Need health insurance? Enrollment open now for Marketplace health plans. Here's how to sign up.

The Marketplace health plans — commonly known as Obamacare — are now open for enrollment for 2023. Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, but you need to enroll by Dec. 15 to have coverage starting Jan. 1. Here’s how to get help signing up.

Fort Osage's Jason Snodgrass named Missouri superintendent of the year

Fort Osage Superintendent Jason Snodgrass was named superintendent of the year by the Missouri Association of School Administrators, but the seventh-year leader sees the award as an honor for the entire district. “This recognition is truly a reflection of all of the good work taking place in our classrooms,” he said.

Watch: A shining Girls on the Run 5k day

The morning’s cold rain turned into a sprinkle and vanished altogether as crisp sunlight broke out over the 2022 Fall Girls on the Run 5K just as hundreds of girls, parents, siblings and coaches crowded to the starting line Saturday. Check out our video and photo gallery.

"A great, great man": LINC remembers "fearless" Calvin Wainright

His shoulders were as broad as a bear, radiating strength through his hands and legs — and yet Calvin Wainright stood even taller in the breach of the resilient Kansas City communities he served. The lives he touched, like the pictures of players, teams and coaches he taped to the walls of his LINC office, spanned beyond the visible horizon like a glassy sea.

Boom! LINC's Lights On Afterschool 2022 events are rocketing, now with video

Our annual Lights On Afterschool celebrations got off to a world-traveling start at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy, painting and chili-eating at J.A. Rogers Elementary, rocket-fuel explosions at Warford, a fashion show at Faxon . . . and there is so much more throughout LINC’s Caring Communities. Check out our video and photo gallery.

National report finds Missouri student test scores dropped during pandemic

A new report released this week documents the impact of COVID-19 on student performance in Missouri, with test scores for math and reading dropping from pre-pandemic levels.

Public hearings to begin on KCPS school closings

In phase four of the Kansas City Public Schools’ Blueprint 2030 plan for the future of the district this month, the district announced recommendations to close two high schools and eight elementary schools. Now comes the community’s chance to talk about it.

'Historic' decline in child poverty ties to LINC's Caring Communities legacy with FEC

There’s a reason, when President Bill Clinton spoke in Kansas City Sept. 10, 1996, that FEC Director Clyde McQueen sat at the President’s right and LINC President Gayle Hobbs sat at his left. “These people in Kansas City know what they are doing,” the President said. “It’s miraculous what they are doing.”

Volunteers wanted: See how you can help neighbors get free tax preparation

Missouri’s free tax preparation service needs volunteers — and not just from tax preparers — to get trained and help many Kansas City neighbors who otherwise might not be able to file their income tax returns. See how you can help.

Major offices, issues at stake in Nov. 8 election; Vote411.org has your ballot info

Kansas City-area voters will be making decisions on their U.S. Senator, their Jackson County executive, measures to impose state control on the local police budget and other races and issues Nov. 8. Got questions? The website Vote411.org has rounded up answers.

KCPS recommends closing two high schools, eight elementary schools

The Kansas City Public Schools moved into the final — and most emotional — stage of its Blueprint 2030 process Wednesday as it put names to the number of schools the administration is proposing be closed. Welcome to Phase Four.

Healthy families, healthy lives: Lights On Afterschool events to celebrate community strength

As we prepare our annual Lights On Afterschool events for our LINC Caring Communities, national surveys show what parents want — and get — from holistic after-school programs.

'This is our heart': Building schools of character

Character Counts is foundational. Speaking the program’s name invokes the six pillars of moral living that LINC’s team members learn and carry into their Caring Communities. It guides the lessons and meaningful moments they share with children in their classrooms every day.

Watch: Food, fun, football at LINC Family Night in Hickman Mills

Three hundred hot dogs. Six hundred balloons. After a couple years of Covid hiatus, LINC’s Family Night in Hickman Mills returned to Ruskin High School Sept. 30. Check out our video and our photo gallery.

KC Beacon: Crucial dates leading up to Missouri’s 2022 general election

The Beacon presents a list of dates you need to know for the November general election in Missouri, including the deadline to register to vote or request an absentee ballot.

'All Because You Matter'; KCPS urges everyone to stop and read

The Kansas City Public Schools community wants children, parents, caregivers, adults, community partners like LINC and others to pick up books and show universally that “KCPS Loves to Read.”

In one of Kansas City's hottest summers, thousands face brutal utility bills and shutoff threats

KCUR reports that thousands of Kansas City residents are struggling to pay rent and utility bills and at risk of being shut off. LINC reports that relief for families processed by LINC/Morning Star now exceeds $2.5 million.

LINC Commissioner Williams honored by Greater KC Chamber

The award is named for Athena, the Greek goddess who embodies strength, courage, wisdom, and enlightenment. Williams, a LINC Commissioner and former superintendent of the Hickman Mills School District, has given nearly 40 years in service of schools, children and teachers.

Watch the video: Back to school with LINC

Take a look at Melcher’s Million Fathers March, the first day at Hickman Mills’ new Sixth Grade Center, “Character Counts! at Belvidere, sunny greetings from Gladstone and Boone’s back-to-school picnic.

Welcome back! This is what Caring Communities look like

Yes, there will be plenty of all the creative fun that kids enjoy in LINC’s before- and after-school programs, but just as reliable are the broader supports LINC’s Caring Communities bring to the children, families and neighborhoods.