Steve Kraske
Executive Producer and Host, Up to DateWhen I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
I got a call out of the blue one day from then-news director Frank Morris who asked if he would be interested in hosting a show. I didn't think I had the time, but thought it over and decided to give it a shot. Now, more than 20 years later, I'm glad I did.
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Two community organizers want to create a sense of belonging for the metro's Japanese community with its first Natsu Matsuri, this Saturday at the 12th Street Post.
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Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker says her office charges about 80% of the cases it receives from the Kansas City Police Department, including property crimes. But she told KCUR's Up To Date it will take more than prosecution to solve the greater issue of crime in Kansas City.
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The Kansas City organization DistrKCt IS teaches audio engineering, music production and content creation to students around the metro. It’s run by Jo Blaq, a multi-platinum producer from Wyandotte County.
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The Jackson County Legislature narrowly voted against placing a stadium tax measure on the November ballot, another attempt to keep the Chiefs from leaving Kansas City. The quarter-cent sales tax would have lasted for 20 years, but left out the Royals.
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During his career, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has reported from the Tiananmen Square protests in China, the Darfur genocide in Sudan and the Yemeni Civil War. The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner joined KCUR's Up To Date to discuss his new book, "Chasing Hope."
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Kansas City Manager Brian Platt says construction on the KC Streetcar southern extension is in its final stages, and the route remains on track to open next year. Meanwhile, talks of potential east-west extensions are still in the works.
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For nearly 25 years, Marcellus Williams has maintained his innocence in the murder of a St. Louis woman named Felicia Gayle. A plea deal that would have saved him from execution in less than a month and changed his sentence to life in prison was recently pulled by a judge.
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More than 5,000 stolen auto reports have been made this year, with over 900 submitted in July. Capt. Rob Schreiber of the Kansas City Police Department told Up To Date about half of all reports are for Kias and Hyundais, which are easy to steal.
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After a week of festivities in Chicago, the Democratic National Convention came to a close last night as Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president. We spoke with a Missouri delegate and a rhetoric professor to recap the event.
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Fifteen-year-old Halley Vincent has owned Seven Stories, a bookstore in Shawnee, for almost two years. But after the building was sold to a new owner, Vincent is now trying to raise money to move.