Kansas City Today

Kansas Citians are taking to the streets to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. After the killing of Renee Good, a former Kansas City resident, a demonstration marched through the Country Club Plaza. Meanwhile, local groups are warning each other about potential ICE activity.

Protests have recently spread to Gladstone and North Kansas City. KCUR's Steve Kraske spoke on Up To Date with Sofi Zeman, a Wyandotte County reporter for the Kansas City Star, about what residents are doing in response.

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.

Tumbleweeds have taken over the High Plains. The plant thrives so well in the western part of Kansas that sometimes they can shut down entire neighborhoods or highways. Plus: An inconspicuous insect is changing what survival looks like as climate change remains a threat.

In old western movies, a lonely tumbleweed will often roll across the screen in the midst of the gunslinging. But today, if you drive across western Kansas on a windy day, you will often see not a lonely tumbleweed, but a swarm of them. This ample supply of blowing weeds can hurt farm yields, wreak havoc on neighborhoods and cause fire dangers. Calen Moore of the Kansas News Service reports on how this pervasive weed made itself part of the culture on the Plains.

A new St. Louis University study examines how rising heat is boosting fertility for treehoppers, a thorn-like insect half the size of a single pea. Researchers found that even as rising temperatures decreased the survival of the juvenile insects, it also unexpectedly boosted fertility in the adults. St. Louis Public Radio’s Marissanne Lewis-Thompson spoke with SLU biology professor and study co-author Kasey Fowler-Finn about how these critters are adapting to the heat.

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.

State attorneys will take center stage this week in a trial that could reshape Missouri's abortion regulations. Witnesses are expected to include doctors who view the state's TRAP laws as protective, rather than restrictive. This follows a week where Planned Parenthood leaders testified that the state is imposing standards that are impossible to meet.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with KCUR health reporter Noah Taborda about how the trial is proceeding so far, and what to expect in the days ahead.

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.

Just before Christmas, the University of Missouri-Kansas City informed all tenants of 4825 Troost Ave., the largest of which are KCUR and Classical KC, that they must vacate the building by the end of January. We'll talk about what we know — and what we still don't — about the move.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Lisa Rodriguez, KCUR director of journalism, about how this will impact the newsroom and services like this podcast. Find out the latest information on KCUR's FAQ.

KCUR 89.3 is licensed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

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 and Emily Younker.

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

The Kansas City Royals missed a big deadline to tell Kansas their proposal for STAR bond funding, and top lawmakers say they're no longer interested in talks with the team. The doors may also be closing in Clay County, while Missouri's public financing offer is under threat.

KCUR's Steve Kraske spoke on Up To Date with Kacen Bayless, politics and government reporter for the Kansas City Star, about where the Royals may be playing in 2031.

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 data center in the Crossroads is one of the first in the country to get a loan for clean energy. Plus: Scientists across the central U.S. say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty under the second Trump administration.

Kansas City company Patmos is retrofitting a 400,000-square-foot building in the Crossroads with help from a clean energy loan, which will be used to reduce the amount of electricity it consumes by optimizing the company's HVAC system. KCUR's Emily Younker spoke with reporter Savannah Hawley-Bates about the new data center and critics who argue data centers of all sizes need to be more regulated.

Midwestern scientists say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty since President Donald Trump took office for the second time. They say the the administration has slashed the federal scientific workforce, canceled thousands of federal research grants, and clamped down on specific subjects like climate change and environmental justice. Harvest Public Media's Kate Grumke 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 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.

A huge tree is being cut down in Kansas City's Historic Northeast. The burr oak predates even the Revolutionary War and survived as the city sprang up around it. But after a lightning strike and years of disease, this Liberty Tree has reached its end.

A doomed tree in Kansas City, one as old as the United States, started coming down yesterday. It’s got a name, Frank the Liberty Tree, and it’s had an impact. When neighbors gathered recently to kiss the ancient tree goodbye, many glimpsed a deep link to the past. As KCUR’s Frank Morris reports, some also saw a potent metaphor for the present.

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.

The Chiefs are building a new headquarters in Olathe, in addition to their stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. A big Kansas City company is jumping state lines. Add elections on top of all that, and you have the recipe for a dramatic year in Johnson County.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Kyle Palmer, editor of the Johnson County Post, about what he's watching for in 2026.

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.

Advocates in Missouri head to court today to argue that the state is unconstitutionally blocking access to abortion care — more than a year after voters chose to overturn the statewide ban. This is all happening as another statewide vote on abortion looms later this year.

In 2024, Missouri voters overturned the state’s near total abortion ban. The vote protected access to reproductive health care and contraceptives. But more than a year later, advocates say women still face hurdles when seeking an abortion.

Today, those advocates will get their day in court, as a judge in Kansas City is set to rule on whether state restrictions and regulations violate the constitutional provisions voters just put in place.

KCUR’s Steve Kraske spoke on Up to Date with Emily Wales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, and he asked her about what’s really happening in clinics and doctor’s offices around the state.

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.

What's next for the Kansas City Chiefs after the team’s worst season since 2012? We’ll hear what could be in store for Mahomes, Kelce, and more in this excerpt from SportsBeat KC, a Kansas City sports podcast from The Star and KCUR Studios.

The Kansas City Star's Chiefs beat writer Pete Sweeney talks about the big off-season questions with SportsBeat KC host Blair Kerkhoff. Subscribe to SportsBeat KC wherever you get podcasts.

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.

SportsBeat KC is produced by Gabriella Lacey, Suzanne Hogan, Irvin Zhang and Monty Davis and edited by Jeff Rosen and Scott Chasen.

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