A person using a smart kiosk

Searching for the ‘Smart’ in New Kiosks

Kansas City officials finally debuted the first tangible development in becoming a “smart city.” As the Big 12 tournament took center stage recently at the Sprint Center, bringing thousands into the Power & Light District, two interactive touch-screen kiosks were installed on the 1300th block of Grand Ave. As part of Kansas City’s Smart City Initiative, these two…

Three canned beers from Boulevard Brewing Company.

Welcome to Can-sas City

When most production breweries begin distributing their beer, they usually start with kegs sold by distributors. And when a local or regional brewer decides to distribute packaged beer, they face a choice of using cans or bottles. Right now, the trend toward packaging beer in cans is on a roll. Tallgrass Brewing Company, based in…

KC health department

Kansas City Health-Funding Battle Headed to City Council

A simmering dispute over spending from a multimillion dollar health fund is scheduled to come to a head next Thursday as the Kansas City Council considers the city budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget would reallocate the $31 million in health levy funding that supports indigent care at six hospitals and clinics, including…

Kansas Can Win It All. Here Are Six Things That Need to Happen First.

Stats are big this time of year, and you can crunch numbers forever. But as Kansas begins their run for the Final Four against Austin Peay this afternoon, one set of digits might matter most. In the spirit of gambling-obsessed Brent Musburger we’ll note that Vegas oddsmakers have put KU as a 9-2 favorite to…

The Weekend Starts Today

With St. Patrick’s Day on Thursday, and all the debauchery that goes along with it, you could be excused for spending the whole weekend hungover at home. Assuming that you recover, however, and that you don’t want to spend the next four days watching NCAA basketball, we’ve got a ton of events to see around…

Commentary | Putting a ‘solid rocket booster’ on my journalism

Last month, KCPT presented the play “Justice in the Embers” with the Center for Investigative Reporting and The Living Room Theatre in a unique StoryWorks KC production. In this piece, which was first commissioned and published by CIR’s Reveal News, KCPT reporter Mike McGraw looks inside the newsroom at the process of taking his investigative reporting and putting it on…

prescription drugs

Take 5 For Your Health

Missouri, Kansas Health Centers Get Grants To Combat Opioid Abuse With overdose deaths from painkillers, or opioids, on the rise, the federal government is giving $3.8 million to health centers in Missouri and Kansas to combat the epidemic. The grants are among $94 million the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is awarding to…

Hands holding a flower

Fountain City Frequency |Getting Real About A Complex Diagnosis

Kevin Bryce is a filmmaker from Kansas City, Missouri. His 2012 documentary “We Are Superman” (produced by Re:Dream‘s Christopher Cook) explored the after-effects of hyper-segregation on Troost, and a movement trying to transform it from a dividing line into a gathering place. Bryce’s newest documentary “All These Flowers” investigates bipolar disorder through the stories of six people who been…

Cary Esser glazes ceramic tiles for a new series of work titled "Veil Tyles"

Cary Esser: A Ceramist for the 21st Century

At age 19, Cary Esser flew alone from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Kansas City, a place she’d never been. “When I got off the plane,” Esser recalled in a recent interview, “I just walked up to somebody and asked, ‘Can you tell me how to get to the Kansas City Art Institute?’” Esser had…

A pair of ice cream sandwiches.

Betty Rae’s Ice Cream Gets Ready to Scoop

David Friesen wants to serve all the old standbys — chocolate, vanilla, pineapple with Thai basil — when Betty Rae’s Ice Cream opens in Waldo (7140 Wornall Road) on Thursday, March 24. “Ice cream is a heightener,” said Friesen. “The sun is shining and you want to get out and have ice cream. It just makes your day better.”…

How KC is the Big 12 Championship Tournament by Brad Austin

How KC is | Big 12 Championship Tournament

We’re asking the question: How “Kansas City” is… for all the good stuff going on in our world. On today? The Big 12 Championship tourney is taking over Power & Light this weekend in Kansas City. But just how well-represented is KC inside the Sprint Center? Check out the video above, and if you know of something that didn’t make the cut send…

Tess and Maria Cuevas

Sympathetic Vibrations | Proud to Be An Amexican

Maria and Tess Cuevas are dealing with deep-seated identity issues. Not to worry though, they are extremely well adjusted people and coping in maybe the best way possible — by making music that complements that precarious sense of self. The Cuevas sisters front Maria the Mexican, a Topeka-based band celebrating the release of its sophomore album,…

package of Gardasil

Combating Cancer with a Vaccine

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common of all sexually transmitted infections, with more than 100 different types. It causes almost all cases of cervical cancer, and to a lesser extent is to blame for several other cancers, including mouth and throat. A three-dose vaccine significantly reduces the chances of contracting an HPV-related cancer, especially…

Celebration on basketball court

The Weekend Starts Today

What happened to winter? It barely got cold, we saw almost no snow, and now it seems like spring is almost here. Granted, the lack of a hard winter might mean a particularly nasty allergy season, but it’s nevertheless tough to argue with sunshine and short-sleeve shirts. If you’re ready to get out and enjoy…

Teens take part in Youth Ambassador's "Youth Speak" event where they shared original poetry about teen life in Kansas City. (Photo: Daniel Boothe | Flatland)

Lifting Their Voices

It is not easy being a teenager in Kansas City. As inner-city teens enrolled in the Youth Ambassadors program took turns reading each other’s original poetry, their works gave insight into the sometimes harsh realities and struggles facing our community’s younger demographic. Teen pregnancy, life on the streets, drug addiction, violence towards women, and incarcerated parents…