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Central Standard

Seg. 1: Sweep Of Homeless Camps. Seg. 2: Opening New Bookstores.

Segment 1: A ride-along with the police through homeless camps touched a nerve on social media.

Around the end of April, police officers and social service workers went searching for homeless camps in Kansas City's Northeast neighborhood. This "sweep out" of the camps elicited strong conflicting feelings. A journalist who went on a ride-along with the police on that day shares his perspective.

Segment 2, beginning at 18:02: Is it a good time to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore?

In a time when Barnes & Noble is struggling to compete with Amazon, business is actually getting better for independent brick-and-mortar bookshops. In fact, this summer, two are opening in KC, and one will open in Columbia, Missouri. But how they serve the community may be changing (hint: more booze may be involved).

People don't make cameos in news stories; the human story is the story, with characters affected by news events, not defined by them. As a columnist and podcaster, I want to acknowledge what it feels like to live through this time in Kansas City, one vantage point at a time. Together, these weekly vignettes form a collage of daily life in Kansas City as it changes in some ways, and stubbornly resists change in others. You can follow me on Twitter @GinaKCUR or email me at gina@kcur.org.
Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.