Claire McInerny

For the first time in 15 years, Kansas City, Mo. is examining its arts-related policies through Mayor Sly James' Task Force for the Arts. This task force is composed of important political members from the city and a variety of artists and advocates for the arts in Kansas City. The task force launched the Envision Arts & Culture KC campaign Monday night, which is the first step in trying to make the arts a more prominent and meaningful part of life in Kansas City.

A recent study from the University of British Columbia found that installing bike infrastructure greatly reduces the likely hood of cyclist injury.  In fact, cycle tracks (bike lanes physically separated from motor vehicle traffic) alongside major streets had about 1/10 the typical risk to cyclists.  Our guests, Elizabeth Bejan, of Revolve KC, Aaron Bartlett, Bicycle and Training coordinator at MARC and Deb Ridgeway, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator for Kansas City Public Works Department, explore these risks in Kansas City and how organizations and the city are working to address them.

Reverend Adam Hamilton, the Senior Pastor at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, did not believe his assistant when she told him the White House called and asked for his presence at this year's inauguration ceremony. Hamilton gave the sermon at the National Prayer Service, held at the National Cathedral the day after the inauguration ceremonies, which has been a tradition for every inauguration ceremony starting with George Washington.

  Ever wonder what goes on during a city council meeting? Or how much money was made from parking meters last year? The answers to some questions like these are available to the public online, but every city in the United States differs on how much information they share. MoPIRG is an organization that looks at major metropolitan cities in the country and grades them on how transparent their budget information is to that city's residents.

On the coattails of President Obama's second inaugural address yesterday and the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Central Standard looks at the economic situation for the African-American community in the United States.

Watching the teenage experience

In 2008, High School Confidential, a documentary-type show that followed 12 high school girls at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park through their four years of high school, aired on WE tv. Sharon Liese is the filmmaker who created this show, and conceived the idea to create a documentary about the high school experience when her own daughter was going through high school.

The experience of growing up from a child to an adult includes awkward experiences with friends, family and one's own body add to that the challenge of living with a chronic disease. Brian Ellison speaks with one teenage girl who is growing up with Sickle Cell Anemia.