Kansas City Today

After years of huge increases in thefts, experts say a drop in price for the precious metals, plus legislation to regulate metal dealers are deterring people from stealing the anti-pollution devices. Up To Date's Steve Kraske spoke with KCUR reporter Sam Zeff to learn more about what has caused the decrease.

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 Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

A fiery train crash earlier this year sparked a bipartisan drive to make freight trains safer, particularly for the communities they roll through. That’s a major issue in Kansas City, the country’s second busiest rail hub. But the reform effort tapered off over the course of the year, and as KCUR’s Frank Morris reports, the Railway Safety Act of 2023 may have run off the tracks.

The forward pass became part of college football in 1906. It was an attempt to spread teams out and make the notoriously rough game safer. Wichita State University claims to have thrown the first forward pass in college football history. But as Tom Shine of KMUW in Wichita explains, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

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 and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been focused this year on restricting or outlawing gender-affirming care for transgender kids and adults. Hospitals and other providers in the state say they adhere to widely accepted standards and practices for patients who are transitioning from the sex assigned at their birth to their gender identity.

Last week, Washington University’s Transgender Center filed a lawsuit against Bailey’s office. KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with The Missouri Independent’s Annalise Hanshaw about what exactly this lawsuit alleges.

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 and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

After consolidating 25 years ago, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, could be reevaluating their relationship. During a press conference in October, Mayor Tyrone Garner warned of major financial trouble facing the government and floated the idea of bankruptcy.

KCUR's Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with the Kansas City Beacon's Josh Merchant about why the Unified Government's woes are more complicated, and how dissolution could make them worse.

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 Trevor Grandin and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Alan Kneeland, co-owner of The Combine on Troost Avenue in Kansas City, is the first Black president of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association.

As the local restaurant industry considers how to thrive in the coming years, Kneeland says he wants to be a part of change moving forward. Kneeland spoke to KCUR's Up To Date about the role.

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, Byron J. Love, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Genesis School in Kansas City lost its charter earlier this year, with the Missouri Charter Public School Commission citing low test scores. After an appeals process, the school reopened, but as KCUR's Jodi Fortino explores, what a charter school can be and who it serves remains an open question.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to Food Bank is trying to cut down on waste by connecting local farmers and food pantries. However, its future depends on how much funding is included for the program in the next farm bill. Harvest Public Media's Peter Meslin 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 Anna Schmidt, Byron J. Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

States were banned from removing people from Medicaid during the COVID-19 public health emergency unless a person moved, died or asked to be taken off. Now that the pandemic has been declared over, Missouri and Kansas have resumed checking eligibility and the process has not been going well.

Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Samantha Liss of KFF Health News about how rocky the process has been and how patients who have lost coverage have been affected.

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 and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

In 2022, the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly passed a law making a government-issued photo ID card like a driver's license or passport the only acceptable way to cast a regular ballot on Election Day. Opponents of the policy went to court almost immediately, calling the law unconstitutional and alleging the requirements will discourage people — including some who are registered and legally allowed to vote — from doing so.

KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with Rudi Keller, who has been following the matter for the Missouri Independent, about what the law changed and how it might affect the 2024 elections.

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 and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

In 1953, Kansas City's Charlie Parker was one of five jazz greats to produce what some call "the greatest jazz concert of all time." A reissue of the 70- year-old performance chronicles the genesis of Parker's plastic saxophone. KCUR's Bill Brownlee reports how the sax found its home in Kansas City.

The uphill battle of talking climate change with audiences skeptical of the science has pushed many climatologists and meteorologists in the Midwest out of the field. Harvest Public Media's Elizabeth Rembert reports on the tough conditions facing climate science communicators.

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 Trevor Grandin and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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

Richard Berkley served a record three terms as Kansas City's mayor, from 1979 to 1991, and was the first Jewish mayor in city history. He died Wednesday at the age of 92, his family confirmed. Berkley's tenure was defined in large part by his quick response to the Hyatt Regency skywalk collapse, a disaster that killed 114 people and injured hundreds more. KCUR contributor Dan Margolies looks back at Berkley's career.

The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners recently approved spending $200,000 for another year of ShotSpotter, a surveillance technology, despite a new study that says it doesn't achieve the city's public safety goals. Nomin Ujiyediin speaks with KCUR's Peggy Lowe about the issue.

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, Byron J. Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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