Group seeks to get rid of Kansas sales tax on food
Led by KC Healthy Kids, a nonprofit organization supported in part by the Kansas Health Foundation, a coalition is being formed to guide a legislative effort to exempt food from the state sales tax.
How prepared are Kansas and Missouri for disease outbreaks?
Kansas and Missouri rank in the bottom half of states in preparedness for potential outbreaks of infectious diseases like Ebola, Enterovirus and ‘superbugs,’ according to a report released Thursday.
Death Cafes: Discussing death, and especially life
On a Wednesday evening in October, about 20 people gathered in a St. Joseph, Missouri, coffee shop to talk about death. It’s called a Death Cafe, and it’s part of an international movement to get people talking about death and dying. It started in the U.K. in 2011 and, soon after that, hospice social worker…
Why are minorities diagnosed with autism at lower rates than whites?
For many Hispanic parents, getting help for their autistic children is a challenge. And that often starts with the failure to identify the disorder in the first place, says Jason Travers, an assistant professor in the special education department at the University of Kansas.
Your Fellow Americans producer’s perspective: the Crouser family
Gaylene Crouser says she is 50 percent Lakota, 50 percent unknown lineage and 100 percent Indian. So much pain and trouble surrounds her identity that, when our production team at Your Fellow Americans asked her for her name, she cried. Just knowing that someone had approached her, wanting to learn about her and the way she is…
Kansas budget cuts affect Department for Children and Families
A spokesperson for the Kansas Department for Children and Families says the agency plans to heed Gov. Sam Brownback’s call for cutting $3.9 million from its fiscal year 2015 budget by delaying a planned upgrade of its computer system.
Greener pastures of the Midwest attract California dairies
California’s branded as the state with happy cows, but increasingly, not necessarily happy dairy owners. Some are some selling their cattle and heading to the Midwest.
A non-traditional funding plan for a non-traditional farmer
When Kate Johnson stepped out of the car on the property in Easton, Kansas, that would become her farm, she knew she was home. After a yearlong search for the perfect land, this was it. “Even just the feeling driving up felt different than all of the other places I had seen,” she said. Johnson…
KC celebrates release of Boulevard’s Crown Town Ale
Boulevard Beer’s Crown Town Ale, which honors the Royals’ record-breaking season, was released today. Liquor stores across the metro did brisk business, some selling out well before noon. Jeremy Ragonese, Boulevard’s director of marketing, said it was important to make space in the tight brewing schedule for this ale after the Royals had such a…
Proposal To Raise Missouri’s Cigarette Tax Would Fund Children’s Initiatives
A business-led group based in Kansas City, Mo., is leading an effort to quadruple Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax and direct the proceeds to early childhood health and education programs. Organizers of the “Raise Your Hand for Kids” campaign on Friday outlined their plan for a statewide ballot initiative to an audience of about 100 business,…
Using T’ai Chi to help with chronic health issues
The room is dark. Most participants are not wearing shoes, and their eyes are closed. Clad mostly in sweatpants and seated in chairs, they settle in for a 45-minute guided meditation from their instructor. This is how Bill Douglas begins his classes at Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing in Leawood, Kansas. The center has…
Luncheon honoring Madeleine Albright delves into status of Missouri women
Eighteen years to the day that Madeleine Albright was nominated to be the first female Secretary of State, she reflected on her career and the challenges facing women and girls all over the world at the 22nd annual Women’s Foundation luncheon in Kansas City, Missouri. “The problem of gender discrimination isn’t limited to any one…
Hour of Code events teach kids logic and problem solving
At the Google Fiber space on State Line Road Tuesday morning, students from several local schools sat at laptops, trying to get the character Elsa from the movie “Frozen” to ice skate in a certain pattern. It looked like they were playing a computer game, but really they were participating in an international effort to…
Kansas nursing homes prepare for malpractice fund requirement
Hundreds of nursing homes and other assisted living facilities in Kansas will be required to participate in a fund meant to spread the risk of malpractice lawsuits starting next month. Advocates for those facilities say the change is a plus, but it has insurance agents scrambling to find liability coverage for their assisted living clients in a limited market.
From Austin to Kansas City: New KCMO Director of Creative Services appointed
The city of Kansas City, Missouri, announced a new division of the City Manager’s office today, along with the director of that division. Megan Crigger will join the city Jan. 5 as the director of creative services in the Office of Culture and Creative Services. The office will focus on cultural community planning and facilitating…