News & Issues
Lethal Injection Drugs at Center of Death Penalty Fight
Historical accounts peg Peter Johnson as the first person executed in Missouri — hanged in 1810 for killing another man in a township southwest of St. Louis. More than two centuries later, Missouri is still meting out the death penalty. But now, the method is lethal injection, a process that is ensnaring Missouri and other…
Your Purpose Must Be Clear
When a storm blew through Shawnee this summer, it left downed trees and branches in an elderly man’s yard. He had neither the financial nor the physical means to clean up. Many suburban codes don’t make exceptions when it comes to unkempt yards. But in Shawnee, the city has a backup plan thanks to a…
Doctors Caught In Middle As Travel Ban Intersects With Rural Recruitment
Dr. Saeedeh Salmanzadeh became a U.S. citizen at a naturalization ceremony in October 2015. When the presiding official asked if any of the new citizens wanted to speak, she was one of the first to raise her hand. By then Salmanzadeh had spent 15 years in America, after leaving her home in Iran where she…
Take Note: Does ZIP Code Matter?
Should where a child rests his or her head at night impact the quality of the education they receive? KCPT and American Public Square examine the relationship between poverty, housing and education in our metro in this town hall conversation. Panelists: Dr. Dennis L. Carpenter, Outgoing Superintendent, Hickman Mills School District Tony Kline, Superintendent &…
Bus vs. Streetcar Debate: No Easy Answers
More than a decade ago, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority launched an express bus system along Main Street between the Country Club Plaza and the City Market. Known as the Metro Area Express, or MAX, that 6-mile route proved so successful that five years later, in 2010, the authority added another line along Troost…