The year 2024 was a year of change, both internally for the Post and beyond in the county we cover.
We dropped our longtime Shawnee Mission Post moniker, combined our operations with our sister publication, the Blue Valley Post, and became the Johnson County Post.
It was a nod to our growing ambitions to cover more of this place we call home and become the go-to source for news that impact our readers’ lives.
Turns out, it was a good year for that because … a lot happened in Johnson County in 2024!
From an epochal election with mixed results locally to a prominent battle over what some officials called a “once in a generation” homeless shelter, there were plenty of big stories that kept us on our toes.
Our attention also focused on a mayoral recall fight in a local suburb, schools’ evolving rules over students’ cellphone use and one iconic restaurant’s sudden and swift fall from grace following a food contamination scandal.
And that’s just scratching the surface.
Here are the stories that defined 2024 — a year of change — in Johnson County:
Homeless shelter plan rejected
The Johnson County commission began late last year making moves to convert a La Quinta Inn & Suites off Interstate 35 in Lenexa into what would have been the county’s only year-round shelter and service center for single adults experiencing homelessness.
The plan garnered fervent support from local faith groups who have prioritized addressing homelessness in Kansas’s most affluent county, but it also produced opposition not just from local residents fearful the shelter could lead to a spike in crime but also from some skeptical city officials who were asked to chip in funding for the initiative.
It came down to an August vote by the Lenexa City Council, who needed to approve a special permit for the shelter plan to go forward. The city council ultimately rejected the permit, citing concerns that the shelter would tax city resources and contribute to blight in the surrounding area.
The county commission pivoted late in the year to reallocate federal money that had been pegged to help purchase the hotel to go toward other housing-related causes instead.
Read more of our coverage:
- Cost to buy JoCo hotel being eyed for homeless shelter goes up — ‘I have heartburn’
- JoCo OKs $3.7M to renovate Lenexa hotel into homeless shelter
- JoCo homeless shelter plan moves ahead, as ardent backers and opponents weigh in
- JoCo wants cities to help pay for new homeless shelter, but some officials are pushing back
- Lenexa commission recommends denial of homeless shelter permit. What happens now?
- Debate over homeless shelter at Lenexa hotel rages. How did we get here?
- Lenexa City Council denies county homeless shelter permit. What happens now?
- New homelessness advocacy website launches after county’s homeless shelter plan fails
- After county’s homeless shelter idea fails, officials find other ways to spend the money
Voters send mixed messages at the ballot box
Though results at the national level this November fell decisively for former President Donald Trump and Republicans, Election Night returns in Johnson County weren’t so clear cut.
Democrats won some major victories, including Byron Roberson’s win for Johnson County Sheriff. He’ll be the first Democrat to hold that office in nearly a century and the first Black person to ever do so.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids also took home another convincing victory to retain her seat in Kansas’s Third Congressional District, one that despite state Republicans’ redistricting efforts two years ago, seems evermore a Democratic stronghold.
But the GOP was also in a celebratory mood in Johnson County on Election Night. That’s mainly because Democrats’ much-hyped hopes to break Republican supermajorities in the Statehouse did not materialize. In fact, Republicans picked up two seats in Johnson County, cementing the GOP’s power to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes on key issues in Topeka next year.
Read more of our coverage:
- See unofficial final results for the 2024 election in Johnson County
- 3 close Kansas House races unchanged after JoCo election results certified
- Byron Roberson poised to become next Johnson County Sheriff
- Sharice Davids again rolls to victory in JoCo’s U.S. House district
- Steve Howe appears set for fifth term as Johnson County DA
- GOP makes Statehouse gains in JoCo. See who won in your district.
- 6 takeaways from a see-saw election night in Johnson County
- ‘A step sideways’ — JoCo Democrats assess local election wins and losses
Cities crack down on Airbnbs
Housing and zoning issues have long been a staple of debates in local city halls, and that discussion took on a new flavor this year with a focus in several communities on strengthening regulations regarding short-term rentals.
It’s becoming more common for property owners in Johnson County to rent out dwellings on sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, even in traditional single-family neighborhoods. And that seems to be rubbing some residents the wrong way.
In response to citizen complaints, cities including Fairway, Merriam and Shawnee all adopted new stricter rules regarding short-term rentals this year. Prairie Village went the furthest, imposing new regulations that effectively ban such properties in that city.
One city that decided to stay put: Overland Park. Officials there called that city’s current short-term rental situation “manageable” after concerns were raised following a deadly shooting two years ago at a house rented out for a party.
Read more of our coverage:
- Prairie Village considering rule that would effectively ban AirBnbs in city
- This Johnson County city is latest to adopt stricter rules for AirBnbs
- Like cities around it, Mission weighs new restrictions on AirBnbs
- Shawnee sets new limits on short-term rentals like AirBnbs
- Overland Park unlikely to crack down further on short-term rentals
- Prairie Village bans short-term rentals like Airbnbs over owners’ objections
Prairie Village mayoral recall effort falls short
One of the biggest stories the Post covered last year was Prairie Village’s contentious debate over housing and zoning, which culminated in turnover on the city council.
This year, the tense atmosphere continued with a drive to recall Mayor Eric Mikkelson, an effort propelled by some of the same residents who led the opposition to zoning changes in 2023.
It was believed to be the first attempt to recall a Johnson County elected official in 15 years. The residents wanting to recall Mikkelson filed at least nine petitions before District Attorney Steve Howe determined they had raised sufficient grounds to move forward with signature gathering.
Mikkelson’s opponents argued he had misused public funds in his attempts to thwart previous recall efforts. But ultimately, the group behind the recall campaign could not gather enough signatures for it to be put before voters.
Read more of our coverage:
- PV residents to gather signatures in new effort to recall Mayor Eric Mikkelson, who decries ‘smear tactics’
- ‘Good government’ or ‘personal gain?’ Emails with consultant at heart of Prairie Village mayor recall effort
- JoCo DA rejected attempts to recall Prairie Village mayor
- Paid canvassers circulate petition to recall Prairie Village mayor. Who hired them?
- Effort to recall Prairie Village mayor falls short of needed signatures
Schools take on student phone use
It’s not news that smartphones can be a distraction, but what was new in 2024 were some of Johnson County’s biggest public school districts reassessing rules around how students can use them in school.
Olathe Public Schools began the new school year in August with a board-sanctioned policy that prohibits students from having personal electronic devices out during most parts of the school day.
By the end of the year, building principals reported back to the board that implementing the new rules had been a “non-issue.”
That may give heart to Shawnee Mission, which is also considering putting new phone rules in place early next year, though what the district is considering appears to not go as far as the “phone-free” schools some parents have been calling for.
Read more of our coverage:
- Task force says Kansas schools should ban cellphones for all students
- ‘A line in the sand’ — SMSD considers prohibiting cell phones during school
- Worried about impacts on learning, Olathe schools consider prohibiting cell phones in class
- New rules would make Shawnee Mission students keep phones silent, stowed away during school
- Olathe educators says district’s new cellphone rules have been ‘non-issue’
Tragedy strikes Super Bowl celebration
A mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration in February outside Union Station happened across the state line but left traumatic and long-lasting marks on Johnson County.
Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a beloved local radio DJ and mother from Shawnee, was killed in the shooting, which authorities say was the result of an argument among multiple groups of people. Nearly two dozen other rally goers were injured.
Lopez-Galvan, known on air at community radio station KKFI as “DJ Lisa G,” was remembered as a big-hearted, loving presence in the metro’s larger Tejano music scene.
The rally shooting touched other Johnson County lives. An Olathe man briefly detained by police in the shooting’s chaotic aftermath was falsely portrayed as one of the shooters by people on social media, including some local politicians. That man is still fighting a legal battle over what he says is his damaged reputation.
Read more of our coverage:
- Chiefs Super Bowl rally shooting shatters metro’s joy. Here’s what we know one day later.
- ‘We love you, Lisa’ — Vigil honors Johnson County woman killed in Super Bowl rally shooting
- Taylor Swift donates $100,000 to fundraiser for Johnson County woman killed in Chiefs parade shooting
- Patrick and Brittany Mahomes visit 2 JoCo students wounded in Super Bowl rally shooting
- Remembering Lisa Lopez-Galvan, whose joy and love of music touched lives across KC metro
- JoCo schools offer counseling support after Super Bowl rally shooting
- JoCo man sues Missouri lawmakers for falsely identifying him as Super Bowl rally shooter
- Olathe man falsely labeled as Super Bowl parade shooter refiles federal lawsuits
Hereford House rocked by scandal
Iconic Kansas City steakhouse chain Hereford House suffered an existential blow to its reputation in Johnson County in 2024.
In April, a former kitchen worker at the company’s long-standing Leawood franchise at Town Center Plaza was charged with intentionally contaminating food and posting videos of himself doing so online.
As the restaurant struggled to contain the fallout, dozens of people who said they got sick after eating at Hereford House in Leawood filed lawsuits against the company.
Faced with mounting legal challenges, Hereford House announced the closure of its Leawood restaurant in August. (Its other restaurants, including one in Shawnee, remain open.) It was a sudden and shocking end to what had for decades been a hub of social and civic live in that part of Johnson County.
Read more of our coverage:
- Man charged with intentionally contaminating food at Hereford House in Leawood
- Missouri man sues Hereford House in Leawood over food contamination
- No diseases found after Hereford House food contamination suspect tested, police say
- Hereford House faces fallout over ex-worker’s alleged food contamination. Can its brand survive?
- New lawsuit: Birthday party of 12 got sick after eating at Hereford House
- Hereford House will close Leawood restaurant amid fallout from food contamination case
- ‘Heartbroken’ — Johnson County diners mourn loss of Leawood Hereford House
- Ex-Hereford House employee pleads not guilty in food contamination case
Other big stories we covered
This past April marked a grim milestone in Johnson County: 10 years since a white supremacist shooter targeted two Jewish sites in Overland Park, killing three people. Our reporter Kaylie McLaughlin talked to more than a dozen people impacted by the tragedy and how its aftermath has shaped their lives in the decade since.
In other news, we looked into the possibility of the Royals ultimately landing a new ballpark in Johnson County and the impacts on transparency of local police agencies moving their radio communications behind an encrypted firewall.
- 10 years after hate-fueled shootings in Johnson County, these survivors still live with the impacts
- Could Royals end up in Johnson County? Here’s what we know right now
- Police scanners in Johnson County will soon go dark. What does that mean for transparency?
- 3 people arrested after police use Grappler to stop fleeing vehicle on I-35 in Johnson County
- A road diet is coming to this stretch of Nall Avenue in two JoCo cities
- Actor Keanu Reeves (very quietly) came to Rainy Day Books in Fairway — Here’s why
