Jason and Keri Medows during a recording for Illinois Farm Bureau Women in Ag. Jason launched the "Ag State of Mind" podcast to discuss mental health issues in rural America.

Mental Health Assistance Hard to Find in Rural America

A shortage of professionals, bad broadband and lingering stigma make it hard for people in rural America seeking mental health help. By at least one measure, Missouri is the worst state in the country in terms of rural mental health access.

Kauffman Center, Folly, Midland, to Require Covid Vaccinations

By Kevin Collison Downtown’s cultural crown jewel, the Kauffman Center, will require patrons to show proof of vaccination for Covid-19 beginning Sept. 6, joining other venues requiring immunization since the pandemic resurged several weeks ago. “We feel that this measure, hopefully a temporary one, will allow us to welcome audiences safely back into the Kauffman…

Business partners Brent Anderson and Nathan Ryerson plan to open Friction Beer Co. in the former Hartman Hardware space in downtown Shawnee.

Tap List | Downtown Shawnee Gets Another Brewery

Business partners Brent Anderson and Nathan Ryerson plan to open Friction Beer Co. in the former Hartman Hardware space in downtown Shawnee.

Rep. Doug Richey, R-Excelsior Springs, and Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, during a Joint Committee on Education hearing on critical race theory on July 19, 2021.

Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Focus on Inequity in Education, Not Critical Race Theory

Educators, students and advocates urged state lawmakers Monday afternoon to focus on tackling larger issues of inequity across education rather than latch onto the academic concept of critical race theory

Graystone Heights might be forgotten by some, but here's what we learned about the community. (Collage by Cami Koons | Flatland)

curiousKC | The Lost History of Greystone Heights

Greystone Heights once existed where Interstate 35 now sits. So, what happened?

Hungry Hatch Opens in City Market

The Hungry Hatch has opened a permanent location at 23 E. Third St. in the City Market in addition to the food truck its been selling its bowls, wraps and salads from the past couple years. The restaurant specializes in healthy dishes that cater to people with special dietary needs including dairy-free and/or gluten-free diets…

Nick Haines

Nick’s Picks | Here’s the Latest on COVID-19 Mask and Vaccine Requirements in KC

Nick Haines offers a roundup of Kansas City area COVID-19 news, as well the evolving rules for masks and vaccinations, as students return to schools and campuses.

Persistence Bears Fruit at 2000 Vine Redevelopment

By Kevin Collison The developers of the 2000 Vine historic redevelopment are beginning to taste the fruits of their hard work over the past three years, but are candid describing how tough it can be doing projects on the East Side. “It’s become painfully clear and obvious why development has been difficult east of Troost,”…

Mason Finley prepares to throw the discus in a scene from "Chasing Gold."

Art House Extra | Former KU Athlete Chases Gold at Tokyo Olympics

Art House visits with the filmmakers behind “Chasing Gold,” a documentary about former KU discus thrower Mason Finley’s preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.

Shelton Ponder (left) and Harold Phillips, co-chairs of the Liberty African American Legacy Memorial project, stand in a formerly segregated portion of Fairview and New Hope Cemetery, where ground will be broken for the memorial on Saturday.

Once-Segregated Cemetery Gets Memorial for Hundreds of People in Unmarked Graves

The Liberty African American Legacy Memorial seeks to memorialize 758 people interred – most of them in unmarked graves – in the once-segregated section of what is now Fairview and New Hope Cemetery in Liberty.

World-Class Sculpture Shattered at Bartle Hall Plaza by Errant Driver

By Kevin Collison Jun Kaneko, a world-renowned sculptor, has works displayed publicly throughout the country and internationally, but last Thursday Kansas City apparently became the first where one was destroyed. One of the seven, large ceramic works making up his “Water Plaza” installation in the plaza south of the Bartle Hall Grand Ballroom was shattered…

A Comicon fan dressed as Chewbacca.

Weekend Possibilities | Planet Comicon, Pride Parade and Bird Bootcamp

Live music, comic book characters, chocolates and various other celebrations fill August’s fourth weekend with strong entertainment options.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a mixed impact on mental health services on college campuses. Fewer students are reaching out for help, but those who do are seeing counselors more frequently.

Mental Health on Campus: University Counselors Seeing Fewer Clients, But More Often

College mental health counselors saw fewer clients, at least initially, during the COVID-19 pandemic. But clients sought help more frequently.

Nika Cotton makes a drink at Soulcentricitea, which she opened on Troost Ave. last July. Cotton applied for a grant from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, but did not receive any money.

In Kansas City, Restaurant Revitalization Funds Flowed to Whiter, More Affluent Areas

Local businesses received a total of $53 million from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. But few of those dollars flowed east of Troost.

Big 18th & Vine District Mixed-Use Plan Before Development Agency

(UPDATED Sept. 8: A 25-year property tax abatement, 100 percent for 15 years, 50 percent for 10 years, and a sales tax exemption on construction materials was unanimously approved for the One Nine Vine project at a special Planned Industrial Expansion Authority board meeting Tuesday.) By Kevin Collison The first phase of the proposed One…