Zach Perez
Community Engagement ProducerAs KCUR’s Community Engagement Producer, I help welcome our audiences into the newsroom, and bring our journalism out into the communities we serve. Many people feel overlooked or misperceived by the media, and KCUR needs to do everything we can to cover and empower the diverse communities that make up the Kansas City metro — especially the ones who don’t know us in the first place. My work takes the form of reporting stories, holding community events, and bringing what I’ve learned back to Up To Date and the rest of KCUR.
What should KCUR be talking about? Who should we be talking to? Let me know. You can email me at zjperez@kcur.org or message me on Twitter at zach_pepez.
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For many Kansas City Muslims, Ramadan represents a time to reflect on the things they are thankful for through prayer and fasting. It also brings communal fast-breaking banquets and prayer sessions. Community members are able to reconnect and reinforce one another’s faith, especially where many around them do not share it. -
Missouri's municipal election day is April 4, 2023, less than a month away. Thousands of residents will vote in general and primary elections to choose who represents them in their city governments. Here's a list of opportunities to meet some of the candidates running in these races.
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Qasim Rahimi came to Kansas City in June 2021 after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. Rahimi is a member of the Hazara, an ethnic minority group that has faced decades of violent persecution at the hands of the Taliban, and now he’s working to warn the world about the genocide being carried out against his people.
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For almost 30 years, TableTop Game and Hobby and its sister shop Cardbord Corner Café have created a second home to a growing community of tabletop and RPG enthusiasts. For some, it's even the reason why they moved to Kansas City in the first place. "This is our tavern table," one regular says.
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Photographer Jeremiah Ariaz embarked on a journey across Kansas, capturing the newspaper offices that serve rural communities, and speaking to what their shrinking staffs mean for democracy in America.
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Mayor Michael Boehm will retire after serving five terms as Lenexa's mayor — the longest serving mayor in the city's history. Since he took office, the city's population has grown by nearly 20,000 residents and the downtown has been reimagined.
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A study conducted by the Stowers Institute for Medical Research examined the genetic adaptations in Mexican river fish that were trapped underground over 160,000 years ago. The changes in the fishes’ muscle metabolism could help shed light on the long-term effects of physical inactivity in humans.
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The KC Pioneers and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City began a partnership to help connect kids in Kansas City with career opportunities in the world of esports. The groups also collaborated to build an esports lounge in northeast Kansas City, Kansas, and hold multiple youth esports tournaments.
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Leaders from 13 different religious organizations have joined a lawsuit filed by the National Women's Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State challenging Missouri’s abortion laws. Two leaders from Kansas City say the trigger ban and other restrictions violate their congregations' religious freedom.
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Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed several key government buildings in Brazil’s capital city on January 8. Members of Kansas City’s Brazilian community now worry about how their home country will deal with deepening political divides.
