News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Health care compact gains attention as campaign issue
A once-obscure effort by a group of states to get out from under federal health care regulations has become an issue in the final days of the Kansas governor’s race. On Wednesday, Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Jill Docking teamed with Republican Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger at a Wichita news conference to criticize Republican Gov. Sam…
Concussion awareness event matches last year’s effort
An Overland Park, Kan., nonprofit raised $12,000 over the weekend to fund research into post-concussion syndrome among young athletes, according to the former Blue Valley High School basketball player who founded the nonprofit. Kylee Bliss established the nonprofit, HeadsUp Foundation for PCS, last year, and the organization held its second annual 10K trail run and…
Could this election swing control of Kansas House to center?
Rep. Jim Ward is a Wichita Democrat whose party loyalty has rarely been questioned, but even he says his party is likely to pick up only a few House seats in next week’s election.
But he said a few Democratic victories coupled with a few more by Republican moderates might be enough to swing the chamber currently controlled by conservative Republicans more toward the middle.
Candidates battling for insurance post differ on big issues
The top-of-the-ticket races may be commanding the most attention in this year’s Kansas election, but significant issues also are in play in some of the down-ballot contests. The insurance commissioner’s race is one example. Like the higher-profile races, it features candidates with very different perspectives on key issues. But unlike those races, the contestants remain…
Solving the puzzling mental illness of Bhutanese refugees
Making the rounds at a public housing complex in Kansas City, Kan., community health worker Rinzin Wangmo is greeted by cheery voices and faces. As she enters a home, the heavy aroma of chopped onions stings her nose, and she hurries up a short flight of stairs to escape the burn. After gently knocking on…
Kansas City conferees tackle language of health care
As reformers work on making the U.S. health care system more efficient, they’re also looking to improve communication with consumers – whether it’s ensuring they understand the nuances of insurance or grasping instructions from a doctor. The concept is known as “health literacy,” and the notion extends beyond the written or spoken word, Dan Reus,…
Kansas City Week in Review: Eilert, Lightner, Kobach & Chastain
Who Should lead Johnson County? We debate the issues in Johnson County with Ed Eilert, Johnson County Chair and his opponent, former state lawmaker Patricia Lightner. Also on this edition: Light rail on the ballot and a debate that took place earlier this week between the incumbent Secretary of State for Kansas, Kris Kobach, and his challenger, Jean Kurtis Schodorf.
100 years of history at Union Station
“All of my life I had lived in very small farming communities. Coming into Union Station was entering a shocking, different world. I still remember the great, big doors, the very tall, tall ceilings, and lots of people. I had never seen so many people, enormous numbers of people. And all that huge, large hall…
Egg lawsuit costs Missouri
Airline flights and legal fees in California; rental cars and hotel rooms in Indiana; $19 at Yogurtland in Los Angeles and expert witness fees of $500 an hour, plus expenses. That’s just part of the $83,711.59 that Missouri taxpayers will pony up for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s brief — and failed — legal foray into…
On-time vaccination rate for Kansas kids tumbles
TOPEKA — The percentage of Kansas students entering kindergarten in 2012 who had been immunized on the medically recommended schedule tumbled to 61 percent from about 72 percent the previous year. The drop, highlighted in KIDS COUNT data released Tuesday by Topeka nonprofit Kansas Action for Children, puts on-time immunization rates at their lowest in at least five…