News

House to vote on $1.9T COVID-19 relief bill today

The U.S. House of Representatives continues the debate on Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill on Friday. If approved, the measure would send a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments. Democrats… more

Restrictions ease for Jackson, Johnson, Wyandotte counties

Wyandotte, Johnson, and Jackson counties are removing closing time restrictions for bars, restaurants, and taverns. Both the Unified Government Public Health Department and the Jackson County Health Department issued new health orders reflecting this change. Johnson County amended an existing health order.… more

Coping with COVID: Next tier of vaccinations to begin in Missouri mid-March with Phase 1B Tier 3 

With the start of March just days away, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced the state's intentions to begin Phase 1B Tier 3 of COVID-19 vaccinations on Monday, March 15. The move is expected to make an estimated 550,000 more Missourians… more

Kansas City Council approves limit on tax incentives

Within the next 120 days or less, a new ordinance approved by the full Kansas City Council on Thursday will limit the amount of incentives for area developers as well as the maximum term for property tax abatements. A unanimous… more

Evergy to receive $155M investment from Bluescape

Evergy, Inc. has made an agreement which will add two new members to its Board of Directors as well as deliver $115 million with the sale of common shares. The Kansas City-based utility company reached a deal with activist investor… more

Banks pull in $60B in Q4

Yearly income was down by more than a third compared to 2019 numbers, according to the latest FDIC numbers, although banks pulled in almost $60 billion in net income last quarter, up 9.1 percent, largely on reduced loan loss provisions.… more

Total bankruptcy filings drop nearly 50 percent in third week of February compared to one year ago

Total filings were down by nearly 50 percent during the third week of February compared to the same week last year, according to a report from the American Bankruptcy Institute. Once again, the largest decline involved Chapter 13 filings, which… more

Proposal to limit tax incentives on new development advances

This week, a vote from the Neighborhood, Planning and Development Committee advanced a proposal to limit tax incentives for new development in Kansas City, Mo. After a vote of approval from the committee, the policy now advances to the full… more

In a Nutshell

Recently Eurostat announced that eurozone GDP contracted at an annual pace of 2.8% during the fourth quarter and 6.8% for all of 2020.  By comparison the U.S. economy grew at a preliminary annual pace of 4% during the fourth quarter, while declining… more

Jobless claims make notable drop

In the week ending February 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 730,000, a decrease of 111,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 20,000 from 861,000 to 841,000. The… more