Thanksgiving

Every year just before the holidays, Scouting America troops across the country collect food items for local pantries, right off our front porches. It’s an effort started 40 years ago from here in Missouri.

The Country Club Plaza holiday lighting ceremony is a beloved Thanksgiving tradition in Kansas City. But even many lifelong residents don’t know that the lights actually turn on a day earlier, in a 2 a.m. test run that draws its own small crowd of onlookers.

The Kansas City Aviation Department expects nearly 400,000 people through the airport during Thanksgiving week, meaning an increased chance of local infections. One local group is helping travelers take proper precautions.

Scouting for Food became a national Scouting America program in 1988, expanding across the country as thousands of scouts collectively gathered hundreds of thousands of pounds of shelf-stable goods for food insecure residents in their local communities.

On Thanksgiving, families will have plenty to debate: politics, football...and pie? Americans also have strong opinions on whether to enjoy pumpkin or sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving. Plus: Holiday get-togethers are on the way, and if you’re looking for fun things to do, you might consider a new card or board game.

People flying out of Kansas City International Airport don’t need to worry about any lingering effects of the government shutdown. An airport spokesperson said flights are back on track and they’re expecting fewer travelers this year.

More home cooking fires occur in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day than any other day during the year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Are you serving pumpkin or sweet potato pie this Thanksgiving? There's a lot of history and cultural ties that influence why Americans may prefer one or the other.

Joey Thomas has been sponsoring a turkey giveaway for almost 20 years. But he says this year feels different. Low-income families and businesses are all struggling with higher prices, a long federal shutdown and smaller, delayed SNAP benefits.

Gwen Ottenberg, owner of Imagine That Toys in Wichita, has been selling games for more than 25 years and playing them even longer.

Turkey prices tend to rise closer to holidays such as Thanksgiving. But tariffs and bird flu could dramatically drive up the cost of turkeys this year.

It’s been a tradition to eat turkey for Thanksgiving since the 1800s. But one economic report suggests the custom has lost footing in recent years.