Kansas City Today

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has laid out his plans for the future of the state's education, infrastructure, and COVID response. In an interview on KCUR's Up To Date, Parson talked about recent fights with far-right lawmakers over his nomination of a health department director, and recent efforts by the state Attorney General to sue school districts with mask mandates.

Parson also spoke about his view on the "Second Amendment Preservation Act," which is now being weighed by the Missouri Supreme Court, as well as the Kevin Strickland case.

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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

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments asking it to declare unconstitutional the state's "Second Amendment Preservation Act." The bill, signed in 2021, imposes a $50,000 fine on any state or local official who enforces a federal gun law that’s not already a law in Missouri. It also declares invalid any federal laws infringing the Second Amendment.

As a result, law enforcement have suspended participation in all joint state-federal task forces and halted the sharing of certain data the federal government uses to solve crimes. St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County sued.

The Midwest Newsroom's Kavahn Mansouri reports that the Supreme Court will issue its decision at a later date.

With Medicaid expansion, a broad swathe of low-income Missourians are now eligible to receive public health insurance. That cross section includes people leaving prison, who often go from having basic health care on the inside to not having any on the outside. As Sebastian Martinez Valdivia of KBIA reports, access to low-cost health insurance could keep more people from reoffending and ending back in prison.

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

It's the 100th episode of Kansas City Today! Thanks to everyone who's listened and subscribed, and make sure you share this show with a friend.

Congressional redistricting remains at the top of the legislative agendas in both Kansas and Missouri. In both states, the proposals released have some very significant implications for the Kansas City area. On Thursday, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a GOP-drawn map that would split up diverse Wyandotte County.

And in Missouri, the state Senate shot down Gov. Mike Paron's nomination of Donald Kauerauf for health director, after complaints from conservative protesters and lawmakers over Kauerauf's support for vaccinations.

KCUR's Brian Ellison sat down with journalists who are covering both statehouses — Jim McLean of the Kansas News Service and Jason Hancock, editor of the Missouri Independent — to round up what’s happening one month into the legislative year.

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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

In December, workers at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, made history by voting to form the first union at any Starbucks U.S. location. The move earned them national media attention and eventually energized other Starbucks workers across the country to follow suit.

Nearly two months later, the workforces at 54 Starbucks stores in 19 states announced plans to unionize, including shops in Overland Park and on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. On KCUR's Up To Date, host Steve Kraske spoke with Emma Baldridge and Josh Crowell, employees at the stores, about the campaigns.

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

Intercourse between same-sex couples in Kansas is still a crime, even though a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2003 made such laws unconstitutional.

Kansas' sodomy law, which makes sex a crime for “persons who are 16 or more years of age and members of the same sex," can't be used to actually convict people. But there are known instances of people being arrested because of the provision.

Blaise Mesa of the Kansas News Service reports on a renewed push by some lawmakers to change state statute, although advocates are growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of action.

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