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The killing of Shayla Curts

Shayla Curts was pregnant with her third child when she was shot and killed in December. Her family says this might not have happened if Jackson County's child welfare system had worked like it was supposed to. Plus: The plan to conserve water in western Kansas and save the region from drying up altogether.

Shayla Curts had been doing everything that Jackson County courts asked of her, with the hopes of getting her life back on track and reuniting with her two children in foster care. A few weeks before the end of the year, Curts was shot and killed. KCUR's Laura Ziegler has the story of one of 2022's final murders in Kansas City and how the victim's family thinks it could've been prevented.

The Ogallala Aquifer provides water for many people across the high plains of Kansas, but years of high-intensity crop irrigation have caused the water level to drop. The Kansas News Service's David Condos reports on one region's plan to save water and stem an already devastating drought.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
Trevor Grandin is a contributing producer for KCUR Studios.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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