Anna Schmidt
KCUR Studios internAnna Schmidt is the fall 2023 intern for KCUR Studios. She recently graduated from Kansas State University, where she was the Opinions Desk Editor for the Collegian student newspaper and took over the role of podcast host.
She has also served as assistant editor-in-chief for Manhappenin’ Magazine, where she co-created the “What’s Happenin?” podcast, and was a contributor to the Manhattan Mercury MHK Music Scene and the Royal Purple Yearbook. This year, on the day after her 23rd birthday, she ran her first marathon with her mother.
You can email her at anna.schmidt@kcur.org.
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Alana Washington knows how much trauma her middle school students in southeast Kansas City students can go through on a daily basis. She started the Save a Life Mentorship program to give students the tools they need to get through it. Plus: The Medical Arts Symphony of Kansas City community orchestra has helped Kansas City doctors and nurses reduce stress for more than 60 years. -
Kansas is the latest state to pass rules against selling ornamental pear trees that spread aggressively in natural areas. They are just one of many invasive species taking over Midwest communities. Plus: A centuries-old agricultural technique that reduces agricultural waste and improves soil is coming back around as a modern climate solution.
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Terra Morehead, who retired as a federal prosecutor last August, has agreed to turn over her law license as part of an agreement with a Kansas disciplinary board. As a Wyandotte County prosecutor in the 1990s, Morehead helped KCKPD Detective Roger Golubski frame an innocent man who spent 23 years in prison.
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Although most Kansas schools prepare students and staff for intruders with active-shooter drills, they don't train teachers how to deal with more common violence on campus. Plus: In a Kansas county that’s lost more than half of its population, one restaurant offers a renewed sense of hope — and a cheeseburger worth driving for.
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Cassette tapes could have remained a relic of the 1970s and 80s. But against all odds, they’ve survived the eras of CDs and streaming to win over music lovers of a new generation. That’s in large part thanks to the National Audio Company in Springfield, Missouri, the largest cassette manufacturer in the world. Suzanne Hogan shares the story of how this proudly analog format found a new life. -
Greenfield Robotics, a Kansas-based company, developed robots to take on a labor-intensive process: cutting weeds down. Plus: The fur industry has a long history in the state of Missouri, and trappers want to make sure they're conserving the state's resources and traditions.
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Brian Dorsey is set to be executed by the state of Missouri today. Gov. Mike Parson denied his request for clemency despite support from corrections officers and a retired Missouri Supreme Court judge. Dorsey was convicted of killing his cousin and her husband in central Missouri, but his defense team says the original trial lawyers had conflicts of interest.
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It's Election Day in Missouri, and Jackson County is finally voting on the much-discussed stadium sales tax proposal. Plus: Kansas lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Laura Kelly last week to ban gender-affirming health care for minors. Kelly has vetoed similar measures in the past, but this time, the legislature's GOP supermajority might have the power to override any decision she makes.
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April's election will bring some new faces to the often-contentious Hickman Mills Board of Education. The board has long struggled to work together, and last year couldn’t agree on a board president or how to fill a vacancy. Will this vote help or hurt?
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Missouri's 2024 legislative session is back after spring break. The annual state budget and a tax that funds the bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program are two things that must pass this session. Plus: Some Kansas lawmakers say improving their compensation is key to recruiting young and working class people to run for office.
