A Johnson County restaurant known for its Mexican cuisine announced that it will close later this year. Don Chilito’s Mexican Restaurant’s final day in business will be Dec. 11. The popular restaurant opened on Johnson Drive in 1971. Since then it has served millions of people. Barry Cowden is the second-generation owner of Don Chilito’s. He said it’s time for him to close the restaurant that his father opened. Earlier in the pandemic, the restaurant drew controversy because it did not…

Deputies move in and close a Blue Springs restaurant Thursday afternoon, accused of violating Jackson County’s mask mandate. It’s the latest twist in a fight over the health order. According to the new letter that now hangs on the door at Rae’s Café in Blue Springs, the Jackson County Health Department ordered the business to close. The order also says that sheriff’s deputies and police officers will enforce the order.  “Despite numerous warnings and attempts by the County to work…

On Friday, Rae's Cafe was deemed an imminent health hazard and ordered to close immediately by the Jackson County Health Department. At the time, the owner of the Blue Springs restaurant told FOX4 that she was planning to stay open. And on Saturday afternoon, it was clear how she was going to make that happen. Rae's Cafe now has a sign on its door at 1605 Missouri Highway 7 saying that it is a "private club" with a $1 membership fee. Its dress code? "No masks allowed." Owner Amanda Wohletz told…

Johnson County will begin requiring weekly Covid-19 testing for county employees beginning next week. "As of Aug. 11, only 46% of regular employees have reported being fully vaccinated," County Manager Penny Postoak Ferguson said. "With the sharp increase of the delta variant, we want employees to be safe. Vaccination is one of the best tools we have to help prevent serious illness or passing the virus on to our colleagues or the people we serve." The county said employees can opt out of weekly…

A damaged Kansas City house that sits near 28th Street and Prospect Avenue may not look like much anymore. But it's connected to baseball royalty. It's the former home of baseball legend Leroy "Satchel" Paige. The Negro Leagues and Major League Baseball player lived in the home at 2626 E. 28th St. beginning in 1950 and lived there until he died in 1982. Now it will be transformed into a museum and hub for the Santa Fe neighborhood. Pitch Perfect KC, a local group that is partnering with the Kansas…

Five properties in Kansas City’s Manheim Park neighborhood are sitting empty, and they may continue to sit empty for the foreseeable future. The reason: They’re entangled in a lawsuit involving the nonprofit Make it Right Foundation, which actor Brad Pitt started. The organization donated millions of dollars to renovate the Bancroft School into affordable apartments. Make it Right also purchased the five lots in the neighborhood around the same time, but there’s no plan for them, and the…