Since TAASU put out a list of demands on Instagram in June 2020, the university has worked with students to make changes.
Black students at UMKC called for change. The university is listening
Posted inEducation
Few Wichita students walk to school. Here’s why they should.
It’s not every day that fifth graders Terrance Brobst and Jackson Fasig get to walk to school together, but the days they do are some of their favorites. It’s one of the things they missed most when they were stuck at home during the pandemic’s remote learning stages. “We get to walk, talk with our […]
Posted inHealth
Truman Med announced a vaccine mandate for its 5,000 employees, and 39 resigned. Now other area employers are split.
Three primary factors caused University Health to require vaccinations two months before President Joe Biden made the decision universal, University Health President Charlie Shields said. Those factors: to protect its workforce and keep the hospitals staffed; to reassure patients that they would not catch the virus from an employee; and to send a message to the community that vaccination is the best way to end the pandemic.
Posted inLocal Government
KCPD pulled resources from Sly James’ anti-violence plan. Four years later, KC NoVA won’t quit
If you’re on parole in Jackson County, you might run into Heidi Jones. She isn’t there to make sure you’re following the terms of your release — she wants to help you make the most of your life post incarceration. Jones is a client advocate in Kansas City. The role is simultaneously very specific and […]
Posted inLocal Government
Shutdown averted — for now. But KC federal workers are still vulnerable to political whims
Signals from Washington that a threatened federal shutdown will be averted, for now, came as good news after partisan disagreements threatened to send an already fragile economy into a tailspin. In the Kansas City metro area, where more than 28,000 federal employees live and work, a shutdown would’ve meant thousands of furloughs and missed paychecks. […]
Posted inEducation
Students with disabilities need extra support. Some schools call the police instead
In many districts around the Kansas City metro area — and throughout the nation — students with disabilities are more likely to be referred to law enforcement by their schools, according to a recent analysis of federal education data by the Center for Public Integrity.
Posted inEconomics, Housing
‘They need to make changes now’: Local housing advocates demand improvements to KC’s rental assistance program
The demands include improving the emergency rental assistance application, preventing landlords from evicting a tenant who has applied for assistance and using rental assistance to pay off an eviction judgement.
Posted inWatchdog
Hurdles too high for some Kansans seeking emergency rental assistance
Sheila Sager doesn’t know if she should pack her bags. Her twins caught COVID. The electric company was threatening to shut off the lights. Her landlord was preparing to sell the house she rented, irritated with her pleas to get his cooperation on rental assistance paperwork. Sager was unemployed and behind on her bills — […]
Posted inEducation
Burned out: UMKC student says advocacy for sexual assault survivors didn’t lead to change
Boschen has felt unsupported as a survivor navigating life at college, and her frustrations continue. She says she’s burned out.
Posted inLocal Government
How a statewide anti-masking group played into Sedgwick County’s mask mandate vote
a Wichita Beacon analysis of over 1,000 emails county commissioners received ahead of the vote on the mask mandate found that anti-mask emails outweighed pro-mask emails by nearly two to one.