Sharpening Teeth of Acclaimed KC-Based Catholic Watchdog
A national (and international) Kansas City company has a new leader who grew up here but doesn’t live here now and may never call Kansas City home again. James Grimaldi began a few months ago as the new executive editor of The National Catholic Reporter, an award-winning, progressive newspaper voice for Catholicism. Given Grimaldi’s long…
Kansas City Bears Racial Scars of Interstate System
Political power, civic influence, and blatant racism shaped the construction of the federal highway system crisscrossing the U.S. today. Kansas City was an extraordinarily adept player in the post-WW II effort. As a result, interstates slice and encircle the metropolitan area, U.S. 71 Highway runs along the east side of town, and many other connecting…
Cultivating History Pt. 3: Business Success Breeds Resentment
Junius Groves had built a potato empire by 1907, when educator Booker T. Washington showcased his success in his book, “The Negro in Business.” Groves then was shipping potatoes across North America while also importing what Washington called “fancy seed potatoes” from distant states. “He would get seed potatoes from Idaho and other places, and…
Cultivating History Pt. 2: ‘Potato King’ Thrives Amid Racism
While Kansas would prove friendly to potato growers like Junius Groves, it would not be quite the “free state” envisioned by Exodusters, the African Americans who, following the end of Reconstruction, considered their prospects more promising in the North. “It was about the same time when the Exodusters arrived in Kansas that the state Legislature…
Cultivating History Pt. 1: ‘Potato King’ Earning New Renown
Junius G. Groves is having a moment. Community knowledge of the African American potato farmer, who died 100 years ago this August, is growing after largely having vanished from the collective memory of Kansas, where he arrived carrying 90 cents in 1879. A new documentary, “The Potato King,” directed by filmmaker Jacob Handy, premiers Thursday…
Nick’s Picks | Spring Training, Abortions, Casinos, and More …
Winter Forever? Say it isn’t so… Another major snowstorm is on the way that could cause a big disruption to your commute and force school closures again. And brace yourself for Arctic-like temperatures. The National Weather Service says wind chills will be below zero from Monday night through Thursday morning. As for the snow…our TV…
After Tuberculosis Outbreak, Wyandotte County Parts Ways with Health Director
The director of the Wyandotte County Public Health Department is no longer with the agency, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. It comes after turmoil during the handling of the major tuberculosis outbreak, shown by emails obtained by the Kansas News Service. Elisha Caldwell had been head of the local health department while an outbreak of TB grew…
Nick’s Picks | Super Letdown, ICE Raids, Trump Effects and More …
Super Sick Monday So, there’ll be no victory parade after all. No “Three-Peat” after the Chiefs fall to the Eagles on football’s biggest stage. That was tough to watch, wasn’t it? And the questions have already begun: Was that Kelce’s final game for the Chiefs? You might be experiencing a record level of absences at…
SCOTUS Justice Applauds KC Stage Adaption of Her Book
As the first Latina, and the third woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor is noted for reasoned questioning and, at times, searing dissents. But legal opinions, despite obvious historical weight, aren’t the writings that Sotomayor referred to as her life’s work during her recent visit to Kansas City. The messaging within her…
Nick’s Picks | Super Bowl, Aviation Disaster, Black History, and More …
Super Bowl Week If you haven’t heard by now, the Kansas City Chiefs are just days away from making history. Could the Chiefs be the first team to win three back-to-back Super Bowls? The NFL’s biggest game is Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in New Orleans. I just did an online search for tickets, and you…
Trump Views Raise Questions for De Soto Panasonic Plant
The mammoth $4 billion Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant nearing completion on the western edge of Kansas City is the biggest investment ever in the state of Kansas. Now it looms as possibly the biggest paradox and largest question mark hanging over the state and its future fortunes. The paradox is that one of the…
‘The Fish are Very Dumb and They’re Very Hungry’
So, you think it has been unbearably cold lately? Try skimming across the frigid water of an area reservoir in a fishing boat at this time of the year. Then you will know what wind chill is all about. Take it from Brian Ondrejka, a guide on Clinton Lake near Lawrence, Kansas, who is accustomed…
Nick’s Picks | KC Streetcar, Kansas Troops, Missouri Governor, and More …
The Chiefs are officially heading to the Super Bowl. Will that be the only story Kansas Citians now care about? Here are some other trends and news developments you may want to be aware of in a week dominated by Chiefs talk… The Big Streetcar Shutdown It’s the week of the big Kansas City Streetcar…
Aging KCK Congregation Bequeaths Building to Serve Youth
Across much of the nation in recent decades, shrinking churches have confronted the painful question of whether they can afford to maintain a building for worship and other activities. Time and again the answer has been no. Sometimes that means finding other places in which to continue offering worship. But often it means either abandoning…
Bodhi Home Reopens to Homeless Clients After Renovation
It has been nearly two decades since Kar Woo, a sculptor and gallery owner, established Artists Helping the Homeless (AHH) in Kansas City, Missouri. And Woo recently returned to his roots by renovating the first home opened by the nonprofit. AHH refreshed the Midtown home with about $60,000 in new paint, fixtures, appliances, and furniture….