News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Will Kansans support lowering the sales tax on ‘healthy’ food?
A Kansas City-based nonprofit organization says a recent poll shows widespread support for exempting some foods from the Kansas sales tax.
Ashley Jones-Wisner, state policy manager for KC Healthy Kids, says the survey conducted for the Kansas Health Foundation showed that 86.6 percent of Kansans supported exempting fruits and vegetables from the state sales tax.
Edward Snowden on cyber warfare
When Sony pulled ‘The Interview’ from theaters in December it turned the spotlight onto cyber attacks, and their power to disrupt. In an exclusive interview with Edward Snowden, for an upcoming new film about cyber warfare, journalist James Bamford talked with the former National Security Agency contractor who made headlines after leaking thousands of classified…
Primary care docs in Kansas and Missouri face medicaid cuts
Starting this month primary care physicians in much of the country, including Kansas and Missouri, will be paid less for seeing Medicaid patients. The expiration of a federal incentive program in the Affordable Care Act is responsible for the reduction. Nationally, the average fee reduction is expected to be nearly 43 percent, according to a recent…
Donation is ingredient for success at NKC School District’s culinary program
Karla Santos and Husef Rizvanovic, a junior and senior from North Kansas City High School, lift heavy cardboard boxes full of whole chickens. They’re playing a sort of refrigerator Tetris, struggling to fit the boxes of poultry into the classroom fridges at North Kansas City High School. After rearranging twice, they still can’t get the…
Teachers: how much do you spend on classroom supplies?
Share your insights with Tell KC.
ACA navigation company draws criticism from KC health advocates
A Maryland company that has reaped millions of dollars in federal health-reform grants for work around the country is drawing fire for its performance in the Kansas City area. Critics say that Advanced Patient Advocacy (APA), a privately held company, has been slow off the mark in its role as a “navigator” organization, charged with helping consumers find coverage through the health insurance marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act.
KC flu ‘epidemic’? It’s not as scary as it sounds
The phrase “flu epidemic” might raise alarm bells for some, but don’t let headlines about this season’s outbreak scare you too much. “The ‘epidemic’ designation is basically just a way we characterizes whether flu season has started or not,” says Erin Burns, a health communications specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza division.
In Missouri legislature, stage may be set for more abortion restrictions
Missouri’s abortion regulations, among the strictest in the nation, may get even stricter. Several lawmakers have already pre-filed abortion-related legislation in both the state House of Representatives and Senate.
Are burn pits a possible answer for the mysterious ailments reported by veterans?
Many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts believe their health was affected by exposure to the burn pits and other potential environmental hazards. But there is not enough data to determine whether that exposure caused or contributed to the health problems they are struggling with now that they are home.
Is an aqueduct a practical answer to the water crisis in western Kansas?
A lot has changed in the three decades since the idea of building an aqueduct from the Missouri River to western Kansas was first studied and shelved. For one thing, the water shortages that were mere projections then are now imminent. That reality has prompted state officials to dust off the study and re-examine the aqueduct idea.
Western Kansas is heavily dependent on the Ogallala Aquifer. But since 1950, that ancient supply of underground water has been rapidly depleted by irrigation. That irrigation produces corn, which is fed to livestock to support the beef and, more recently, dairy industries, which are the foundation of the western Kansas economy. But water levels have dropped so low in parts of more than 30 counties that irrigation pumps can no longer be used there. That’s why rivers in western Kansas are little more than dry stream beds.