News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Become a Flatland Brand Ambassador or Super User
Flatland is seeking volunteers to get involved behind the scenes and engage with the community to help shape our content. Build your résumé as a part of this content development and strategy exercise. Brand Ambassador: As a Brand Ambassador, you’ll help represent Flatland in relaxed and fun environments like festivals and community gatherings. You’ll interact…
Under the Surface
Heartland Health Monitor partner KHI News Service conducted dozens of interviews to chart how Osawatomie State Hospital went from a respected facility to one that federal officials deemed too unsafe for Medicare patients and how the hospital could rebuild for the future. The full series is below. Part I | Osawatomie State Hospital: A Leading Light…
Keeping the Pressure On, His Memory Alive
Updated 1:38 p.m. July 29 The family of a man shot to death by Kansas City police three years ago has filed a wrongful death suit against the department, alleging that its policies were to blame for an incident that quickly spun out of control. The suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for…
Take 5 For Your Health
Osawatomie State Hospital: A Leading Light For Mental Health Care Slowly Dims Editor’s note: Heartland Health Monitor partner KHI News Service conducted dozens of interviews to chart how Osawatomie State Hospital went from a respected facility to one that federal officials deemed too unsafe for Medicare patients and how the hospital could rebuild for the…
Experimental Plane Sets Off On Final Leg Of Its Round-The-World Journey
It’s the first time for a solar-powered plane to circumnavigate the globe. Now it’s en route to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — and you can watch the journey in a live video from the cockpit.
1984: The Year We Unwittingly Stopped Watching Movies And Started Watching Franchises
Even if you are a serious person with adult responsibilities, you are likely aware that a new incarnation of Ghostbusters arrives in theaters this week. It stars four funny women and was co-written by a fifth, and at least some proportion of its intended audience has found these staffing decisions alarming. While I haven’t seen…
In the Crossfire
Just this week, the New York Times detailed a study finding that police are more likely to rough up blacks than whites, meaning tactics like cuffs, pepper spray, and forcing the suspect against a wall. However, it also found no racial bias in lethal force, the deadly shootings we’ve come to rally around. The graphic below doesn’t…
Common Grounds | Troost Avenue Group Contemplates Racial Issues
Reconciliation Services hosted the “Common Grounds” team this week, where the conversation included discussions about race and the violence gripping the nation. The Rev. Justin Mathews, Turbo Qualls, Tonya Adams, and Rodney Hendrix met in the internet cafe at the organization’s offices, 3101 Troost Ave. Matthews is the executive director of Reconciliation Services, and Qualls…
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…