Kansas

‘Chicago’ performer celebrating a homecoming to Kansas City

Published

1 year ago

January 10, 2025

‘Chicago’ performer celebrating a homecoming to Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There’s a new inmate in the cell block; Zoie Lee is playing Go-To-Hell Kitty in the ‘Chicago’ musical.

“My character is an heiress she has gone off the deep end and ends up murdering a few people in the show and so she ends up in the cell block that way,” Lee explained.

The national show is making its stop in Kansas City, a special place for Lee, this weekend.

“I’ve got lots of old mentors and teachers and peers and people I grew up with and used to perform with who have come to see the show and many family members and to do this for them is just a dream,” she said.

Lee is from Lee’s Summit. She graduated from Lee’s Summit High School and is a proud former student of the Heart of America Dance Centre.

“They’ve given me this gift and I get to show the world now and do it for them and it’s just really cool,” she continued.

Lee has shared that gift with many people performing around the country and world, but being away from the people she loves most was difficult.

“My dad was recently diagnosed with cancer and he’s now cancer-free free and that’s just the biggest blessing in the world,” Lee said.

While she says her greatest joy is being on stage, Lee’s heart will always be with her family.

“My parents have given up and sacrificed a lot for me to be able to train and have opportunities.”

That’s what makes this homecoming even more special, celebrating with the people who’ve been able to watch her dreams come true; dreams that started in Kansas City.

Tickets to ‘Chicago’ can be purchased here.

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

1 hour ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

13 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

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