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Kansas City Today

Remembering Sister Berta

By Nomin Ujiyediin,
Anna Schmidt
Published January 30, 2024 at 4:00 AM CST
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Sister Berta Sailer, one of Kansas City's greatest advocates for disadvantaged chidlren, died last week at 87. In the 1960s, she opened an at-home day care that eventually grew to become Operation Breakthrough. Plus: A rural Missouri school district is one of the first in the U.S. to receive electric buses from a new EPA program.

Sister Berta Sailer — the public face as well as the emotional DNA of Operation Breakthrough, one of the largest and most comprehensive childcare agencies in the Kansas City region — died last Thursday due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. Sailer devoted her life to helping children and families and personally fostered some 75 kids.

KCUR's Laura Ziegler reports on Sailer's life and long-lasting legacy.

Ralls County School District in rural northeastern Missouri is one of the first in the state to receive electric buses from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The federal initiative has sent at least one electric bus to nearly every U.S. state with thousands more on the way.

Kate Grumke reports for Harvest Public Media.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

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

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

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Kansas City Today obituariesfoster carechild carepovertyeducationelectric vehiclesHarvest Public Mediaschool busschooltransportation
Nomin Ujiyediin
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.
See stories by Nomin Ujiyediin
Anna Schmidt
Anna 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. You can email her at anna.schmidt@kcur.org.
See stories by Anna Schmidt
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