News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Plan Calls for Historic Kansas City Star Building to be Sold and Redeveloped
By Kevin Collison The owner of the Kansas City Star has a tentative agreement to sell the newspaper’s headquarters at 1729 Grand Blvd., a downtown landmark since 1913 where a young Ernest Hemingway once reported. McClatch Corp., the owner of The Star, has reached a “handshake agreement” with a developer who wants to convert the…
Local Action Drives Education Policy
Betsy DeVos has proven to be one of the most controversial players in President Trump’s new lineup, with her conservative ideology inflaming passions as she takes the helm of the Department of Education. But, are her critics taking their eyes off the ball? Perhaps so, argued University of Missouri Political Science Professor Peverill Squire. “The…
Getting Innovators To Come To Work — At A Children’s Hospital
Health care providers who work with kids are natural innovators, says Krista Nelson, Children’s Mercy Hospital’s director of innovation development. Nelson, an expert in innovation — not medicine, was hired by the hospital to run its new Center for Pediatric Innovation. “In the children’s hospital or pediatric environment, we really deal with every size of…
Julia, A Muppet With Autism, Joins The Cast Of ‘Sesame Street’
Julia has bright red hair, big green eyes and she loves to draw. She can be a little shy, but Elmo and Abby Cadabby don’t mind. She’s voiced by Stacey Gordon, whose son is on the autism spectrum, too.
Rural Groups Push Against Proposed Cuts To USDA Spending
Farm and rural advocacy groups say cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would harm rural communities, at a time when many of them need an infusion of cash. In what’s being called a “skinny budget” because it sets an outline and contains scant details, Trump’s proposal calls for…
I Want To Eat Fish Responsibly. But The Seafood Guides Are So Confusing!
All reputable seafood guides are science-based, and yet can offer conflicting advice, because they have different goals. Some support sustainable fishers. Others aim to recover declining populations.
Trump Unveils ‘Hard Power’ Budget That Boosts Military Spending
The president’s budget blueprint calls for a 10 percent increase in military spending, along with deep cuts in foreign aid and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Study: Agriculture Sector Should Ramp Up Response To Climate Change
The agriculture sector needs to ramp up its response to climate change, especially in the Midwest, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at the University of Maryland used climate projections and historical trends in agricultural productivity to predict how changes in temperature and rainfall will…
Engineers Say Tax Increase Needed To Save Failing U.S. Infrastructure
Our roads, bridges, dams, transit systems and airports are in pretty poor shape. The nation’s civil engineers are calling for a significant increase in the gas tax to pay for the needed upgrades.
It Starts With You And Must Engage Others
Walking along the Jersey Creek Park Trail in northeast Kansas City, Kansas, Broderick Crawford can see the overgrown weeds, the fractured asphalt trail and broken benches. “You can’t sit on them without getting a splinter,” he points out. No one could blame him for being angry with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas…