The Argument

The total number of homicides has been rising and falling for decades here in Kansas City, Missouri. Right now, we're in the midst of a scary climb. It's…

Students at Central Academy of Excellence spent a semester composing short stories, plays and spoken word poetry about gun violence. The class was a…

Dairian Stanley’s ex-girlfriend was warned before she met up with him that Sunday morning in September 2016.Stanley had been missing for two days, had…

"Where are the brave ones?" Academic coach Charlette Wafer looks out across an auditorium of students, administrators and community members at Central…

In late August last year, Shanta Barnett got a call from her 15-year-old daughter Brannae Browne. “Momma, did you hear about what happened?”Natasha Hays,…

“Let’s hear what you've got,” Nathan Louis Jackson says to Roben Pope, a junior at Central Academy of Excellence in Kansas City, Missouri.Jackson rests…

There's no doubt that violence can have a profound impact on young people. But accessing feelings doesn't always come easy.Toward that end, the Kansas…

Alice Snodgrass was worried about her friend Nicki Alexopoulos. Worried about a threat from within her family.“When she went silent, when she wasn't on…

Pretty Pennington was killed by a girl fight, a handgun and an AK-47.She’d been to a friend's wedding that Saturday night, Nov. 12, 2016 — a fun party…

It was a clear night in late July 2016 on the 3600 block of Askew Avenue on Kansas City’s East Side.But inside one home, a fight was brewing. It was just…

Violent crime rates in Kansas City are on the rise, yet again. Today, we hear the first installment of KCUR's "The Argument," a reporting series that…

The quiet neighborhood in east Kansas City, Missouri, was just coming to life that Friday morning, May 20, 2016, when Daniel Wilson pulled up in his old…