As these things often do, it began with someone wanting to do the right thing by his family. Ed Mansell spent decades accumulating LEGO Star Wars sets. He patiently bought sealed boxes and rare minifigures, and it only makes sense when you see them all spread out on shelves. In 2023, he was 83 years old and his health was getting worse. His son Bryan decided it was time to sell. The plan was smart and quietly moving: use the money to pay for the grandchildren’s schooling. What came next was not simple at all. Bryan took the collection to…
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.
Many years before Greg Norman was seen posing with big checks on driving ranges around the world, a small group of businesspeople in England thought they knew how to change professional golf. The rules were based on shotgun starts and team competition, and they used spreadsheets, franchise models, and player contracts. It looks like they didn’t have a way to stop someone else from using it all. That is at least what a lawsuit in London’s Commercial Court says right now. The British companies World Golf Group and Premier Golf League are suing LIV Golf, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund,…
Stories like these don’t fit neatly into either side of the political divide, no matter how hard they both try to claim them. The case of Hannah Dugan’s obstruction conviction is just like that. On a Wednesday morning that felt like it had been a long time coming, a former judge in Wisconsin found out what would happen to her. Hannah Dugan, 67, was charged with a crime and given a $5,000 fine. She used to be a circuit judge in Milwaukee County for nine years. No jail. Not on probation. Judge Lynn Adelman of the U.S. District Court looked…
You should pay attention to the pattern. Donald Trump or one of his companies files a public lawsuit against a major news outlet. The lawsuit has huge numbers and angry language, but then, out of the blue, the judge throws it all out. It happened once more last week in Florida, this time with The Washington Post and the Trump Media and Technology Group. After reviewing the Trump Media’s $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against the Post, a federal judge decided that the company did not provide enough evidence to take the case to a jury. Thomas Barber, a US District…
Something about a toy that looks like candy, feels good in your hand, and can quietly become deadly for a toddler when they swallow one is almost surreal. For years, water beads, which are small, colorful balls that feel like gel and come in lots of activity kits, have been an important part of sensory play. They were bought without giving it a second thought. The kids loved to squeeze them. For a long time, it was hard to see how dangerous things were. That invisibility is at the heart of everything going on in Congress and the courts right…
Dennis Goyette and his wife Peggy likely thought that the legal process would help them when they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on December 26, 2024. In April 2025, they were given a discharge, which meant that all of their debts were forgiven. This included a joint credit card account with Achieva Credit Union. It should have been over after that. It wasn’t. After the fact, Goyette found something that sounds a lot like a typing mistake, but the effects are much bigger than that. He checked his credit reports from all three major companies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian), and…
Sometimes it’s embarrassing when a project that was meant to look patriotic starts falling apart in public. That’s about how things stand with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. This famous spot was supposed to shine for America’s 250th birthday, but instead it has been the site of criminal charges, algae blooms, dead ducks, and now a federal lawsuit. In late April, President Trump announced the plan to fix up the 2,028-foot pool, calling it “terrible” and “filthy.” For less than $2 million, he said, it could be fixed and done before July 4. It’s not clear what information he used,…
At first, it was just another normal, happy night that families remember for years. June 6, 1992. High School in Kickapoo. Suzie Streeter and Stacy McCall, two girls, walked across a graduation stage in Springfield, Missouri. They smiled for pictures, made plans with their friends, and then disappeared before dawn. Sherrill Levitt, Suzie’s mother, walked off the same night. They haven’t been found at all after thirty years. The case now has a name. This group is known to most people in Missouri as the Springfield Three. But names make things sound settled, organized, and put away. This one isn’t.…
There is a certain kind of civic moment that doesn’t make a lot of noise. A quiet ordinance was introduced on a Thursday that could change how a city feels for the next few decades. There was no ribbon cutting and no crowd. That’s what happened recently in Kansas City, where a bill was introduced that would require the city to negotiate a deal that would give the KC Current $235 million in bonds and tax breaks to help pay for a $1.4 billion expansion along the Missouri Riverfront. A big number. In this case, though, it’s not as shocking…
When a place goes away slowly, one flood at a time, it’s a different kind of grief than saying goodbye all at once. That sadness has been building up in West Alton, Missouri, for more than fifty years. The town is on a bend in the Mississippi River, close to where it meets the Missouri River. The town used to be home to about 3,900 people. Today, about 360 are left. Three churches are no longer open. Some of the homes that are still standing have been put on stilts and raised above the water, as if they were getting…