News & Issues
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…
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…
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…