AltWeeklies Wire
Conservative States Push Abstinence Education, to Questionable Resultsnew
What happens when the behavior doesn't match the lesson plan? A professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is co-writing a book that attempts to come up with an answer.
Commission on Wartime Contracting Tries -- Finally -- to Summon Truman's Spiritnew
Earlier this week in Washington was the first public hearing of a new bureaucratic body called the Commission on Wartime Contracting -- the lovechild of Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.
At Fort Leavenworth, Officers Are Marching on the Blogospherenew
Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, who oversees the Army's Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, decided last year to make media savvy a requirement for graduation. Each war-college student must complete a course of "strategic communication" in order to graduate.
Kansas City Government Has Trouble Breaking Bad Habitsnew
In Kansas City, council members and department heads meet on Tuesday mornings to strategize over coffee and doughnuts. The goal: Maximize the city's share of federally borrowed wealth.
Are We Really Ready for Life Without American Cars?new
Here's the thing about the American public: we never learn. We squeezed into the backseats of our moms' Pintos in the 1970s, then grew up to fill vast suburban parking lots with Expeditions and Yukons and Escalades. Then we freak out when gas hits $4 a gallon and blame U.S. automakers.
Home Sweet Parking Lotnew
When a workingman doesn't have a home in Johnson County, a Wal-Mart parking lot is the next best thing.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
09-09-2008 |
Housing & Development
Deutsche Bank Lets Kansas City Rotnew
Deutsche Bank is the largest owner of foreclosed properties in Greater Kansas City. In Jackson County, the bank holds titles to 350 foreclosures. Some of their properties are sickly enough to depress an entire block.
The Pitch |
David Martin |
08-26-2008 |
Housing & Development
A Not-Independent Analyst Might Have Skewed Media Coverage of Sprintnew
In June, when Sprint introduced the Instinct, its rival to the iPhone, industry analyst Jeff Kagan gave the launch a good review. The glowing review shouldn't have been much of a surprise -- that's what Sprint has paid him to do.
New Life Ministries' Pastor Troy Campbell Follows the Example of Jesusnew
Unlike some of the more visible evangelical houses of worship in Kansas City, New Life seems serious about closing the gap between the church described in the New Testament and what's happening in the suburbs today.
Did the Kansas City Fire Department Hide the Positive Drug Test of One of Its Own?new
Anthony Mots was driving the firetruck that killed Aaron Becerra. Afterward, Mots' brothers in the department rallied to defend him.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
07-16-2008 |
Crime & Justice
How a Throwaway Idea at the Barkley Ad Agency Became the 'Sonic Guys'new
The campaign was supposed to last just four months, from September 2003 to the beginning of a new campaign in January 2004. Five years later, the campaign is still going and has become a pop-culture phenomenon. The commercials have given the quirky drive-in an identity and made Sonic as recognizable as McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's.
On HIV, Some Black Ministers Are Admitting that Silence Equals Deathnew
The Good Samaritan Project Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS in Kansas City hopes to fight infections in a city where the HIV infection rate rivals Africa's.
In Kansas City, Tax Breaks Don't Cure Blight -- They Create Sprawlnew
TIF is a tool that cities can use to spur development in distressed areas. But in Kansas City, TIF is often used to make sprawl.
The Pitch |
David Martin |
05-21-2008 |
Housing & Development
Hallmark Cares Enough to Send the Very Best ... Jobs to Chinanew
How did Kansas City's card maker bank $4.4 billion in revenue last year? Partly by sending hometown jobs to China.
The Pitch |
Eric Barton |
05-21-2008 |
Business & Labor
The Shawnee Mission East Class of '08 Loves its Gay Homecoming Kingnew
Matthew Pope is an openly gay co-captain of the cheerleading squad at a school that's often stereotyped as conservative and snobby.
