News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
CID Renewed, ‘Bumble Bees’ Remain Downtown’s Ambassadors Through 2034
By Kevin Collison Those downtown “bumble bees” you see daily cleaning, tending landscaping and helping you feel safe will be buzzing for another 15 years thanks to the recent renewal of the Downtown Council Community Improvement District. The 60 men and women wearing the distinctive black and yellow CID uniforms, referred to as Ambassadors, may…
Union Apartments Celebrates Riverfront Opening, New Projects Planned
By Kevin Collison The Union Berkley Riverfront apartments, the first new project on the downtown riverfront since a push to clean up and redevelop the area began in the 1970s, had its grand opening recently. Mayor Sly James, members of Port KC, formerly the port authority, and dozens of others saluted the culmination of decades…
Making The Case For ‘Workforce Development’
Is it possible to establish a link between the U.S. civil rights movement and the fall of the Berlin Wall? You can, as it turns out, when it comes to job training and career readiness. The video above traces that history, and brings into focus the nebulous term “workforce development.” This introductory piece kicks off…
Kobi-Q Korean Barbecue Finds Fun Home on Resurging Stretch of Grand
By Kevin Collison Kobi-Q, the new Korean barbecue place that’s risen from the ashes of the former Czar Bar, already has found its place in the hearts–and appetites–of the local Asian community. “Our Asian clientele is particularly strong here, which surprises me,” said manager Mila Geisler. “I’m also surprised at a lot of people ordering…
Crossroads Westside Finds Success in Tight Quarters
By Kevin Collison It may be a site only a developer could love, but the 221-unit Crossroads Westside project is finding success attracting tenants with 40 percent of its apartments already leased before its formal opening. “We are the connection between two great neighborhoods, the Crossroads and the Westside,” developer Jim Thomas of Indianapolis-based Cityscape…
Unnamed Copaken Apartment Tower
18th and Walnut | 132 apartments in 14 story building; 128 parking stalls, 1st floor retail | Cost: $40 to 50 million | Architect: Burns & McDonnell | Construction begins late 2018
Looking Up in the Crossroads, a Dramatic 14-Story Apartment Proposal
By Kevin Collison Copaken Brooks is proposing a 14-story apartment tower at 18th and Walnut, a striking addition to the skyline that would replace a crumbling Crossroads parking lot with 132 residences. The $40- to $50 million project would be the second residential tower developed by the firm in the Crossroads Arts District, the other…
UMKC Seeks Conservatory Proposals, Potential Downtown Site Survives Close Call
By Kevin Collison UMKC officially has restarted its pursuit of a new combined Conservatory of Music and Dance and Theater Department facility, and has set a July 24 deadline for responses to what’s now described as a $100 million project. The university released what’s called a request for interest (RFI) this week, and in an…
Voters Overwhelming Approve Local Funding to Extend Streetcar to UMKC, Next Stop Washington
By Kim Mueller Kansas City voters living within the Main Street Transportation Development District (TDD) overwhelming approved local funding needed to extend the streetcar route 3.5 miles from Union Station to UMKC. “It’s an exciting day to have both questions pass by such large margins,” Jared Campbell, Downtown Neighborhood Association president, said Wednesday. “It just…
Court Experience Exposes Anti-Islam Sham
In 2012, Kansas passed a law forbidding courts in the state from making any ruling based on foreign law. Critics widely — and accurately — viewed it as the product of a campaign by anti-Islam bigots who were hyperventilating about Shari’a, sometimes called Islamic canonical law. Those bigots spread the alarm that Shari’a would replace…