News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Holiday Pop-Ups Returning to Downtown
The holiday spirits are returning to downtown with the opening of two, festive pop-up bars, one in the Power & Light District, the other at the Boulevard Beer Hall. Power & Light will be the new location this year for “Miracle” beginning Nov. 26 through the holiday season. The pop-up concept, which originated in New…
Streetcar Track-Laying Plan Calls for Segments Moving South on Main
By Kevin Collison After what has seemed an eternity of preliminary infrastructure work, the first rails for the streetcar Main Street extension will start being laid early next year beginning at Union Station and building south. Plans call for the track-laying work to be completed in one-half mile segments at a time, approximately three- to…
Kansas City Journalist Mary Sanchez Joins Flatland as Senior Reporter
Kansas City PBS has announced well-known local journalist Mary Sanchez has joined Flatland, Kansas City PBS’ online journalism platform, as a senior reporter.
Nick’s Picks | Crime and Punishment, Infrastructure and Holidays
Nick Haines offers a look at the week ahead in Kansas City. Veterans Day, big trials, COVID vaccine for children and the new federal infrastructure bill top the news.
Union Station to Shine with $5M ‘Largest Single Gift’
By Kevin Collison Union Station has hit the donor jackpot with a $5 million gift from the Sunderland Foundation, a windfall that will greatly enhance the grand building restored with the help of metro voters in 1999. “It’s the largest, single gift we’ve received since reopening as a donor gift,” said George Guastello, Union Station…
Persistence Bears Fruit at 2000 Vine Redevelopment
(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Aug. 20.) By Kevin Collison The developers of the 2000 Vine historic redevelopment are beginning to taste the fruits of their hard work over the past three years, but are candid describing how tough it can be doing projects on the East Side. “It’s become painfully clear and…
‘Highway to Hemp’: Fledgling Industry Struggles to Take Root
Growing industrial hemp has proven riskier and more difficult than many farmers in Kansas and Missouri initially expected.
Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Sought Records from Missouri Medical Marijuana Regulators
Twice last year a federal grand jury demanded the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services turn over records pertaining to the medical marijuana program.
Historic Mason Building on Grand Could Become $11M Boutique Hotel
By Kevin Collison The historic Mason Building, now an inconspicuous office building wedged along Grand Boulevard, could become a 35-room boutique hotel, bar and restaurant if plans being pursued by a St. Louis developer come to fruition. Metropolitan Build has submitted preliminary inquiries at City Hall to determine whether the old building could become the…
Kansas Meatpacking Workers Fueled an Economic Boom, But Many Need Food Pantries to Get By
Four decades after Garden City’s meatpacking boom began, the southwest Kansas town is still strained by growing pains. And its prosperity remains uneven.