A majority of comments focused on increased funding for housing services, with specific demands to fund the Office of Tenant Advocate, a city agency borne out of the Tenant Bill of Rights that was passed by the City Council in December 2019.
Celisa
Posted inEconomics
For older adults in Kansas City, getting the COVID-19 vaccine comes with digital obstacles
In the middle of a pandemic that has been deadlier for older adults, and without assistance from loved ones or a social services organization, conducting the vaccination sign-up online is a process that could shut out the very people who need the vaccine the most, experts say.
Posted inCivic Engagement
How a local coalition is trying to improve internet access in Kansas City
The coalition operates with the vision that every resident in the Kansas City area should have access to an internet connection, devices to use the internet and the digital skills to take advantage of all the internet has to offer.
Posted inEconomics
For Kansas City, a Chiefs Super Bowl win is good for business
To win another Super Bowl title this year — the third in franchise history and the seventh major league sports championship to be won by a Kansas City team in the last 10 years — would not only energize the city’s already passionate fan base, but the economy as well.
Posted inEconomics
How Missouri is using COVID-19 funds to tackle internet access
The funding, announced last July, was divided among an emergency broadband investment program, primary and higher education institutions, telehealth programs, and Missouri libraries.
Posted inEconomics
How Kansas directed COVID funds to expand broadband across the state
About 6% of the Kansas population lacks any wired broadband services at home, and internet access is particularly a problem in rural parts of the state. On the national level, about 14.5 million people living in rural parts of the U.S. lack access to broadband.
Posted inEconomics
Kansas City fast-food workers demand a $15 minimum wage and union
As the coronavirus pandemic upends millions of lives across the U.S. and forces many to work from home, fast-food workers have been in the vulnerable position of continuing to work and risk potential exposure to the virus.
Posted inEconomics
Old computer system causes headaches for unemployed Kansans
Since the pandemic began causing unemployment to spike last year, the Kansas Department of Labor’s decades-old unemployment system has struggled to keep up with the thousands of claims filed on a weekly basis, causing case backlogs, site glitches and delays in sending Kansans their unemployment payments.
Posted inEconomics
Pandemic unemployment assistance is ending, leaving millions without help
Millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in the last nine months have relied on pandemic unemployment programs. But those unemployment programs are now expiring.
Posted inEconomics
Struggling to survive in a pandemic, Kansas City’s restaurants are closing down
Faced with a pandemic that has lasted for most of 2020, dozens of independent restaurants in Kansas City have closed their doors.