News & Issues

Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.

Nick’s Picks | Messi, Jail, Buses, and More …

World Cup Team(s) Arrive It’s starting to feel real. The first World Cup team has landed in Kansas City. Defending champions Argentina touched down at KCI airport on Sunday and will begin practicing today at Sporting KC’s training facility in Wyandotte County. Much of the attention, of course, is focused on Lionel Messi. The soccer…

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The Heart of the Nation exhibit in the IKEA store in Merriam, Kansas, "celebrates the extraordinary work of artists, art educators and cultural leaders ... that define Kansas City's evolving artistic landscape." Jeremy Bell's work is part of the exhibit.(Mike Sherry | Flatland)

World Cup ‘Statement Piece’ Evokes Best Version of Kansas City

Before I moved to Kansas City almost 56 years ago, I had been here only once — for a brief visit to the Kansas City Press Club when I was attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism. But because of that visit and the fact that I grew up in the Midwest (Woodstock, Illinois,…

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The Center for Digital Inclusion's Technology Education Program helped Jodi Whitt break a cycle of incarceration. (Taylor Doyle | Flatland)

KU Center Helps Women Gain Foothold After Incarceration

A flier from her probation officer was the turning point for Jodi Whitt, who had spent more than two decades in and out of the criminal justice system. The piece of paper introduced Whitt to the Technology Education Program offered by the University of Kansas’ Center for Digital Inclusion. Since 2019, Whitt has risen through…

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A new exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo is allowing visitors to come "nose to nose" with its long-necked residents. (Wikimedia Commons)

Nick’s Picks | Veep, Zoo, Fireworks and More …

Vance Lands in KC U.S. Vice President JD Vance touches down in Kansas City today to tout the Trump administration’s economic policies. According to the White House, Vance will tour Milbank Manufacturing, a nearly 100-year-old electrical parts company in northeast Kansas City, Missouri, before delivering remarks on tariffs, tax cuts and efforts to boost American-made…

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The spotlight is on the Missouri Supreme Court this week as it takes up the redrawn congressional map. (Wikimedia Commons)

Nick’s Picks | Map, Plaza, Liquor and More …

Missouri’s New Congressional Map Faces High Stakes Court Test Missouri’s newly redrawn congressional map lands before the state Supreme Court this week in a trio of cases that could decide who controls key seats in Congress next year. On Tuesday, the seven-member court will hear arguments over whether the Republican-backed map can be used in…

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