News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Oggi Lofts Expects to Open in Garment District This Summer
By Kevin Collison A former building at 600 Central St. previously known for housing a modern furniture store is in the middle of $5.7 million conversion into 25 apartments. The four-story Oggi Lofts project is expected to be completed by August and will include two studios, 20 one-bedroom and three, two-bedroom apartments. It’s named after…
Freestyle Poke Joins Emerging Delaware Street Food Scene
By Kevin Collison The Delaware storefront scene in the River Market continues to blossom, the latest addition being Freestyle Poke, a Hawaiian comfort food place that plans to open in June. Poke (pronounced POH-keh) is big in its native Hawaii and even bigger in Southern California, and Jeremiah Dupin, a Kansas City native, is bringing…
Something Funny Happening Downtown at The Box Gallery
By Kevin Collison A “funny” and memorable show has opened at The Box Gallery downtown, a colorful look at Andrews McMeel Universal and its influence on our national popular culture since its founding here in 1970. “The Art of the Comics” displays how Andrews McMeel, a national syndication, publishing and entertainment firm based at 1130…
UMKC Streetcar Extension Report Suggests Stops and Alignment
By Kevin Collison The future layout of the planned streetcar extension from downtown to UMKC is on the map with its proposed stops and alignment on Main Street reviewed at a recent public hearing. For the most part, the eight suggested streetcar stops mirror those in place for the MAX rapid-transit bus route now serving…
Comparing Apples to Ohio
Why Columbus? Why would Kansas City PBS use Ohio’s capital city as a school-choice benchmark for our community? It all came down to research. More specifically, it was two reports: the “Education Choice and Competition Index,” published a year ago by the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution, and “America’s Best (And…
Chasing the Tortoise and the Hare
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Before dawn, dozens of youngsters rush through winter rain toward the entryway of their school. The elementary school students are heading from buses into Columbus Bilingual Academy, which caters to Hispanic families that speak little or no English. The academy is a haven for students who might have been bullied, isolated or simply bewildered…
Rightfully Sewn Finds New Home to ‘Move the Needle’ in Crossroads
By Kevin Collison Rightfully Sewn, a nonprofit started in 2015 to teach women how to succeed as seamstresses in the fashion industry, has found a permanent home in appropriately, the Crossroads Arts District. “Our goal is to create jobs and opportunities in Kansas City through the business of fashion,” said Jennifer Lapka, founder of Rightfully…
A Healthy Bond
Throughout history, marches and protests have allowed women to change the world with their feet. Perhaps no one contributed to that legacy more than Harriet Tubman. She trekked out of Maryland as a fugitive slave in 1849, and then she walked to and from the South 19 times to help hundreds more escapees reach freedom…
Crown Center Marketing Vacant Property as Office Tower Location
By Kevin Collison Hallmark is marketing another large piece of undeveloped Crown Center property, this one a 2.7-acre site northeast of 27th and Main streets that’s designated as a potential office building location. Newmark Grubb Zimmer real estate announced last week it had been selected by Hallmark to seek a developer and/or tenant for the…
Restored 1887 Mansion Offers Unique Airbnb Stay on Downtown’s West Side
By Kevin Collison The 130-year-old Queen Anne Revival Victorian mansion on downtown’s West Side charmed Megan Duma the moment she saw it listed more than a year ago. Only problem, the Kansas City, Kan. native was on the other side of the world in Sydney, Australia, when she fell in love with the old brick…