News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Profile: Angela Broderick Bedell, executive director of Metro Med
Angela Broderick Bedell, 48, took over as executive director of the Metropolitan Medical Society of Greater Kansas City (Metro Med) in May. The society, which dates back to the late 1800s, is a membership organization for physicians practicing in the Kansas City area. It has about 2,000 members, including students and retirees. Bedell has held…
Profile: Mike English, executive director of Turn the Page KC
It’s been nearly two years since Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Sly James launched Turn the Page KC, a community initiative to get students reading on grade level by third grade. Today the initiative announced its first dedicated staff member, Mike English. English accepted the position as the initiative’s first executive director this month. “Between (The…
KU Eye plans centennial events
Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism The Ophthalmology Department at the University of Kansas Medical Center is marking its centennial this year through several public events aimed at raising awareness and promoting vision care. The department, also known as KU Eye, has its main office in Prairie Village, Kan. It is the only…
Missouri Department of Education recommends a tiered approach to district intervention
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the first draft of a state plan to address unaccredited districts in the state and implement supports to prevent the loss of accreditation on Tuesday. The proposed plan moves away from a one-size-fits-all intervention model and prescribes five levels of state intervention, which depend on a…
New building, funding drive on tap for KU Hospital
The University of Kansas Hospital announced plans Monday to build a 92-bed neurosciences and surgical oncology facility at its Kansas City, Kan., campus, and hospital officials said they have secured $3.5 million in philanthropic support for the project. Hospital officials said civic leaders Deanna and Greg Graves have pledged $1 million towards the “Cambridge North”…
KU offers reduced tuition for educators returning to school
Beginning this summer, teachers and administrators living in Kansas can continue their education for less. The School of Education at the University of Kansas announced this week that educators from public and private schools will be eligible for a “practicing educator rate” at both the Lawrence Campus and Edwards Campus in Overland Park, Kan. “There’s…
Local workers push to end "poverty wage"
Steve Hebert — KCPT Special Correspondent Fast food workers in the Kansas City, Mo., area took to the street to demand a better wage on July 29, 2013. Armed with megaphones and signs, they stood outside a Burger King restaurant at the corner of Troost Avenue and Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard demanding “15 and a…
Union Station Massacre paper trail lives on at National Archives
As an archivist, Jake Ersland gets a firsthand look at many of the 70,000 cubic feet of federal records maintained by the National Archives at Kansas City. “I love that I work with original documents that capture history as it happened,” Ersland said. “When a person studies history in books, they are presented with an…
Health law helps thousands of area Latinos, feds say
Approximately 95,000 uninsured Latinos in Missouri and Kansas combined are eligible for health coverage through the marketplaces established by the federal health reform law, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The department broke out state-specific numbers in the report, which concluded that approximately 8 in 10 of…
Free dental care on way from UMKC
Mike Sherry – The Hale Center for Journalism Dental students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City are set to provide free services for low-income individuals next month. The students selected 240 patients during a day-long event at the school Saturday. Students selected the participants from approximately 350 individuals who showed up at the event. Organizers…