Photography exhibition takes aim at stigma associated with HIV and AIDS
This Friday is National HIV Testing Day, first created almost 20 years ago to encourage members of the public to learn their HIV status. Since then, what it means to be HIV-positive has changed dramatically. Individuals diagnosed as positive today can expect to live as long as they would without the virus, as long as…
Truman Med could get hit with penalty over infection rates
Truman Medical Center Hospital Hill is among 175 hospitals nationwide most likely to be penalized with the loss of Medicare payments because of high rates of infection and other complications. In April, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services calculated preliminary “hospital-acquired condition” scores from 1 to 10, with one being best and 10 being worst. Truman was…
KC Week in Review: Judge orders Light Rail on KC ballot. Plus, 20 years of Shuttlecocks at the Nelson.
This week a Jackson County Circuit Court judge rules that a 3-year old plan by maverick transit activist Clay Chastain to bring light rail to Kansas City should go before voters. Though the judge rules that the city should write the ballot language. Also on this edition: “Right to Try” drugs in Kansas featuring a…
Missouri measure would enact ‘Right to Try’ drug program for dying patients
If you were dying and had exhausted all conventional treatment options, wouldn’t you want immediate access to a drug that might prove to be a miracle cure? That’s the promise of legislation that, if signed by Gov. Jay Nixon, would make Missouri the third state in the country – after Colorado and Louisiana – to…
Ladies-only camp gets women fired up about the great outdoors
Michelle Manning is sporting a huge bruise on the inside of her upper arm. She shows it off, pulling up her shirt sleeve to expose the injury that she refers to as her “prized possession.” While learning how to shoot a bow and arrow earlier, Manning accidentally snapped her arm with the bow string, which…
Tell us who is making a difference in education
From teachers to business owners, local leaders to volunteers, people from all corners of our community can have a major role in a student’s success and the impact of education.
Tax credits drop health insurance premiums for Missouri, Kansas consumers
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday outlined the savings, by state, accrued by by consumers through the Affordable Care Act’s online marketplace for insurance policies. In Missouri, marketplace shoppers who selected silver plans — the most popular plan type– paid an average of $45 per month after tax credits. In Kansas,…
Johnson County health department in national accreditation vanguard
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has joined the vanguard of local and state health departments that have gained national accreditation. It is one of only 44 across the nation and the first in Kansas. The Public Health Accreditation Board, a relatively new organization bent on standardizing and improving the quality of health…
Kansas sees significant increase in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment
Unlike its neighboring states of Missouri and Nebraska, where significant decreases have been reported, Kansas has seen a significant jump in the number of people enrolled in its Medicaid/CHIP programs, even without loosening its relatively tight eligibility standards. According to a new report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, enrollment in the programs…
KC Week in Review: Rejuvenating the riverfront, Chu confirmed to NEA
This week, city officials announce what is being described as the first “vertical development” on Kansas City’s riverfront in more than 100 years. After decades of inaction, a $65 million development featuring 398 luxury apartments, retail, a fitness club, pool and sky bar is detailed on a five-acre site adjacent to the Berkley Riverfront…
Report: Kansas City Economy Lags Behind That Of Other U.S. Cities
The Mid-America Regional Council presented a sobering assessment of the Kansas City area economy Thursday, one showing the metro is having trouble bouncing back from the recession. The report, called “Prosperity at the Crossroads,” says that fewer than half of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, including the greater Kansas City region, had recovered all the…
Area legislator: Missouri lawmakers nearly reached medicaid expansion deal
A last-minute deal to expand Medicaid in Missouri almost materialized in the waning days of this year’s legislative session, briefly breathing life into an issue that had seemed all but doomed. Missouri State Sen. Ryan Silvey, a Kansas City Republican, provided a behind-the-scenes look at high-level negotiations that occurred just before the session ended without an…
KC Week in Review: Fireworks and a happy dance: Is it enough to sway the GOP Convention Committee?
Join Nick Haines and news reviewers Steve Kraske of KCUR, Barbara Shelly of the Kansas City Star, Garrett Haake, 41 Action News and Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star as they dissect this and other of the week’s top stories.
Summer 101
One is trekking through Europe. Another will immerse herself in the performing arts. And many will keep their noses to the grindstone. Those are just some of the summer plans shared with us by teachers from throughout the metropolitan area, as schools closed up shop for the next eight weeks. Here are some of the…
The Makerista uses entrepreneurial hustle to build blog readership
Less than a year after publishing her first post, lifestyle blogger Gwen Hefner has received national recognition that many entrepreneurs would envy. She was chosen to participate in Creating With the Stars, an annual contest for do-it-yourself bloggers, and was selected as one of the top five decorating blogs by “Better Homes and Gardens.” And,…