News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Downtown Kansas City Office Vacancy Drop Leads Nation Thanks to Conversions and New Tenants
By Kevin Collison Downtown Kansas City leads the nation these days reducing its office vacancy rate, but not because it’s returning to its heyday as the region’s business center. The drop is primarily due to the conversion of many older, obsolete office buildings into apartments and hotels as downtown has transitioned to a mixed-use, ‘live,…
‘Tar Baby’: A Folk Tale About Food Rights, Rooted In The Inequalities Of Slavery
The tar baby story in which Bre’r Rabbit outwits Bre’r Fox is a classic trickster folk tale. But like all fables, it is a double-barreled affair, with entertainment firing in tandem with a serious message. The question the story addresses is a fundamental one: Who controls access to food and water? Or, more crucially, who…
Big Data Is Transforming How Scientists Create Better Seeds
This summer, in cornfields in Iowa and Nebraska, about a thousand small point-and-shoot digital cameras will be enclosed in waterproof cases, mounted on poles and attached to solar-powered battery chargers. They will take pictures every ten minutes as plants grow; all part of a plan to create better seeds. “We watch plants go through their…
West Meets East At Olathe High School
Sebhnem Heller, who is originally from Turkey, came to the Asian Cultural Festival in Olathe all the way from Omaha. “I got this rare opportunity to know other countries’ culture,” said Heller, who brought her parents with her. “I came here last year and enjoyed the ambiance of the diversity of people and culture here.”…
KC Preservationists Pursue Campaign to Document Westport Architecture as Development Pressure Mounts
By Kevin Collison New projects in the works for historic Westport are prompting a grassroots effort to survey the district’s buildings to provide a solid planning base for future development decisions. Plans for two apartment projects and a hotel are being reviewed at City Hall for a district that’s been popular destination since before Kansas…