News & Issues

Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.

Nick Haines

Nick’s Picks | 10 Stories to Watch This Holiday Week

With Christmas on Saturday, it’s going to be a short work week for many Kansas Citians, but definitely not all. Here are 10 stories to keep an eye on this holiday week.

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Jason’s Deli Crossing the Street to Town Pavilion

Jason’s Deli is moving across Main Street to Town Pavilion, leaving one newly-refurbished office tower lobby for another. The deli has been in the lobby of the lightwell building at 1100 Main, the former City Center Square.  Lightwell is leasing that space to a new food hall to be operated by Tim Barton, who also…

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A computer-enhanced composite image of magic mushrooms.

Kansas Citians Embrace Magic Mushrooms and Altered States

Even though the use, possession or distribution of psychedelics is a felony, more Kansas Citians are embracing magic mushrooms as scientific evidence mounts that they can help deal with a variety of emotional disorders.

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Food Insecurity in Kansas City

Dive into the topic of food insecurity in Kansas City and learn more about the organizations working to get healthy food to those in our region who need it.

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Fitness Center Opens in River Market

By Kevin Collison A pair of fitness trainers who struck out on their own after working at commercial gyms have opened a new business, Crossroads Training, in the River Market at 510 Delaware. Adam Carney and Kristen Jukes met each other working at a franchise fitness center and  wanted to open a smaller place with…

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Food Fight: How Kansas City Struggles to Feed Its Families

According to Feeding America, one in eight people in the United States face food insecurity. Of those who are food insecure, only 50% are eligible for SNAP benefits. The result is a food chain stretched to the breaking point, families going hungry, people losing hope and a charitable sector struggling to help.

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Boulevardia Moving Up to Crown Center This June

Boulevardia is leaving the Bottoms for Crown Center this June, and organizers believe the shift will make the annual Father’s Day weekend music and beer festival more accessible and convenient. This will be the seventh year for the festival that began in the West Bottoms, and the move to Crown Center originally had been scheduled…

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School buses wait Tuesday outside Thomas Hart Benton Elementary School in Columbia to take students home from the first day of classes.

Confusion Around COVID Ruling Swirls as Two Missouri School Districts End Semester Early

As a growing number of Missouri school districts drop COVID mitigation measures under threat from Attorney General Eric Schmitt, at least two closed the doors on their fall semester early due to large numbers of staff and students out sick.

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The Juniper Gardens Training Farm in Kansas City, Kansas, helps refugee farmers navigate their first year of growing and selling produce at local farmers markets, a CSA program and a wholesaling operation that caters to restaurants. In the field is Gasalla Musekura, formerly of Congo. (Photo by Jeff Tuttle)

Thinking Outside the Big Box to Address Food Deserts

The solution to food deserts doesn’t appear to lie in wooing large retailers to fill voids so much as listening to the needs of the underserved and trying multiple approaches to get healthy foods in the hands of residents.

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Converting O’Neil Bridge to Linear Park ‘Top Priority’ for City Officials

(Editor’s note, updated March 3: The city announced today it is issuing a request for proposals/qualifications to study the reuse of the existing Buck O’Neil Bridge. The study will be done by the City of Kansas City, Jackson County and Clay County using $300,000 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. “The study will gather public…

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