kansascityopinion

KC: More Blueblood Than Redneck

NBA Player Comes Out

NBA center Jason Collins just became the first openly gay athlete in a major North American sport. If you need a reason why that matters, consider that there are millions of young people across the country and around the world who are confused about their sexuality

In Kansas, Anything Is Now Possible

This week Governor Brownback of Kansas signed a bill directing the KU Medical Center to establish a Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center. Though it doesn’t provide any funding, the bill mandates that the university establish a center to research adult stem cells, as an alternative to embryonic stem cells

Vaccinations help protect all children

As parents, we strive to provide a happy and healthy life for our children. Today we are able to do even more for our kids by protecting infants and children from 14 serious diseases through vaccination

Crowdfunding Abounds in KC

Crowdfunding is exploding in popularity. According to an industry report, online fundraising through websites including Kickstarter and Indiegogo more than doubled last year, with $1.6 billion raised in North America alone

Expanding Medicaid is the right thing to do for all Missourians

Rarely are state legislatures handed an opportunity to materially impact the lives of their most marginalized citizens in a good way. Missouri is presented with such an unparalleled opportunity right now

Colleges can go too far with branding for cash

Change planned for KCI hits speed bump

Kansas City area residents don't like the changes proposed for Kansas City International Airport. Petitions filed Sunday with the city clerk's office signal a formal challenge to turn the 1972 airport into a one-terminal facility

Don't like the media, buy your own -- if you are rich

The Koch brothers apparently plan to follow Rupert Murdoch's pattern of buying and controlling the message that the media put out. Charles and David Koch, billionaires based in Wichita, are exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Co.'s eight newspapers, The New York Times reports

Economic disparity still hampers black success

Gwendolyn Grant dismisses any notion that we've entered a post-racial period since the nation elected and re-elected its first African American president. In the last 50 years, black men and women have gained freedoms and risen to civic and business heights that were once unimaginable

Shame on unpatriotic gun bills of Missouri, Kansas lawmakers

The Boston Marathon bombings last week brought out a cooperative spirit among federal, state and local law enforcement authorities to help solve a case of international significance. Meanwhile, Kansas and Missouri lawmakers last week took shameful actions that made them look unpatriotic, virtually spitting in the face of the U.S

Disturbing superbugs prevalent

Meat consumers should be alarmed. More than half of the samples of ground beef, ground turkey and pork chops picked up from supermarkets for testing in 2011 by the federal government contained salmonella, E

Seat belt law change great for Kansas City

For safety's sake, buckling up should be the rule for everyone in vehicles in Kansas City. Thanks to the City Council's action this week, it's now the law

Why Senators Roberts, Moran and Blunt aren't listening to you

After hopes of even winning a rational debate in the U.S. Senate on gun safety fell apart on Thursday, a woman leaving the gallery said of the senators, “Who do they think they represent?” Good question

Gun lobby too big to fail

Forum to Launch at Middle of the Map

For the second year, Ink's Middle of the Map festival is offering more than music. Tonight the Forum begins

The U.S. Senate's cowardice on gun safety

The U.S. Senate’s handling of a gun safety package was cowardly and contemptible

Interest in Hale Cook school bodes well for KC district

Guns must stay out of kids' hands

It's easy to say that kids shouldn't play with guns. But a lot of people apparently aren't getting that memo

Roadwork creates misery for Kansas City commuters

People traveling northbound on Interstate 35 from Johnson County into downtown Kansas City faced miserable stop-and-go traffic this morning. Road crews were out making repairs after an unexpected failure of an expansion joint on Tuesday

We won't cower in fear after Boston

I ran the Boston Marathon on Monday and I expected to experience pain. I did, but it wasn’t the kind I’d expected

Kansas school standards should do more to include people of colors' contributions to history

The Rev. Ben Scott is right to be concerned over changes in Kansas school standards not doing enough to include the contributions of people of color to this country's history

Plaza, KC Zoo, Power & Light will survive recent troubles

In less than 24 hours earlier this month violent incidents brought negative attention to three Kansas City institutions. Despite the many naysayers out there, here’s what the problems didn’t do: Badly damage the futures of the Country Club Plaza, the Kansas City Zoo and the Power & Light District

Let's quit rewarding hospitals for mistakes

As polarized as we are over health care and how to pay for it, I’m pretty sure we can agree that hospitals should not be rewarded financially for bungling surgeries. But it happens, according to a study published Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association