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Kansas City Today
Every Weekday

Kansas City Today is a daily news podcast from KCUR Studios bringing you all things Kansas City, wrapped up in 15 minutes or less. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, it’ll be waiting in your feed every weekday. Hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin.

  • Activists, unions and neighborhood groups have been calling on the Kansas City Royals to sign a community benefits agreement for their proposed downtown stadium for months. And they have a good blueprint of what that could look like. The NBA's Bucks made similar promises to their Milwaukee hometown before constructing a new basketball arena, and University of Wisconsin economist Laura Dresser says it shows a path to "demand real results from a public investment in a private interest."
  • In Kansas City's increasingly tight housing market, large investors continue to buy up homes in the area and convert them into rental properties. It forces prospective local homebuyers to compete against out-of-state corporations.
  • For 75 years, spectators have gathered in Liberal, Kansas, to watch racers run a quarter mile with a single pancake. How unorthodox traditions like the pancake race bring tangible benefits to small towns. Plus: Why comedian Mia Mercado wants KC to reconsider being "Midwestern nice."
  • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is again pushing lawmakers to expand the health care program Medicaid, which is widely supported by Kansans. But Republican leaders remain staunchly opposed. Plus: Female veterinarians still face skepticism and discrimination in rural areas, where there’s a shortage of animal specialists.
  • The founders of SK8 Shot Studios are taking Kansas City roller-skating rinks by storm. Their plan is to revive the once thriving scene and grow it into a global destination for Black skate culture — one class and skate party at a time.
  • Missouri is one of just four states where people aren’t allowed to get a divorce while they're pregnant. Advocates worry the law prevents people in domestic violence situations from being able to leave. State Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City, wants to change that.
  • The Royals are pushing forward with a new stadium, but labor groups are still waiting for a contract for affordable housing and livable wages. The Crossroads, where more than a dozen businesses would get demolished, wants promises of its own. If the team doesn't reach a deal soon, it may see serious opposition to a critical vote in April.
  • Green Dirt Farm is opening a new restaurant next month that will bring its sheep’s milk cheeses to the Crossroads — in a spot now under threat from the new Royals stadium. Plus: At these Kansas City-area schools, students run the restaurants while you dine.
  • Missouri GOP leaders say they aren’t worried that potential disunity during the 2024 primary races will hurt their general election chances in November. Plus: Two companies in Kansas are trying to build the state’s first underground carbon dioxide storage sites.
  • Abortion is still legal in Kansas, with restrictions — but abortion opponents want Kansas lawmakers to enact laws to support anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers and put parents on the hook for child support starting at conception. We'll break down those and other reproductive policies working their way through the legislature this session.