Kansas City Today

A Missouri man could be executed this fall for a crime he says he didn’t commit. How flawed is the evidence tying him to this crime, and what have been the efforts to exonerate him?

Earlier this month, the Missouri Supreme Court set a September 24 execution date for Marcellus Williams, a man convicted of killing Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Felicia Gayle in 1998. Williams was sentenced to death. He was almost executed in 2017. But at the last minute, former Governor Eric Greitens stayed the execution because of DNA evidence. He formed a board of inquiry to further investigate the case.

The Midwest Innocence Project took on Williams’ case and is now circulating a petition to stop his execution. Executive Director Tricia Rojo Bushnell joined host Nomin Ujiyediin to talk about the case for Williams’ innocence.

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 David McKeel and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, a small nonprofit dedicated to documenting the untold stories of Weston's Black forebears, held its first Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee in 2021. Since then, the small river town just north of Kansas City has become a destination for regional Black history.

The 4th Annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee will be held Saturday, June 15, from 1-4 p.m. at the Weston Red Barn Farm. The event is free.

On KCUR's Up To Date, Steve Kraske spoke with BAAC and event founder Angela Hagenbach, and BAAC Charter members Phyllis Becker and Rebecca Ehrich.

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 Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Missouri child welfare advocates and lawmakers are alarmed over the sparse use of a drug rehabilitation program that could help keep kids safe. Plus: How women surgeons at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita are trying to change the status quo.

A recent report showed that child abuse investigators missed warning signs that parents were taking fentanyl before their children died of accidental overdoses. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum explains, the report is prompting sharp questions about why Missouri’s Children’s Division isn’t using a process to steer parents into drug rehabilitation programs.

Women now comprise more than half of medical school graduates, but they’re still underrepresented among surgeons. A club at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita brings together women surgery residents and attending physicians for support and mentorship. Rose Conlon of the Kansas News Service dropped in on a recent meeting.

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 Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act has expired, but Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and other Congress members are still fighting to expand it. Plus: Precision agriculture is supposed to help growers be more efficient with what and how they farm, but it's still years away from fulfilling its promise.

An effort to get federal funding for sick Missourians living or working near nuclear waste hit a major roadblock Friday. St. Louis Public Radio’s Abby Llorico spoke with Senior environmental reporter Kate Grumke about the expiration of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

Precision agriculture has promised to revolutionize farming since the mid-1990s. The idea is to give growers more granular data about their operations and new technology to put that information to use. Some of this has come to pass: farmers have more sophisticated equipment and hard data on how their operations perform. But as Harvest Public Media contributor Eric Schmid reports, some of the loftiest promises of precision ag are still out of reach.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

In the 1990s, a group of queer Kansas City women were fed up with harassment and housing discrimination. So, they transformed 12 city blocks in the Longfellow neighborhood into a radical enclave by and for women called Womontown.

On June 13, the city and the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America will unveil a historical marker plaque highlighting the significance of the neighborhood and what happened there.

KCUR's Steve Kraske spoke with Sue Moreno, one of the neighborhood members during Womontown's heyday, about its lasting influence.

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 Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Fewer medical school graduates are seeking training to become OB-GYNs in Missouri following the state’s abortion ban. How could this impact maternal health care in a state where there’s already a shortage?

Last month, the Association of American Medical Colleges released a report showing states that passed abortion bans saw a decrease in applications for obstetrics and gynecology residencies — training programs that help doctors specialize after they graduate from medical school. Missouri saw a 25 percent drop in OB-GYN residencies since 2022.

Host Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with the Missouri Independent's Anna Spoerre to talk about what else might have caused the decline — and why reproductive health care providers might be reluctant to practice in Missouri.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by David McKeel and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Indie-pop band The Greeting Committee was formed by four Overland Park high schoolers in 2014. A decade later, the group has toured all over the United States, surpassed 100 million global streams and been lauded for its coming-of-age indie rock.

Steve Kraske, host of KCUR's Up To Date, spoke with lead singer Addie Sartino and bassist Pierce Turcotte about their upcoming album, "Everyone’s Gone and I Know I’m the Cause," out June 21.

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 Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Margie Vandeven has spent seven years at the helm of Missouri public schools, but she’ll step down at the end of June. The outgoing commissioner shares her thoughts about key issues facing Missouri schools. Also, headlines from across the metro.

After seven years at the helm of Missouri’s public schools, Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven is stepping down. Vandeven shares a look back at her tenure and how she views the state of education in Missouri on KCUR's Up To Date with Steve Kraske.

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 Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Kansas lawmakers will soon return for a special session to try to reach a tax-cutting agreement with Gov. Laura Kelly. Plus: Solar power is the fastest growing source of electricity in the U.S., but some new solar installations are taking land once used to grow food. Researchers are looking for ways to do both.

Kansas lawmakers return to Topeka on June 18 for a special session on tax cuts as the state sits with billions of dollars in the bank. Kelly, a Democrat, is calling the special session after rejecting three different bills passed by the Republican-led Legislature that would have cut state income and property taxes. Daniel Caudill with the Kansas News Service reports that Kelly supports cuts, but says she wants lawmakers to pass a bill that’s less costly for the state.

America needs more renewable energy, and of course it needs food. Those two demands are on a collision course over farmland. Solar power is the fastest growing source of renewable power, but solar farms can take land out of crop production.
For Harvest Public Media, KCUR's Frank Morris reports a growing field of study is searching for ways to get calories and kilowatts off the same land.

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 Anna Schmidt and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Lisa Rodriguez and Gabe Rosenberg.

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

Hundreds of foster children in Kansas face aging out of the state’s care at 18 without a family or a safety net, leading to issues like homelessness. A new Kansas law aims to help by letting teen foster children choose a relative or a close friend to serve as their permanent custodian. Dylan Lysen with the Kansas News Service has more.

Thirteen states across the U.S., including much of the Midwest, introduced bills this year that could give some rights usually associated with people to embryos and fetuses. None passed, but people in the fertility world are concerned that lawmakers will try again and what that means for reproductive rights. Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs reports for the Midwest Newsroom that some Midwesterners worry about how this could affect their reproductive choices.

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 Anna Schmidt 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.