Trevor Grandin

Two years ago, the Missouri Department of Conservation allowed bear hunting for the first time, following decades of work to rebuild the state’s population.

A piano phenom from Overland Park is making waves in the world's most prestigious competitions, and he's still in middle school. Plus: The Kansas City Ballet is getting into the spooky mood with the North American premiere of "Jekyll and Hyde," bringing the 1886 gothic horror classic to life through dance.

Prairie landscape used to occupy broad swaths of Kansas, but only a fraction of the original ecosystems remain. A central Kansas photographer hopes his new exhibition will sound the alarm for this ecological emergency. Plus: The Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra celebrates 20 years of fostering cross-cultural appreciation.

Rural communities across Kansas and Missouri are trying their hand at revitalization. In the face of population decline, many towns are putting effort into beautification — updating bike trails, investing in local business and Main Streets, and renewing interests in local history — in the hopes of attracting visitors and new residents.

A GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, was one of the first units of United Auto Workers to go on strike. After the layoffs of 2,000 workers at the Fairfax GM plant in Kansas City, Kansas, the union is only escalating its efforts.

Many pension-holding public employees in Kansas haven't seen cost-of-living adjustments in decades. Without lawmakers' support, years of higher inflation mean many retirees are seeing the value of their payments vanish. Plus: Climate change is making farming riskier and crop insurance more expensive.

A year after the creation of 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline will now be accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Those who speak American Sign Language will soon have life saving intervention a phone call away.

When silent films ruled the silver screen, pipe organs were used to enhance the drama of an otherwise quite medium. Now a Lee's Summit musician is bringing back that tradition. Plus: There's more federal dollars behind the push to get locally grown food into school cafeterias.

Over the course of a three-and-a-half year period, Kansas police have taken more than $25 million in property and cash believed to be part of a crime — even if the victims are never charged. But critics say that civil asset forfeiture is being used unnecessarily and without proper oversight.

Missouri joined a handful of states labeling emergency dispatchers as "first responders." Along with the new label comes advanced access to mental health resources and the formal naming of PTSD as an occupational hazard for the profession.