KCUR-FM (Kansas City, MO)

Ballot measure fights are consuming the big money in Missouri elections this summer, with more than $27 million raised for proposals on the Aug. 4 ballot, according to reports filed last week with state and federal authorities. There’s no hotly contested statewide candidate race on the primary election ballot, but there are four constitutional amendments, with two drawing by far the most attention and money.

This summer, Kansas City stood at the center of the World Cup — and not just geographically. Fans from all across the globe poured into the tournament’s smallest host city, showing off their teams’ culture and pride while discovering what Kansas City had to offer. According to KC2026, more than 410,000 fans attended the six matches at Arrowhead, renamed Kansas City Stadium for the tournament.

Business owners backed by the City of Entrepreneurs initiative are getting more than they bargained for, said Jackie Nguyen, describing the scene during the FIFA World Cup when she looked around Union Station and found herself surrounded by a freshly connected sisterhood — a family — of entrepreneurs.

Bishop Eric Morrison, who serves as the lead pastor at Kingdom Word Ministries in Kansas City, fought for Medicaid expansion in Missouri because he had seen the costs to people’s lives when they couldn’t afford to go to the doctor and pay for medicine. Then, half a decade ago, he saw the relief that came after voters changed the law to give more low-income Missourians access to the government health insurance program, known in Missouri as MO HealthNet.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has now identified more than 80 people who have tested positive for a diarrhea-causing parasite that has sickened thousands, and a supplier linked to the nationwide outbreak is the same producer that has been linked to a rash of E. coli cases in St. Louis in 2024.

Jackson County legislators met behind closed doors Friday to discuss allegations from legislative chair Manny Abarca IV that a staff member and legislator were involved in offering and taking bribes in exchange for legislative action. Abarca has spoken publicly about the allegations, but has yet to fully cooperate with the Jackson County sheriff on the investigation, according to a Friday afternoon statement from Sheriff Darryl Forté.

This story was first published in KCUR's Adventure newsletter. You can sign up to receive stories like this in your inbox every Tuesday. Busy lives require efficient options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In Kansas City, which is still overwhelmingly a car town, drive-thru restaurants are a staple of the dining scene. When the automobile became popular a century ago, the drive-in restaurant allowed diners to stay in their cars to eat, with carhops bringing your order right to your vehicle.

The boys of summer are back on the field at Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita. But this feels more like a scene from the summer of 1879. Vintage base ball – spelled with two words in the 1800s – looks somewhat different than the modern game. Players wear baggy, long-sleeved uniforms on a warm July day. After crossing home plate, they ring a triangle to signal a run. And every player goes by a nickname on the field.

If the Spanish Men's National Team pulls off a World Cup victory on Sunday, the Spanish football federation would make history as the first to bring home successive World Cup championships on the men's and women's side in the history of the tournament. The women's team won the 2023 World Cup and will enter next year's tournament in Brazil as defending champions.

ST. LOUIS — Missouri healthcare advocate Leslie Ortbals and her husband want to start a family, but she worries they can’t afford it. The 27-year-old said she takes 10 medications daily to manage multiple chronic illnesses. Now she worries the cost of those drugs could rise — not because of price increases, but because of a tax system revamp put on the ballot by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature and backed by the Republican governor.