News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Reducing Kansas City’s Violent Crime
This time, Danelle Williams and Vito Mazzara arrived prepared. The two Kansas City, Missouri, police officers didn’t want to be overwhelmed, like a previous evening last winter, when passersby at 35th Street and Prospect Avenue snapped up their inventory in less than 15 minutes. On this evening, Williams and Mazzara stationed themselves on a corner…
Thou Mayest Returns, Buys Quay Coffee and Plans New Concept
By Kevin Collison Thou Mayest, the popular East Crossroads establishment that shut down in December, is returning downtown, but with a new game plan. The coffee shop, roaster and cultivator of creative thinking is opening an outlet called “Thee Outpost” next month inside a building housing a new “creative collaboration space” called Collective Ex at…
Construction Trades Offer Solid Careers Right Out Of High School
With thousands of skilled-trade workers retiring every day across the nation, the construction industry is in need of the next generation workforce to help build Kansas City and communities throughout the country. And those are good-paying jobs that are available to people straight out of high school. It will take some grit for folks willing…
KCAI Launches Liberal Arts Project, Part of $30M Campus Overhaul
By Kevin Collison The Kansas City Art Institute kicked off construction of a new liberal arts building last week, part of a $30 million campus building program that’s creating a new future for the 134 year-old school. “This is a pivotal moment in our college’s history,” said Tony Jones, the Nerman Family President of KCAI….
Broad Strokes: “We Make Artwork Too”
Blanca Herrada says she’s painting a space for more people of color in the art world—in and behind the canvas.
New River Market Restaurant ‘Chicken Please’ Goes Beyond Brazil
By Kevin Collison Two Brazilian volleyball buddies who brought a “Taste” of their home country to the River Market six years ago are opening a new restaurant aimed at a larger audience, “Chicken Please.” “We always wanted to expand,” said Cristian Maciel. “Taste of Brazil is doing great, but we talked about what we could…
Eric Person is Working to Create a Culture of Agriculture at East High School
It’s Saturday — the first warm day of spring — and there’s work to be done in the gardens at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri. Eric Person, owner of KC Aquaponics and a community partner with East’s agriculture program, is here with a friend to tend to the grounds just north of the…
ARTerra Opening Spurs Call for Continued Downtown Incentives
By Kevin Collison City Manager Troy Schulte used the grand opening of the $40.7 million ARTerra apartment tower in the Crossroads Wednesday to urge continued public support for downtown revitalization, saying it also helps the overall city. “All 475,000 people in Kansas City benefit from a strong downtown,” he told the audience gathered in the…
College Basketball Experience Refreshing Its Game
By Kevin Collison The College Basketball Experience next to the Sprint Center is replacing some dead wood, specifically its center basketball court which has gotten tired after 12 years of abundant bouncing. “We have 100,000 visitors annually and 100 basketball tournaments every year,” said CBE spokeswoman Celeste Lupercio. “It’s also our main space for corporate…
‘Who Lived in the Kansas City Museum?’
Did you know? The Corinthian Hall, a four-story mansion that was finished in 1910, is now the Kansas City Museum.