Lee's Summit Town Hall

Lee's Summit Creates is trying to send a student artist from every Lee's Summit high school into a creative career, and the Arty Party on Oct. 29 is how it pays for that. John Schuler and Jane Bollin share what's planned for the night, including live painting and a cocktail class served over a casket, and how a few hundred dollars keeps local arts groups going.

Superintendent Dr. David Buck and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Chad Hertzog join host Nick Parker to explain how they're navigating a budget squeeze driven by state underfunding and Jackson County's property reassessments, not decisions made in Lee's Summit. They walk through the zero-based budgeting process behind their recommendation to the school board ahead of its Sept. 29 tax levy decision. 

Ten years in, Wings 4 Water is a Lee's Summit institution. Come vote with money at 40-50 local tents cooking wings, and 100% of donations go to clean water efforts globally. Chris Turney and Lori Dame share details about the September 10 event at Paragon Star, plus a preview of a brand-new mac and cheese competition coming to town.

This week, Becca Stabno from Summit Theatre Group stops by to talk about a cabaret event that does something most theaters don't allow: invites the audience to sing along. We dive into the jukebox musical concept, the upcoming production, and the group's larger vision for a dedicated theater space in Lee's Summit that could serve the entire community.

Matt Fast spent 16 years managing a Hy-Vee before launching one of Lee's Summit's most unexpected businesses: a dog waste removal service. Hear why he made the leap from corporate retail, how he built an industry in Kansas City, and why the trade-off in income was worth the gain in time with family.

Host Nick Parker welcomes back columnist John Beaudoin to discuss Beaudoin's recent Q&A with District 4 Councilman Donnie Funk. The two dig into District 4's residential character, the ongoing debate over apartment development, and what's still missing from Lee's Summit's retail and office landscape.

They also unpack the city's rocky budget-communication moment — including City Manager Mark Dunning's widely quoted "losing sleep" comment — and the unresolved tension over council committee assignments, after Councilwoman Cynda Rader declined an assignment amid disagreement with Mayor Pro Tem Hillary Shields. The conversation wraps with a look at public comment rules at City Hall and the one follow-up question Beaudoin wishes he'd asked Funk about the future of Downtown Days funding.

Downtown Days is back, and this year the festival looks different in the best way possible. Events manager Julie Cook and assistant director Jenny Gale from Downtown Lee's Summit Main Street join Nick to preview the move to the new Green Street covered lawn, a Grammy-nominated Saturday headliner in Making Movies, and everything you need to know before heading downtown this Friday through Sunday. All the music is free — you just have to show up.

A Lee's Summit tutoring organization that has spent a decade closing academic skill gaps for K–12 students is now targeting the other side of the equation — the homes those students return to every night.

Host Nick Parker sits down with Tomorrow's Promise Today founder Mike Graham and new Executive Director Marion Marshall to introduce their newly launched nonprofit, Today Promises Tomorrow, and the simple but powerful belief driving it: invest in the parent, change the child's future.

Wings 4 Water is turning 10 — and host Nick Parker is marking the milestone with the man who started it all.

Founder Chris Turney joins the Lee's Summit Town Hall Podcast to look back on a decade of clean water fundraising, community building and an absolutely unreasonable number of chicken wings. From a 150-person gathering at a neighborhood community center to an estimated 5,000–6,000 attendees and three tons of wings at Paragon Star, the event's growth has surprised even Turney himself. He and Nick cover the origin story, what makes the sponsorship experience so addictive, how celebrity guest judges from the local sports world fit into the day, and why Wings 4 Water has raised more than $200,000 for clean water nonprofits over its first nine years.

If you're a local business owner thinking about sponsoring, early bird pricing runs through April 15. The 10th annual Wings 4 Water takes place September 10 at Paragon Star. Learn more and sign up at wings4water.org.

It's election week in Lee's Summit, and host Nick Parker and co-host Jason Norbury are back to finish their April 7 municipal election preview — this time focused on the six candidates vying for seats on the Lee's Summit R-7 Board of Education.

Nick and Jason break down what the candidate questionnaire responses reveal, why the relative absence of divisive issues in this race might actually be good news for the community, and where voters can still find meaningful differences between candidates. They also discuss Proposition C — the teacher salary ballot measure — and zoom out to the bigger picture: what a potential state income tax repeal in Jefferson City could mean for LSR7, and why the advocacy skills of whoever wins a board seat may matter more than anything else on their platform.

Missed part one on the mayoral and city council races? Find it at Link2LeesSummit.com or on the Lee's Summit Town Hall Podcast feed. Read all candidate Q&As at Link2LeesSummit.com.