Steve Kraske

Host of Up to Date

Steve Kraske has been the political correspondent for The Kansas City Star since 1994. He covers national, state and local politics with a special focus on the Iowa presidential caucuses every four years. Kraske first came to The Star in 1986 and covered the Kansas City Police Department and state government in Jefferson City and Topeka. Before arriving in Kansas City, he worked at daily newspapers in Iowa and Illinois and at United Press International in Madison, Wis. Kraske is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a bachelor's degree in journalism. His parents live in Stillwater, Minn. In 2001, he and a team of Star reporters won the Missouri Press Association's top government-reporting award for a series of stories on the death of Gov. Mel Carnahan. In 1991, he was awarded a John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Tue March 26, 2013

Troubleshooting Your Travels

Credit rudymaxa.com
Rudy Maxa in Florence, Italy.

Ever had one of those vacations where nothing seems to go right? Your luggage gets lost, the reservation’s for the wrong day, and you accidentally asked for a sub-compact car for your family of five?

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90-Mile View
6:00 pm
Tue March 26, 2013

90-Mile View: Rick Behrens

Visit Grandview Park Presbyterian Church on any regular Sunday and, unless you know him, you're unlikely to distinguish Rev. Rick Behrens from his congregation.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Mon March 25, 2013

Preventing A DIY Dust-Up

Credit Laura Spencer / KCUR
Mayor James tears down a vacant house. Was the resulting dust a health hazard?

Everyone knows you should wear a hard hat during construction, but are your lungs in just as much danger as your head?

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Mon March 25, 2013

Jazzing It Up In KC

Joe Sample

Musician Joe Sample has made his life about all that jazz.

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Up to Date
10:49 am
Mon March 25, 2013

Remembering Walt Bodine

Credit Courtesy of the Walt Bodine Family
Walt Bodine (right)

Today, we're talking about memories of KCUR's Walt Bodine.

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Up to Date
10:06 am
Mon March 25, 2013

Two Women, One World & 80 Days

Credit Jessica Hills
Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman

In 1889, it wasn't a woman's world, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of reporters Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland when they embarked on a journey to beat Phileas Fogg's fictional travels.

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Up to Date
10:02 am
Mon March 18, 2013

Encore Broadcast: Former Hiroshima Mayor & Harry Truman's Grandson On Nuclear Disarmament

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

You’d have a hard time finding someone who feels more strongly about nuclear disarmament than the former mayor of Hiroshima, Japan.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Thu March 14, 2013

Parents, Teens & Break-ups

Credit Nevit Dilmen

Paul Simon might know 50 ways to leave your lover, but psychologist Wes Crenshaw has his own list.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Wed March 13, 2013

Accepting A Twin's Death

Her by Christa Parravani

After the untimely death of a loved one, people often find themselves with more questions than answers.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Tue March 12, 2013

What A Country For Yakov Smirnoff

When he came to America in 1977, Yakov Smirnoff was already a comedian, but it was his fresh off the boat Cold War comedy style that got him noticed by the entertainment industry.

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Up to Date
12:06 pm
Tue March 12, 2013

Adventuring In The Dark

Tom Sullivan

Tom Sullivan can hear is the sound of snowflakes falling, even though he can't see the white blanket they form over the land.

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Mon March 11, 2013

'Who Stole The American Dream?'

In this country it was long believed that if you worked hard then you could share in the prosperity this land had to offer.  So – who stole the American Dream?

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Up To Date
6:00 pm
Sun March 10, 2013

From Steam To Diesel To . . . Natural Gas?

In the history of the locomotive, natural gas may prove to be as game-changing to the railroad industry in this century as diesel was in the last.  

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Up to Date
6:00 pm
Sun March 10, 2013

Effects Of An Extended Drought

Credit Crazybananas / Flickr.com
The harvest of a drought-stricken Kansas cornfield in 2012.

Recent snowfalls brought much needed moisture to our region.  Even so, the drought of last year has not been broken.  Should it continue for months ... or even years ... what are the potential long-term effects?

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Up To Date
5:08 pm
Thu March 7, 2013

What's Showing In Independent, Foreign & Documentary Film

If one thing stood out in 2012 filmmaking, it was the documentary.

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