One type of grief does not appear on any medical bill. It’s the sadness of not being able to coach from the sidelines while watching your child play soccer. of spending every Sunday morning watching others run the trail you once owned. of discovering, at some point during the third month of recuperation, that your life has subtly decreased in ways that no physician can accurately quantify. This is known by a term in personal injury law. It’s known as loss of enjoyment of life, and you can file a lawsuit for it in the majority of states. It makes…
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.
The corporate network of Purpose Financial, Inc., which the majority of people still refer to as Advance America, experienced a problem in February 2023. An unauthorized third party gained access, navigated the system, and took files with thousands of customers’ names and Social Security numbers. At the time, it didn’t make the front page. Seldom do these occurrences. For those whose data was stolen, however, the harm was subtle, gradual, and takes months to fully manifest. The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina received the subsequent lawsuit, Hernandez et al. v. Purpose Financial, Inc. The plaintiffs claimed…
The bright pink boxes, the glazed rings that are still warm from the conveyor, and somewhere in the background, a data breach that silently exposed the personal information of more than 160,000 employees all have an almost discordant quality. Cybersecurity headlines don’t typically feature Krispy Kreme. And yet, here we are. Following a November 2024 incident in which cybercriminals accessed and stole private employee data, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and in certain cases, financial account information, the doughnut chain agreed to a $1,616,760 class action settlement. Neither the breach nor the consequences were insignificant. In the…
The night of the awards ceremony, Kelly Ann Greene went to bed having already come to terms with her defeat. She tried to put it behind her, gave her mom a hug, and moved on. Then morning arrived. A completely different story was revealed by the email that was in her inbox. At the age of seventeen, Greene had won the market potential award at the national Invention Convention, which was organized by The Henry Ford, one of the most illustrious organizations in America devoted to creativity and ingenuity. There was more to the victory than just a ribbon. A…
Every political story has a moment when the mood subtly shifts—not with a dramatic speech or a vote that makes headlines, but rather with a room full of people who have come to the conclusion that remaining silent is no longer an option. When Gwen Grant took the microphone in a conference hall last November and said something that was equally measured and urgent, it may have been that moment for Kansas City. “The call-to-action today is for radical resistance to fight to save democracy.” It’s the type of statement that sounds like campaign slogans when taken out of context.…
In late June, a certain kind of silence descends upon a statehouse. The lawmakers have returned home. The hallways have a subtle scent of cold coffee and carpet cleaner. Employees move freely throughout the building, something they don’t let themselves do during a session. It may appear as though nothing is happening to an uninformed observer. That would be an incorrect impression. The current events in Kansas, including discussions in private offices, phone calls between party operatives, and legal wrangling that hardly ever makes the evening news, could potentially shape the state’s government for a generation. The strategy meetings held…
This campus is not ostentatious. Engineers are not transported between glass towers by shuttle buses. For a while, it seemed like a problem that Kansas City’s tech scene didn’t make as much of an announcement as San Francisco’s. It’s beginning to resemble a feature. Kansas City remained comparatively stable during 2022 and 2023, while coastal tech markets experienced widespread layoffs, valuation collapses, and the unique kind of panic that follows years of easy money. The area did not crater during the pandemic tech boom, but it also did not spike like Seattle or San Francisco did. That kind of stability…
In Liberty, Missouri, there is a house that appears somewhat more upright than it did a few years ago. The front door ramp is brand-new. The handrails are firmly in place. It doesn’t appear to be a headline. It appears that someone was concerned enough to arrive on a Saturday morning with tools, and that is essentially what took place. For twenty-five years, Rebuilding Together Kansas City has carried out this kind of low-key, unglamorous work. No product launches, red carpet events, or viral moments. Just lumber in pickup beds, volunteers wearing work gloves, and families who would have otherwise…
Before a single brick is laid, a certain kind of urban optimism emerges. The blocks that surround Kansas City’s Washington Square Park still appear to be the same as they have always been: a somewhat neglected area of the city, anchored by Union Station and Crown Center, with an abandoned office building sitting in silent indifference nearby. Nothing screams change. However, discussions taking place within the Royals’ front office, city hall, and neighborhood associations indicate that this area is already, at least in people’s perceptions, something completely different. A proposed ordinance that would start formalizing the city’s commitment to a…
The steady, focal point of America’s World Cup moment was supposed to be Kansas City. Geographically, it was ideal—it was close enough to Boston, Dallas, and the coasts to support several national teams. There, England established a camp. Argentina did the same. The Netherlands did the same. For a short while, this Midwestern city seemed to be hosting something truly historic when the flags were raised at Swope Soccer Village and the signs read “The Home of England.” Then Friday night arrived. The England national team’s equipment vanished somewhere between Florida and Kansas City. Not a bag or two of…