-
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is again pushing lawmakers to expand the health care program Medicaid, which is widely supported by Kansans. But Republican leaders remain staunchly opposed. Plus: Female veterinarians still face skepticism and discrimination in rural areas, where there’s a shortage of animal specialists.
-
Many hospitals are shuttering their labor and delivery units because insurance companies and Medicaid aren't reimbursing hospitals enough to cover the cost of births.
-
“Brain drain,” the migration of people with a higher education degree, remains an issue in most of the Midwest and Great Plains. Recent U.S. Census data shows many states are losing some of their most educated residents.
-
The Kansas City Chiefs are vying for their second straight Super Bowl win, but something could stand in their way: themselves. Plus: Small towns in Kansas are using AI to better understand their economic outlook and attract more businesses and people.
-
Communities in western Kansas are trying a new AI tool to help them target economic growth and hopefully fight long-term trends of population loss.
-
A new report found Missouri’s rural teachers are paid better only than those in Arkansas. Missouri also has one of the lowest rates of state tax revenue, meaning the burden for funding schools falls heavily on local taxpayers.
-
Production of utility-scale solar power in Kansas is expected to increase 34 times over in the next four years. But many rural Kansas communities are skeptical of out-of-state developers. Plus: A writer and photographer return to Independence, Missouri, 40 years after documenting daily life in the city.
-
Kansas City voters overwhelmingly approved renewing a local sales tax to fund public transit for the next decade, while moderate school board candidates beat out conservative challengers in some big Johnson County districts. Plus: Solar energy is stepping up in Kansas.
-
Thousands of competitors come to the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Missouri, each year to show their best livestock. The competition includes children as young as 7 years old, who take part in a long tradition of raising and showing their animals.
-
Most folks in the Kansas City region know Baldwin City for its famous fall festival. But the quaint city is also a college town with connections to Margaret Thatcher, a stop along the Santa Fe Trail, claim to the first armed conflicts of the Civil War and now, home to a charming and vibrant downtown.
-
The number of seniors living in rural America is rising, but resources are decreasing and facilities are closing. So residents of towns like Cuba, Missouri, and Louisburg and Osawatomie, Kansas, are rallying to provide elders with services and support.
-
Kansas City native Philip Heying has made his home outside of Matfield Green, Kansas, for the past 3 years. He says the landscape around the speck of a central Kansas town is under threat.