News & Issues

Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.

Head Start students at Woodland Early Learning Center in Kansas City, Missouri, interact in their classroom. (Photo: Mike Sherry | Heartland Health Monitor)

Take 5 for your health

Program Has Been Giving Children A ‘Head Start’ In Kansas City For 50 Years This year marks historic anniversaries for several pieces of landmark legislation, including Medicare and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s also the 50th anniversary of another significant program, Head Start, which was launched as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The…

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'Art in the Square' hopes to makeover historic park

Parks and Recreation Department of Kansas City kicked off its first annual “Art in the Square” Friday evening, as part of the Department’s efforts to revitalize and reimagine the historic park in downtown.

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5 pickup lines we probably won’t hear at Techweek … but wish we would

Techweek Kansas City kicks off today, meaning some of the national and regional leaders in tech innovation and entrepreneurship will converge at Union Station to exchange ideas about the future of our fair city and the world beyond. Let’s hope flying cars are involved. This week is studded with industry stars – hello, drone experts…

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people signing tour bus

'Nuns On the Bus' roll in to KC

It’s rare to see a crowd of people cheering for a group of nuns. But that’s exactly what happened when the “Nuns on the Bus” held a town hall meeting Friday, Sept. 11, at Community Christian Church near the Plaza in Kansas City. “Nuns on the Bus” is a project of NETWORK, a national Catholic…

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Food truck owner takes orders from two females.

North Kansas City just got a lot tastier

Overruling concerns of some local restaurant owners, the North Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department voted 6-1 Thursday to continue the food-truck pod pilot program in the city’s Macken Park through December. The program originally had been approved for the month of August, and ended September 1st. Since that time, the City Council of North…

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Protestors stand outside building

Minimum Wage increase: Rally cry heard from Westport to NYC

As it turns out, $13 an hour is not enough for Kansas City fast food workers.

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Without her sidekick, Needle, Arya Stark is just Maisie Williams, a girl with a You Tube channel. (Credit: You Tube)

Sound Smart This Weekend

THE REARVIEW: We’re going to let our Game of Thrones geek flag fly here, and tell you that Arya Stark is easily our second favorite character. Mainly because before going to sleep she names off everyone she wants to kill. And who here hasn’t drifted off to dream in the same satisfying manner? The real…

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(Credit: Chris Silas Neal | NPR)

How Likely Is It, Really, That Your Athletic Kid Will Turn Pro?

On the way to his son’s baseball game on Long Island, sports writer J.R. Gamble tells me that his son, J.C., is quite a ball player. “I have a lot of clips and highlights that I show people of him doing amazing things — jumping over catches, hitting balls right-handed, hitting balls left-handed,” Gamble says….

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Patricia Corry sitting on her sofa

Getting By In Retirement

Patricia Corry, 79 “Whatever is coming down the pike, is coming down the pike” [FLEX-CONTENT] Originally from Canada, Patricia lived in Texas before moving to Kansas City. A self-described “fatalist and eternal optimist,” Patricia tries to take retirement day by day. She spends part of her time working for Reconciliation Services. Hear Patricia’s story:  …

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Six Kansas cities have added e-cigarettes to their local smoking bans. (BIGSTOCK)

Take 5 for your health

Health Advocates Will Push To Add E-Cigarettes To Kansas Smoking Ban Kansas’ ban on smoking tobacco products in most public places has been in place since 2010. In those five years, the smoke-free atmosphere of bars, restaurants and other indoor spots has become the norm. Erica Anderson, a health promotion specialist for the Lawrence-Douglas County…

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