A Sept. 6 investigation of the USDA’s meat inspection division by the Hale Center for Journalism prompted a record number of hits on the station’s website, a political cartoon and editorial in The Kansas City Star and numerous comments and tweets. [View the story “Commentary on meat inspection story from the Hale Center for Journalism” on…
Call them e-cigarettes, vapes, e-juices or e-liquids. Just don’t call them tobacco. Early last Thursday, Missouri legislators overwhelmingly overrode the governor’s veto of a bill governing electronic cigarettes and the nicotine-infused mixtures they deliver. While the new law bans sales to minors, it also prevents e-cigarettes from being classified as “tobacco products.” “It was operating…
Political action committees for medically related groups in Kansas tended to throw their money behind incumbent House members before this year’s primary — even if those members did not support all of the groups’ political initiatives. Fifteen medically related PACs raised about $253,000 and spent about $125,000 this year in the reporting period that ended…
This week, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and his Democratic opponent Paul Davis shared the stage for the first time in a debate at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. It was a lively, contentious exchange. But how many of the candidates claims were true? Working feverishly behind the scenes this week to check the facts: Prof. Bob…
The Broadmoor Bistro serves a gourmet dinner on Wednesday nights. Four courses, selected by diners from a small, carefully constructed menu of locally sourced dishes, can be purchased for only $30. Menu items like duck liver, heirloom tomato gazpacho, crawfish and sweet potato tempura would not be out of place at any fine dining restaurant…
The 2014-2015 season of Community Cinema kicks off this Saturday with “MAKERS: Women in Hollywood.” As part of the MAKERS series, which celebrates trailblazing women, “Women in Hollywood” spotlights the roles ladies have played in front of and behind the camera. Kansas City Women in Film and Television is co-sponsoring the screening, and some its…
A group that advocates for food safety went to federal court Thursday to try and stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture from implementing new rules for poultry inspection that they say would put consumers at risk. The new rule — the biggest change in meat inspection in the last half century — was featured in an investigative…
A reconstituted mental health facility in Kansas City, Kan., has been a financial and therapeutic success in its first five months of operation, officials involved in the transition said Wednesday. “It’s great news so far,” said Kari Bruffett, secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), “and I think it’s only going…
The home furnishings megastore IKEA opened its Merriam, Kansas, branch this Wednesday. Customers started lining up outside the store a full two days before the doors opened. And, they were rewarded for their patience with free giveaways, including sofas, chairs and Swedish meatballs for a year. IKEA, a Swedish company, is known for its inexpensive…
Missouri lawmakers might sweeten the pot for consumers who want to eat healthy and for the growers who provide the food. Legislators return to Jefferson City today to reconsider nearly three dozen measures that Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed in this year’s regular session. The veto session could extend to Friday. One of the bills up…
Wichita physician Josh Umbehr has never understood the traditional model of health care reimbursement — the one in which doctors and hospitals fill out pages of forms to bill a patient’s insurance company for everything from a $3 test to a $30,000 surgery. “You don’t have car insurance for gasoline,” Umbehr said in a recent phone interview. “Why would…
Increasingly popular ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft allow you to summon a taxi or car service by using a smartphone app. Instead of calling or hailing a cab, the apps track your GPS position, and the car shows up at your location. No physical money changes hands. All payments are made with credit cards,…
In one of the most far reaching changes in U.S. meat inspection history, federal regulators this fall will allow poultry plant employees — instead of USDA inspectors — to help determine whether chicken is contaminated or safe to eat, a move critics fear could spread to beef and pork processing plants. Indeed, a severe shortage…
News reviewers Steve Kraske of KCUR, Lynn Horsley and Dave Helling, both of the Kansas City Star and Scott Parks of KMBZ discuss the week’s top stories, including the latest election developments on both sides of the state line plus plans to put the “I” in KCI, who pays for the Missouri National Guard’s presence in Ferguson, tax breaks and streetcars.
Out of the 8,000 full- and part-time law enforcement officers in Kansas, only 1 in 4 have been trained to handle crisis calls involving the mentally ill. Records show that 80 percent of the nearly 1,800 trained officers work in four high-population counties: Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Wyandotte. The other 20 percent – about 360…