Kansas City Today

Frank Donchez became Overland Park’s Police Chief in October 2014. During his tenure, the police department was investigated by the FBI for the 2018 fatal police shooting of John Albers. Donchez came under fire for his handling of the case, leading to public calls for his resignation.

Last week, Donchez suddenly resigned after a tense conversation with Albers' mother. Host Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Shawnee Mission post reporter Kaylie McLaughlin about why Donchez resigned and how the city of Overland Park plans to go forward.

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 Paris Norvell, 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

An updated COVID-19 vaccine will be rolling out across Kansas City in the next few weeks. The shot combats newer variants more effectively and comes as case numbers creep up across the metro.

Dr. Mary Anne Jackson, dean of UMKC's School of Medicine, discusses the new vaccine and protecting against flu and RSV with KCUR's Steve Kraske on Up To Date.

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 Paris Norvell, 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

Between 2019 and 2022, Kansas police seized an average of $17,000 a day in property and cash. But 79% of those whose property was confiscated were not convicted of a crime.

Civil asset forfeiture is a tool to disrupt criminal activity, but once the property is seized, the onus is then put on citizens to get their property back and prove that there’s no reason to keep it.

Blaise Mesa of the Kansas News Service spoke with Steve Kraske on KCUR's Up To Date about the process and of victims who are still trying to recover property years it was taken by police.

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 Paris Norvell, 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 the age of silent movies, a pipe organ was integral to setting the scene. An all but forgotten profession in this age of talking pictures, KCUR's Julie Denesha has the story of one Lee's Summit musician who is bringing back the silent film.

The Farm-to-School movement is trying to shake up the everyday school lunch by introducing food grown from local farms. But the journey from field to lunch tray isn't a straight one. Harvest Public Media contributor Rae Solomon reports on the federal money being spent to make it happen.

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, 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

Americans don’t trust each other, and it is literally killing us. Distrust arguably caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans during the pandemic and, as KCUR’s Frank Morris reports, distrust continues to undermine health care, especially in places like rural Kansas and Missouri.

This year's early fall temperatures make it easy to forget the scorching heat of August and July, but climatologists say Midwesterners need to get ready for more hazardous heat waves in the future. So are our homes ready? Holly Edgell of the Midwest Newsroom reports the answer is mostly “no.”

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 Paris Norvell, 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

The number of Kansas students who are chronically missing school has nearly doubled in the past two years, and that means more are at risk of falling behind or dropping out. Suzanne Perez of the Kansas News Service looks at why students aren’t showing up, and how schools are trying to bring them back.

The Missouri General Assembly will reconvene Wednesday for its annual veto session. The biggest item on the agenda will likely be the half a billion dollars in spending that Gov. Mike Parson removed from the state budget. St. Louis Public Radio statehouse reporter Sarah Kellogg spoke with Jonathan Ahl to preview the session.

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 Paris Norvell, 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

A high stress job with low pay has contributed to a shortage of cases workers and a backlog of more than 10,000 open abuse and neglect investigations in Missouri's Children's Division, a new investigation by the NPR Midwest Newsroom found. Jason Rosenbaum reports for the Midwest Newsroom.

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 Paris Norvell, 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 2021, former Kansas City Police officer Eric DeValkenaere was convicted of killing Cameron Lamb, an unarmed Black man who was sitting in his own pickup in his own driveway. DeValkenaere is appealing his conviction, and in an extraordinarily unusual development, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has joined the case to urge an appeals court to overturn the conviction. Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker is now arguing in court that the conviction should be upheld.

To discuss the case, host Brian Ellison spoke with University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Sean O’Brien, who was once the chief public defender in Kansas City and has run legal defense clinics for decades about where the idea came from that a governor should be able to pardon people convicted of crimes.

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 Paris Norvell, 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

The Kansas City Regional Climate Action Plan was created in 2021 and set an ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions in the region by 2050. Efforts are already underway throughout the metro to make that a reality and leaders are confident it can be done.

Up To Date's Steve Kraske spoke with Hillary Parker Thomas, board chair of Climate Action KC; Jeremy Knoll, president of Climate Action KC and Tom Jacobs, chief resilience officer for the Mid-America Regional Council for an update on the plan.

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, 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

Tonight’s NFL season opener marks 60 years since the Chiefs’ first game in Kansas City. Despite the team’s recent claim to dynasty status, fans who’ve been following them through the years remember some downtrodden times. Greg Echlin reports for KCUR.

Annie Fisher’s famous Missouri biscuits made it onto the plates of presidents and Hollywood stars alike — but her success story was almost lost to history. Eighty-five years after Fisher’s death, Mackenzie Martin from the KCUR podcast A People’s History of Kansas City has this remembrance.

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 Paris Norvell, 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