Matthew Long-Middleton

So are you planning to die? Are you ready for when you end up in the great beyond?  More to the point, what about your assets that don’t make the trip with you? Today on Central Standard, we’re talking about the not exactly uplifting, but nevertheless important topic of estate planning. Our Cash Money Crew is here and … you may not believe this ... but it’s not such a downer, really!  Financial planners will tell you that some good decisions now, now while you’re in the prime of life, can have an impact down the road: You can feel secure, live more comfortably now and through your retirement, and have an impact beyond your earthly years.

As St. Patrick's Day approaches next week, the 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' t-shirts are getting pulled out of the closets and shamrocks will plaster the city. Kansas City has a special relationship with Irish culture that goes hand in hand with the city's narrative.

Throughout the course of the day we ask ourselves a lot of questions; what should I have for breakfast? Should I run to the store before picking up my kids or after? Should I read my book before bed or watch a TV show? We rarely take the time to contemplate larger, more philosophical questions that probe our very existence.

Looking up at the sky is something we do everyday; maybe to check the weather, see if the sun is poking out and you need a jacket, and for some, to discover more about the universe we live in.

When most of us think about death, we assume our bodies will take the traditional routes of being cremated or buried. This is not always the case as author Bess Lovejoy points out in her new book, Rest In Pieces released this month. Rest In Pieces shares the journeys famous corpses took before being laid to rest.

Decades ago, scientists and energy experts predicted that 2013 would include flying cars and that by now, oil would be a thing of the past. But the state of our energy consumption in America has stayed somewhat the same, while causing intense political discussion on the matter.

Saturday night, as our clocks sprung forward and we lost an hour of our day, one man in Missouri was hoping this would be the last Daylight Savings Time he went through. Representative Delus Johnson of St. Joseph, Mo. proposed a bill that would extend the Daylight Savings change all year long.

The Westboro Baptist Church is notorious in the area and nation-wide for their protests of soldier's funerals and anti-gay messages. Fred Phelps and his followers, based in Topeka, travel the country spreading their messages of hate and last year a petition to label them an official hate group was introduced.

As we find ourselves in the midst of Lent and with Passover on the horizon, the idea of food and the role it plays in various religions is on many people's minds. Why do Catholics not eat meat on Fridays, why do Jews not let their bread rise and why do members of Islam have permanent restrictions on what they can eat?

Buffets: you either love them or hate them. And in a tough economy, the idea of an all-you-can meal can sound alluring, even if the choices can be more about quantity than quality. On today's Central Standard Friday, we'll fill our plates up with suggestions for the best, the cheapest and the most unusual buffets in Kansas City. Today's food critics are host Charles Ferruzza, Chris Becicka, Mary Bloch and Emily Farris.

The MidCoast Takeover is a concert of local talent at Austin’s South by Southwest music festival to take place next weekend.  It’s generating a lot of local excitement as the festival is quickly approaching and the local bands are preparing. The MidCoast Takover is organized with the help of The Midwest Music Foundation a local organization that support local musicians.  We're in conversation with Sondra Freemans of the Midwest Music Foundation to talk the ways the MidCoast Takeover supports local musicians and hear some of the local bands she's most excited to be heard in Austin.

When South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan on July 9th 2011, it was the outcome of a peace deal that ended Africa’s longest running civil war; a war that resulted in millions of lives lost to ethnic and religious warfare. On this Central Standard, we explore the community of Sudanese refugees who now live in Kansas City.

For most of a child's life, from infancy and into adulthood, parents take care of, support and help their children make decisions. It's an odd experience though when the parents gets elderly and the child has to step in as caregiver. On this Central Standard, we look at how the family dynamic changes when parents can't take care of themselves and how to approach the situation from an emotional and logistical point of view.

A yearly physical is the norm for most of us, whether for children or their adult parents, and it's considered a part of living a healthy lifestyle. But not all areas of health are examined by one doctor, and one area of our health that is often neglected is oral health.