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Ding ding! Make way for the streetcar

The traffic cones have all but left Main Street as the Streetcar Extension opens after more than three years of construction, but now drivers will face a new obstacle: transit-only lanes. Plus: Raising giant pumpkins is a labor of love for some Midwest growers, and the pumpkins keep getting bigger and bigger.

The KC Streetcar’s Main Street Extension opens today and will take riders all the way from the River Market to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. KCUR’s Savannah Hawley-Bates reports on the new rules for drivers along that route.

It's peak pumpkin season. With pumpkin spice lattes now as much a tradition of the season as pumpkin pies, our love affair with this orange gourd is bigger than ever. But did you know there is a thriving community of Midwestern growers harvesting pumpkins bigger and heavier than you can imagine? Harvest Public Media contributor Peter Medlin reports on what it takes to raise giant gourds and why these growers do it.

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 Byron Love, Jacob Smollen, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Madeline Fox.

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

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.
Jacob Smollen is the 2025-2026 intern for KCUR Studios. Email him at jsmollen@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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