Kansas City Today

Kevin Strickland was exonerated last week and released from a Missouri prison, after serving 43 years for a 1978 triple murder he didn't commit. Despite being declared innocent by a judge, Strickland is not owed any state compensation for his wrongful imprisonment.

On KCUR's Up To Date, host Steve Kraske spoke with Marilyn Chappelle, founder and executive director for Exceeds Expectations Inc., and University of Missouri-Kansas City associate professor of law Sean O'Brien about why only some Missouri exonerees are compensated, and what programs can help the formerly incarcerated re-establish themselves in a free society.

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

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

All across the United States, the pandemic has sparked high housing prices in places long insulated from them, even rural Kansas and Missouri towns with historically low real estate values. As KCUR’S Frank Morris reports, a surge of interest in some of these markets is squeezing out long-time residents.

You may have noticed new language boards in Kansas City's parks and playgrounds. The signage is helping kids with limited language abilities communicate. On KCUR's Up To Date, host Brian Ellison spoke with Deborah Wiebrecht, chief inclusion officer at Variety KC, along with mother and daughter Sara and Olivia Bloomfield, about making Kansas City more inclusive for people with disabilities.

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 and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez

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

In a pair of predominantly Hispanic southwest Kansas communities, two women try to become the first Latinas voted into local office. As David Condos of the Kansas News Service reports, elections earlier this month show how far Latina candidates have come and how many barriers they still face.

A futuristic-looking dome-shaped house in Overland Park has been added to the Kansas Registry for Historic Places. Now, KCUR’s Carlos Moreno reports the home’s owners are working to restore this local landmark.

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

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

After 43 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, Kevin Strickland was finally exonerated on Tuesday. But his hard-fought freedom came despite months of objections and delays from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

Schmitt's handling of the case amounted to "prosecutorial malpractice," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker says. Up to Date guest-host Brian Ellison spoke with Baker and Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project about Strickland's path to freedom and his road ahead.

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 and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez

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

Kevin Strickland was freed from a state prison in Cameron, Missouri, on Tuesday afternoon, hours after a judge set aside Strickland’s 1979 conviction and ordered that he be immediately released. In the ruling, the judge wrote that Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker had "met her burden of providing clear and convincing evidence that undermines the Court's confidence in the judgment of conviction.”

Thousands of property deeds in Missouri have racial covenants, which once banned people of color from buying those homes. Those covenants are no longer
legal or enforceable, but in Missouri, there’s no easy way of removing them. St. Louis Public Radio’s Corinne Ruff reports that as more homeowners try to set things right,they’ve discovered there’s no simple answers.

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 and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez

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