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Mayor Calls for Voters to Approve Stem Cell Amendment

Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes delivers her State of the City address. The Mayor called for support of an amendment to the Missouri constitution to ensure the legality of federally approved stem cell research in the state.
(Photo by Maria Carter)
Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes delivers her State of the City address. The Mayor called for support of an amendment to the Missouri constitution to ensure the legality of federally approved stem cell research in the state.

By Maria Carter

Kansas City, MO – Mayor Kay Barnes says Kansas City is in the middle of a turn around but must continue its growth in the biosciences field. KCUR's Maria Carter reports.

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The Mayor gave her annual state of the city address to a crowd of some 100 people yesterday. Kay Barnes says the city has the Stower's Institute, a number of life sciences companies, and academic institutions, but she called on the city to support a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot in Missouri to protect any stem cell research allowed by federal law.

Kay Barnes: "Kansas City must rally behind this initiative, not only to protect the future or our life sciences industry, but most importantly, most importantly of all, to offer hope to our citizens affected by devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease."

A spokeswoman for Stower's says Kansas City is the first choice for a planned 300 million dollar expansion, but the Institute will look elsewhere if the ballot initiative does not pass.

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