The Founders series opening page for the Prudhomme farm

The Prudhomme Farm

Today their names grace our highways, city districts and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoy’s was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…

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A Connection to the Earth | Lidia Bastianich Checks In on Boys Grow

Lidia Bastianich Checks In on Boys Grow

Goats bleat at the white fence as the car pulls up the gravel driveway at the Boys Grow farm. Chef Lidia Bastianich gets out and is met by John Gordon Jr., the executive director of the non-profit, who lives with his wife on a small house on the front of the property. A pair of…

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It Doesn’t Pay To Be An Early-Childhood Teacher

On average, preschool teachers are paid less than mail-order clerks, tree trimmers and pest control workers. And if they switched to teach kindergarten — in many states, their salaries would double.

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Barbecue ribs

Fiesta Kansas City & Other Weekend Possibilities

Fiesta Kansas City runs all weekend at Crown Center. The 16th annual event, put on by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City, is a great mashup of music, food and drinks. There’s also a jalapeno-eating contest and tortilla-rolling contest.  It’s free admission before 4 p.m. and $10 per day ($20 for a weekend…

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A ferris wheel

Sympathetic Vibrations | It Wasn’t Built in a Day

Kansas City’s West Bottoms will be invaded by a small nation this weekend. Not to fear, though. Unless the city has a general aversion to a three-day festival, delightfully brimming with craft beer, food, and music, we can call off the National Guard. The “nation” in question is Boulevardia, which its organizers playfully describe as…

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Raw steaks

Dangerous Jobs, Cheap Meat | While New Safety Efforts are Underway, Injuries are Still Part of the Job

The meatpacking plants that enable American consumers to find cheap hamburger and chicken wings in the grocery store are among the most dangerous places to work in the country. Federal regulators and meat companies agree more must be done to make slaughterhouses safer, and while there are signs the industry is stepping up its efforts,…

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A man leaping

The Hero’s Journey

In March of 2013, a group of combat veterans and first responders from all over the United States arrived at Heartland Center in Parkville, Missouri for Class 003 of Warriors’ Ascent’s Academy of Healing. Warriors’ Ascent is a non-profit organization based in Kansas City, started by combat veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. “80,000 Veterans take their own…

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Members of Alternative Rock band Soul Asylum

The Weekend Starts Today

It’s Father’s Day weekend in KC. OK, actually it’s Father’s Day weekend everywhere. But we’re celebrating right here in KC. You should too. If you are lucky enough to have a dad, or to be one, make sure to get out and enjoy some of what the city has to offer. Dads and baseball are…

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cheese slipper

Fervere and Ibis Bakery Merge Daily Bread Menus

Fervere (1702 Summit Street) is about to embark on a new path forward. The bread shop, which opened on the Westside in 2000, will begin offering a regular assortment of pastries tomorrow. It’s a small, but subtle shift, at the bakery that was intentionally built to produce a limited amount of bread because of its…

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A woman at her desk

Dangerous Jobs, Cheap Meat | Working ‘The Chain,’ Slaughterhouse Workers Face Life-Long Injuries

“Dangerous Jobs, Cheap Meat” is a three-part series from Harvest Public Media that focuses on the risks faced every day by the half-million people working in meatpacking factories to feed America’s desire for cheap meat. Today’s is the second installment; Look for the final installment tomorrow on Flatland. The nights were often worse for Gabriel, even after long…

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A woman holding a picture

Dangerous Jobs, Cheap Meat | Fines For Meatpackers’ Safety Problems Are ‘Embarrassingly Low’

“Dangerous Jobs, Cheap Meat” is a three-part series from Harvest Public Media that focuses on the risks faced every day by the half-million people working in meatpacking factories to feed America’s desire for cheap meat. Look for Part II tomorrow on Flatland. On the worst day of Greta Horner’s life, she was dressed in a burlap robe,…

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levee trail

Take 5 For Your Health

Levee Trail In Kansas City, Kansas, Begins To Take Shape Standing at the meeting point of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, you can still get a glimpse of what Lewis and Clark might have seen when they camped here 212 years ago: vast skies, tall trees, wide, shimmering rivers, even the occasional eagle. Rick Behrens,…

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Model on the catwalk in Kansas City

Hot Style in the City

Make no mistake, the West 18th Street Fashion Show has become a big deal. The show began in 2000 with little more than a few folding chairs in the street. Sixteen years later, “West 18th Street” has become a big thing. Though the show retains a DIY sensibility, it’s become a major undertaking and big event on…

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A crowd gathering

Faith In The Wake Of Tragedy

President Obama has called the Orlando, Florida massacre a case of “homegrown extremism,” with gunman Omar Mateen reportedly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack at a popular gay nightclub. But the religious sentiment was altogether different at a Sunday evening vigil in downtown Kansas City to honor the dead and wounded from…

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GIF for The Founders, Part II: John Calvin McCoy

John C. McCoy

Today their names grace our highways, city districts and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoy’s was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…

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