Take 5 For Your Health

Kansas City Mayor Sly James, bottom right, announced the formation of a Citizen Task Force to prevent violence in November, 2015. The task force held a public meeting last week. (Photo: Elle Moxley | KCUR)

Kansas Citians Demand Urgency From Citizens Task Force Against Violence None of the houses Kansas City Councilwoman Alissia Canady lived in growing up east of Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, are occupied. Most of the schools she attended have closed. “When you look at the areas where violent crime is occurring, you see vacant…

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Take 5 for Your Health

Abengoa Bioenergy recently halted operations at its new-generation ethanol plan in southwest Kansas. (Bryan Thompson | Heartland Health Monitor)

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…

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Take 5 for Your Health

Clay country

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…

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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,…

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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…

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