News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
What Is The Carbon Footprint Of A Typical Thanksgiving Dinner?
Mike Berners-Lee may not be an expert on the American Thanksgiving. A native of the UK, he’s never actually had the pleasure of experiencing one. But as one of the world’s leading researchers on the carbon footprint of—well—everything (he even wrote a book subtitled “The Carbon Footprint of Everything”), he’s plenty familiar with the impacts of…
Sounding Smarter
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will not apologize for downing a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border. Let’s hope nothing comes of the incident. It would be a shame to see anything threaten the stability of the Middle East. In what has become a great American holiday tradition, fights broke out across the country over…
A Turkey in Good Faith
Ahsan Latif, a devout Muslim from Lawrence, Kansas, understands people’s misconceptions about Muslims. He also understands how events like the Paris shootings can paint his faith in a negative light for anyone watching the disturbing images on television. “Most people have never even met a Muslim,” Latif said. On a recent Saturday morning, Latif is…
Shooting of Ryan Stokes won’t go away
1 Struggle KC, a local activist group started in October 2014 in response to the events in Ferguson Missouri, has taken an investigative piece originally written by Daniel Boothe and Mike McGraw and used the facts reported by Flatland surrounding the death of Ryan Stokes as their main source to push for restorative justice. A…
5 Questions with Human Rights Leader Minoru Yasui’s Granddaughter
This afternoon Minoru Yasui will receive a posthumous 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the nation, at the White House in Washington D.C. According to the White House Press Release: Minoru Yasui was a civil and human rights leader known for his continuous defense of the ideals of democracy embodied in our…
Alzheimer’s Panelists Point To Progress In Diagnosis, Treatment
Two University of Kansas Medical Center researchers at the forefront of national efforts to treat Alzheimer’s disease said scientists are making strides toward reducing the prevalence of a condition that affects as many as 5.1 million Americans. Key aims include early detection and halting the progression of the disease, said Dr. Jeffrey Burns, a leader…
Take 5 For Your Health
Kansas ‘Right to Try’ Bill Would Ease Access To Trial Drugs But Some See Peril Signs of the toll amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has taken on Kelli Johnsen’s body are scattered throughout the living room of her Emporia, Kansas, home. A wheelchair in one corner. A lift in another. A walker near the television. Next to her…
Leveling the technology playing field
It’s never fun to get a poor report card, but it’s even worse when the bad marks are due to circumstances beyond your control. That’s the way Superintendent Dennis Carpenter felt when the organization he leads, the Hickman Mills School District, fared badly on its most recent annual performance report from the Missouri Department of…
Looking To Settle Down, Immigrant Workers Face Housing Crisis
The immigrant workers that pick crops like cotton and melons in the U.S. can have a tough time finding a place to live. The rural areas where they can find work often lack the social services and affordable housing. That means many farm worker families end up in dilapidated buildings, which can come with health…
Tobacco 21 gains approval in KCMO, Wyandotte County
The two municipalities hiked the legal age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21 — the first victories for a region-wide effort.