Named one of the top five writers under 35 to watch by the National Book Foundation in 2008, Matthew Eck discusses his novel, "The Farther Shore," touted by Salon as "the first great war novel of our generation."

By New Letters on the Air

By Maria Carter

Kansas City, MO – Jefferson City Police are investigating what led to a false alert of a hostage situation at an office building two blocks away from the State Capitol.

Former Kansas Commerce Secretary Dave Kerr started his new job this week for the state of Missouri. Kerr is now Missouri's Director of Economic Development. His switch in jobs is at a time when the Kansas City Wizards soccer team will choose either Kansas or Missouri to build a new soccer stadium.

Kansas City, Mo. – Only the U.S. Senate stands in the way of making the World War One Memorial in Kansas City the official, national memorial. Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver chose Veterans' Day to note House passage of the measure by a vote of 148 to 1.

Topeka, KS – There's been a lot of talk about electronic health records in Washington as the health care debate continues. A group in Kansas is working to make electronic records a reality right here in the state.

Jefferson City, MO – Jefferson City Police are investigating what led to a false alert of a hostage situation at an office building two blocks away from the State Capitol Tuesday.

The Governor Office Building is home to the Public Service Commission and houses other state offices. Someone in the building activated an alarm system that alerted police to a hostage situation. But after a thorough search of the building, police found nothing to indicate that anyone had been taken hostage.

By Dan Verbeck , KCUR news

Kansas City, Mo. – A construction crane tipped backward, sending two workers to the ground, fifty or more feet below. One man died, the other was seriously hurt. The accident happened at the construction site of the new Kansas City Performing Arts Center, immediately south of the downtown district.

By Steve Bell

Kansas City, MO –

Kansas City, MO – Missouri recently announced it's cutting $3 million from the Department of Mental Health and will no longer fund services for new patients that don't have Medicaid.

Area mental health organizations say the change will make it a lot harder for people without health coverage to get needed care.

Alan Flory is president of Rediscover, a local mental health center. He says the number of uninsured people getting services there has gone up by nearly 50 percent in the past year.

Waiting lists, he says, are growing.

Shawnee Mission, Kansas –

The Johnson County Park Board said yesterday Phase One of the deer management program was over in Shawnee Mission Park. Sharpshooters and county police killed 313 deer in efforts to reduce overpopulation.

The Park Board said yesterday deer were shot at night under tight security. They didn't reduce the herd enough, however, and the park's ecosystem is in danger, according to wildlife biologists.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is serious about its collection of American Indian art, and has proven it by elevating that art in a way perhaps no other comprehensive museum in the world has. With the opening of the new American Indian art galleries, space for the work has mushroomed four fold, but that's not what the director of the British Museum finds remarkable.

By Laura Spencer