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Parents Push For New Public School, Discriminatory Real Estate Practices And Segregation

Alex Smith
/
KCUR

Concerned Parents Push For New Public School
A group of concerned parents have been gathering at a coffeehouse in Waldo. The cause for concern is the state of public schools in Kansas City, MO. Rather than moving across the state line to Kansas, or to another district, these parents have decided to get a little more proactive—they want to open up a neighborhood school. 

Author Tanner Colby On How Discriminatory Real Estate Practices Led To A Divided KC
Author Tanner Colby
wondered why almost none of his friends were black. His curiosity led him to explore racial integration in America, and his search led him right to Kansas City. The result was a book written by Colby called, “Some of My Best Friends Are Black,” an examination of discriminatory real estate practices that led to a racial divide in Kansas City and all around the country.

Despite Record Drought, Farmers Expect Banner Year
Farmers did not get much help from Mother Nature this year. In parts of the lower Midwest while water-starved crops have collapsed, the farmers have not.  Most of them have survived, and some have thrived even during one of the driest summers on record.

African-Centered Education School Experiences Several Problems
 
Last week, the African-Centered College Preparatory Academy removed 50 students from its program after fighting and phony fire alarms were set off.  Last Wednesday, the school held a meeting for parents to explain the action and describe new policies following what’s been a difficult semester.

On Marginal Land, These Grasses May Be Greener
Farmers who plant corn or soybeans in land susceptible to flooding or erosion know they are taking a leap of faith. This so-called “marginal land” is rarely productive. But there are crops that can thrive consistently on this high-risk land, and some farmers are just beginning to discover the market potential.

Sylvia Maria Gross is storytelling editor at KCUR 89.3. Reach her on Twitter @pubradiosly.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
As a health care reporter, I aim to empower my audience to take steps to improve health care and make informed decisions as consumers and voters. I tell human stories augmented with research and data to explain how our health care system works and sometimes fails us. Email me at alexs@kcur.org.
Every part of the present has been shaped by actions that took place in the past, but too often that context is left out. As a podcast producer for KCUR Studios and host of the podcast A People’s History of Kansas City, I aim to provide context, clarity, empathy and deeper, nuanced perspectives on how the events and people in the past have shaped our community today. In that role, and as an occasional announcer and reporter, I want to entertain, inform, make you think, expose something new and cultivate a deeper shared human connection about how the passage of time affects us all. Reach me at hogansm@kcur.org.
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