Question Everything
The Rise and Fall of a Boomtown
Get a deeper history of the port town of Quindaro and hear from a local woman who used our curiousKC initiative to ask why excavations had not been finished for the important site.
What Are the Open Belief Centers in KC?
By Humera Lodhi Sharon Divine found faith as an adult. Or rather, she lost religion and then found faith. Divine grew up as a Christian attending Methodist, Lutheran, and Unity churches at various points in her life. The older Divine got, however, the less traditional religion seemed make sense to her. “There‘s nothing wrong with…
A Trip Back to a Childhood Spent in Westport Orphanage
By Tess Vrbin Joe Bessenbacher’s most vivid childhood memories include “a white triangular bonnet.” This piece of headgear is part of the habit that the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul wore. The order of nuns ran the Kansas City Orphan Boys’ Home, where Bessenbacher spent nine years of his childhood. Over time,…
A Sweet Memory Prompts Strawberry Hill Question
By Rachel Thomas When she was around 10 years old, Christine Rogge attended an ethnic festival in the area of Kansas City, Kansas, known as Strawberry Hill. That was decades ago, but the fond memory remains, and the south Kansas City woman turned to curiousKC so that she could pass along the rich history of that…
Whatever Happened To…Those Other Burger Places?
It was that burger place your mom took you to after you bought shoes or the stop on the way home for an after school treat. Everybody has traditions around food — a restaurant that marks a moment in time or period in your life. Flatland recently told the story of Smaks, a local burger chain…
Wide Racial Gap Exists Between Teachers and Students in Jackson County Schools
By Lauren Langdon, Humera Lodhi and Tess Vrbil Janely Griffith Gonzalez realized the disconnect when she chaperoned field trips at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee’s Summit. Her 8-year-old daughter was in a class of mostly minority students, but the school had very few minority teachers. On one trip, a student started yelling on the…
Whatever Happened to Smaks?
The elephant on Johnson Drive stopped traffic. “My dad [Bill Fielder] had met a zookeeper and he asked him to bring over an elephant for the opening of Smaks,” Wes Fielder said. “You’d watch the cars out front and people would slam on their brakes to try to figure out what was going on.” The…
Where Does Our Recycling Go?
Ted Baker has been recycling ever since Overland Park started its curbside program in 1990. But every Wednesday, as he dutifully treks to the end of his driveway, he ponders the question that he ultimately submitted to curiousKC: What happens to the stuff we pay to have recycled? “I’ve heard reports that they stick the…
Of Monumental Importance
A few months ago Chris Dixon, who drives on Ward Parkway every week with his family to go to church, sat at a stoplight. Dixon looked over and noticed something on the median where Ward Parkway meets W. 55th Street. He saw it was a monument dedicated to the women of the Confederacy. Dixon dropped…
As Far As the Eye Can See (Hint: It’s Not Far)
As it happens, the stars have aligned between curiousKC and the historic astronomical event coming Aug. 21. Just as our region was preparing for the full lunar eclipse, Kansas Citian Clark Johnson wondered if there is any local regulation of light pollution. Johnson asked curiousKC: “Is there an ordinance for reducing light pollution?” While light…