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Seg. 1: What Motivates Missouri Voters? Seg. 2: Mexican American Baseball In Kansas City.

Aviva Okeson-Haberman
/
KBIA
KBIA reporter Aviva Okeson-Haberman spoke with Missouri high-schoolers, including 17-year-old DC Darks, pictured here, to get a sense for whether they'll vote in November's midterm election.

Segment 1: Going "Beyond the Ballot" to find what drives Missouri voters to the ballots.

How can we inspire high-schoolers to become more passionate about politics? What are groups of faith in the Ozarks wanting from their politicians? And which way will a moderate county like Clay swing this election cycle? A new collaborative of journalists across Missouri take a run at these questions and more. Today, we talked with three of them about their findings. 

Read every installment of the 'Beyond the Ballot' series online, by clicking here.

Segment 2, beginning at 28:00: How baseball in Kansas City promoted equal rights for Mexican Americans.

In the early-20th century, Mexican immigrants came to Kansas in search of labor opportunites. For many of them, baseball was not only a way to pass the time, but also offered a way to promote social equality among immigrants. We asked a local historian and Mexican American leader about the importance of baseball in combating the discrimination that was a part of daily life for many Latinos in Kansas City.

Chavez will discuss 'Mexican American Baseball in Kansas City,' 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 3 at the Kansas City Public Library's Central Library, 14 W. 10th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64105. Find more information at KCLibrary.org. 

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.