Business & Tech

As Kansas City’s Spanish-speaking population increases, many industries are adapting by hiring more bilingual employees.  But how can they tell when someone is truly bilingual?  Gabe Munoz, and his partner Raul Duran launched a website late last year to assess the language abilities of bilingual job applicants, and help match them with employers.  So far, about 300 job seekers have signed on.  

Munoz spoke to KC Currents’ Susan Wilson about his start-up company, HireBilinguals.com.

A fire caused by an apparent gas explosion near JJ's Restaurant on the Country Club Plaza has sent at least 14 people to area hospitals with injuries, some of them critical. The fire started around 6:00 Tuesday evening.  

Update 7:07 PM.  Residents from a nearby apartment building were evacuated.  Some are reporting that there was a strong smell of gas earlier in the afternoon. One resident of the nearby building also told reporters someone was operating a backhoe in the area earlier in the afternoon. 

A concept that started at MIT more than a decade ago is making its mark in the Kansas City area.  It’s called Fab Lab.  That’s short for fabrication laboratory.  It’s home to cutting edge technology such as a laser engraver and 3d printers plus tools and machinery seen in high school shop classes.