News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
'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…
Take 5 for your health
Kansas Mom Charged in Marijuana Case to Sue Brownback, State Agency Lawyers for Garden City resident Shona Banda have prepared a lawsuit against Gov. Sam Brownback and the state agency that has custody of her child, claiming she has a constitutional right to use cannabis to treat her Crohn’s disease. Banda self-published a book and posted…
KC Researchers Say Zebrafish May Hold Clue To Reversing Deafness In Humans
Early hearing loss was hard for Rob Jefferson to accept, even though it runs in his family. “No, it couldn’t have been me,” he says. “It wasn’t my hearing. Everybody was mumbling.” The 56-year-old resident of Belton, Missouri, started losing his hearing when he was 17 years old, the result of premature degeneration of the…
Drone Exhibit a chance to highlight Veteran entrepreneurs
For many veterans, finding employment can be difficult after their time in the Armed Forces ends. Now, in KC, instead of trying to find a job, some local veterans are creating their own, with the help of organizations like Bunker Labs KC, a community of veteran startup companies.