Johnny Depp gives voice to an animated, terrarium-raised lizard who changes his stripes and becomes sheriff of a ramshackle desert town. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Rango is a kid flick that's chock-full of delights for movie nuts.

By Bob Mondello/ NPR

Rango

• Director: Gore Verbinski
• Genre: Animated action
• Running Time: 107 minutes

Rated PG for rude humor, language, action and smoking

With: Johnny Depp, Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, Alfred Molina

By Steve Bell

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Two teenage men have been arrested and charged in the Monday murder of Northeast Kansas City community activist Yuri Ives. Charges say he was robbed, shot and stabbed to death.

Inattention to detail appears to have tripped up the alleged killers.

Witnesses told police they heard two loud bangs Monday night in the 500 block of Gladstone Boulevard where Ives lived. Only ten minutes earlier a neighbor said Ives had phoned to say he needed to give a car ride to someone.

By All Things Considered/NPR

Kansas City, MO –

Most plastic products, from sippy cups to food wraps, can release chemicals that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study found these chemicals even in products that didn't contain BPA, a compound in certain plastics that's been widely criticized because it mimics estrogen.

The Senate Federal and State Affairs committee has recommended rejecting Governor Sam Brownback's plan to eliminate the Kansas Arts Commission. Brownback has signed an executive order to replace the Arts Commission with a private, non-profit group.

By Stephen Koranda, KPR

Topeka, KS – Governor Brownback says his plan will save the state around 600 thousand dollars during a tough budget crunch. KPR's Stephen Koranda has more.

By Maria Carter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Supreme Court has sided with Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church in a free speech case.

Mental Health advocates say cuts proposed for mental health services in Kansas will endanger lives and burden emergency rooms, mental hospitals, and jails statewide.

Mental Health advocates say cuts proposed for mental health services in Kansas will endanger lives and burden emergency rooms, mental hospitals, and jails statewide.

By Steve Bell

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –

KANSAS CITY, MO. – About 40 friends of a murdered community activist joined Kansas City's mayor this afternoon to decry the death of Yuri Ives. He was killed at his home Monday.

Neighbors have been trying to clean up the Old Northeast side as well as its image. They gathered not far from the house where Ives was found murdered.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser was there, calling for policing parity-- "we ought not tolerate on Independence Avenue what we will not tolerate in the Power and Light District." Hizzoner the Mayor said he was talking about street crime and disorder.

By Maria Carter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A court ordered investigation leads a Jackson County Circuit Judge to close a controversial Kansas City funeral home, calling Marts Memorial Services a risk to the public interest.

A Johnson County racing school and its founder are accused of deceptive and unconscionable acts related to the sale of racing packages.

An effort to repeal a Kansas law that gives illegal immigrants a tuition break has passed the House, but may face a challenge in the Senate.

Author Deb Olin Unferth's work has been featured in Harper's Magazine, McSweeney's, and The Believer. She's also the author of a collection of stories called "Minor Robberies" and the novel, "Vacation." Her new memoir is called "Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War."

By Laura Spencer