Kansas City Today

Tyrone Garner made history in December when he became the first African American mayor of Kansas City, Kansas. Garner spoke with Brian Ellison on KCUR's Up To Date about the progress made on his campaign promises, and his reaction to the Kansas legislature's redistricting plan that would separate Wyandotte County from Johnson County.

Across much of the U.S., winter is not as cold as it used to be. In Missouri and Kansas, the average winter temperature is about 4 degrees warmer than it was in 1970. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Shahla Farzan reports, warmer winters are changing how some farmers grow their crops.

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 with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Congressional redistricting has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of this year’s legislative sessions in both states. But, with the Kansas map headed to federal court and the Missouri debate on hold thanks to a group of immovable senators, the rest of the legislative agenda is getting some air time.

KCUR's Brian Ellison speaks with Tessa Weinberg, who covers education and health care for the Missouri Independent, and Suzanne Perez, who covers education policy for the Kansas News Service, about debates over critical race theory and other education issues in Topeka and Jefferson City.

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 with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

The Downtown Council of Kansas City released a new strategic plan last month imagining what the city could look like by 2030. The plan broadens the definition of downtown to surrounding neighborhoods, but some residents worry that focusing resources on the city's center only benefits a small, privileged segment of the population. Up To Date host Steve Kraske discusses the plan with neighborhood leader Patricia Hernandez and urban planner Graham Smith.

Slavery in Missouri is sparsely researched and rarely discussed. When it is, it’s described as having been “less severe” than in the Deep South. But western Missouri’s unique geography made it a dangerous place to be in bondage. Luke Martin has the story of how the muddy Missouri River was all that separated enslaved people from Kansas, and freedom.

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 with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

By the time you hear this podcast, we’ll probably already know how this week’s winter storm is playing out. But even by the middle of this week, meteorologists were having a hard time predicting how much snow the Kansas City area would get. We spoke to National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Blair about why the weather can be so hard to predict this time of year, and how climate change is making that uncertainty more common.

As Kansas lawmakers and conservative activists look to limit discussions of race and sexuality in public schools, some are lining up to support a new effort: curriculum transparency. But as Suzanne Perez of the Kansas News Service reports, copyrighted teaching materials make the discussion even more complex.

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

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

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

More people in Kansas are taking in foster kids at a moment's notice because they’re relatives or friends. Called kinship placements, these arrangements are seen as a better alternative to regular foster homes because the children are with people they're familiar with, often in communities they know. But Blaise Mesa of the Kansas News Service reports these kinship families are asking for more help from the state and are skeptical of promises of improvement.

While the U.S. Postal Service reports that household mail, including greeting cards, has steadily declined over the past 20 years, that hasn’t stopped some young people from trying to bring back the art of snail mail. Kansas City Today host Nomin Ujiyediin reports on how some Kansas City millennials and Gen Zers use cards and letters to express love and friendship, unplug from the internet, and connect with others in an unstable time.

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 with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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