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Preserving Missouri's night sky

People across Missouri and Kansas are losing their starry views to light pollution. But the right lighting decisions can help preserve night skies and benefit animal and human health.

Missouri's Thousand Hills State Park is the 12th place in the world to earn a special title: urban night sky place. "The point of this certification is not to just get rid of all of the lights," the park superintendent says. "We just don’t want them pointing up so we can’t see the sky. Or pointing in our eyes so we can’t see at all." The Kansas News Service's Celia Llopis-Jepsen explains.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Luke X. Martin. It is produced by Byron Love, Carter Galloway and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

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As culture editor, I help you embrace what makes Kansas City fun and vibrant, whether it’s a championship sports franchise or a little-known wonder. I work with reporters to ensure KCUR stories on art, culture, and race fully reflect our diverse home so readers and listeners can take full advantage of what the metro has to offer. Email me at luke@kcur.org.
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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