Work in Progress
Nick’s Picks | Roads, Bathrooms, Costco and More …
New Toll Road Opens Kansas City’s first toll road opens this week. Starting Saturday, you’ll pay up to $3.50 to travel the new express lanes on U.S. Highway 69 from 103rd to 151st streets in Overland Park. There are no toll booths — cameras scan your license plate, and a bill arrives by mail. KTAG…
Up From the Ashes: Warwick Theatre Revival Draws Applause
Two years ago, John Cleary met a fellow Kansas City actor for drinks. Their conversation centered on the fate of the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. A large portion of the ensemble’s home, the Warwick Theatre, was ash, charred timbers and soot-saturated costumes and props — remnants from a recent massive fire. The destruction was so great…
Nick’s Picks | Baseball, Drones, Romance and More …
Royals Reveal Next week, the Kansas City Royals head to Arizona for Spring Training. And that’s the mayor’s self-imposed deadline to lock in a stadium deal. So, is this finally the week owner John Sherman steps to the plate and unveils where the Royals will build their next home? At last week’s council meeting, Mayor…
History of Persecution Binds Black, Jewish Communities
Kansas City icon Alvin Brooks knows more about the Civil Rights Movement here than almost anyone alive. And Brooks, former Kansas City mayor pro tempore, insists that progress for Blacks here would have been much more difficult without the consistent and persistent help of Jewish residents and leaders. “Jews in this community and across the…
Nick’s Picks | Phil, ICE, KCPD and More …
Today is my favorite holiday of the year…Happy Groundhog Day! Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow earlier this morning, predicting six more weeks of winter. But around here it’s going to feel almost tropical. After weeks of teeth-chattering cold and snow, the deep freeze is backing off. No single-digit temps on the horizon — and…
Nick’s Picks | Stadium (Again), Fire, ICE and More …
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…
Tackling the Scourge of Christian Nationalism
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,…
Vegan Ice Cream Pop-Up Offers Diverse Scoops
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…
Nick’s Picks | Flu, Speeches, Protests and More …
Flu Surge Halts Surgeries Kansas City hospitals are cancelling hundreds of elective surgeries this week as they struggle to keep up with a surge of respiratory illnesses brought on by what the CDC is now calling the most brutal flu season in 25 years. The flood of hospitalizations is tied to a new influenza strain,…
Nick’s Picks | A 2026 Top 10 List
The first day back after a big holiday is never easy. Your inbox is overflowing, your brain hasn’t caught up yet, and coffee is doing all the heavy lifting. We’ve got you. To ease you back into reality, here’s a handy (and mildly entertaining) guide to the 10 biggest projects and cultural moments headed your…
‘Bountiful’ Jackson County Community Exemplifies Religious Freedom
The practice of changing one’s religious affiliation goes back more than a century in the family of W. Kevin Romer. He’s now presiding bishop of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a resident of what the church calls “Bountiful: A New Jerusalem Community” in eastern Jackson County. Romer’s father was one…
Hundreds of Kansans Lost Their Apartment Due to Landlord Neglect. One Change in Law Could Help
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…
Nick’s Picks | WyCo, High-Rises, Buses and More …
Kelce Retirement Announcement? What’s your big new distraction now that the Chiefs are out of the playoffs? It’s going to be a long winter for Chiefs fans after the team fails to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Now get ready for the questions: Will Travis Kelce announce his retirement this week?…
Nick’s Picks | Soccer, Signatures, Supplements and More …
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,…
The USDA defunded a program aimed at helping small farmers
When Makeesha Munro and her partner Travis Jones started their farm in Collins, Missouri, they didn’t expect to be traveling across the state to sell the culinary mushrooms they grow. Jones was semiretired and looking for a way to leverage their property for additional income. One night, they decided to dive into farming mushrooms. After…