News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Day in the life: A Kansas City public defender
Exploring the challenges of the Public Defender’s office as told through documenting the footsteps of a public defender in a day.
5 questions with ‘Stray Dog’
Ron “Stray Dog” Hall got his big screen debut as Thump in the Academy-Award nominated film “Winter’s Bone.” Director Debra Granik recruited Hall for the part of the ruthless crime boss after seeing him at a biker church in southern Missouri. But while Hall physically fits the part, a new documentary from Granik reveals that in real…
KC-area students explore government work
More than 3,000 students from Kansas City-area middle schools and high schools got a glimpse of public service careers during the first-ever CORE4 Youth Career Expo held Tuesday at Bartle Hall. The students came from roughly four dozen schools. Hosting the event were the metropolitan area’s four core local governments — the city of Kansas City, Mo.;…
'Stars aligning' for long-sought mental health center in KC
After nearly two years of work, proponents of establishing a mental health crisis center in Kansas City’s urban core may be only weeks away from sealing a deal that involves a lot of moving parts.
Take 5 for your health
From Heroin To Hollywood: Kansas Native Shares Story Of Addiction And Recovery Los Angeles-based actor David Dastmalchian returned to Kansas with a message he said should transcend politics: We can’t give up on people who struggle with substance abuse and mental illness. Dastmalchian is now a budding Hollywood star, with roles in blockbusters like 2008’s…
Local startup heading to the big leagues of retail
Like so many great technological innovations, Jason Carman’s was born out of annoyance. “I have outdoor speakers at my place but they are controlled by a receiver in my basement,” Carman said. “So I’d be out by the barbecue and if I wanted to turn on some music, I’d have to walk inside, find the…
Obesity And Diabetes Rate High In Kansas And Missouri
Almost one in three adults in Kansas and Missouri is not just overweight but obese, according to a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America notes that obesity rates nationwide have stabilized, but at a level that’s still…
Why Public Media Matters
Brett Stone interned at KCPT this summer from May to August, focusing on digital media and online content. As Managing Editor of William Jewell’s student-run online publication, The Hilltop Monitor, he recently published these thoughts on public media. Over the summer, a study by the Washington Post came out entitled “Study: Kids can learn as much…
Sound Smart This Weekend
THE REARVIEW: We all know Pope Francis made his first visit to the U.S. this week, and his Congressional address has already been called everything from too progressive to not progressive enough. We’ll leave that for the pundits, but an equally fun fact is the pontiff’s java was created right here in the Kansas City…
Finding a local message in pope's Congressional address
Pope Francis’ speech to Congress Thursday morning — where he stressed the need to bridge the political divide — might as well have been directed at Kansas City lawmakers, said the Rev. Mark Lewis, director of the Thomas More Center for the Study of Catholic Thought and Culture at Rockhurst University in Kansas City. “Kansas City is…