Procedural exchanges, practiced non-answers, and the customary dance between senators and nominees are some of the moments in confirmation hearings that pass by quickly. Then there are times when you are completely stopped. The latter type of conversation took place on Wednesday between Senator Richard Blumenthal and Don Berthiaume. As part of his official confirmation process, Berthiaume, a career Justice Department lawyer who has been acting as the DOJ’s inspector general, appeared before the Senate. He wasn’t regarded as a particularly explosive choice by the majority of early reports. He has real-world oversight experience. He is not a political operative…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
Over decades, a certain type of silent annoyance develops. In 1997, James Kanfoush painted a large, colorful mural for Primanti Bros. that honored Pittsburgh’s sports icons for less than $1,000. There was no signed contract. Nothing was set in stone by a formal agreement. When he completed the piece in 2000, he signed it Jimmy Kanfoush, incorporating his name and contact details. He even gave it the title “The Real City of Champions.” For many years, the mural was located in Downtown’s Market Square, a piece of Pittsburgh culture that locals likely passed by without really considering who created it.…
Certain celebrities seem to experience a certain kind of chaos at the worst possible moment. The spring of 2025 turned out to be something that Jelly Roll, the tattooed country-rap crossover artist who spent years crafting a redemption story that the public genuinely wanted to support, probably didn’t anticipate. a potential lawsuit. a divorce petition. And a camera-wielding comedian who claims to have been afraid for her life. Comedian Nicole Arbour, who has been publicly criticizing Jelly Roll on social media for months, made the accusation. According to Arbour, the singer saw her carrying a camera at a charity function…
Witnessing a legal case fail due to a timing technicality rather than its merits is subtly unsettling. That is essentially what happened when the Supreme Court rejected Carter Page’s appeal earlier this month without providing an explanation. No disagreement was observed. No viewpoint was expressed. Just a closed door and a quick order. Page, who advised Donald Trump on foreign policy during his 2016 campaign, had been fighting for years to hold former FBI Director James Comey and others responsible for what he claimed was illegal surveillance. A Justice Department inspector general later discovered that the warrant the FBI had…
Regarding its late-night dining scenario, Kansas City has always been a touch defensive. The city, which boasts a vibrant Crossroads food scene, a famed barbecue history, and a bustling downtown that continues to be raucous far after midnight, has long struggled to turn that energy into real, open kitchens. When you ask a local where to eat after ten, you frequently receive a delay that implies the question is more difficult than it should be. A post-midnight dinner in Kansas City may be more than just a bag of chips from a gas station on Main if you know the…
For the majority of Americans under forty, measles is the kind of illness that is mostly depicted in old photos: kids in hospital beds, parents in waiting rooms, a public health emergency that was proclaimed eradicated in 2000 following decades of vigorous vaccine campaigns. The MMR vaccination was so successful that it became one of the few instances of a medical procedure that accomplished its goals. The immunization rates then began to decline gradually and in ways that didn’t always make headlines. Kansas City confirmed the first measles case since 2018 on March 3, 2026. Just one instance. an adult…
Deputy Gabriel Ramirez stopped a white Chevrolet Silverado just after 3:50 on a Monday afternoon in the remote area south of Highlandville when farmland opens out and traffic becomes less frequent. It was a standard traffic stop in the type of county where routine traffic stops are just that—a brief conversation, paperwork, and a wave. What followed was anything but. During the stop, 45-year-old Richard Dean Bird shot Ramirez and ran away. Ramirez, 30, passed away from his injuries just eleven months after joining the Christian County Sheriff’s Office following his discharge from the U.S. Army. By dusk, over 150…
A blowout isn’t often the type of defeat that remains with a squad. It’s the one in which everything appeared to be going well for six innings, your starter pitched 71 pitches and allowed just one run, you scored first and then again, and you had a two-run lead with six outs remaining. That’s the kind of loss Detroit experienced at Kauffman Stadium on May 8, and the sequence of events that led to the collapse—one misplayed ball in right field, one reliever who failed to record an out—tends to repeat itself in a dugout long after the last out.…
Business Class seats on the Missouri River Runner via Jefferson City were sold out early on June 16, 2026, the day of the first World Cup game in Kansas City. On a typical Tuesday, the train passes through the state capital, which is located roughly in the midway of the 283-mile route between St. Louis and Kansas City, with little notice. However, there were more people attempting to board the River Runner than there was room to accommodate them that day due to an Argentina-Algeria match that began at eight in the evening and tens of thousands of foreign visitors…
A deputy sheriff in Laclede County receives a report regarding a lost tractor on a June morning. No witnesses, no surveillance film within 10 miles, no physical description other than color and make. The closest law enforcement officer is forty minutes away, and the farm is located down a gravel road that doesn’t show up on Google Maps at the proper scale. The tractor is probably already in a different county—possibly even a different state—by the time the paperwork is submitted. This isn’t speculative. Variations of this scenario play out across rural Missouri every week, and they rarely make the…