News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
English Language Learners: How Your State Is Doing
The number of English language learners in public schools is nearing 5 million. Many are struggling academically, despite well-intentioned efforts to help them learn English.
Leadership Is An Activity, Not A Position
Browse the list of summer youth camps at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and parents are bound to find something to suit just about any childhood personality. There are classic youth activities for softball players, theater performances for emerging actors and trendy Lego camps for the STEM-obsessed. The Jewish Community Center, situated…
In The Face Of More Missouri Abortion Restrictions, One Woman Tells Her Story
Anti-abortion groups in Missouri helped boost many Republican candidates to victory in November, and they’re now eagerly waiting to see how those lawmakers advance their cause. Missouri legislators have filed dozens of restrictive abortion bills, including two that would outlaw abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy rather than the current 21-weeks and six days….
Couple Moves On From Silence About Time In Japanese Internment Camps
This weekend marks the 75th anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order that led to the internment of Japanese-Americans. We hear from two people who were interned when they were children.
Investigation Adds to Questions About Federal Beef Promotion Program
On a brisk and busy January morning at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, cattle arrive for auction in trailers pulled by pickup trucks — and leave in double-decker cars towed by semis. The Oklahoma City auction is one of the largest markets for young calves that aren’t quite old enough or fat enough to be slaughtered….
Leadership is Risky
When Pastor Adam Hamilton embarked on a series of sermons about Moses last year, he knew the gravity of his message. Hamilton knew his call to action had the power to change the lives of children and families forever. So he started at the beginning. Inside Leawood’s United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, the nation’s…
A City Haunted by Ghost Water
It first bubbled up a year ago as a steady stream at the edge of Harry Ellis’ well-kept lawn. It flowed across the nearby roadway north of the river and splattered mud on passing cars. In the winter, it formed an icy glaze. The people from the city came. They dug down to their pipes…
The High Cost Of Allowing Concealed Carry In KU Hospital
The fight is raging on in Topeka over whether to roll back a law that would let almost anyone carry a concealed gun on a college campus, in a library or public hospital. The debate has mostly been around whether guns enhance or detract from people’s safety. Less talked about is just how much allowing…
Bryan Sheppard and the Heavily Redacted Elephant in the Courtroom
In 1997 Bryan Sheppard was sentenced to life without parole for the deaths of six Kansas City firefighters. Although he and the other four defendants have always maintained their innocence, they have lost all of their appeals and are considered guilty of the crime in the eyes of the U.S. judicial system. All five were…
D.C. Building Gains Dollars, Doors Via KC
To enter the huge new Museum of the Bible when it opens this fall just off the National Mall in Washington, D.C., you’ll have to go through Kansas City. Not literally, but almost. That’s because the amazing 40-foot-tall bronze doors — a replica of the bed of Johannes Gutenberg’s press from which he printed the…