on Muck Rack

Kacen J. Bayless

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Columbia, Hilton Head, Kansas City, St. Louis
As seen in: Kansas City Star, MSN, Yahoo Canada, Yahoo News, Aol, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Finance Canada, Chicago Tribune, U.S. News and World Report, Flipboard, The Seattle Times and
Democracy Insider at The Kansas City Star. @MUJSchool grad. kbayless@kcstar.com. DM for Signal.

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Kacen J. Bayless’s Biography

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An editor at KBIA and the Columbia Missourian and a freelance investigative reporter for the Columbia Business Times, Kacen Bayless is a native of Ballwin, Missouri. He's a senior studying Print and Digital News and Investigative Journalism at the University of Missouri. In the past, he's covered city news for St. Louis Magazine, higher education and public life for the Missourian, sports for PowerMizzou.com and campus life for The Maneater.

Kacen J. Bayless’s Journalist Portfolio

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In Focus: The Help They Deserve

In Focus: The Help They Deserve

At a voting rally in Las Vegas last year, Michelle Obama praised residents in, "a little county in Missouri –…

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In Focus: What Happens Now?

In Focus: What Happens Now?

Unfinished projects, contentious debates and broken promises. After council's recent veto of a voter-approved…

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Small Businesses on the Hunt for Workers

Small Businesses on the Hunt for Workers

The unemployment rate in Columbia is the lowest it’s been since 2000. This year it has ranged from 2.9 percen…

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Analyzing the Amazon Effect

Analyzing the Amazon Effect

This past November, voters in Columbia narrowly rejected a local use tax. In this month's Columbia Business T…

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Embracing the New Brand: #MizzouMade | Columbia Business Times

Embracing the New Brand: #MizzouMade | Columbia Business Times

A year into its contract with branding firm 160over90, the University of Missouri has embraced new ways of at…

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Humans of St. Louis creators hope to self-publish book

Humans of St. Louis creators hope to self-publish book

The digital storytelling campaign wants to bring some of its 2,000 stories to the page.

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Articles

Federal court backs Missouri’s gerrymandered map, setting up another SCOTUS showdown Original

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By Kacen J. Bayless Verified, Jack Harvel Verified
| Kansas City Star Verified
Protesters packed the rotunda of the Missouri statehouse to protest the gerrymandering the state’s congressional map on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Jefferson City, Missouri. AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom. Read our AI Policy. A federal appeals court backed Missouri’s 2025 map for November 2026. The ruling set up another Missouri redistricting battle at the U.S. Supreme Court. Local officials had already sent overseas ballots using Missouri’s 2022 map.
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Federal court backs Missouri’s gerrymandered map, setting up another SCOTUS showdown

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By Kacen J. Bayless Verified, Jack Harvel Verified
| Flipboard
Now The 8th Circuit on Monday blocked a ruling from the state’s highest court that sharply rebuked the Republican secretary of state. A federal appeals court has revived a Republican-friendly redistricting in Missouri that appeared to have twice been blocked by the Supreme Court. The 8th Circuit Court of …
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Platte County community reacts to the sudden death of longtime prosecutor

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By Jenna Ebbers Verified, Kacen J. Bayless Verified
| Kansas City Star Verified
Prosecutor Eric Zahnd was found dead in the Platte County courthouse on Thursday. The Platte County courthouse sat quiet and empty Friday afternoon, just over 24 hours after Eric Zahnd, a longtime county prosecutor who was under investigation, was found dead inside. Few people meandered in and out of the shops lining the square around the courthouse in Platte City as a passerby stopped at the top of the courthouse steps, tried the locked doors and peeked inside before walking away.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Even though it was a class, I still count my time working for my high school publication as my first real journalism job.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Unfortunately, no. My goal is to buy one with my first official paycheck upon graduation.

How is social media changing news?

Social media is really a double edged sword for journalists. Anybody can report on anything. Society needs journalists to verify the truth.