Missouri Republicans are facing the sobering reality that the new congressional map they passed in September isn’t a done deal. A voter-led referendum could derail the GOP’s plans for more favorable congressional lines.

Missouri Republicans approved a new congressional map that would carve up Kansas City and make it harder for any Democratic candidate from the state to win a seat in the U.S. House in 2026. But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum reports, a looming referendum could derail those plans.

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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.

The Independence board of education first approved a four-day school week in December 2022 to help recruit and retain teachers amid a chronic shortage across the state. Whether the district can keep its shortened week, though, will be decided by voters on Tuesday.

A Missouri law passed last year requires certain school districts to ask voters to approve a four-day week. So, beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, Independence will need that approval to keep its shorter schedule. Just one other school district in the state has put the issue before voters, and Crystal City residents overwhelmingly supported it. KCUR's Jodi Fortino has more on the implications of the upcoming vote in Independence.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Luke X. 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 has been in the national news a lot lately, including one surprising place: stories about the New York City mayoral race. Many national news outlets, most of them conservative-leaning, have zeroed in on candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposals for free bus fare and government-run grocery stores, and they’re using Kansas City as a negative example of both.

New York City’s 2025 election has captured nationwide attention. That’s mostly thanks to candidate Zohran Mamdani, a state assemblymember and democratic socialist who leads his opponents by double digits in virtually every poll. KCUR's Savannah Hawley-Bates explains the connection between two of Mamdani's policy positions and some high-profile public programs in Kansas City.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Luke X. 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.

Students at Ruskin High School in south Kansas City have the newest Teacher of the Year in Missouri — and they’re not surprised. Hear from them about why their teacher came out on top. Plus: The number of people experiencing homelessness in Kansas fell this year, but President Donald Trump recently ended federal funding for programs that provide permanent housing with no strings attached.

A social studies teacher in the Hickman Mills School District is Missouri’s newest Teacher of the Year. KCUR’s Jodi Fortino introduces us to the Ruskin High School students who say Kim Sixta is always there when they need her.

Homelessness in Kansas has fallen this year. But the president wants to end federal support for some programs that advocates say are effective. That may disrupt their work and increase the number of people who are without housing. Kansas News Service reporter Dylan Lysen spoke to editor Stephen Koranda about the changes.

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

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A Kansas City car salesman has opened a business hosting legal car sideshows. He hopes the space will make city streets safer, after years of complaints from businesses and residents about crowds and violence.

Screeching tires, drifting and loud smoking engines are the stuff of spinning car sideshows. But this time they’re not coming from downtown intersections. KCUR's Brandon Azim reports from inside Kansas City’s newest car pit, where doing donuts is legal.

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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 Kansas college cross-country runner collapsed from exertional heat stroke during a blistering hot practice in August. Former athletes and trainers say this doesn't surprise them.

Delia Montes was one of two cross-country athletes at Dodge City Community College who were treated for heat-related conditions last summer after practicing on the hottest day of the year. Former athletes and trainers said this did not surprise them. KCUR's Carlos Moreno spoke with reporter Sam Zeff about a three-month investigation with The Midwest Newsroom into why coaches made her run on a dangerously hot day that nearly cost her life.

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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.

The federal government is going on four weeks of being shut down. Beyond the 30,000 federal workers around Kansas City who are working without pay, the shutdown also has trickle-down consequences for local mental health departments.

The Johnson County Mental Health Center provides counseling, substance use treatment, psychiatric medication and other services. It also runs a 988 suicide hotline, and is anticipating a 14% rise in calls to that number and its local crisis line by the end of the year. KCUR's Nomin Ujiyediiin spoke with center Director Tim DeWeese, who says the federal shutdown is stressing out the center’s clientele and staff, and putting a strain on resources.

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

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

The traffic cones have all but left Main Street as the Streetcar Extension opens after more than three years of construction, but now drivers will face a new obstacle: transit-only lanes. Plus: Raising giant pumpkins is a labor of love for some Midwest growers, and the pumpkins keep getting bigger and bigger.

The KC Streetcar’s Main Street Extension opens today and will take riders all the way from the River Market to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. KCUR’s Savannah Hawley-Bates reports on the new rules for drivers along that route.

It's peak pumpkin season. With pumpkin spice lattes now as much a tradition of the season as pumpkin pies, our love affair with this orange gourd is bigger than ever. But did you know there is a thriving community of Midwestern growers harvesting pumpkins bigger and heavier than you can imagine? Harvest Public Media contributor Peter Medlin reports on what it takes to raise giant gourds and why these growers do it.

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

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

Companies are racing to roll out nuclear reactor designs that would be faster to build and could meet rising demand for energy from AI data centers. Two nuclear companies have proposals for new reactors in Kansas. Plus: Data centers are fundamentally changing the landscape for electric utilities in Missouri and beyond.

Two companies have revealed plans in recent weeks to potentially build nuclear reactors in Kansas. Their proposals are very different, but both are part of the race to open a new chapter in the history of U.S. nuclear power. Kansas News Service reporter Celia Llopis-Jepsen and editor Stephen Koranda explain.

As large data centers move into Missouri, they will require huge amounts of electricity. St. Louis Public Radio’s Kate Grumke spoke with Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, about data centers' impact on the electric utility environment and your electricity bill.

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, Jacob Smollen, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Emily Younker and Madeline Fox.

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

Thousands of volunteers in Missouri are trying to get enough signatures to force a statewide vote on a congressional map, which state lawmakers recently gerrymandered to favor Republicans. But state officials aren't making it easy for them. Plus: U.S. farmers are experimenting with short corn. It's corn, but shorter!

Missouri lawmakers recently gerrymandered the state’s congressional map after President Donald Trump set off a nationwide redistricting battle to try to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms. Volunteers are spreading across Missouri to try to get enough signatures for a statewide referendum. KCUR’s Savannah-Hawley Bates reports.

Change might be on the horizon for the Midwest’s most iconic crop. The U.S. produces more than a third of the world’s corn, and most of that grain comes from a swath of the central U.S. called the corn belt. Harvest Public Media’s Kate Grumke reports some Midwestern farmers are planting a new variety of corn that might be an improvement over what’s in fields now.

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, Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

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