News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
“Telling Project” enlists local veterans to bring their experiences center stage
Jonathan Wei can pinpoint the exact moment when he realized that everything he thought he knew about those who served in the military was wrong. In 2006, Wei was teaching at the University of Oregon and was an advisor to a student veterans group there. One morning while talking with one of his students, who…
Local KC group kickstarts payday-loan reform campaign
The Kansas City nonprofit Communities Creating Opportunity (CCO) has launched a new payday-loan reform campaign to educate the public about the dangers of payday loans and rally support for legislative reform.
Action urged to reduce poverty in Johnson County
Johnson County social service providers should target more services to residents who don’t have children, including low-income couples and at-risk young adults, according to a nonprofit that supports social service agencies in the county.
Kansas (Smart) City
Kansas City should soon learn the specifics of what it means to be a “smart city,” as designated by Cisco Systems Inc., the San Jose, California, computer networking giant. On Monday, Cisco officials are scheduled to announce the details around a letter of intent it signed with the city a year ago. This will make…
Health Advocates See Tobacco Tax Benefits Slipping
While health advocates cling to the possibility of Kansas lawmakers using a large tobacco tax increase to help solve the state budget crisis, Statehouse momentum is heading toward a much smaller increase — or none at all. Groups like the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and the University of Kansas Cancer Center praised Gov….
Kansas Water Talk Slows to a Trickle
Securing Kansas’ water supply — once a hot topic of the legislative session — has faded into the background in Topeka amid pounding rains and a grinding budget crisis. Rep. Tom Sloan, a Republican from Lawrence, led weeks of hearings on water issuesearlier in the session as chairman of the House Vision 2020 Committee. But, sitting in his office between largely unproductive recent House floor sessions, Sloan said the concerns raised during those hearings largely have been forgotten.
KU Hospital To Manage Inpatient Services At Marillac
The University of Kansas Hospital is expanding a four-year-old relationship with Marillac, a youth behavioral health provider in Overland Park.
Life After Green
At the end of June, Dr. Stephen Green, superintendent of the Kansas City Missouri School District, plans to leave for another job offer in Atlanta —superintendent at the DeKalb County School District. Mike Shanin interviewed Green on “Ruckus” about this departure and what the transition to a new superintendent will look like. Green is optimistic that…
From farmers market to brick-and-mortar
Levi Holland adds another sealed black bag of coffee beans to the small pile that is accumulating on a set of distressed wood shelves only a few feet from the front door at Post Coffee Co. Behind him is the 5-kilogram drum roaster that he’s running on a Wednesday after a busy holiday weekend –…
Taking your lunch hour to share a love of reading
Every Tuesday during her lunch hour Lynn Carlton has a standing appointment with a first grader at Wendell Phillips Elementary. In addition to her job as an urban planner at HOK in Kansas City, Missouri, Carlton is a volunteer with Lead to Read, and spends 30 minutes every week with her reading buddy Shamarian. Jean…