News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Documenting the Pandemic for Posterity
Johnson County Museum has launched an initiative to gather detailed descriptions of daily life to document the age of coronavirus.
Kansas Hospital Bought COVID-19 Tests That May Only Show You’ve Had A Cold
A Kansas hospital bought Coronavirus tests that may only show that you’ve had a cold.
Proposed Freight House District Apartment Project Backtracks Size
(Updated May 7: The developer of the planned Tracks 215 apartment deal lost his national partner this week but did obtain local tax incentives in his quest to build the $52.4 million project in the Freight House District. Vince Bryant of 3-D development told the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority board today that Greystar, a major…
City Council Narrowly Approves Waddell HQ Design Despite Objections by Neighborhood, City Planners
(Updated: Citing the late Kenny Rogers tune “The Gambler,” Mayor Quinton Lucas cast the deciding vote in a 7-6 City Council decision to approve the design and development plan of the Waddell & Reed headquarters project late Thursday afternoon. With several Council members expressing disapproval of the controversial design during deliberations and seeking to send…
Kansas City Braces for Big Financial Blow From Pandemic
A Brookings Institution analysis suggests Kansas City’s municipal budget may be particularly vulnerable to a recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kansas City Restaurants Experiment, Adapt to Survive Amid Pandemic
Flatland features some of the most creative strategies deployed by Kansas City restaurateurs to survive the COVID-19 outbreak.
Downtown Marriott Goes Dark, Metro’s Biggest Covid Hospitality Casualty
By Kevin Collison Metro Kansas City’s largest hotel, the 970-room Downtown Marriott, has gone dark until at least May 11 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the biggest local casualty of the collapse in the national hospitality industry caused by the virus. The 22-story hotel, known for the vivid LED lighting displays splashed across its broad…
Securing the Cornerstone of the Johnson County Land Boom
The Overland Park Historical Society is moving into arguably the most historic building in Overland Park – the 1906 depot built by railroad entrepreneur William Strang, Jr.
Age of Coronavirus: Deciding Who Lives… And Who Dies
Kansas City area health care providers are pondering the hardest question – deciding who lives and who dies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Building Restrooms Closed, Downtown Council Organizes Relief for Homeless
By Kevin Collison With so many downtown private and public building restrooms closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s practically impossible for homeless people to find a place to relieve themselves with dignity. That’s why the Downtown Council, along with the City Parks, Public Works and Housing Departments and the Streetcar Authority, have opened 20…