Nick’s Picks | Stadium (Again), Fire, ICE and More …

By | January 26, 2026
A view looking north from the proposed Kansas City Royals stadium with the downtown skyline in the background.

Big questions loom as the week begins — from stadium drama to detention centers to a familiar cliffhanger: Are we heading for another government shutdown? Signs of a New Royals Stadium Deal? Could last week’s closed-door meeting between the governor, mayor, and county executive signal that a deal is finally ready to be made on…

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Tackling the Scourge of Christian Nationalism

By | January 25, 2026
The notion of Christian Nationalism reflects a "willful disregard" for the First Amendment, said one area educator.(Lee Edwin Coursey | The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs)

In recent decades, Christian Nationalism’s warped ideas have begun to attract the attention of scholars and teachers at universities and seminaries here in the Heartland. They’re trying to understand both its appeal and its dangers and to give students the tools necessary to make their own judgments about whether it’s good old basic Americanism or,…

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Vegan Ice Cream Pop-Up Offers Diverse Scoops

By | January 21, 2026
With a roller derby bout underway, Zoe Mays of Scream Queens vegan ice cream, a resident concession partner at the event, posed with the four special flavors she developed in partnership with the teams. The Kansas City Roller Warriors bout was at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on Dec. 6, 2025. (Todd Feeback | Flatland)

After putting in a 24-hour shift at Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Station 5, Zoe Mays chills out by dreaming up flavors for Scream Queens, the gay-owned, vegan ice cream pop-up she started about 18 months ago.  The 31-year-old firefighter paramedic lives in Kansas City’s Hyde Park neighborhood, so the drive home is the perfect time…

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Hundreds of Kansans Lost Their Apartment Due to Landlord Neglect. One Change in Law Could Help

By | December 17, 2025
Candice Montgomery stands outside the closed Aspen Place apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas. She is one of hundreds of former residents who were kicked out of their homes when Gardner officials condemned the property. (Dylan Lysen | Kansas News Service

GARDNER, Kansas — When the city of Gardner in eastern Kansas ordered Aspen Place apartments closed for unsafe living conditions last May, Candice Montgomery came home to a frantic neighborhood. She and other residents of the Gardner housing complex only had 48 hours to leave their homes. “It was total chaos,” Montgomery said. “My neighbors are everywhere, people…

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Nick’s Picks | Soccer, Signatures, Supplements and More …

By | December 8, 2025
Scarves aloft, Ali Samaniego, at left, and Veronica Brewer celebrate at a regionwide watch party for the final draw. In the countdown to the FIFA World Cup, the event drew a crowd Friday morning to KC Live! in the Power & Light District. (Julie Denesha | KCUR 89.3)

Reworking World Cup Plans  Now that we know which World Cup teams will be coming to Kansas City, are local officials about to redraw the game plan?   While a formal announcement could come later this week, the Kansas City World Cup Host Committee is dialing up its fan projections after drawing the reigning World Cup champions, Argentina and European soccer powerhouse,…

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