Take 5 for your health
High Teen Birth Rates In Rural Kansas Pose Obstacles To Economic Advancement Nineteen-year-old Claudia Rivera shares a single-story tract home in Liberal, Kansas, with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jesùs Varela. Last month, Varela’s mother moved in so she could watch Rivera’s baby boy, Fabian, while Rivera works at the Dollar General store and Valera pulls down a shift at…
What’s in a name?
Next year marks the centennial for the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, which for most of its history has been an anchor along Independence Avenue. That continuity, however, has not extended to the name of the institution, which began downtown as the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery. The college became the…
Choice Cuts: Making room for more meat
All week, Harvest Public Media’s series Choice Cuts: Meat In America is examining how the meat industry is changing the U.S. food system and the American diet. The documentary on the subject will air 7:30 pm this Thursday on KCPT. Americans have a big appetite for everything meat. We smoke it, grill it, slice it, and chop it….
Today’s Special | Boulevard’s Beer Backpacks
This story of craft beer and baseball begins on Opening Day three years ago at Kauffman Stadium. Neil Witte, a training and technical support manager with the Boulevard Brewing Company, made his way through the parking lot as tailgaiting Kansas City Royals fans hoped that the fat grey clouds overhead didn’t put on a damper…
High water changes Platte River landscape
Wet spring and summer rains soaked much of the High Plains this year. The Platte River, which runs through Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River, saw historic flooding. Standing on the bank of the Platte River at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Neb., conservation director Andrew Pierson points upstream to where…
Awaiting an oasis, in KCK’s food dessert
It’s a challenge for Shawn Owens to find fresh food in his neighborhood. He walks or uses the bus for transportation, and quality fresh produce and meats are scarce within a reasonable distance from his home. The life-long Wyandotte County resident does most of his grocery shopping at convenience stores and Aldi, but those places…
China slowdown may squeeze Midwest soybean farmers
China’s rapid industrialization and economic expansion over the past few decades has been a boon for U.S. farmers — especially soybean farmers. But China’s economy is slowing down, leaving American farmers exposed to the downside of being tied to the world’s second largest economy. With tall stands of corn and green soybean fields stretching for…
Ch-ch-ch-changes, for KCK shopping plaza
The Board of Commissioners of the Wyandotte County Unified Government meeting report
Sounding Smart
INTERNATIONAL Russia moved forcefully into Syria. Many of the targets seem to be non-IS opponents of Russia’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. So that’s not terribly helpful. India announced a new plan to lower its rate of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan includes an aggressive adoption of renewable energies, such as wind and solar, but the nation nevertheless remains highly…
Day in the life: A Kansas City public defender
Exploring the challenges of the Public Defender’s office as told through documenting the footsteps of a public defender in a day.
Of beer, beans and cycling
David Smock knows that there is something brewing in North Kansas City. The owner of Dutchman Coffee Roasters just hopes it is his brew that fuels the local food boom. Dutchman began selling its beans and coffee at the North Kansas City Farmers Market this August and had a tap of cold brew coffee at…
5 questions with ‘Stray Dog’
Ron “Stray Dog” Hall got his big screen debut as Thump in the Academy-Award nominated film “Winter’s Bone.” Director Debra Granik recruited Hall for the part of the ruthless crime boss after seeing him at a biker church in southern Missouri. But while Hall physically fits the part, a new documentary from Granik reveals that in real…
The Entire History of KC…
If you don’t know your past, you’ll never understand the future. Almost 200 years of KC history in a 2-minute video. What did we leave out?
The Weekender
Fall has fallen, and there’s no prettier time to be in our town. Make the most of the season this weekend by busting out the sweaters and hoodies, snorting a few lines of pumpkin spice, and getting out to see what the city has to offer. GAWKING First Friday art walks are always a fine time, provided…
372 letters home: The paper trail of war
Thanksgiving Day 1942, Camp Sutton, N.C. — “…I also gave thanks for the country we live in. Honey you may not realize it but this is the most wonderful nation in all the world and if possible I’m going to do my best to help protect and defend it.” That passage is from a letter that…