— NWS alert feed for Independence (39.0911,-94.4155), office CWA EAX, zone MOZ037, fetched 6:00 a.m. Sept 18
Today: sunny, high near 93°F, heat index values as high as 100°, S wind 3–10 mph. Tonight: partly cloudy, low around 74°, heat index still reaching 99°. Saturday: mostly sunny, high near 93°, heat index to 98°, SW wind around 12 mph with gusts to 18 — a slight chance (20%) of showers and thunderstorms after 5 p.m. Then it turns: Saturday night: showers and thunderstorms (80%), a tenth to a quarter inch possible. Sunday: showers and thunderstorms (80%), high near 82°; Sunday night 70%, low around 63°. Monday: showers and storms likely (70%) before 1 p.m., high near 71° — a 20-degree swing from today. If you're outside today, hydrate; have indoor backups for Saturday-evening and Sunday plans. Weather
— NWS forecast for Independence (39.0911,-94.4155), NWS Kansas City/Pleasant Hill (CWA EAX), zone MOZ037, fetched 6:00 a.m. Sept 18
No city meetings this weekend. The Regular City Council Meeting is Monday, Sept. 21, 6 p.m. at Independence Municipal Commons — the first reading of the special-election schedule for the recalled First District seat is the item to watch (the seat has been vacant since the Sept. 1 recall; a special election alone is estimated at $164,400). StayWell Committee meets Tuesday, Sept. 22 at the Municipal Commons, and the police chief finalists open house is Thursday, Sept. 24, 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Midwest Genealogy Center — residents can meet all four finalists and give feedback that goes to City Manager Troy Anderson, who makes the appointment. The 180-day moratorium on new data-center/battery-storage applications (approved July 6) runs into January; the council's vote on stricter data-center zoning rules was pushed back to October after a confused session, with Councilmember Brice Stewart's thirteen amendments and a possible public hearing ahead. City government
— City, Sept 21 council meeting · City, StayWell Committee Sept 22 · City, Sept 10 open house announcement · The Examiner, election cost · Kansas City Star, data-center rules vote delayed · City, moratorium (July 6)
The city narrowed its nationwide search to four finalists — three from the Kansas City area (including Grain Valley Chief Edward Turner, a 25-year Independence IPD veteran) and one from the southwestern U.S. The department has been without a permanent chief since Adam Dustman's resignation in August 2025; interim chief Doug Brinkley is still running things, and two deputy chief retirements earlier this year — one not voluntary — left the command structure thin. A related ruling this week: a Jackson County judge said the city can keep Dustman's post-resignation pay deal sealed from the Kansas City Star's open-records lawsuit, citing Sunshine Law exemptions. The city targets naming and swearing in a chief by late October. Public safety
— City of Independence, Sept 10 · Kansas City Star, finalists + sealing ruling · The Examiner, Sept 11
The city's “Love Where You Live: IndeCleanup” week runs Sept. 27–Oct. 4 — neighborhood cleanup projects with city resources and partners. IPD continues investigating the Sept. 12 fatal motorcycle crash on eastbound I-70 at Sterling Ave. and the Sept. 8 fatal crash at southbound Noland Rd. and I-70. On the utility side: IPL director Joe Hegendeffer left Aug. 7, and Richard Kemple has been serving as interim director since Aug. 8; the city has not yet announced a permanent-director process. Public safety · Community · IPL
— City of Independence, Sept 14 · City of Independence, Sept 12 crash · City of Independence, Sept 8 crash · City, IPL director departure (Aug 3) · American Public Power Association, Kemple interim (Aug 28)
No ISD board agenda is posted further forward than Sept. 8, so there's nothing verifiable to preview this cycle; the next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 13 (per the Sept. 8 packet). The live story: the district is raising its 2026 property tax levy about 5% — to a proposed combined rate of $5.5009 per $100 of assessed value (operating levy $4.5891, debt service $0.9118 unchanged) — because aggregate assessed values inside the district are expected to fall 6.3%, from about $1.40B to roughly $1.31B. The district still faces an estimated $19 million three-year hit from Jackson County's tax-credit plan following the botched 2023 reassessment; Independence dropped its lawsuit over that plan in late July. The Examiner's Sept. 15 story (“bumps levy, aiming for steady revenue”) is paywalled — summarized from the headline and the district's published hearing notice/packet. ISD
— The Examiner, Sept 15 (paywalled — summarized from headline) · KSHB 41, levy details · ISD Sept 8 meeting packet (PDF) · ISD board meeting list
The one-room 1870 Howard Schoolhouse on the 1859 Jail Museum grounds has reopened for tours after an 11-month, roughly $80–90K renovation, restoring the living-history experience that first-graders (including ISD classes) have used for 66 years under the Jackson County Historical Society. An official ribbon-cutting is scheduled for next Thursday (Sept. 24). Note for the Nov. 3 ballot: the schoolhouse is not part of the city's $19.9M historic-sites bond, though the society supports it. History · Schools
The latest batch on the ATC record is dated 09/11/2026: licensee Casey's Marketing Company filed Original Package Liquor, Sunday Original Package, and Permission–Employ Minors for five Independence stores, all status Active. The headline one: New filing: CASEY'S #4347 (Original Package Liquor, Sunday Original Package, and Permission–Employ Minors) at 11109 E 23RD ST S, filed 09/11/2026. Same three licenses the same day for CASEY'S GENERAL STORE #2213 (1110 E. 23rd St.), CASEYS 4351 (4208 S Noland Rd.), GOODSTOP BY CASEY'S #4343 (11715 E US Hwy 24), and CASEY'S #4342 (17600 E 39th St S). No new filings have posted since. Public record
New filing: BLEU HOUSE BISTRO (Retail by Drink and Sunday by Drink) at 15800 US 24, filed 09/01/2026 — licensee Bleu House Bistro, Inc. (Corporation), status Active. Public record
Recap of the ongoing thread: First District voters recalled Councilman John Perkins on Sept. 1 with roughly 68–70% in favor — the first recall of an Independence councilmember in city history — after his March vote for Nebius data-center tax breaks; the Jackson County board hand-counted the district's 1,650 votes on Sept. 8. He joins Bridget McCandless and Jared Fears, voted out in April — three of the five council members who approved the incentives are gone. The council takes up the special-election schedule (City Manager Anderson's recommendation: February primary, April general) at Monday's meeting; candidate packets are expected in early October, and a single special election costs an estimated $164,400. Leigh Phillips was first to announce for the seat. Ongoing
— KCUR, Sept 3 · NBC News, Sept 2 · The Examiner · City, Sept 21 agenda page
Independence voters decide Nov. 3 on a $19.9 million general-obligation bond for five city-owned historic properties — $7.5M Bingham-Waggoner Estate, $4.5M Vaile Mansion, $1.5M each for the Truman Memorial Building and Old Fire Station One, $600K for the 1827 Log Courthouse — with free resident admission to all five for the bond's 20-year life if it passes. Council placed it on the ballot unanimously in August; as a municipal GO bond it requires a four-sevenths supermajority. A similar measure narrowly failed in 2025. This week's KSHB coverage of the reopened Howard Schoolhouse — fixed with society money, not city money — landed close to the bond debate. Ongoing
A proposed class action filed Wednesday, Sept. 17 — the third against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in under a week — seeks damages for voters who cast August primary ballots in congressional districts different from the ones they'll vote in this November, arguing Hoskins deliberately delayed ruling on the referendum challenging Missouri's 2025 map. One plaintiff is Kate Dennis of Jackson County. After the Missouri Supreme Court struck the 2025 map and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive it, the November election is expected to run on the 2022 congressional lines, which is how Independence voters will be grouped. Regional · Ongoing
Show Me 250: Paint Your Own Patriotic Flower Pot — Saturday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m. at the Bingham-Waggoner Mansion and Estate, 313 W. Pacific Ave.: free, first-come, all ages, with free property tours (rescheduled from the July 4 celebration due to heat). Also Saturday, Sept. 19, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.: Fellowship of the Field Picnic at George Owens Nature Park, 1601 S. Speck Rd. — potato sack race, nine-ring scavenger hunt, leaf-pin crafting, fishing, face painting, costume contest with KC Renaissance Festival tickets as prizes. $5 pre-registration / $10 at the door (the Sept. 17 pre-registration deadline has passed — call 816-325-7115). Weather note: Saturday stays mostly sunny until showers move in after 5 p.m. Family
— City of Independence, paint-a-pot Sept 19 · City of Independence, Fellowship of the Field
Mobile Mammography — Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1:30–5:30 p.m. at Independence Municipal Commons, 20201 E. Jackson Drive. Diagnostic Imaging's unit is open to city employees and the public; call 913-344-9989 to schedule, bring insurance. Screening generally recommended from age 40. And sign-ups are opening for Love Where You Live: IndeCleanup, Sept. 27–Oct. 4 — the community-wide cleanup week announced Sept. 14. Health · Community
— City of Independence, mobile mammography Sept 23 · City of Independence, Sept 14
Prosecution and defense rested Wednesday, the ninth day of trial at the Jackson County Courthouse — well ahead of the expected three weeks — in the case against Fredrick Scott, charged with six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of armed criminal action over killings from August 2016 to August 2017, four of them on or near the Indian Creek Trail. Closing arguments began Thursday morning. Regional · Courts
| Fri 9/18 | Sunny, high ~93°, heat index to 100° · last hot day of the stretch |
| Sat 9/19 | Show Me 250 paint-a-pot 10 a.m., Bingham-Waggoner Estate, 313 W. Pacific Ave. (free) · Fellowship of the Field Picnic 11 a.m.–1 p.m., George Owens Nature Park, 1601 S. Speck Rd. · 20% storm chance after 5 p.m.; showers/storms likely overnight (80%) |
| Sun 9/20 | Showers and thunderstorms (80%), high ~82°; 70% overnight, low ~63° |
| Mon 9/21 | Storms likely (70%) before 1 p.m., high ~71° · Regular City Council Meeting 6 p.m., Municipal Commons first floor — first reading expected on the special-election schedule for the recalled First District seat |
| Tue 9/22 | StayWell Committee, Municipal Commons |
| Wed 9/23 | Mobile mammography 1:30–5:30 p.m., Municipal Commons, 20201 E. Jackson Dr. — call 913-344-9989 |
| Thu 9/24 | Police chief finalists open house 5:30–7:30 p.m., Midwest Genealogy Center, 3440 S. Lee's Summit Rd. · Howard Schoolhouse ribbon-cutting (1859 Jail Museum grounds) |
| Sep 27–Oct 4 | Love Where You Live: IndeCleanup — community-wide cleanup week |
| Tue 10/13 | ISD Board of Education regular meeting (next scheduled, per the Sept. 8 packet) |
| Tue 11/3 | Election Day: $19.9M GO bond for five city-owned historic sites (needs 57.14%) · congressional elections, expected on the 2022 maps |