Elana Gordon

Efforts to renew Kansas City’s health levy went into full gear today. A renewal of the temporary property tax is up for a vote next month, and proponents want it reinstated for another nine years.

Saturday marks the last chance for Missouri residents to enroll in the federal high risk insurance pool.

As of mid-week, four people remained hospitalized from the gas explosion and fire that destroyed JJ’s restaurant on the Plaza. One employee, Megan Cramer, died in the blast, and a memorial service is scheduled for Monday.

A lot of questions still surround how the situation was handled, including the timing of the evacuation and whether the explosion itself could have been avoided. While investigations are ongoing, KCUR’s Elana Gordon reports on how the region’s medical community responded, and how another crisis, the Hyatt Skywalk Collapse in 1981, has helped shape the region’s capacity to respond to large-scale events.

Emotions ran high at a town hall this weekend, over the possible sale of North Kansas City Hospital. More than 100 residents and hospital staff packed North Kansas City’s high school auditorium to protest any such proposal.

Judging by the lineup at the bar a few blocks from JJ’s last night, you might think you were at the longtime establishment. A lot of employees and regulars met up at Coal Vines on the Plaza, including James Potter.

Ambulances on Tuesday night traveled with nine people injured in the explosion and fire on the Country Club Plaza to area hospitals, including St. Luke's and University of Kansas Hospital. Six injured patients walked themselves in. Officials today provided an update on the six victims still hospitalized.

Up To Date's Steve Kraske talked Wednesday morning with David Frantze, co-owner of JJ's restaurant. A gas explosion Tuesday evening caused a fire that destroyed the restaurant, killing at least one person and injuring at least 14 others.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

David Frantze: Steve, it’s been a pretty rough time for the entire JJ’s family.

When Regina Holliday’s husband, Frederick Allen Holliday II, went to the hospital in 2009, he was already at the end stages of kidney cancer.

The next two months were “a roller coaster,” she recalls. But during that time, Holliday remembers receiving a lot of cards from friends and loved ones.

Mostly of the “get well” type.

Stephene Moore is the new regional director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She’s a long time nurse in the area and wife of retired U.S. Congressman Dennis Moore. She lost a bid to take her husband’s seat in 2010.

For more than a year, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and others at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have been courting states to take part in setting up and running a health insurance exchange. But Missouri, home of an enthusiastic governor and opposing legislature, keeps sending mixed messages. Now, with Friday’s deadline looming for states to commit to joining the feds in setting up an exchange, it appears as though HHS will be flying solo in the Show-Me state.

Recent tragedies in Connecticut and Colorado have elevated the discussion around firearms and more recently, around how to best respond to kids who’ve experienced trauma like a school shooting or community violence.