Creativity rises against the COVID storm as schools scramble to re-open

Ideas on reopening schools during COVID are churning at warp speed. Here’s one example, in the name of safe-spacing: How about overflow class space and after-school programs in church basements?

Pandemic concern: Enrollments in WIC supplemental nutrition program decline

Does your family qualify for nutritional help through WIC. Enrollments for the program for women, infants and children are down in Missouri during the pandemic and that has state officials concerned.

All eyes on North Kansas City Schools; early openings put COVID-19 to the test

So far, so good. The North Kansas City School District is stepping out as an early tester of the pandemic-precautions that other schools across the area hope to engage in getting back into classrooms for 2020-2021.

Got ideas for KC's universal digital inclusion plan? Here's how to share.

The next step in Kansas City’s “audacious” mission to get every household digitally connected involves you. That is, if you have thoughts and ideas on how the city can pull off the big plan.

Households with children suffer higher rates of late housing payments, food shortages during pandemic

Households with children continue to be hit harder by the financial pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey released last week.

LINC takes voter registration to the streets

“Every time they tell you, ‘I don’t have anyone to vote for’ — that’s an excuse,. Every time they tell you, ‘I don’t believe in voting’ — that’s an excuse. We are no longer accepting excuses.”

LINC's COVID-19 news features

Ending racial food injustice: Six action items from KC Healthy Kids

Food security — where all families enjoy safe, culturally acceptable, nutritional meals in their communities — cannot be realized, says the non-profit organization KC Healthy Kids, “without addressing racial injustice.”

No progress: Critical Census count in KC needs a boost

If this is the classic game of spotting the differences between two pictures, Kansas City needs to make it much easier in the days ahead to see real progress in the response rate to the 2020 Census.

Remember the new tax deadline? Here's how to file for free by July 15

A lot of obligations took a break when the coronavirus hit — including filing your 2019 income tax return. But the new July 15 filing deadline is fast-approaching. Here’s how to file online for free.

Feeding the thousands: Kansas City's pandemic generosity expressed

Perhaps the most prolific — and necessary — expression of generosity across Kansas City has been the large scale distribution of food, scattered into thousands of homes as everyone leans on each other through COVID-19’s pandemic.

'You are professionals'; LINC trains child care specialists in power of relationships

LINC and the Infant and Toddler Specialist Network, despite the pandemic, is training child care workers to be stronger allies in helping families raise healthy, imaginative children who are ready for school and childhood.

Know your child's reading level? Quiz helps parents, children beat pandemic learning slide

It’s time for a reading check-up. It hasn’t been easy taking school work home and figuring out how to keep the learning going digitally. The danger of summer learning loss is greater than ever. Now there is an easy quiz, and ideas on how to catch up.

Missouri ranks 30th in KIDS COUNT 2020 Data Book; pandemic recovery will be key

The 2020 edition of the KIDS COUNT Data Book is here — an annually published resource from the Annie E. Casey Foundation that tracks child well-being nationally and state by state. In this year’s report, Missouri ranks 30th among U.S. states.

Invitation for Public Comment Victims of Crime Act Grant

Census 2020: KC's vulnerable communities in the eye of an under-count storm

“We’re in a desert.” Sand-colored shades in the middle of the latest map of Kansas City participation in the Census show tracts that remain below 50% — and even less than 30% in some — in the number of households that have filled out the 2020 count — putting millions of federal dollars at risk.

The audacious goal: Get all of KC digitally connected, 'whatever it takes'

Remember the heady days of Google Fiber’s big Kansas City launch some eight years ago? A resolution now before the City Council wants Kansas City to dream big again. The pandemic has exposed the city’s digital gaps and the need to get everyone connected.

Marvin Francois leaves behind a recipe for healing

Whether in the role of husband, father, mentor, volunteer, or photographer, Marvin Francois was always there. The one face you knew you’d see. The rock in so many people’s lives. Lost to senseless violence. But a messenger of peace.

Come and get it; Fresh produce free and plentiful for pandemic aid in KC

The word’s got to get out. The USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program supplies KC non-profits the chance to give away free 25-pound boxes of produce — and The Prospect, Kanbe’s Market and the Urban League want to deliver more into KC’s food deserts.

Unanimous: Hickman Mills school board picks Obeng to be superintendent

The Hickman Mills school board has selected Yaw Obeng to be the south Kansas City school district’s next superintendent in a unanimous decision. Obeng currently serves as superintendent in the Burlington School District in Burlington, VT