News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
12 QUESTIONS – and answers – about a minimum wage increase in KC
In the past few months, protests, rallies and labor strikes in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 in Kansas CIty have gained local and national attention. Here are 12 questions we answer regarding the minimum wage increase.
The $50 Million Budget Cuts in Kansas
Gov. Sam Brownback’s office will work to identify $50 million in budget cuts mandated by the Legislature for the upcoming fiscal year, although future restoration of those reductions could be constrained by automatic income tax cuts. Brownback addressed reporters Tuesday in a news conference recapping the historically long session that ended Friday. The governor acknowledged…
Voters may be able to weigh in on the convention center hotel
During the Wednesday morning taping of KCPT’s Ruckus, Dan Coffey, founder of Citizens for Responsible Government, announced plans to begin a petition initiative to allow voters to weigh in on the proposed plan for a new 800-room downtown convention hotel. The Kansas City charter grants the right to file an initiative petition provided it is…
Affordable Care Act may become unaffordable
It’s shaping up as a make-or-break moment for the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. Supreme Court will rule in a week or two on a challenge to Obamacare subsidies that could affect 6.4 million Americans. That’s roughly how many people obtained tax credits through health insurance exchanges operated by the federal government. Thirty-four states chose…
“Telling Project” enlists local veterans to bring their experiences center stage
Jonathan Wei can pinpoint the exact moment when he realized that everything he thought he knew about those who served in the military was wrong. In 2006, Wei was teaching at the University of Oregon and was an advisor to a student veterans group there. One morning while talking with one of his students, who…