News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Child Custody Case In Garden City Stirs Medical Marijuana Debate
The case of a medical marijuana activist in Garden City who lost custody of her son after the boy spoke up at a school anti-drug event has stirred legalization advocates.
The changing dynamics of Kansans and coverage
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, it would have been virtually impossible for Calderwood to purchase affordable coverage because of her pre-existing health problems. Denying coverage to sick people was one of the ways that insurance companies managed their risk. Not surprisingly, a significant number of Kansans who purchased Obamacare coverage in the initial enrollment period were older and less healthy than the general population, said Matt All, a senior vice president for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, the state’s largest health insurer.
Health Care Expert Says Changes Are Afoot For Medicare And Medicaid
The public should expect to see significant evolutions in Medicare and Medicaid in coming years, a national health care expert told a Kansas City audience Friday.
‘Housing first’ model creates a place to stay
In the post-institutionalization era of mental health treatment in America, the usual model of support for people with mental illness is temporary hospitalization and treatment following a psychotic episode, then a temporary stay in “transitional housing” before patients are expected to obtain and secure housing on their own in the private market. But some advocates think that creates dangerous instability for some people with severe and persistent mental illness. The antidote, they say, is an open-ended place to stay that allows people with a mental illness to get comfortable with their surroundings and fall into a routine that makes them better able to manage their conditions.
He saw his son lying dead, shot by sovereign citizens
SPRINGFIELD, MO. Although nearly five years have passed, telling the story hasn’t gotten any easier for Bob Paudert. But here was the former police chief of West Memphis, Ark., standing before dozens of law enforcement officers to describe the day that turned his life upside-down and to hopefully prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring…
Kansas Representative Melissa Rooker talks school finance
The most recent controversy in Kansas education involves the dumping of the school finance formula and the implementation of a block grant system. Representative Melissa Rooker (R) of Fairway, Kansas, sat down with Mike Shanin to talk about her views on the issue on a recent edition of KCPT’s “Ruckus.” What follows is an edited…
KC rallies for low-wage workers
Chants of “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! These poverty wages have got to go!” could be heard across several blocks as hundreds of people marched from Theis Park near the Plaza to the UMKC campus Wednesday afternoon.
Putting A Price Tag On The Chase For Cancer-Fighting Excellence
Over a span of a dozen years, the University of Kansas Cancer Center estimates that philanthropists, taxpayers and other funders will plow about $1.3 billion into its effort to become one of the nation’s most elite cancer-fighting institutions.
Cancer superheroes: KC survivors share their stories
“I named my tumor Walt. Humor = tool.” “2-0, baby. No rematch, please.” “Cancer is a word. Not a sentence.” “Overcoming physical, social, economic, emotional hurdles.” “Wonder when it will win.” These short narratives are just a handful of the many our newsroom received from community members describing their experience with cancer. As part of…
New live/work artist space may come to KC
Artspace, a nonprofit real estate organization that aims to develop affordable live/work spaces for artists of all kinds, is in the midst of a preliminary feasibility study to determine if and how development could happen in KC. Megan Crigger, the director of creative services for KCMO, said the city is interested in the ways expanding…