Environment

Tuesday evening’s tragic explosion and fire on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City may have some asking basic questions about gas leaks.

Here’s a brief primer:

How do I know if I have a gas leak?

• If it’s a natural gas leak, you will smell it.

It’s an unpleasant smell, like rotten eggs.

Natural gas goes through a lot of processing before it can be used as fuel.

After all the other chemicals are taken out, what’s left is methane.

PLEASE NOTE: This show was recorded on January 14.

The oil and gas industry is seeing a slew of booms all over the country—in North Dakota, Texas, and now in southern Kansas. The key: How much can be retrieved from something called the Mississippi Line Formation in south-central Kansas.

It may be the dead of winter, but there is still plenty of nature to see in the Kansas City area.  Larry Rizzo, natural history biologist, and Joe Werner, biologist and urban ecologist will cover the best places to observe eagles and nesting Great Horned Owls, and explain what's going on pre-February with groundhogs. And we'll also explore how unseasonably warmer weather and a continued drought is affecting animal habits?

Change is inevitable.  But what if that change affects a community-loved building, or historic landmark?

In 2008, elected officials and urban residents came together under the direction of 2nd District Jackson County Legislator, Bishop James Tindall, Sr. to discuss community change in the urban core.  This was the first convening of the Kansas City Urban Summit.