Fine artists build business skills, community through Artist INC
The business side of a fine arts career is complicated: the process of filing multiple tax forms, writing grant proposals, building websites and marketing often falls on the shoulders of the artist, most of whom don’t hold degrees in business. These processes are complex, time-consuming and often difficult to navigate for the uninitiated. Without these…
MO state dental director briefs oral health advocates in Kansas City
Missouri’s new state dental director has been on board for about half a year, and during a visit to Kansas City on Wednesday, he outlined a number of initiatives aimed at making the state a national leader in oral health. “I want (other states) to come to us,” Dr. B. Ray Storm said at a…
Kansas City Public Schools partner with community groups to expand summer learning opportunities
From an arts-focused camp with the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey to swimming lessons through the YMCA to kindergarten boot camp, Kansas City Public Schools is expanding its summer learning offerings through collaborations with community partners. KCPS Superintendent Steve Green announced today that working with partners, including Freedom Schools, Boys and Girls Club, Upper…
KC Week in Review: May 23, 2014
Kansas City Mayor Sly James officially breaks ground this week on the downtown streetcar project; Kansas City still in the running for the RNC; Why a Hy-Vee store is creating a fuss in Leawood, Kansas; United States Supreme Court intervention in a Missouri execution; Missouri lawmakers approve eight ballot questions for the upcoming election. And, have hospitals in Kansas…
Entrepreneurs will develop smart city technology for KC in ‘living lab’
Mayor Sly James’ office announced a new partnership between Kansas City, Missouri, and Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities program this week under the banner Connected and Innovative Kansas City. The partnership is being touted as a major step toward Kansas City becoming the nation’s most entrepreneurial city by Mayor James in a press release from his office….
Harding tapped as new CEO of Wyandotte Health Foundation
The Wyandotte Health Foundation has named a veteran of the regional safety-net health system as its next leader. The foundation board announced Thursday the hiring of Cathy Harding, who since 2007 has served as executive director of the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, the Primary Care Association of Kansas in Topeka. Harding will take…
Johnson County clearing legal, financial issues with mental health center
Correction appended Six months ago, the Johnson County Mental Health Center was struggling to meet payroll, and shortly thereafter it was at the heart of a lawsuit filed against the county commissioners. But now, county officials say, the organization is making financial strides, and a district court judge has dismissed the suit. The center today…
Three Strikes: KC Public Housing Smoking Ban Puts Onus On Tenants
Despite the well-known risks, rates of smoking have remained stubbornly high in Missouri – about 25 percent of adults, compared with 18 percent nationally. In Kansas City public housing, the problem is even worse, with smokers comprising 40 percent of all tenants. That high rate is especially disturbing to health advocates because of the high…
Profile: Trae Nunnink of Boltwell
Nestled on the fifth floor of the historic Firestone building in downtown Kansas City is the headquarters of Boltwell, a startup that makes modern emergency preparedness kits. Trae Nunnink is the CEO of the fashionable emergency company, which launched just a month ago.
Coalition launches to fight stigma of mental illness
Organizers on Wednesday unveiled a new partnership that builds on a mental health initiative started in the local Jewish community. The aim of the effort, known as the Greater Kansas City Mental Health Coalition, is to broaden to other parts of the metropolitan area the message from the Jewish community that it’s all right to…
Hall foundation gift propels KU Med Center building project
A $25 million gift from the Hall Family Foundation has generated the funds needed by the University of Kansas to move forward with a critical building project on its medical center campus. The gift, announced Tuesday at the KU Med Center, gives the university most of the $75 million needed to construct a new medical…
Prepped for anything: a look inside the Kansas Prepper Expo
It is a calm Saturday morning in Holton, Kan., the kind of day it seems like there’s nothing to worry about. But, to the people at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, there is always something to prepare for.
Inside the slightly downtrodden building are enough supplies, guns, knives and more to last through almost any natural disaster. The supplies and weapons are on display for the Kansas Preppers Expo.
KC Week in Review: KC "ride share" feud heads to Federal Court….
Kansas City’s feud with Lyft heads to federal court. City officials are trying to put the breaks on the new ride sharing service. They claim Lyft and its pink mustached vehicles are operating illegally in the city. Its drivers, they argue, are bypassing the normal screening and certification process and have not paid the required…
Curator’s Choice: National Archives at Kansas City
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, case, which stated that segregated schools are unconstitutional. The historic decision was handed down May 17, 1954. Just a few years earlier, the District of Kansas upheld a state law that required black and…
Plans advance for mental health crisis center in KC
Representatives from a broad spectrum of agencies and organizations, including hospitals and courts, are crystallizing plans they hope will help solve a health problem in Kansas City, Mo. The issue is that people who are high, drunk or in psychiatric crisis clog emergency rooms and tie up first-responders with needs more suited to mental health…