News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Goes Beyond Party Lines
While some pundits argue that party affiliation plays a role in low COVID-19 vaccination rates, experts say vaccine hesitancy goes beyond politics.
No Joke, Car Punches Laugh-O-Gram Building
By Kevin Collison The driver of a black Dodge Charger crashed the renovation party underway at the historic Laugh-O-Gram building near 31st and Troost over the weekend, leaving a hole in the structure and the project budget. “The last thing we expected was someone running into the building, we’d been making good progress,” said Gary…
Missouri’s Eviction Crisis Could Be a ‘Humanitarian Tragedy,’ Advocates Say
The federal eviction moratorium ended Saturday, and distribution of rental assistance has been slow in Missouri.
Solar Settlers: 1,000-mile American Solar Challenge Sets Off Along Santa Fe Trail
College students from around the world are competing in the American Solar Challenge, a design competition and car race from Independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, nearly 1,000 miles away.
Photographer Wants to Brighten Downtown with Neon Museum
By Kevin Collison Well known Kansas City photographer, Nick Vedros, is on a quest to create a downtown museum for one of advertising’s more colorful tools, the vintage neon signs that once touted businesses. “In 2017, I noticed many neon signs were in decline,” Vedros said. “There’s nothing more a part of our urban fabric…
Nick’s Picks | Mask On, Mask Off Debate in Days Ahead of Garth Brooks Concert
Kansas City’s new mask mandate takes effect today. Garth Brooks concert at Arrowhead Stadium will be the event of the week.
Rieger Plugging Electric Park Garden Bar into East Bottoms Destination
Two years after opening his destination distillery in the East Bottoms, Andy Rieger of J. Rieger & Co. is adding an outdoor patio bar and atrium called Electric Park Garden Bar this fall. The 11,000 square-foot facility is named after the long-gone Electric Park, an amusement park that entertained Kansas Citians arriving on streetcars in…
Local Lynching Memorial Perseveres Despite Backlash
The Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City is collaborating with the Equal Justice Initiative to collect jars of soil from the site of every lynching in Missouri.
Fight Over Mask Orders Growing at Rate to Rival Missouri Delta Variant Cases
Politicians are fighting over masks. Public health officials are begging people to get vaccinated. And meanwhile, the Delta variant continues to spread almost unchecked in Missouri.
Emergency Calls: What Do Kansas Citians Ask of Police?
A new program at the Kansas City Police Department is capturing more granular data about how often residents summon officers, and why.