News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
What’s the state of entrepreneurship in the U.S.? It’s complicated.
On one hand, it’s a good time to be an entrepreneur. Venture capital and angel investment levels are back up to where they were in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Startup valuations are high. City and state governments are building more economic development strategies for entrepreneurs. On the other hand, new business creation in…
Facing layoffs and closures, rural hospitals push for medicaid expansion
If you’re in the market for fluorescent light bulbs, you might talk to Chris Smiley. In the past few weeks, she’s been trying to sell off what’s left of Sac-Osage Hospital. “Casework, lighting, plumping, sinks, toilets. Anything you want,” Smiley says. That’s not in her job description. She’s actually the CEO of Sac-Osage, a hospital…
Conversation: With Cindy Circo
Kansas City, Missouri Fifth District Councilwoman Cindy Circo interview with Mike Shanin on KCPT’s Ruckus.
An alternative plan, for Kansas Medicaid Expansion
An alternative plan to expand Medicaid loaded with clauses meant to woo Republicans has been introduced in Kansas. But it could face the same difficult political climate that killed similar bills in other states last week. Rep. Tom Sloan said Monday that the proposal introduced by the Vision 2020 Committee he chairs represents a Kansas solution that can appeal even to those who campaigned on unwavering opposition to the federal health care reforms spearheaded by President Obama.
A rally of support, for dismissed KC doctor
About two dozen women and children protested outside Research Medical Center on Monday afternoon in support of an obstetrician who was let go last month. Lisa Cohen, a midwife from Lee’s Summit, Mo., started a petition to reinstate Dr. Howard Schwartz that so far has drawn more than 1,300 signatures.
Without immigration fix, dairies struggle
America’s dairies rely on immigrant labor to milk cows and care for the herd. Many owners of the country’s largest dairies say that they’re unable to find employees. A comprehensive fix to the immigration system seems like a longshot in the new Congress, leaving some dairies struggling to keep up.
Is driving for – and riding with – Uber worth it?
The night before Thanksgiving last November, Ben McCarthy was out trying to make a little extra cash by driving for the app-based ride-hailing service Uber. He was stopped at a stoplight in Westport when his passengers decided to jump out of the car right there and end the ride early. McCarthy said this wasn’t unusual…
For vaccination rates, Kansas and Missouri fall in lower half of states
With measles making a comeback in the United States after it was thought to have been eradicated 15 years ago, a new analysis finds that fewer than 90 percent of preschoolers nationwide have received the recommended vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella. Both Kansas and Missouri fell below the 90 percent threshold for preschooler vaccinations, the baseline goal set by Healthy People 2020, a federal interagency task force.
New cancer center planned for eastern Jackson County
HCA Midwest Health, the region’s largest health system, announced Wednesday that it plans to open a comprehensive cancer center near Centerpoint Medical Center, the company’s hospital in Independence, Mo. HCA will house the center in a 17,000-square-foot building near Centerpoint, according to a system spokeswoman. HCA purchased the building, a former furniture store, in 2012.