Civic Affairs

Morning sun peeks over the roof of the Panasonic EV Battery Facility in DeSoto, Kansas, on Jan. 17, 2025. (Chase Castor | Flatland)

World War II Left Lasting Economic Imprint in the Region

Harry S. Truman would scarcely recognize today’s technological wizardry and business advancements, 80 years after his instrumental role in the Allies’ victory in World War II. But the former U.S. senator and president from Independence, Missouri, helped lay the groundwork for some of the pillars still fueling the Kansas City-area economy, including components of a…

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On the shores of Lake Pomme de Terre in rural Pittsburg, Missouri, the Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center offers visitors the quiet and peace they seek away from a divisive, non-stop world. (Bill Tammeus | Flatland)

Retreat Centers Serve as Oases from Stressful Times

Stress — including that caused by our nation’s current political turmoil — is such a common experience that people have devised many ways to describe it, including the simple exclamation “I’m stressed out.” There’s also the phrase you’re likely to hear only in parts of New England: “I’m right out straight.” Sometimes people under age…

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Fireworks during "Celebration at the Station".

Nick’s Picks | Fireworks, Funeral, FIFA and More …

Celebration at the Station There’s a lot to like about this week. We’ve got a three-day holiday weekend to look forward to. Memorial Day is Monday. Here at the TV station, we’re prepping for our biggest show of the year, Celebration at the Station. It’s all hands on deck for our production crews as we…

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The atomic bomb explodes at Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945. (Library of Congress)

Winning the War: Recalling the ‘Instrument of Deliverance,’ Pondering the Future of Democracy

Second of two installments About 16.4 million Americans served during World War II, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Just 66,000 — fewer than one out of every 250 who served – were still alive in 2024. Among those, 1,321 lived in Missouri in 2024, while 352 lived in Kansas….

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General Dwight Eisenhower with President Harry Truman at an airfield in Brussels, Belgium, en route to Potsdam on July 15, 1945. (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum)

Winning the War: Truman, Eisenhower and the Fight for Democracy

First of two installments Consider it an example of just how small two towering global figures could be. The year: 1961.  The event: a high-stakes summit that called for discretion and diplomacy, given that two titans on the world stage — Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower — for years had maintained an often-frosty distance from…

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