USDA sued over new chicken rule
A group that advocates for food safety went to federal court Thursday to try and stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture from implementing new rules for poultry inspection that they say would put consumers at risk. The new rule — the biggest change in meat inspection in the last half century — was featured in an investigative…
Early signs show promise for Rainbow Mental Health, officials say
A reconstituted mental health facility in Kansas City, Kan., has been a financial and therapeutic success in its first five months of operation, officials involved in the transition said Wednesday. “It’s great news so far,” said Kari Bruffett, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), “and I think it’s only going…
IKEA store opens in Merriam, Kansas
The home furnishings megastore IKEA opened its Merriam, Kansas, branch this Wednesday. Customers started lining up outside the store a full two days before the doors opened. And, they were rewarded for their patience with free giveaways, including sofas, chairs and Swedish meatballs for a year. IKEA, a Swedish company, is known for its inexpensive…
Fresh food tax exemption on the table for Missouri lawmakers
Missouri lawmakers might sweeten the pot for consumers who want to eat healthy and for the growers who provide the food. Legislators return to Jefferson City today to reconsider nearly three dozen measures that Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed in this year’s regular session. The veto session could extend to Friday. One of the bills up…
Doctor running for lieutenant governor swears by ‘direct primary care’ model
Wichita physician Josh Umbehr has never understood the traditional model of health care reimbursement — the one in which doctors and hospitals fill out pages of forms to bill a patient’s insurance company for everything from a $3 test to a $30,000 surgery. “You don’t have car insurance for gasoline,” Umbehr said in a recent phone interview. “Why would…
Behind Kansas City’s ridesharing fight
Increasingly popular ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft allow you to summon a taxi or car service by using a smartphone app. Instead of calling or hailing a cab, the apps track your GPS position, and the car shows up at your location. No physical money changes hands. All payments are made with credit cards,…
How the USDA’s new ‘chicken rule’ could change what you eat, and how it’s inspected
In one of the most far reaching changes in U.S. meat inspection history, federal regulators this fall will allow poultry plant employees — instead of USDA inspectors — to help determine whether chicken is contaminated or safe to eat, a move critics fear could spread to beef and pork processing plants. Indeed, a severe shortage…
Kansas City Week in Review: Turmoil in Kansas U.S. Senate Race
News reviewers Steve Kraske of KCUR, Lynn Horsley and Dave Helling, both of the Kansas City Star and Scott Parks of KMBZ discuss the week’s top stories, including the latest election developments on both sides of the state line plus plans to put the “I” in KCI, who pays for the Missouri National Guard’s presence in Ferguson, tax breaks and streetcars.
Ottawa shooting renews focus on crisis intervention training
Out of the 8,000 full- and part-time law enforcement officers in Kansas, only 1 in 4 have been trained to handle crisis calls involving the mentally ill. Records show that 80 percent of the nearly 1,800 trained officers work in four high-population counties: Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte. The other 20 percent – about 360…
Reclaiming Cliff Drive
Cliff Drive, a state scenic byway, winds through Kessler Park in the northeast part of Kansas City, Missouri. Hidden in an under-visited area north of downtown, Kessler Park is the namesake park of George Kessler, considered to be the father of Kansas City’s parks and boulevards system. Cliff Drive runs the length of the park,…
Kansas City Public Schools revamps approach to early childhood education
The Kansas City Public Schools Head Start classes for three and four year olds begin next week, and while the first day of pre-K is a momental occasion for students and families, it’s also an important day for the district. Just two years ago, the district was on the verge of losing its federal Head…
Physician payment data puts costly eye treatments under the microscope
Correction appended Spritzing perfume is how Judy Johnson realized her eyesight had gone bad. At one point, diabetes had worsened her vision so much that the 69-year-old Lansing, Kan., resident had to squirt out a puff of her favorite scent just to find the opening in the mister. “I looked at it this morning,” Johnson…
Overuse of antipsychotic drugs in some Kansas nursing homes endangering patients
TOPEKA — Experts say powerful antipsychotic drugs — sometimes given in combination — are used too much and often inappropriately as “chemical restraints” or sedatives to control the behavior of Kansas nursing home residents suffering from Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and that efforts to curb the practice so far are showing weak results compared with other…
Migrant education program reaches families on the move
Video by Lindsey Foat, story by Caitlin Cress The national high school dropout rate is around 6 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. When it comes to the children of migrant agricultural workers, that number is closer to 43 percent, according to a study published on the Education Resources Information Center website….
KC Week in Review: Local lessons of Ferguson
This week’s panel discusses some of the local and wider political implications of the unrest in Ferguson as well as tracks current election topics including the race for Kansas governor, Pat Robertson, and streetcars. Also this week, a refreshing string of positive news stories coming out of the Kansas City, Missouri school district. News reviewers: Steve Kraske, KCUR; Eric Wesson, The…