When you think of retiring, do you have an idea of where it might be? Well, don’t look too far away as SmartAsset ranks Independence as the 5th best place to retire in the state of Kansas. 

Sunday evening when the Academy of Motion Pictures hosts the 93rd Academy Awards, former local resident Donald Graham Burt, Jr. could take home his second Oscar. Burt has been nominated for Production Design for the film “Mank,” along with set decorator Jan Pascal.

Finally, we are at that historic phase where a vaccine against COVID 19 is being rolled out. A vaccine is the most important thing in beating the virus. 

The 2021 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. student essay writing contest, sponsored by the Diversity Taskforce of Independence and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Planning Committee, is now accepting entries from students in grades 6th through 8th.

Absent from Kansas University’s first home game of the season was the raucous student section, the “who’s who” of former players sitting a few rows behind the KU bench and the rest of Jayhawk Nation cheering their squad on inside Allen Fieldhouse — arguably one of the best atmospheres in all of college basketball. 

Black Friday might look a bit different this year but that didn't stop shoppers from finding great deals on holiday items. Shoppers donned their best face covering and joined the shopping experience all around the country and the southeast Kansas area was no different.