Kavahn Mansouri joins KCUR 89.3 and the Midwest Newsroom from the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat. There, his beat focused on covering local government, with a mission to hold elected officials and public agencies accountable. He also contributed to the breaking news beat daily and maintained the paper’s Public Pay Database, which tracks salaries and wages at taxpayer-funded institutions throughout the state. A native of St. Louis, Kavahn is a graduate of Webster University. You can reach him at kmansouri@umkc.edu.