News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Founder of Stowers Institute, Jim Stowers, dies
Jim Stowers, founder American Century Investments and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, died Monday at the age of 90, according to a release issued jointly by the two institutions. Dave Chao, President and CEO of the Stowers Institute, released a statement regarding the death of his institute’s founder. “The Stowers Institute has been incredibly…
Educator Profile: Hannah Lofthus, Kauffman School CEO
Growing up, Hannah Lofthus changed schools every year depending on if she was living with her mother or father, who both are educators. “I’ve went everywhere from the city district school to suburban schools to rural schools,” said Lofthus, who, for the past three years, has served as the principal at the Ewing Marion Kauffman School…
UMKC wins $7 million HIV grant
Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism The University of Missouri-Kansas City said Monday that its School of Nursing and Health Studies has received its largest grant ever, a $7 million federal award to establish a national HIV-prevention resource center. The five-year grant comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The center…
Community College makes National Debate Tournament history
The Kansas City Kansas Community College debate team became the first ever community college to qualify for the National Debate Tournament three years in a row this month. Since NDT began in 1947, only nine community colleges have qualified in a competition that is traditionally dominated by four-year colleges including Northwestern, Harvard and Dartmouth. “I…
Consumers, advocates rushing toward health-reform deadline
Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism As an uninsured agriculture worker, Salvador Lopez said he’d welcome health coverage so he could afford diabetes medication. Health insurance would also help his wife, said the Excelsior Springs, Mo., resident. Not feeling well on Saturday, she actually had her blood pressure checked at the health fair…
KC high school students reflect on race, education with ‘American Promise’
Broadcast students at the Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts took part in an advance screening of the documentary “American Promise,” which follows two African American boys from preschool to high school graduation. At age five, best friends Seun and Idris are accepted at Dalton, one of the most prestigious private schools in the…
KC health commission expands anti-violence effort
For several years, the Kansas City, Mo., Health Commission has delved into the city’s violent crime problem by trying to stop the spread as if it’s a communicable disease. The commission’s main vehicle for this approach has been the Aim4Peace program, which (among other things) sends trained “interrupters” into the streets to help curb the…
Book about Center School District chronicles academic transformation
In 2006, Center School District was a struggling urban school district. The district was provisionally accredited and met only six of Missouri’s 14 education standards. Eight years later Center School District has earned state accreditation with distinction and is meeting all 14 education standards on its annual performance review. “Parents and Schools Together” chronicles Center…
Kansas training educators to protect student privacy
A Kansas program that trains educators how to safeguard students’ digital records received national recognition last week during U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s remarks at the Common Sense Media Privacy Zone Conference. “As you know, though, many of our school systems have work to do to bring (privacy) policy into line with fast-changing technologies….
The Real McCoy: Harris-Kearney House holds artifacts of KC’s founding father
Today’s Kansas Citians owe a lot to the clothesline. In February of 1835, John Calvin McCoy submitted the first map of Westport, which he measured out using his wife’s clothesline. McCoy is commonly thought of as the father of Westport and, by extension, Kansas City. “We are the keepers of history of Westport and early…