Kansas City's World Cup traffic jams and bus delays could actually help future transit planning ^7%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 6/23/2026, 9:00 AM

Optimism Bias 21.2% - Overconfidence Bias 6.8% - Hasty Generalization 5.5%

Kansas City isn’t used to the many thousands of extra car, bus and streetcar riders it will see during the World Cup. But where tourists and residents might see backed-up traffic and delayed buses during the World Cup, transportation planners see a once-in-a-lifetime research opportunity. Over the next few weeks, the region’s... more

What the Royals stadium petition means for Kansas City’s plan to subsidize a new ballpark ^5.2%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 6/14/2026, 9:00 AM

Appeal to Emotion 7.7% - Optimism Bias 7.3% - Negativity Bias 7.2%

Kansas City’s proposal to finance $600 million for a new Royals stadium at Crown Center could face a new obstacle after a group representing low-wage workers submitted petition signatures to force a public vote. If at least 2,068 petition signatures are certified, Kansas City voters could see two ballot measures over the next 10 months.... more

Wyandotte County wants more say over Chiefs stadium authority. Kansas lawmakers push back ^10.6%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 6/8/2026, 9:00 AM

Framing Effect 9.1% - Self-Serving Bias 8% - Confirmation Bias 5.5%

When they voted in February to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies for the Kansas City Chiefs, Wyandotte County officials wanted to make sure they would not be left out of oversight for the new Chiefs stadium. Now, four months later, at least one state official is saying the county has not yet earned a spot at the... more

Kansas City Council moves to protect historic buildings from 'demolition by neglect' ^11.4%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 5/10/2026, 9:00 AM

Negativity Bias 20.9% - Framing Effect 15.2% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 11.8%

Take a walk through some of Kansas City’s oldest neighborhoods east of Troost Avenue or in the Historic Northeast, and you’ll see evidence of once-dense and vibrant neighborhoods. A handful of houses are surrounded by a sea of empty lawns or boarded-up buildings. You might see a basement or foundation poking out of overgrown grass, or... more

Royals' Crown Center stadium would be 4th-most expensive major league ballpark ^58.6%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 5/4/2026, 9:00 AM

Framing Effect 17.7% - Negativity Bias 14.5% - Availability Heuristic 12.6%

The proposed $1.9 billion Royals ballpark at Crown Center could end up being the fourth-most expensive Major League Baseball stadium so far. At that price, even adjusted for inflation, it would be more than double the cost of Truist Park, which opened in 2017 in Atlanta. It would nearly quadruple the cost of Coors Field, opened in 1995... more

How Missouri taxpayers will help fund a Kansas City Royals ballpark at Crown Center ^23.3%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 4/23/2026, 2:22 PM

Ambiguity (Equivocation) 9.3% - Optimism Bias 7.3% - Appeal to Emotion 7.3%

The Kansas City Royals announced on Wednesday that the team intends to stay in Kansas City, Missouri, accepting the city's offer to help finance a downtown ballpark at Crown Center. That announcement comes after a two-year courtship between the Royals and Kansas City, following the overwhelming rejection by Jackson County voters of a... more

How will Kansas City's Royals stadium plan work? Inside the finances of the $600 million bet ^14.2%

KCUR - Kansas City news and NPR - By Josh Merchant - 4/20/2026, 9:00 AM

Framing Effect 9.2% - Optimism Bias 9.1% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 7.8%

Kansas City leaders are bidding to retain the Royals at a new downtown stadium two years after Jackson County voters overwhelmingly rejected a sales-tax-funded ballpark in the Crossroads. Not surprisingly, a familiar fight about taxpayer-subsidized stadiums has roared back to life. Kansas City’s Finance Department presented the plan on... more

Kansas City mayor proposes gutting a landmark affordable housing policy ^4.9%

KCUR - By Josh Merchant - 3/26/2026, 2:37 PM

Negativity Bias 12.3% - Post Hoc (False Cause) 11% - Framing Effect 9.1%

For five years, Kansas City has required developers to set aside affordable housing units if they get a tax break — but Port KC undermined that rule by offering its own incentives. Under a proposal by Mayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas City Council is considering slashing the fee by 95%. Kansas City may gut its affordable housing policy under... more

Platform Ventures got Port KC tax incentives to build a warehouse. Now they’re selling it to ICE ^67.6%

KCUR (originally published by The Beacon) - By Josh Merchant - 2/9/2026, 10:00 AM

When Platform Ventures approached the Port Authority of Kansas City in 2021 seeking a tax incentive for an industrial campus, the developer promised to “bring jobs back” to south Kansas City. Platform Ventures struck a deal to build a 1-million-square-foot warehouse for a burgeoning industrial district on the former Richards-Gebaur Air... more