News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
MEDiAHEAD! Switches to Fun-Time Production During Covid Crisis
By Kevin Collison Being stuck at home with kids looking for something fun to do during the Covid-19 crisis can try the patience of any parent. Worrying about keeping your print shop workers busy and employed during the current economic slowdown caused by the virus is exasperating too. Kathryn “Kat” McDaniel, president of MEDiAHEAD!, has…
Episode 1: Realizing You’ve Been to Joe Exotic’s Zoo
Kansas City’s Kailee Karr was watching Netflix’s “Tiger King” like the rest of us — until it looked all too familiar.
Age of Coronavirus: Food Chain Heroes Step Up In Pandemic Crisis
Food assistance agencies are scrambling to meet spiking demand as people seek help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Streetcar Expansion Steams Ahead in D.C. and City Hall, Big Local Firms On Board
(Editor’s note: The City Council approved the $4.7 million and $2.7 million contracts to continue designing and planning the proposed streetcar extension at its meeting April 16) By Kevin Collison Streetcar officials are confident their funding application for the Main Street extension remains on track in Washington despite the federal government’s record $2 trillion emergency…
Age of Coronavirus: Pandemic Prompts Surge of E-House Calls
The COVID-19 pandemic may, by necessity, accelerate the adoption of telemedicine.
Age of Coronavirus: The Politics of the Pandemic
In a Flatland interview, University of Kansas professor Jack Zhang discusses how the “politics of blame” shapes our political and economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Age of Coronavirus: A Wistful Drone of Bagpipes Echoes in Brookside
John Tootle is using his skills as a bagpiper to raise the spirits of housebound families in the age of coronavirus.
East Crossroads Corner Being Rebuilt, Deli and Bar Planned
By Kevin Collison A building that collapsed at the corner of 18th and Locust in the East Crossroads in October 2018 is being replaced with a new structure that is expected to house a bar and delicatessen. It’s being built by Matt Abbott, a developer and entrepreneur with extensive property holdings in the Crossroads. Abbott…
Age of Coronavirus: KC’s Role in Winning the War on Polio
Kansas City played an underappreciated role in conquering polio, a public health scourge with some similarities with the current COVID-19 outbreak.
Guest Commentary: Turning Toward Greatness, Before We Get to Detroit
(Editor’s note: This presentation that’s been making the rounds of local civic groups recently offers a strong public policy and economic case for continuing to reinvest in our urban core, the so-called River-Crown-Plaza corridor, and nearby neighborhoods.) By Dennis Strait, managing principal, Gould Evans Communities across the country face a fundamental problem: we’ve built cities…