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A data center in the Crossroads is one of the first in the country to get a loan for clean energy. Plus: Scientists across the central U.S. say they have experienced a year of change and uncertainty under the second Trump administration. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Ja...

A huge tree is being cut down in Kansas City's Historic Northeast. The burr oak predates even the Revolutionary War and survived as the city sprang up around it. But after a lightning strike and years of disease, this Liberty Tree has reached its end. Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox, Gabe Rosenberg and Emi...

The Chiefs are building a new headquarters in Olathe, in addition to their stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. A big Kansas City company is jumping state lines. Add elections on top of all that, and you have the recipe for a dramatic year in Johnson County. Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Kyle Palmer, editor of the Johnson County Post, about what he's watching for in 2026. Contact the show at news@kcur.org...

The Chiefs are building a new headquarters in Olathe, in addition to their stadium in Kansas City, Kansas. A big Kansas City company is jumping state lines. Add elections on top of all that, and you have the recipe for a dramatic year in Johnson County.x Nomin Ujiyediin spoke with Kyle Palmer, editor of the Johnson County Post, about what he's watching for in 2026. Contact the show at news@kcur.or...

Advocates in Missouri head to court today to argue that the state is unconstitutionally blocking access to abortion care — more than a year after voters chose to overturn the statewide ban. This is all happening as another statewide vote on abortion looms later this year. In 2024, Missouri voters overturned the state’s near total abortion ban. The vote protected access to reproductive health care...

What's next for the Kansas City Chiefs after the team’s worst season since 2012? We’ll hear what could be in store for Mahomes, Kelce, and more in this excerpt from SportsBeat KC, a Kansas City sports podcast from The Star and KCUR Studios. The Kansas City Star's Chiefs beat writer Pete Sweeney talks about the big off-season questions with SportsBeat KC host Blair Kerkhoff. Subscribe to SportsBeat...

Missouri lawmakers arrived this week in Jefferson City for the start of the 2026 legislative session, which runs until mid-May. Gov. Mike Kehoe is pushing to eliminate the state income tax, but a smaller budget will likely force spending cuts. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced...

The state of Kansas is luring the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line with funding from STAR Bonds, a unique kind of tax incentive. The team plans to build a $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County and a practice facility worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Olathe. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by...

A new exhibit at the Nerman Museum in Overland Park packs a punch with ceramic lipsticks, guns, and colorful pastel flowers. Over her five-decade career, Kansas City clay artist Linda Lighton created sculptures that speak to some of the thorniest issues of our time. KCUR's Julie Denesha looks into the retrospective "Linda Lighton: Love & War," which runs through May 3, 2026. Contact the show a...

Missouri lawmakers have passed historically expensive budgets in recent years, but next year will likely be different, according to Missouri state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Democrat from Kansas City. The state's revenue has flatlined when adjusted for inflation, and a surplus of federal money is no more. Nurrenbern said that math means Missouri won't be able to fund all the services it has in prio...

Native freshwater mussels do important work filtering the water in Midwest rivers. These animals are in trouble, but Kansas has a plan to help them. Plus: We'll hear from farmers around the central U.S. about what made this such a tough year, and what may come in 2026. Native fish and mussels are signs that a river is healthy. But some of them are vanishing from Midwest waterways. Now Kansas has a...

The Kansas City Chiefs' planned move across the state line marked an unusually bipartisan success for Kansas elected leaders. In most other ways, state politics in 2025 were marked by Republican wins and Democratic frustrations. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Frank Morris. This episode was produced by Jac...

The year 2025 marked the start of a new governor's term in Missouri, and the deepening of Republican control of the General Assembly. As the year ended, the blame and sorrow over the state losing the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Frank Morris. This episode was prod...

As 2025 nears its end, we’re catching up on the biggest stories we reported this year. KCUR's Nomin Ujiyediin kept up with federal workers as they weathered mass layoffs and the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. She spoke with KCUR’s Brian Ellison about how that impacted their jobs and mental health. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest...

A Kansas City cookbook author gives us a glimpse of her warm kitchen this winter season. Plus, while many people go online or to the mall to shop for presents, some rural towns go all out to try and attract holiday shoppers. New York Times bestselling cookbook author Erin Jeanne McDowell has been baking tasty treats for holiday tables since she was a teenager. KCUR’s Julie Denesha reports on what...

A major tax incentives package approved Monday by Kansas lawmakers will help the Kansas City Chiefs move from Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri and build a new $3 billion domed stadium in Wyandotte County, Kansas. Dylan Lysen and Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service talk about what this move will mean for both states . Classical KC contributor Andrea Hoag remembers being toted from one wintertime per...

Kansas will end all access to hormone treatments and other gender-affirming care for transgender minors in January. To keep getting care for their children, some families are opting to leave the state entirely. On Jan. 1, 2026, young people in Kansas will be completely banned from receiving gender affirming medical treatments. As Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service reports, transgender people an...

From 2013-2023, Black student enrollment declined almost 34% at the University of Missouri — and Black students there have much to say about why.  Overall enrollment at Mizzou fell just about 10% from 2013-2023, according to data collected from the National Center for Education Statistics. For both current and former Black and African-American students who describe a history and culture of racism,...

THURSDAY 12/18/2025: Meet the women pinball players at the 403 Club in Strawberry Hill

Next year, Kansas City’s only drinking water treatment plant will celebrate its 100th birthday. It’s a milestone worth applauding, for sure, but it’s also a reminder that the city has only one place where it makes clean water. KCUR's Noah Taborda explains why that's a vulnerability and what the city plan to do about it. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for t...

In Missouri and Kansas, the Secretary of State is the top election official, a partisan position chosen by voters. But to the frustration of some, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has used his authority to push certain Republican priorities, especially when it comes to ballot issues on redistricting and abortion. To find out how unusual this is, and how it fits into broader trends across...

This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyed...

Residents of an apartment complex in Gardner, Kansas, were kicked out of their homes earlier this year when the city condemned the property for unsafe living conditions, but one change in a law could help. Plus: A Missouri researcher says "radical empathy" can help combat today's conspiracy theories, which may help when you go home for the holidays. When the city of Gardner in eastern Kansas order...

For the past four years, a federal program has given Missouri farmers and hungry families a boost by putting locally grown, fresh food on their tables. But the recently canceled Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement won't provide that help this year. Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ell...

California startup Deep Fission says it plans to install a nuclear reactor underground at an industrial park in southeast Kansas. Plus, a look at how Lamar Hunt helped U.S. soccer go pro as the United States prepares for the 2026 World Cup. Parsons, Kansas, will be the site of a California startup’s first ever 1-mile-deep nuclear reactor — with support from county commissioners, both Republican Ka...