News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Mission: Christmas
In the madness of the consumption and overspending that has become Christmas, there is nothing more humbling than knowing people’s lives will be changed by gift packages containing the most basic of necessities — toothpaste, undershirts, socks. City Union Mission is a Christian organization located in downtown Kansas City that provides food, shelter and other…
KC-area hospitals penalized for infection rates and safety issues
Eleven Kansas City-area hospitals have been hit with penalties for hospital-acquired infections and other complications that Medicare deems avoidable.
The hospitals’ Medicare payments will be docked by 1 percent in the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015.
Bridging the gap between military and business
Bob Ulin joined the Army in 1959; he was just 17 years old. He was a private in Germany when the Berlin wall went up. Later, he joined the National Guard in California and volunteered to go to Vietnam for two years. He served in the military until 1992, when he retired as a full…
How nonprofit hospitals – including one in Missouri – are seizing patients’ wages
Earlier this year, ProPublica and NPR reported that the wages of millions of U.S. workers are diverted to pay off a variety of consumer debts. Most states, like Missouri, allow creditors to take a quarter of after-tax wages—an amount that government surveys show is unaffordable for lower-income families.
Why the Midwest is recruiting California dairies
As drought, feed costs, and urban development wear on West Coast milk producers, states like Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa are pitching themselves as a dairy heaven. Even in California, the nation’s No. 1 dairy state, many dairy farmers are listening.
How prepared are Kansas and Missouri for disease outbreaks?
Kansas and Missouri rank in the bottom half of states in preparedness for potential outbreaks of infectious diseases like Ebola, Enterovirus and ‘superbugs,’ according to a report released Thursday.
Death Cafes: Discussing death, and especially life
On a Wednesday evening in October, about 20 people gathered in a St. Joseph, Missouri, coffee shop to talk about death. It’s called a Death Cafe, and it’s part of an international movement to get people talking about death and dying. It started in the U.K. in 2011 and, soon after that, hospice social worker…
Why are minorities diagnosed with autism at lower rates than whites?
For many Hispanic parents, getting help for their autistic children is a challenge. And that often starts with the failure to identify the disorder in the first place, says Jason Travers, an assistant professor in the special education department at the University of Kansas.
Kansas budget cuts affect Department for Children and Families
A spokesperson for the Kansas Department for Children and Families says the agency plans to heed Gov. Sam Brownback’s call for cutting $3.9 million from its fiscal year 2015 budget by delaying a planned upgrade of its computer system.
Proposal To Raise Missouri’s Cigarette Tax Would Fund Children’s Initiatives
A business-led group based in Kansas City, Mo., is leading an effort to quadruple Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax and direct the proceeds to early childhood health and education programs. Organizers of the “Raise Your Hand for Kids” campaign on Friday outlined their plan for a statewide ballot initiative to an audience of about 100 business,…