Everybody wants to be Royal
A woman in her 20s walks into the Garment District Boutique in the Power & Light District around lunchtime on Friday. She glances around before tentatively asking “Do you guys have more sizes in yet?” She’s looking at a box on the floor, overflowing with dozens of the same T-shirt: a baseball raglan featuring a…
Measles, pertussis vex Kansas health workers as Ebola steals headlines
[row class=”row-fluid”][col class=”span12″] TOPEKA – Even as local health officials prepare for the unlikely event of an Ebola outbreak in Kansas, some have had their hands full trying to convince people in their communities to take basic measures to contain the spread of more prevalent, contagious and preventable diseases like measles and pertussis. Kansas has…
How do you define the American Dream?
When interviewing people for the Your Fellow Americans (YFA) project, defining the “American Dream” has been a central theme in our discussions. Sometimes the people we interview are passers-by who pause and give us a moment of their time. Sometimes the people have a full lights-n-camera setup surrounding them and are meeting us for a second…
Kansas City celebrates: Royals advance to World Series
Last night, the Kansas City Royals won game four of the ALCS at Kauffman Stadium, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles and securing a spot in next week’s World Series. The team hasn’t played in the World Series since 1985, when they won against the St. Louis Cardinals in the “I-70 World Series.” [View the story…
More than just movies: KC's indie cinemas transform the film experience
Any Kansas Citian interested in independent films knows what it’s like to wait for a movie with a limited release to reach the Midwest. Recently, both “The Skeleton Twins” and “Obvious Child” — small movies with with former SNL comedians taking a stab at drama — first opened in KC at Tivoli Cinemas in the…
California company finalizes agreement to buy two KC-area hospitals
The operator of two local Catholic hospitals has finalized their sale to a for-profit company based in Ontario, Calif. Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic health system, said in a statement Tuesday that it had reached a definitive agreement to sell St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., and St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue…
Explore many careers, you must: voice of Yoda visits career day
If Yoda offered career advice, he might tell you something like, “Do or do not. There is no try.” But Tom Kane, who was the voice of Yoda in the animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” as well as numerous Star Wars video games, is more interested in making sure the Blue Valley Middle…
The University of Kansas Hospital: Patient admitted Monday does not have Ebola
UPDATE 10/14/14 4:10 pm: A man who was admitted Monday to The University of Kansas Hospital suffering from diarrhea and who worked recently near Africa’s west coast does not have Ebola, the hospital said Tuesday afternoon. Results of blood tests showed the patient has not contracted the virus, which has killed more than 4,000 people in the…
State scrutiny of early head start programs prompts questions
One of Kansas’ largest early childhood development programs has decided not to reapply for nearly $1 million in Early Head Start funding because of difficulties dealing with a state agency. “This wasn’t something we wanted to do,” said Teresa Rupp, longtime executive director at Child Start, a Wichita-based program that provides Head Start and Early…
Mule jumping: The county fair tradition you didn’t know you loved
Fair-goers pack the stands at the East Perry Community Fair in Altenburg, Missouri, on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon. They aren’t here for the blue ribbon pigs, the truck pull or the beauty contest. These people are here for the fair’s biggest attraction — the jumping mules. Mule jumping is a simple sport. A handler…
Forum develops a healthy to-do list for Kansas City area
The Kansas City of the future would be a place where people have affordable medical care, policymakers work with the community on health issues and residents suffer less from chronic diseases and violence. That, at any rate, is the consensus that emerged Saturday at a forum in Kansas City, Mo. And it was just the…
KC Week in Review: Wedding bells ringing in JOCO for same-sex couples
In an historic move, Johnson County becomes the first jurisdiction in the metro and in the state of Kansas to issue legal marriage licenses to gay partners. Also on the program…news reviewers Mary Sanchez of the Kansas City Star, Steve Vockrodt of The Pitch, Garrett Haake from 41 Action News and Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star dissect the Kansas U.S. Senate debate, Dan Cofran’s…
With next Obamacare enrollment period set to start, navigators share successful strategies
Meridith Berry and her team learned a valuable lesson at an event where they were encouraging Hispanics to purchase coverage through the health insurance marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act: don’t use green card stock. Berry, a family financial education specialist with the University of Missouri Extension in Trenton, Mo., said the slip-up occurred…
The language of lullabies: KU professor develops music therapy for preemies
(Video by Todd Feeback/The Hale Center for Journalism) If the idea of music therapy brings to mind 1960s-era folk singers warbling to bemused patients, you haven’t seen Deanna Hanson-Abromeit at work. At Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, Missouri, the University of Kansas assistant professor sings a good morning song to Daren, a curious, if slightly…