Kansas City Today

In rural southwest Kansas, high-flying fighters are working to spread lucha libre, traditional Mexican wrestling. The sport carries cultural history and uses wrestling to address modern challenges in the world. Plus: From Starbucks lattes to new dietary guidelines that prioritize it, protein is everywhere. But what do nutritionists have to say about it?

Homegrown athletes are popularizing lucha libre across the Great Plains, and it’s more than just entertainment. Traditions, preserved and shared through wrestling, are woven into the sport, down to the masks and conflict. Calen Moore of the Kansas News Service reports.

Protein is having its moment in the spotlight. Companies are adding more protein-enhanced products to their lineups as demand grows. The new federal dietary guidelines unveiled earlier this year also put the nutrient front and center. Harvest Public Media’s Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval reports on whether Americans actually need more of it.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

When Congress ended pandemic-era free lunches for public schools in 2022, student meal debt skyrocketed in Kansas. One Wichita-area 6th grader launched her own fundraiser to tackle students’ lunch tabs at her school district. Plus: "Cow goggles" are allowing farmers to see through bovine eyes, and potentially improve animal welfare.

During the pandemic, public schools in Kansas provided free meals to every student, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. But when that federal program ended in 2022, school meal debt in Kansas skyrocketed beyond pre-pandemic levels. Experts who track this data say that debt in Kansas reached about $23.5 million after those free meals ended, about six times what districts reported in 2019. In the Valley Center School District near Wichita, one 6th grader is organizing an effort to pay off other students’ lunch tabs. Daniel Caudill reports for the Kansas News Service.

Animal agriculture is under scrutiny by consumers. People who eat meat are thinking more about the environmental impacts and the welfare of cattle and other livestock, from farm to processing plant. As Harvest Public Media's Hope Kirwan reports, one Midwest university is hoping a new augmented reality tool will give people working with livestock a better understanding of a cow's perspective.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

Interim Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota spoke with KCUR's Up To Date on Friday about why he jumped into this year's election for a full term, despite repeatedly promising not to. Then, hours later, LeVota announced he would drop out.

Six months ago, Phil LeVota was appointed Jackson County Executive on an interim basis after the recall of Frank White Jr. LeVota promised he wouldn’t seek a full term for the office, but then last month he filed for election after all.

LeVota joined Steve Kraske on KCUR's Up To Date to talk about his reasoning behind running, the new task force that he assembled to address the future of the stadium complex after the Royals and Chiefs leave, and what's happening with property tax assessments.

Just hours after this interview was recorded, LeVota announced he would end his reelection bid.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

The Kansas City Royals finally picked a spot for their new ballpark: Crown Center. While the financials have yet to be figured out, one architecture expert says that the initial design and location look good — with one exception.

Up To Date's Steve Krake spoke with author, architecture critic and lecturer Paul Goldberger about the first renderings of the proposed ballpark and why baseball is generally moving closer to the heart of cities.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Madeline Fox. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

In Kansas, radical abolitionist John Brown is associated with a violent period of the state’s history in the lead-up to the Civil War. One hundred and seventy years later, some modern day activists and educators are still debating his legacy.

Enduring debates over Brown’s legacy bring to the table those who condemn violence no matter the cause, activists who lionize him, and educators who view his story as a useful way of discussing modern dilemmas without all of today’s political baggage. Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service reports.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

Property taxes dominated the conversation in this year's Kansas legislative session — but infighting mean that lawmakers left without delivering any of their promised reforms. However, the GOP-dominated legislature managed to pass some big bills, sometimes over the veto of Gov. Laura Kelly.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Kansas Public Radio's Statehouse Bureau Chief, Zach Boblitt, about the session.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

A Kansas City nonprofit has spent the past decade using donated flowers from special events to brighten up the rooms of seniors living in health care facilities. Hear more about how this nonprofit is supporting the next generation of local florists though scholarships.

A Kansas City nonprofit has been spreading thousands of recycled flowers and joy to senior care facilities for the past 10 years. And now, it’s supporting the next generation of florists. KCUR’s Jodi Fortino has more on the new scholarship for students at a local community college learning floral arranging firsthand.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

Since January 2025, more than 3,200 people from nearly 80 countries have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Missouri. We learn about new figures obtained through a public records lawsuit released by the Deportation Data Project.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Luke Nozicka of The Midwest Newsroom about the project and how few of the arrested immigrants have criminal convictions or charges.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

A nonprofit program in Kansas City believes songwriting can help teens through mental health challenges. We'll stop by Rebel Song Academy to hear how students are finding their calm through music.

Since 2017, the nonprofit Rebel Song Academy has been found to help adolescents deal with a variety of mental health challenges by having them study composition and perform music together. KCUR's Brandon Azim reports.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

The Trump administration is trying to ease a farm worker shortage in part by cutting mandatory wages for foreign guest workers. But both immigration hardliners and labor advocates are pushing back. Plus: More urban schools in Missouri are finding value in teaching their students about the farming process.

Most people tending America’s farm fields were born elsewhere. Yet farmers are having a harder time finding employees after the immigration crackdown. The Trump Administration is trying to help by lowering wages for foreign guest workers. But Harvest Public Media contributor Frank Morris reports that changes to the H-2A visa program for such workers are drawing fire from groups across the political spectrum.

Agriculture employment grew 10% nationwide between 2010 and 2024, according to USDA data. The uptick means potential jobs for people who grew up far from traditional agriculture. Harvest Public Media contributor Katie Grawitch reports that Chapters of FFA — once called Future Farmers of America — are becoming more common in urban schools.

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

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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