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Up To Date

Seg. 1: How To Provide Affordable Housing In Kansas City. Seg. 2: The College Football Playoffs.

Big Stock
Refurbishing some of the 18,000 vacant units in Kansas City, Missouri, could help make affordable housing in the city a little easier to find.

Segment 1: For middle-class or poverty-level residents, finding quality housing in Kansas City, Missouri, can be a challenge.

Increasing demand combined with diminished funding has brought the issue of affordable housing in Kansas City, Missouri, to the fore. Because of 18,000 off-market, vacant units that are neither for sale nor for rent, there is a surplus of housing, and repairing or repurposing existing housing could provide homes for folks looking to live in the city. As Councilman Quinton Lucas noted, "if we don't have families that can live here, we're going to be holding the city back long term."

Segment 2, beginning at 27:42: A former member says the beauty of the College Football Playoff selection committee "is the diversity of perspective" it provides.

The method for selecting the NCAA football champion changed in 2014 to a four-team playoff system, with a 13-member selection committee choosing which schools qualify. One former member shared the importances of having sportswriters, former coaches, administrators — even former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice — as part of the process.

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As senior producer of Up To Date, I want our listeners to hear familiar and new voices that shine light on the issues and challenges facing the myriad communities KCUR serves, and to expose our audiences to the wonderful and the creative in the Kansas City area. Just as important to me is an obligation to mentor the next generation of producers to ensure that the important conversations continue. Reach me at alexanderdk@kcur.org.