News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Downtown Urban Homes Tour Draws Big Weekend Crowd
By Kevin Collison A pleasant Saturday afternoon coupled with the growing buzz about urban living brought throngs of people downtown to check out open houses at 20 residential projects. This year’s Urban Homes Tour, part of the Downtown Dazzle holiday event, reached its limit of 1,250 pre-registered visitors several days in advance, and many more…
Wide Racial Gap Exists Between Teachers and Students in Jackson County Schools
By Lauren Langdon, Humera Lodhi and Tess Vrbil Janely Griffith Gonzalez realized the disconnect when she chaperoned field trips at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee’s Summit. Her 8-year-old daughter was in a class of mostly minority students, but the school had very few minority teachers. On one trip, a student started yelling on the…
Is The Tide Of Antibiotic Use On Farms Now Turning?
For the first time, government statistics show America’s pigs, cattle, and poultry are getting fewer antibiotic drugs. Public health advocates call the new figures encouraging.
Crossroads Pizza Smackdown
By Kevin Collison As far as Philippe Lechevin is concerned, his new Papa Keno Pizzeria at 1815 Wyandotte is bringing New York-style pizza to a hungry Crossroads. But to Shari Boles, owner of Pizzabella at 1810 Baltimore, it’s more like New York-style chutzpah. In mid-November, a Papa Keno’s billboard went up next to her restaurant…
Developer Hopes to Raise Money to Finish Renovating Eyesore Building at 10th and Oak
By Kevin Collison Nicholas Abnos readily acknowledges he’s allowed a vacant five-story building at the prominent corner of 10th and Oak to fester for well over a decade. He feels the same shame for the even longer time it’s taken to complete the redevelopment of the empty former Brandsmart building at 211 W. Gregory Blvd….
Downtown Council Holiday Drive Collects Clothing and Toys for Homeless Families
The Downtown Council of Kansas City is rolling out the holiday barrels again to collect coats, clothing and toys for homeless families who use the services of ReStart. Sean O’Byrne, vice president of the downtown owners and property association, said this is the 15th year the council has collected donations for the individuals and families…
Children’s Mercy Research Tower
23rd St. and Gillham Rd. | 375,000 square foot, nine-story research building | Cost: $200 million | Architect: BSA LifeStructures | Contractor: McCownGordon | Completion early 2020
Children’s Mercy Hospital Plans Nine-Story Research Tower on Hospital Hill
By Kevin Collison Children’s Mercy Hospital is planning a nine-story research tower at its Hospital Hill campus, continuing a boom of healthcare-related construction in that area. The City Planning Commission is scheduled to review the plan for the 400,000 square-foot building at when it meets Wednesday morning. The building is proposed for a 10-acre site…
Quality Hill Playhouse Opens ‘The Q,’ Adds Full Bar and Quadruples Lobby
By Kevin Collison The Quality Hill Playhouse has expanded into long-dormant space at 10th and Central streets, dramatically expanding the size of its lobby and adding a full-service bar for patrons. Rick Truman, managing director, said the $600,000 expansion project called “The Q” opened the day after Thanksgiving in time for the downtown musical theater’s…
Giving Away the (Wind) Farm
Mark Buck can see some of the 314 turbines in Kansas’ largest wind farm from his office window in Medicine Lodge, where he is superintendent of the Barber County North School District. The nearly $1 billion Flat Ridge project, built in two phases and owned in part by British Petroleum, spans 70,000 acres near the…