Flatland
Flatland Staff
Stories by Flatland
5 Questions with Re:Dream’s Christopher Cook
Are you living the dream? And what does that dream look like? One national project, Re:Dream, is exploring what opportunity — and our definition of success — look like in the 21st Century. The project is both video-based, with 40 micro documentaries rolling out from the end of February, and events-based, with ongoing community engagement activities across the US. We asked series producer…
Take 5 For Your Health
Budgets Reflect Kansas Legislators’ Attention To State Hospitals The Kansas House and Senate both passed budgets last week that shift money from several sources to shore up an underwater state general fund. But even in lean budget times, the lawmakers found a few million dollars in the general fund to provide additional money for the…
Commentary | ‘But The Questions Sure Do Linger.’
Editor’s Note: This commentary, from Washington Post reporter Tom Jackman, 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 Kansas City firefighters. The effort, called StoryWorks KC, includes a stage production about…
Tracking a Virus
In the spring of 2013, hundreds of baby pigs were dying off and nobody knew what was making them so sick. As a deadly virus hopscotched across farms, researchers went to work as disease detectives, hoping to contain, identify and track the cause. The virus was identified as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, never before seen in…
Music | 7 Questions With…
Every Tuesday at 6pm on The Bridge, local music writer and Middle of the Map Fest organizer Chris Haghirian and The Bridge’s Sarah Bradshaw shine a light on the people, music, and events in the 816 area code during “Eight One Sixty“. One regular feature, 7 Questions, gets to the heart of a guest’s passions, past, and… purchase history. This week, 7 Questions goes deep with Bill Brownlee, local…
Take 5 for Your Health
Amid Financial Troubles, Company Closes Two Kansas Ethanol Plants Financial problems at one of the world’s leading biofuels companies are causing ripples in the Kansas economy. The Spanish company, Abengoa Bioenergy, opened a state-of-the-art ethanol plant in October 2014 near Hugoton. Gov. Sam Brownback greeted the grand opening as a shot in the arm for the…
Take 5 for Your Health
North-Central Kansas County Copes With Soaring Alzheimer’s Rate Almost every day, Jay Mellies leaves his home in Clay Center and drives about 20 miles north to visit his wife at a nursing home in neighboring Washington County. Some days when he comes in she tells staff, “I don’t know that guy.” Then she smiles. It’s a…
Take 5 for Your Health
Topeka Child Abuse Case Raises Questions About Kansas Policy On Gay Adoptions The arrest of a Topeka couple on child abuse charges has raised new questions about a custody battle that some say illustrates a pattern of discrimination against gay Kansans seeking to adopt children. The 2014 custody case pitted a lesbian couple from Wichita,…
‘I can’t let it go.’
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,…
Take 5 For Your Health
Kansas ‘Right to Try’ Bill Would Ease Access To Trial Drugs But Some See Peril Signs of the toll amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has taken on Kelli Johnsen’s body are scattered throughout the living room of her Emporia, Kansas, home. A wheelchair in one corner. A lift in another. A walker near the television. Next to her…