😱 Wow, it's Wednesday.

🌧️ Today's weather: Flash flood warning until 9:15am, then chance of storms with highs in the mid-80s.

🎶 Sounds like: "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Donna Phelps!

This newsletter is 998 words — a 4-minute read.

Public officials and residents of the Western Auto building gathered on the roof last night to flip the switch on a fully repaired sign after more than a year.

Why it matters: The 74-year-old sign is a city icon and a point of local pride, inspiring everything from paintings to T-shirt designs and bracelet charms.

State of play: It's the second time the bright lights have gone dark, but a new plan between the city and homeowners will keep it shining for at least another decade.

Catch up quick: The sign went dark in July 2025. Three months later, City Council voted to spend $100,000 on repairs to bulbs and neon tubing as part of its Illuminate KC initiative.

• A part of the sign — the red outline — was relit for the World Cup as repairs were underway.

Context: The glowing beacon, installed in 1952, first went dark after the building was vacated in 2000, per KC Yesterday.

• The building became luxury condos in 2002, but it wasn't until 2018 that homeowners pooled resources and the sign was relit.

What they're saying: Mayor Quinton Lucas tells Axios it's a city investment in public art and local history, adding that the sign has been part of great Kansas City moments, like the World Cup Dutch march down Grand Boulevard.

• Resident Dani Stendevach says the sign is "an important part of our history," and part of her legacy as an owner.

Friction point: The Western Auto Lofts Homeowners Association rejected a union bid earlier this year to fix the sign and maintain it for free, KCTV5 reports.

• The union would have replaced the bulbs with LEDs and added its own sign for advertising.

What's next: The HOA will fund maintenance for the next 10 years.

Most Americans have already seen their final 8pm sunset of the year, but Kansas City still has about a week of late light left.

The big picture: We lose a little more light every day as the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun until Dec. 21, the shortest day of the year.

• The farther west within a time zone you live, the later your sunsets typically run, and KC sits in the western stretch of the Central Time Zone.

By the numbers: KC is losing about 16 minutes of daylight a week right now, with tonight's sunset at 8:07pm.

• The year's latest sunset came June 27 at 8:50pm, and by Dec. 7 the sun will set at 4:57pm.
• Winter solstice in KC runs about five and a half hours shorter than the summer peak.

Zoom in: The metro's final 8pm sunsets arrive within days of each other this month.

• Cass County goes first on Sunday, followed by Jackson and Clay counties on Monday.
• Wyandotte and Johnson counties on the Kansas side hold out until Tuesday.

💭 Abbey's thought bubble: I'm squeezing everything I can out of the last 8pm sunsets:

• Walks along the riverfront after dinner.
• Late patio happy hours that turn into watching the sunset.
• Reading on my rooftop with a view I'll miss all winter.

Go deeper

🏟️ A Kauffman Stadium worker was handcuffed at yesterday's committee meeting on the Royals downtown stadium deal after objecting during public comment.

• KCPD tells Axios he was issued a municipal summons for trespassing and assault.
• The committee approved the $600 million plan, which goes to the full council tomorrow. (KCTV)

🏛️ Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe named Valarie Moseley as the next state corrections director, effective Oct. 1, as current director Trevor Foley moves to lead the state budget office. (FOX4)

The White House wants to shrink the childhood vaccine schedule, but the shots your kid needs to start school in Kansas City this month haven't changed.

Why it matters: KC's health director says families are confused about what the new order means, clinic traffic is down, and kids still need their required shots to start school in the next two weeks.

Catch up quick: President Trump signed an order Aug. 10 calling for a review of the nation's vaccine schedule, cutting the number of shots recommended for all children and splitting the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three separate doses.

• The White House says the order maximizes parental choice over childhood vaccines.
• It asks states to reconsider their school enrollment requirements. It doesn't rewrite any laws on its own.

Zoom in: "Right now, nothing has changed," the Kansas City Health Department said in a release following its Friday news conference on the order.

• The recommended schedule, school requirements, insurance coverage and KCHD services all stay put, and providers are advised to keep vaccinating per American Academy of Pediatrics guidance.

State of play: School shot requirements are set by states, not the White House. Missouri's health department says its requirements won't change for now because the requirements are set in state law, and Kansas officials say they follow guidance from pediatric and family medicine groups.

• Kansas City Public Schools told parents on Thursday it still follows state-required immunizations.

Stunning stat: KCHD vaccination traffic is down 20% to 30%, Jones said, while Missouri kindergarten rates already sit below the 90% herd immunity threshold, per state data.

Reality check: There's no scientific evidence that splitting the MMR shot would make it safer, University Health infectious disease specialist Susanne Luedtke said during the news conference.

• It would mean more injections, more appointments and more chances for kids to miss a dose, she said.

Learn more

🎧 Abbey didn't forget about the Axios KC playlist. Send more recommendations to add!

🌞 Travis will gladly exchange an 8pm sunset for weather in the upper 70s.

Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing this newsletter.