Blaise Mesa
News ReporterBlaise Mesa reports on criminal justice and social services for the Kansas News Service. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago where he was one of the most decorated journalists in the history of the college’s newspaper. Mesa served as co-editor-in-chief of the Columbia Chronicle and was that organization's first executive producer. Before his time at the Kansas News Service, he spent a year reporting on local government for the Topeka Capital-Journal during the height of the pandemic.
Mesa’s reporting examines how the criminal justice and foster care system functions in Kansas while showing its impacts on everyday Kansans.
-
The Kansas attorney general downplayed expected changes to transgender residents' use of bathrooms and other facilities. -
Diversion is a popular alternative to burdening someone with a criminal record and possible jail time, but the fees that come with it can mean your wealth determines the type of justice available.
-
Kansas lawmakers are holding a special meeting to review foster care issues.
-
Derek Schmidt and Laura Kelly do agree on the need for mental health services, but not all policy ideas align.
-
The prison system announced the change after the Kansas News Service pointed out possible issues.
-
Centurion of Kansas has been fined almost 5,000 times for compliance issues.
-
The Division of the Child Advocate, an office less than a year old, has already closed seven cases and found some troubling handling of foster care.
-
Changes in state law should help expand mental health services, but it will take years to get everyone on board.
-
The decision could have wide-ranging impacts for biological families aggrieved by a judge's decision on whether to give custody rights to adoptive or foster families.
-
The state is trying to make it easier for someone with a suspended license to get some driving privileges with restricted licenses. But people are still missing out.
