Kansas City Today

Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan one year ago, 760 Afghan refugees have relocated to Kansas City. Despite having found homes, jobs, and created new lives, many continue to be apart from family and friends, and their future in Kansas City and the U.S. is uncertain. Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with KCUR's Carlos Moreno about what life is like for Afghan refugees a year later.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

With monkeypox now a public health emergency, the illness continues to spread across the country — with a handful of cases in Kansas and Missouri. Although monkeypox can be transmitted to anyone, regardless of sexuality or gender identity, the response has reignited prejudices against gay and bisexual men.

Up To Date's Steve Kraske spoke with Dr. Dana Hawkinson of KU Medical Center and KU Associate Professor Katie Batza about symptoms to look out for and how to kick the stigma.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

The effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Missouri gained some traction in 2021, and last week Missouri Secretary of State John Ashcroft announced that an initiative to put the question before voters had received 203,551 valid signatures across six Congressional districts — just enough to qualify. Now it will appear on the November ballot as Amendment 3.

Jason Hancock, editor of the Missouri Independent, explains how we got here and what the amendment would mean.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

He may not be a household name in his hometown yet, but Alan Wayne — known onstage as The Pradagy — wants to share his Kansas City roots with the hip-hop world. Some recent successes could help him do just that. KCUR’s Lawrence Brooks IV brings us this story.

Native flowers and insects are springing up in Kansas City on a mural at 77th Street, under the Paseo bridge. For KCUR, Julie Denesha reports on the local artist who’s bringing beauty to a neglected corner of the metro.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

After 60 years of operation, one of the nation's oldest Black-owned housing co-ops may be in trouble. Parade Park, once a bastion of the "American Dream," has fallen into disrepair and faces foreclosure. KCUR's podcast A People's History of Kansas City dug into the past of this historic neighborhood and why its future looks so grim.

From bus drivers to teachers, school districts are finding it difficult to fill critical positions as the new year begins. Independence, Missouri, is the latest district to consider a big change: Shortening the school week to four days. St. Louis Public Radio's Kate Grumke spoke with Associate Professor Jon Turner about the effectiveness of a shorter school week.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted today by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Four pools in Kansas City, Missouri, have closed early for the summer, despite record-setting heat and the possibility of higher temperatures as August closes out. KCUR's Nomin Ujiyediin and Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga sat down to talk about why this is happening and what's left for those who want to beat the heat.

80 million years ago, western Kansas was home to an expansive, prehistoric ocean likened to "hell's aquarium." Once filled with exotic life, the remnants of this ancient body of water now bring in scientists from around the world for research. David Condos of the Kansas News Service reports how these fossilized creatures could help inform our current understanding of climate change.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted today by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Police departments across Kansas are struggling to hire officers. In rural western Kansas, that means younger officers walking the beat. KCUR's Blaise Mesa has more on why this is happening and what departments are doing about it.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted today by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

The University of Kansas last month removed Sigma Chi from campus, the third fraternity ousted this year for alleged hazing offenses. On KCUR's Up To Date, Steve Kraske spoke with Matthew Petillo, news editor of The University Daily Kansan, and Sarah Brown, news editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education, about the details of the Sigma Chi suspension and ongoing issues with Greek life in higher learning systems.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted today by Laura Ziegler. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Former Kansas City Chiefs Coach Dick Vermeil will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. He’ll enter the Hall as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, but as Greg Echlin reports for KCUR, 17 years after he left Kansas City, Vermeil is fondly remembered for his final chapter as a coach.

Brandon Calloway is putting characters of color at the center of their own stories with his Kansas City-based publishing company Darkmoon Comics. On KCUR's Up To Date, guest host Danie Alexander spoke with Calloway, who is also creator of the series "Black Spartans," and R. Alan Brooks, creator of the upcoming Darkmoon release "Skybreak," about Black protagonists, or the lack thereof, in comic books.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin, and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran has held his seat since 2010, and it would be easy to assume that conservative Kansas would back him again. But KCUR's Laura Ziegler reports that some voters are rethinking their priorities after the last six years, while Democrats are rethinking their strategy for campaigning.

Republican Eric Schmitt and Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine won their nominations for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and are on a collision course for November. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jonathan Ahl talk about the results from Tuesday's primary.

Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Peggy Lowe. It is produced by Byron Love, Trevor Grandin and KCUR Studios and edited by Lisa Rodriguez.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate