With next Obamacare enrollment period set to start, navigators share successful strategies
Meridith Berry and her team learned a valuable lesson at an event where they were encouraging Hispanics to purchase coverage through the health insurance marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act: don’t use green card stock. Berry, a family financial education specialist with the University of Missouri Extension in Trenton, Mo., said the slip-up occurred…
The language of lullabies: KU professor develops music therapy for preemies
(Video by Todd Feeback/The Hale Center for Journalism) If the idea of music therapy brings to mind 1960s-era folk singers warbling to bemused patients, you haven’t seen Deanna Hanson-Abromeit at work. At Operation Breakthrough in Kansas City, Missouri, the University of Kansas assistant professor sings a good morning song to Daren, a curious, if slightly…
Plans for ‘Healthy Campus’ in KCK move forward
Updated 9:09 a.m. Oct. 10 Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland on Thursday unveiled an initiative to ensure that all residents can use a proposed new community center regardless of their financial circumstances. Holland announced the initiative as part of a community forum for a “healthy campus” proposed for an urban site just west of…
Paving the launch pad for female astronauts: KC woman shares her experience in the Mercury 13
When Sarah Ratley received the invitation to be part of a secret project testing women as potential astronauts in 1961, she was at the beauty parlor. While working as an engineer for AT&T, Ratley had gone to get her hair done over the lunch hour. “They traced me down to the beauty salon,” said Ratley,…
Ikea and sustainability
When Ikea opened its 40th U.S. store in Merriam, Kansas, last month, it also opened the largest geothermal project in three states: Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The home furnishings megastore is known for its inexpensive flat-packed furniture that has to be assembled at home. The company also frequently promotes sustainability as a “cornerstone of its…
McCaskill visits Avila U to discuss campus sexual assault bill
Sen. Claire McCaskill visited Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri, Wednesday afternoon to speak with law enforcement and students and representatives of area colleges and universities about sexual violence on campus. This stop, which was the tenth in a series across the state of Missouri, also included representation from Metropolitan Community College, Penn Valley Community…
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Kansas City-area hospitals are being fined for ‘excessive’ readmission rates
Twenty hospitals in the Kansas City area will be penalized by Medicare starting Oct. 1 for excessive readmissions, although eight of them will be hit with lower fines than in Medicare’s previous round of penalties.
Excitement sweeps Kansas City
As the Royals advance to ALCS, see how fans are sharing their excitement via social media.
Kansas City Week in Review: October 3, 2014
The clouds surrounding the U.S. Senate race finally cleared as a three-judge panel meeting in Topeka ruled that Democrats do not have to nominate a replacement candidate for Chad Taylor, who abruptly removed himself from the race last month. Hours later, a possible appeal was dropped and the state ordered local officials to print ballots and…
Kansas City is flowing blue
Six of Kansas City, Missouri’s, fountains, as well as several privately-owned fountains and fountains owned by surrounding cities are dyed bright blue to celebrate the Royals making it to the playoffs for the first time in 29 years.
In Kansas, a new approach to heart disease, stroke
A new health care partnership, looked upon as a potential model for the rest of the country, is taking direct aim at heart disease and stroke in northwest Kansas. The federally funded initiative — the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative — encompasses the University of Kansas Hospital along with 13 rural health centers and hospitals,…
Suit seeks to force feds to disclose Missouri health insurance rates
A Missouri consumers group has sued the Department of Health and Human Services over its alleged failure to disclose health insurance rates filed with the state. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis by the Consumers Council of Missouri, comes just six weeks before the enrollment period for coverage under the Affordable…
‘Ag-gag’ law may have hindered report of animal cruelty at Missouri hog farm
A recent Missouri law meant to protect farmers may be making it harder to report alleged animal abuse, as animal welfare organizations have feared. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Wednesday asked law enforcement in Mercer County to investigate allegations of abuse at Murphy-Brown’s Badger-Wolf pig-breeding operation in northern Missouri. But…
Increased municipal courts fee to benefit domestic violence shelters
This October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Pres. Barack Obama released a presidential proclamation naming it such, where he asked “Americans to speak out against domestic violence and support local efforts to assist victims of these crimes in finding the help and healing they need.” It’s fitting then that, on Oct. 6, the city…