News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
New Law Provides Funds For Missouri Localities To Set Up Drug Monitoring Systems
New federal legislation aimed at combating the nation’s opioid addiction crisis has a provision tailored specifically for Missouri, which is the only state without a database designed to prevent pill shopping among multiple dispensers. The language, inserted by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, makes counties and municipalities eligible for federal funds that help…
Add It to the List: Missouri Schools Now Require New Vaccine for 8th- and 12th-Graders
Summer vacation is almost over, and Missouri parents will want to put those back-to-school vaccinations on the radar, especially with a new requirement for thousands of students around the state. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is now requiring incoming eighth- and 12th-graders to be protected against four strains of meningococcal disease, which…
Half-Staff Confusion
Tragedy upon tragedy upon tragedy seems to have overwhelmed the men and women who raise and lower Old Glory in all the places she flies across Kansas City. Indeed, the killings have been coming so fast and furious, coordination has become a problem. Yesterday, for example, the U.S. flag was at half-staff at the Federal…
Police And Black Lives Matter Hold A Cookout, And Praise Rolls In
Members of the Wichita, Kan., police department spent Sunday afternoon eating and talking with people from the community, at a cookout that was planned with the local Black Lives Matter group. The event was called the First Steps Community Cookout — a reference to its goal of bridging the gap between police and the community…
Take 5 For Your Health
Price Chopper Closing In KCK Surprises City Officials, Sets Back Healthy Food Efforts A decades-old grocery store in northeast Kansas City, Kansas, is closing, delivering a blow to a part of town that’s already short on healthy food options. The Price Chopper at 43rd and State Avenue, which has operated under different names for more…
Early Bedtime For Preschoolers Might Help Reduce Obesity Risk Later
Little kids who hit the sack early may be less likely to get overtired and fussy in a way that messes with their sleep cycle, researchers say.
Common Grounds | Elections in a 24-Hour News Cycle
This week the “Common Grounds” team heads southeast to the Cass County town of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, to sit down with four locals at the New Town Bicycle and Coffee Shop. Dwight and Anita Widaman, Dave Moore, and Bob White met in the narrow, brick building at 115 Wyoming St. in the historic downtown. The bike…
What We Know About The Suspect In The Nice, France, Attack
Law enforcement and judicial officials have identified 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as the suspect who they believe plowed into a crowd, killing at least 84 people.
Climate Change May Already Be Shifting Clouds Toward The Poles
Scientists who have been tracking cloud patterns over the past two decades say the shifts they’re seeing seem to correlate closely with what’s predicted by computer models of Earth’s changing climate.
Peace Outside and Inside
For the Rev. Ken McKoy, following the teachings of Jesus does not mean simply preaching from the pulpit. “There’s very little record of Christ spending his time in the synagogue,” said McKoy, a St. Louis pastor who walks the dangerous streets of his city three nights a week armed only with his faith and the…