Searching For Her Dad’s Technical High School

the manual high school drawing room in the late 19th century

By Jack Harvel Like so many men of his generation, Jack Harrigan was a small-town kid born early in the 20th century, weathered the Great Depression, fought in World War II, then returned home to raise a family while working a blue-collar job until passing away in 1990 at the age of 75. His daughter…

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Resurrecting Quindaro

overgrown site

As Americans north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line debated slavery, a boomtown that sprouted from the scrub along the Missouri River emerged as one of the most unlikely bellwethers of the national mood in the run-up to the Civil War. That community was Quindaro, Kansas, and virtually overnight it became something of a prototype…

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The Rise and Fall of a Boomtown

building foundation from quindaro

Get a deeper history of the port town of Quindaro and hear from a local woman who used our curiousKC initiative to ask why excavations had not been finished for the important site.

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Vote! What Would You Like Us to Cover in Our Reporting?

Image of new development

As we dig into housing issues in our months-long Public Works? A Level Foundation reporting initiative, we want you to share your questions with us and weigh in on what you think we should tackle. Below is our first voting round with three questions from curious Kansas Citians. Tricia Bushnell asked what percentage new developments…

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What Are the Open Belief Centers in KC?

Sharon Divine plays crystal singing bowl

By Humera Lodhi Sharon Divine found faith as an adult. Or rather, she lost religion and then found faith. Divine grew up as a Christian attending Methodist, Lutheran, and Unity churches at various points in her life. The older Divine got, however, the less traditional religion seemed make sense to her. “There‘s nothing wrong with…

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