And the State of the City Is …

Mayor Sly James receives a standing ovation for his State of the City address Tuesday at the Uptown Theater. (Photo: Daniel Boothe | Flatland)

Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James delivered his annual State of the City address today to a lively, packed audience that nearly filled Midtown’s Uptown Theater. Here are five takeaways, and some interesting tweets, from the mayor’s speech. 1. Since Mayor Sly James has taken office in 2011, the city is doing a whole lot better,…

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KCPT Crime Discussion Yields Many Proposed Solutions

Nick Haines questions a Kansas City councilwoman

If there was one main takeaway from a Tuesday evening crime caucus in Kansas City, Missouri, it’s that there is no consensus on the best way to stem the tide of violence plaguing the urban core. Along with audience members, a nine-member panel that included representatives from law enforcement, academia, community organizations, and politics discussed…

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‘I Can’t Let It Go’ | Part I

Illustration of Lady Justice with scales surrounded by flames

EDITOR’S NOTE: This first-person account of one journalist’s attempts to shed light on potential problems in the U.S. justice system is part of a larger effort by KCPT and The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) to explore the meaning of justice in the context of the 1988 explosion in south Kansas City that killed six…

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‘I can’t let it go.’

Graves of firefighters covered in snow

It happened more than a quarter century ago. The people deemed responsible are serving life sentences in federal prison. The people directly affected — the families of the dead — likely have done their best to move on. It’s over. That’s probably how many Kansas Citians feel about one of the city’s greatest tragedies: the Nov. 29,…

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Shooting of Ryan Stokes won’t go away

Neriha Stokes, the daughter of Ryan Stokes holding sign at vigil that says Ryan's Life Matters

1 Struggle KC, a local activist group started in October 2014 in response to the events in Ferguson Missouri,  has taken an investigative piece originally written by Daniel Boothe and Mike McGraw and used the facts reported by Flatland surrounding the death of Ryan Stokes as their main source to push for restorative justice. A…

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