Agreeability trumps algebra, Kansans tell state education officials
Kansas residents, educators and business leaders agree that academic know-how takes a backseat to “soft” skills, such as being agreeable and conscientious, when it comes molding the next generation of workers. That was one big takeaway from a 90-minute presentation delivered in Olathe Tuesday by Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson and his deputy, Brad…
90 Seconds with Cremalab
Ed’s Note: Flatland and Startland News have partnered to highlight Kansas City’s innovators and entrepreneurs, all in 90 seconds. This is the third episode in the five-part series. With a team of sharp, trendily dressed bohemians, Cremalab is where speed meets creative dynamism. The Kansas City firm, founded in 2009, transformed itself from a design shop to a…
Choice Cuts: Massive corn crops form backbone of meat industry
This is part two of Harvest Public Media’s week-long series Choice Cuts: Meat In America, examining how the meat industry is changing the U.S. food system and the American diet. The documentary on the subject will air 7:30 pm this Thursday on KCPT. Drive down a dirt road, a two-lane country highway, even many Interstates in the Midwest and the view…
Take 5 for your health
High Teen Birth Rates In Rural Kansas Pose Obstacles To Economic Advancement Nineteen-year-old Claudia Rivera shares a single-story tract home in Liberal, Kansas, with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jesùs Varela. Last month, Varela’s mother moved in so she could watch Rivera’s baby boy, Fabian, while Rivera works at the Dollar General store and Valera pulls down a shift at…
What’s in a name?
Next year marks the centennial for the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, which for most of its history has been an anchor along Independence Avenue. That continuity, however, has not extended to the name of the institution, which began downtown as the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery. The college became the…
Choice Cuts: Making room for more meat
All week, Harvest Public Media’s series Choice Cuts: Meat In America is examining how the meat industry is changing the U.S. food system and the American diet. The documentary on the subject will air 7:30 pm this Thursday on KCPT. Americans have a big appetite for everything meat. We smoke it, grill it, slice it, and chop it….
Today’s Special | Boulevard’s Beer Backpacks
This story of craft beer and baseball begins on Opening Day three years ago at Kauffman Stadium. Neil Witte, a training and technical support manager with the Boulevard Brewing Company, made his way through the parking lot as tailgaiting Kansas City Royals fans hoped that the fat grey clouds overhead didn’t put on a damper…
High water changes Platte River landscape
Wet spring and summer rains soaked much of the High Plains this year. The Platte River, which runs through Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River, saw historic flooding. Standing on the bank of the Platte River at Audubon’s Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, Neb., conservation director Andrew Pierson points upstream to where…
Awaiting an oasis, in KCK’s food dessert
It’s a challenge for Shawn Owens to find fresh food in his neighborhood. He walks or uses the bus for transportation, and quality fresh produce and meats are scarce within a reasonable distance from his home. The life-long Wyandotte County resident does most of his grocery shopping at convenience stores and Aldi, but those places…
China slowdown may squeeze Midwest soybean farmers
China’s rapid industrialization and economic expansion over the past few decades has been a boon for U.S. farmers — especially soybean farmers. But China’s economy is slowing down, leaving American farmers exposed to the downside of being tied to the world’s second largest economy. With tall stands of corn and green soybean fields stretching for…