This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said he's prepared to reject signatures collected before Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the new map into law. Meanwhile, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has argued that the signatures don't stop the map from taking effect as scheduled anyway. KCUR's Brian Ellison sat down with Nomin Ujiyedin to discuss the current state of citizen efforts to challenge Missouri's new congressional maps.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. This episode was 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.

Residents of an apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, were kicked out of their homes earlier this year when the city condemned the property for unsafe living conditions, but one change in a law could help. Plus: A Missouri researcher says "radical empathy" can help combat today's conspiracy theories, which may help when you go home for the holidays.

When the city of Gardner in eastern Kansas ordered Aspen Place apartments closed for unsafe living conditions last May, residents only had 48 hours to leave their homes. As Dylan Lysen of the Kansas News Service reports, applying the Kansas Consumer Protection Act to residential rentals could help balance power between landlords and tenants. One lawmaker hopes it may force landlords to improve their properties so tenants don’t live in squalor.

Avoiding uncomfortable conversations at holiday gatherings may no longer be as simple as avoiding talk of politics and religion. That’s because more than 75% of Americans now agree with at least one conspiracy theory, according to a survey published by the National Academy of Sciences last year. University of Missouri assistant professor Chris Conner tells Anne Kniggendorf the key to bringing those believers back into mainstream society is leading with empathy.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. This episode was produced by Mackenzie Martin 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.

Kansas City found out over the weekend which countries it will host for World Cup games at Arrowhead Stadium next summer. There’s even a chance two of the world’s greatest players could face off here.

The list of teams set to play group-stage matches in Kansas City includes a wide range of countries, from the defending champions Argentina to first-time qualifier Curaçao. Kansas City could also potentially be home to a historic quarterfinal contest between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, if their countries meet expectations. KCUR's Up To Date host Steve Kraske spoke with interim news director and resident soccer reporter Madeline Fox about the slate of World Cup matches headed to Kansas City next year.

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 Madeline Fox, Gabe Rosenberg and Emily Younker.

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

For the past four years, a federal program has given Missouri farmers and hungry families a boost by putting locally grown, fresh food on their tables. But the recently canceled Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement won't provide that help this year.

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement has helped people fill their pantries with fresh produce since 2021. But this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled the effort, which paid local producers for fruits, vegetables and proteins that were then distributed for free. KBIA’s Najifa Farhat reports on how a program that fought hunger while supporting Missouri growers is now leaving families and farmers to deal with the loss.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. 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.

California startup Deep Fission says it plans to install a nuclear reactor underneath an industrial park in southeast Kansas. Plus, as the United States prepares for the 2026 World Cup, a look at how Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt helped U.S. soccer go pro.

Parsons, Kansas, will be the site of a California startup’s first ever 1-mile-deep nuclear reactor — with support from county commissioners, both Republican U.S. senators from Kansas and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration. The Kansas News Service's Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports company leaders will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking next week.

As the United States prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it's easy to forget that professional soccer in this country once felt like an impossible dream. KCUR's Suzanne Hogan reports that one of Kansas City most prominent businessmen, better known as the founder of the Chiefs, was a steadfast believer.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. This episode was produced by Mackenzie Martin and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

The number of women over 40 having babies is increasing nationwide, even as the overall birth rate declines. Plus, a nonprofit food distributor created its own free marketplace to tackle hunger across the country.

For the first time, the number of moms in their 40s having babies exceeded the number of teenagers giving birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is not the case in Kansas, where teenage birth rates still exceed the national average. But, as birth rates in other age categories decline, the Kansas News Service's Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga reports the state is also seeing a rise in older moms.

Feeding America is the largest group tackling hunger in the country. The nonprofit distributes billions of pounds of food each year but, with more than 200 food banks in its network, deciding where food goes is a huge undertaking. KBIA's Harshawn Ratanpal reports the answer to the problem is a market economy.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Suzanne Hogan and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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

This week, victims of disgraced Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski and other social justice advocates marked one year since Golubski died by suicide on Dec. 2, 2024. That was the day his federal trial was to begin on charges that he violated the civil rights of several women through rape and kidnapping.

In the year since disgraced Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski killed himself on Dec. 2, 2024, his victims and others in the community say nothing has changed. KCUR's Up To Date host Steve Kraske spoke with investigative reporter Peggy Lowe about fears in Wyandotte County that accountability died with Golubksi.

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

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

Sports betting became legal in Missouri this week. It marks the end of a years-long effort that came down to a statewide vote, and will likely transform the sports industry throughout the state. Plus: Lesser prairie chickens used to roam across Kansas and the Great Plains by the millions, but now there’s only a few thousand.

Initially passed through a constitutional amendment in November 2024, Missourians can legally place bets on sports as of this week. The effort to legalize sports wagering had the backing of Missouri’s professional sports organizations. St. Louis Public Radio’s Sarah Kellogg reports on what’s to come, including how gambling has already changed sports and can continue doing so.

The lesser prairie chicken was once a common sight in the southern Great Plains. But much of its habitat is now gone, and its numbers are dwindling. In recent years, the federal government has flip-flopped on protections for the bird, first awarding but then removing “endangered” status in Texas and “threatened” status in Oklahoma and Kansas this summer. Harvest Public Media’s Anna Pope reports on how states and landowners are continuing the conservation efforts.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. 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.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, passed a revised version of its public camping ban — which includes lesser penalties for first time offenses than the initial proposal. Kansas City, Kansas Police called the measure “dignified,” but opponents worry it will criminalize homelessness.

People sleeping outdoors in Kansas City, Kansas, will soon face new legal consequences under an ordinance passed by the Board of Commissioners of the Unified Government. KCUR's Up To Date host Steve Kraske spoke with news intern Kowthar Shire about the new ban and opponents' concerns that it will criminalize homelessness.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Suzanne Hogan and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Gabe Rosenberg.

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

Every year just before the holidays, Scouting America troops across the country collect food items for local pantries, right off our front porches. It’s an effort started 40 years ago from here in Missouri.

Scouting for Food became a national Scouting America program in 1988, expanding across the country as thousands of scouts collectively gathered hundreds of thousands of pounds of shelf-stable goods for food insecure residents in their local communities. Lacretia Wimbley of St. Louis Public Radio brings us this report.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Savannah Hawley-Bates. It is produced by Gabe Rosenberg and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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