Podcasts about lenexa

I get personal in this episode, in order to ask questions about the nature of what is called the “housing crisis.” Are we all just doom-pilling way too much?As a case study, I talk through the life and history of my parents, and discuss whether or not their life and lifestyle is still available today. I discuss house sizes, mortgage rates, lifestyle choices, lifestyle inflation, and more.Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin's Substack page.Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you'd like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.Intro: “Why Be Friends”Outro: “Fairweather Friend”AI TranscriptIntroductionWelcome back to The Messy City Podcast. This is Kevin Klinkenberg. I'm going to do something a little different today and just talk without a guest about the topic of housing in particular and how it ties into a few other kind of hobby courses of mine. Why Challenge the Housing NarrativeReally what I want to spend some time doing is taking a contrarian view of how we talk about the so-called housing crisis. And in one sense, this is kind of fun for me to do. One of the things I really loved about my father is when we would have our discussions or debates in the family about various things that were going on, he would often take an opposite view of Almost just for the sport of it. And the truth is, there are a lot of times he was so good at it, you didn't really know if he felt that way or not. Because he could do really well to argue multiple sides of an argument. And that was really a lot of fun. It was an education for me. It's something I wish more people would just do generally and try to see an issue from multiple perspectives and try to steel man different perspectives or perspectives that are different from your own. And so I've kind of taken to obviously do that if you know me at all.You know I've done that a fair amount in my own life. Not nearly as good as my father was at it, but it has been fun to do occasionally. And I really wanted to apply this to the topic of housing. And there's a couple of reasons for this. And this also ties into a story. I'm going to tell you a little bit of a story about my parents and how they grew up and their trajectory through life, because I think it's actually very relevant to this topic. And whether or not we have a housing crisis at all in America, or if we do, what is the actual nature of of that crisis. And I want to talk about this because I just see so much online and in person conversation that I just feel like there are too many people, especially too many young people that have been kind of doom pilled on life today and life in America generally.And the thing that I want to start out that I really want to propose to everybody and talk about is the life that my parents had And their trajectory through life is still available today. It is absolutely and unequivocally still available to anyone who wants to choose the life that they lived. And in my opinion, obviously, I knew them really well. In my opinion, they had a tremendous life. They had a great life. They've both passed on in recent years. And so I have to talk in the past tense. But by any measure that matters, they had a great life. They lived well into their 80s. They had four kids. We actually all like each other. So it's not just like a, you know, there are some families where you can say, well, I love my family. But as my brother used to say, or after my dad passed, he would say, you know, that... We didn't just love our parents, we really liked our parents.And I think if you're fortunate to be in a family like that, you know a little bit of what I'm talking about. And the four of us as children all... We get along. We're still all friends with each other and get along. We enjoy being together. We're all very different people with different interests and different worldviews. In some senses, we had pretty different childhoods, interestingly enough, because there's a big age spread in our family. So my parents had four kids that they raised. They had a long, stable marriage. They were able to get consecutively better houses as they aged. And then by the time they hit retirement age, they had saved enough money to be able to do other things that they wanted to do. Along the way, they traveled when they wanted to. They really wanted to get out and see the country, see the world.When we were young, that traveling mostly involved just driving around the United States and going to national parks and big cities and seeing the sights. As they got older and had a little bit more disposable income, they would join tour groups and go or sometimes with family to foreign countries and places they really wanted to visit. And I want to give you some context because my parents were not people that grew up with money at all. And I'm going to share some of this because I think it's important to understand. How they came to be where they were and some of the choices they made and how it might impact choices that young people especially could make today.My Parents' StoryMy mom grew up very poor. She spent a part of her childhood living in a housing project in Syracuse, New York. And she was one of five kids and they, you know, her whole childhood they never had any money for much of anything. And they often lived in not the greatest part of town, in Syracuse, even when they got out of the housing project. And my dad grew up in a small town in Kansas called Baser, which is just outside the Kansas City area. But at the time when he was growing up, it was a dusty little town of like 600 people. And, again, one of five kids. And his dad was an auto mechanic, had his own garage, but also just, you know, like people do in Little Towns, did a little bit of everything. He drove a school bus. We helped out with the mail. We did a lot of different things in the town. But it's not like they ever really had any money.My Uncle George, one of my dad's brothers, used to say that they were all poor, but they didn't know it. And part of that is the nature of living in a small rural community. They had a lot of spare time and freedom to roam. And so they probably were able to, you know, occupy themselves with a lot of things that maybe other kids weren't. My mom's father, my mom's parents had a really difficult marriage. My grandfather, her father basically worked in a deli in Syracuse and he And so he worked in a Jewish deli. He was a very, very personable guy, made a lot of his own, made his own corned beef and bagels and everything. And a lot of the customers liked him, but it's not like he ever really made a lot of money. And he and his wife, my grandmother, had a really difficult time, eventually ended up divorcing.And my parents ended up meeting each other in sort of a star-crossed romance that I don't really have time to tell the entire story. But it ended up that they met when my mom was visiting a friend in Leavenworth, Kansas. And... Not too long after that, a romance ensued and eventually a marriage. My parents were born in 1935 and 36, so they're not boomers. They're sort of, I guess, what you would call as greatest generation. But they were too young to be deeply invested in the Great Depression or World War II. They were little kids, really, when all that was going on. So I guess in a sense what you could say is they had the cultural memory of those things. They grew up understanding what life was like in the Great Depression. They grew up poor. They grew up during the war and they knew all that that was going on and they were very well attuned to it, but they weren't part of it.And I think like a lot of people who grew up in that era, they were really affected, especially by the poverty of what was happening. So one of the things that we used to always say about my mom is she could stretch a nickel like anybody's business. She was frugal her entire life. And that really came from growing up with next to nothing. And then for many years... After they were married and started having kids, they were living off basically one salary, not like a big salary or anything, for a long time. And so my mom really had to stretch everything to make ends meet. I'm going to come back to the housing part of this because I think there's some importance to all this.The Housing LadderMy parents got married in 1957, on Christmas Eve of 1957, and then right after that, flew off to Germany. My dad at the time, 21, 22 years old, he had been working a little bit, but he decided he wanted to enlist in the Army, and they spent two years in the Army. He was basically sent off to Germany. And so obviously, you know, late 50s, a great time to be sent off to Germany. No active fighting or anything going on. And they spent two years there. My oldest sister was born in Germany. And then my next sister, I guess you could say, was conceived in Germany. And... And then born back here in the United States when they came back. So by the time they came back to the United States, it's about 1960, and they've got two little kids. And at that time, shortly after they bought their first house, which was in a not so great part of the Kansas City area. It was in Kansas City, Kansas.It was not a terrible area, but not like the greatest. And they bought a small house. And I've had some trouble finding out the exact details in this house, but I think it was probably a two or three bedroom with one bath. It's since been added on to, so it's hard for me to know exactly. But in this period of time, 1960 or so, that would have been their first house. And, you know, my siblings are just going to really... I want to mock my lack of understanding on some of these details, but I think by the time they left that house, my brother had also been born. So there were three kids there. And I want to trace this trajectory a little bit. There's a story here that I think we don't talk enough about that was very common and kind of understood in my parents' era. Which was the idea of buying a small house. New houses were all generally smaller than they are today.There's no question about that. We've had a lot of growth in the average size of houses. So houses were smaller. But it was also kind of understood that you were going to buy... A small house, you were going to build some equity in that, and then you would eventually buy a bigger house. And as you went through the progression of life, as you could afford more, you would buy more. And I'm not entirely sure how... I see a lot more people who are looking to buy their first house who want it all right away. They want that four-bedroom house at the right price, and they're unhappy that they can't get that. I don't want to overgeneralize, but this was something that was really common, certainly in my parents' era. So my dad, after he came back from the Army, he ended up working for a company called Wilson Foods. Wilson Foods was a meatpacking company.So at the time, one of what they called, I think, the big five meatpacking companies that were in the United States that dominated the field was, Wilson's was headquartered in Oklahoma City, but it had plants all over the Midwest. And so he started out as a clerk in the office in Kansas City. So he was on a management track, not on the factory track, but he started at a very entry level position. And then the way it kind of worked in our family and with that company was Again, this was an era where people tended to be a lot more loyal to a certain company. And there was more the idea that you find a good company to work for and you might spend your whole career there. So whenever he wanted a promotion or had the opportunity for a promotion, we typically had to move. So this story is going to sound a little crazy because we moved a lot.And people often thought that we were like a military family, that we were military brats. And we used to say, no, we're not military, we're meatpacking. And of course, people didn't have any idea what we're talking about, but another just little inside joke we had. So I want to talk a little bit as we trace this and think about house size, but also mortgage rates. Because as we talk about housing availability today, especially for sale housing, we're really stuck on the conversation about house size and about mortgage rates. Well, I think it's interesting to look at the trajectory that my parents went through and something very similar to millions of people in that generation today. Went through as they started to move on. So I think it was aboutMortgage Rates in Historical Context1966 or so that we moved to Omaha. Uh, and I went back and I just did some historical, uh, tracking of, uh, mortgage, typical mortgage rates in 1966, the typical mortgage rate was about 6%. So that's really not very far off from where we are today. Uh, depending on what you're looking at today, A lot of the standard kind of 30-year mortgage rates are around 6.5%. It fluctuates from week to week, month to month, but we've kind of been in that zone now for two or three years. And the conversation is very much about how high the mortgage rates are. Um, because we had such a sustained period of very low mortgage rates, such that people like myself, when, uh, we purchased and we, when ultimately refinanced our house in 2021, I think our mortgages, our rate is like 2.75%. So we had millions and millions of mortgages at like 3% or under. And then obviously the rates, uh, went up dramatically.Uh, they went up very, very quickly. Some of the quickest in history. And they've more or less settled into where they are the last two or three years, which is about 6.5%. But again, if you look back historically, one of the stories you can tell is that 6.5% is not like an unusually high mortgage rate. It's just not. You know, I know nobody wants to pay more than, you know... And so why don't I track here, just by way of example, some of the moves my family made. 1966, that more average mortgage rate was about 6%. In 1970, we moved from Omaha to Dell City, Oklahoma, which is a suburb of Oklahoma City. And the average mortgage rates then were closer to 8%. In 1972, we moved to Oklahoma City itself, and the rates came down a little bit, about 7.4%. In and around 1973, then we moved to Overland Park, Kansas, and mortgage rates had gone up again, a little bit more, closer to 8%.In 1975-ish, maybe 76, we moved to Albert Lee, Minnesota, where there was a meatpacking plant that my dad became the superintendent for. So this started an era where mortgage rates were really rough. So in 75, the average rate was about 9%. It went up from there. You know, in 1980, it was over, in 1980, it was almost 14%. 1984, my parents were able to, my dad was able to get a job in Marshall, Missouri. So we left Albert Lee and moved to Marshall. 84, it was still 13.88% average mortgage rate. And then by the end of that decade, 1990 had come down to about 10 and a quarter percent. And then 94, my parents, right around that period where my parents, um, Bought their final house in Lenexa, Kansas in their retirement. They weren't quite retired yet. That's a different story. But in 94, it was about 8%. And so there was a little blip again in 95 or so is about when I bought my first house.That was about eight and a half percent was a typical rate. And then it kind of went on a straight line down more or less from 1995 till about 2021 down to about that three percent rate. And so, again, this is kind of, you know, it's a bit of a long story. But if you can trace these things historically, you can see that the expectation of paying a six, six and a half, seven percent interest rate is just historically not that high. Now, I know historic doesn't matter when you're trying to buy a house today and they're not as much churn in the housing market. But I mean, that's just part of the reality that many, many families paid much higher mortgage rates. Now, what about the houses themselves? Well, this is also interesting. When we lived in Omaha, That's where I was born in 1969. Our house was a three bedroom, one bath ranch with a basement. Um, uh, sort of like a basement playroom.Uh, that was very typical for that era. So there were six of us living in a three bedroom, one bath house. When we moved to Oklahoma, the first house we had was three bedrooms, one and a half baths. And then when we moved to Oklahoma city, again, sort of within the same Metro at that point was our first four bedroom house. So here we are early seventies. Uh, my parents at that point had been married, uh, For 15 years, they had four kids at home. The oldest was now in high school or about high school age. And that was our first four bedroom house. And I think we had two and a half baths in that one. When we moved back to the Kansas City area in 73-ish, we also had a four-bedroom house. So that was a more comfortable kind of a split-level house at that point. And we're getting to the point there where almost all of us had our own bedrooms, but not all of us.I shared a bedroom with my brother in that house. I shared a bedroom with my brother for quite a long time. And when we moved to Minnesota in the mid-70s and then lived there for about eight years, we had a ranch house in Albert Lea. Housing costs everything. I will say this was my parents' experience of living in Minnesota was everything was a lot more expensive than they were used to. You couldn't, in their opinion, couldn't get as much house for your money. The taxes were a lot higher in Minnesota than in other states. The utility costs were higher. And so we had a ranch house that I think had three bedrooms and then it had a finished basement that we finished. And We put a bedroom in the finished basement that would not meet code today. It did not have the proper exiting. But that was something we did. And it was to the point where Minnesota, the winters could be pretty harsh.And so we would commonly close off the family room for the winter in Minnesota and just not use it. We had another room that had a TV where we spent the winter with But again, this is just kind of indicative of the frugal mindset that my parents had. AndLifestyle and FrugalityI want to say that because I think it's important when you're thinking about lifestyle differences in their generation versus today. And I'm not here to pass judgment on anybody necessarily necessarily. But that frugal lifestyle that they lived for many, many years enabled them to have the things that they wanted to have and do the things that they wanted to do. So what are some examples of that? Well, we almost never ate out. So I can barely even remember times as a kid that we would go out to a restaurant. My mom bought generic brands of food. She used coupons regularly. When we took vacations as a family, they were typically driving vacations. And my mom would pack a cooler full of food and we would stop at highway rest areas and eat our meals there. And we stayed in very cheap motels. Sometimes there was camping, not a lot. My mom did not like camping. But...And I'm here to tell you my memories of those trips were great. As a kid, I loved those trips. We would start, you know, for example, in Minnesota and we would drive all the way to the West Coast and we would go to the national parks in Washington State and Oregon and, you know, went to Redwoods National Park in Northern California. Or we would start in Minnesota and we would drive all the way to Disney World and we would hit sites along the way. And to me, those trips were magical and wonderful and a lot of fun. And I think for my parents, they were really great trips as well. But we did things on the cheap. And we just did not waste a lot of money on things. But it didn't stop my parents from Seeing the things they wanted to see and enjoying the things that they wanted to enjoy in life.And today, the term that we have for kind of that approach, because we have to have a term for everything, is FIRE or FI, Financial Independence or Financial Independence Retire Early. And so that's become kind of a thing that quite a number of people have latched onto. Which is terrific. And I'm a big fan of a lot of people in that world. It's also true that that was just kind of the way life was for an awful lot of people of a previous era. And that was just life. I remember my dad telling me one time that they never saved any money or weren't able to save any money until he was about 50 years old. And he had, you know, by the time he was 50 years old, at that point, he'd had decent jobs. And my mom started, she worked when she could in between raising four kids.And so as the kids started becoming more self-sufficient, she was able to work different jobs and bring in some extra money. But yeah, he had told me they really were almost never able to save money until, frankly, we moved back to Marshall, Missouri, and he had a better job. And things were cheaper. They felt like they got a big pay increase when they left Minnesota and moved to Missouri. And so not long after that, then when they were able to retire, even in retirement, even at that point when they had Enough retirement income to rely on. My mom still could never, she just did not have it in her to like overspend for anything. And she still kind of questioned every purchase that she made. But they were also really happy people. It's funny how we have often such a consumerist mindset that we feel like if we're not consuming a lot of things, that means you're not happy.My parents were very social. They had a ton of friends. They stayed in touch with their families, an extended family. And they were just very active, fun, social people. So not being able to spend a ton of money just didn't stop them from doing things. By the time that I was in high school, my siblings were all out of the house. My oldest sister was already married. Teresa was well on her way in her education and career. Dean was also already well on his way in his college education and then later working after college. But I was actually the first one that they were even able to help with a little bit of money for going to college, which of course my siblings gave me a lot of crap about. And would call me spoiled. But that was just the first time that my parents had had enough little extra money to even be able to help any of their kids at that stage.What This Means TodaySo it's just really, to me, a story of living what at that time was a pretty patently kind of common or normal life, which was you buy a small place. Maybe you start in not the greatest part of town. And then eventually you start making more money and you work your way up until you can buy bigger places and nicer places. And I think this is a story we just don't talk about very much. As your family grows, as you grow in your career, you can afford more of a house. I think there's this sometimes doom-pilling that that's just not possible today. I wanted to test this a little bit, and I just did a little bit of playing around on Zillow. Looking at what houses were available that were anything similar to what my parents might have bought as their first couple of houses.Lo and behold, in some areas that are not the nicest, newest, greatest part of town, but not bad areas, you can find those small two and three bedroom houses, at least in my metro area here in Kansas City. For $250,000 to $300,000. And there's nothing wrong with these houses. They're smaller than normal. They're not a big four-bedroom, four-bath house. But they're perfectly livable homes in decent areas. If you want to go to even less fashionable places, you can find that same house. And houses that have been remodeled for under $200,000. So, you know, yeah, you're probably going to deal with higher crime. Maybe the schools aren't, it's not the school district you want to be in, but these are livable houses that are there. And they're also the kind of places like they're not, they're not horrid places to live.Like if you got some of your friends and you all convinced each other to all move to that part of a town, you could, you could make it better by buying these properties, uh, and real estate, um, And, you know, we don't like to talk about this very much as Americans, but the truth is by like global standards, any of these houses are very luxurious. We're all very lucky to live in a place where we could live, where you could own like a two bedroom, one bath house that is modern and nice with great appliances and everything else and complain about it, that you really wish you had more. So anyway, here's a few of the numbers. Just out of curiosity, if you're wondering, if you take like a $250,000 house, if you put 5% down on it, that's $12,500. And if you have a mortgage rate at 6.65%, that's about $2,000 a month with taxes and insurance.So I'm here to tell you that $2,000 a month is cheaper than almost all of the brand new, quote unquote, luxury apartments. That are all over my city that are renting with no problem. And I know they've got a pool and they've got a fitness center, but you're also paying somebody else to live there. You're not building any kind of wealth or equity for yourself. That's the sort of thing, that's the sort of a house that you can easily do on a salary of $80,000 a year, whether it's one person or combined. And by the way, I just, I was curious about this. The average 25 year old in my metro area makes 40,000 bucks a year. So you put two 25 year old salaries together, average ones, that's 80 a year. You can buy that house. And then you can start on that process that is similar to what my parents were on.And so again, I, you know, If you were to tell me, I'm not here today to argue that there aren't changes that need to be made in our cities with our regulatory apparatus or any of that. If you've listened to this podcast at all over the last few years, you know how passionate I am about all of that. I am very much in the camp that the administrative and regulatory apparatus that we created in the 20th century for our cities has failed by every measure. That doesn't mean the people in them are necessarily bad people or dumb or anything like that. It just means that we have, we created systems that just do not work and do not produce good outcomes. And any rational person or group should be able to say, we need to junk that and start over and rethink what we're doing.And so I'm very much in that camp that there's an awful lot of what we created in the 19-teens and 20s in terms of the city planning apparatus and zoning that has been a complete failure. And we need to start over, rethink all that. It's not working. So, you know, I have that as a baseline, but I just don't think so many I don't think especially young people should be so black-pilled on everything or doom-pilled on everything. The opportunities that previous generations had are still available. Now, are they going to be available everywhere in every market for every career path? No. I mean, I get it if you live in really high-cost markets like San Francisco, New York, Seattle, LA, wherever. I have no doubt it's a lot harder. I do think there probably are less fashionable places that people overlook. That would probably be just fine.I have no doubt that that's the case in every city in the country, every region in the country. There are perfectly nice houses, but they're not the newest, most fashionable, cool location. And, and we have had such a lifestyle inflation. We don't want to necessarily go there. I get that. But the truth, the question is, do you want to get there or not? Do you want to start on that path or not? And the other thing I would tie into that is like I've mentioned on multiple podcasts here, let's say that you don't want to do that two bedroom, one bath house. You want something a little bigger. Well, you could also combine it with the house hacking approach, which I have done in my lifetime, multiple times. The first house I bought was actually built as a single family house in the 19 teens. But by the time I bought it, it was actually a triplex. It was one unit per floor.And I lived on one floor and rented out the other two. It was not in great condition. I got it pretty cheap. It was not in the best neighborhood at the time, but I got a good deal on it. I put a lot of sweat equity and work into improving it and was eventually able to sell it for a good profit and move on to the next house, which was much nicer and where I also house hacked. In that case, I had an apartment over the garage, what we call an ADU today, that I finished out as an apartment and I rented that out. And helped offset the mortgage. So there are plenty of ways that you can get creative. You could buy a three-bedroom house and rent a room out to a friend or a family member or somebody else. There are ways that you can leverage house hacking to get into the house that you might want sooner. But the main message I would have is that those things are still possible.Practical AdviceThe basics that enabled previous generations to live a good life in this country are still here. If you have a strong sense of family, if you get educated or have a trade or a skill that is tangible, that is marketable, for example, try not to enter a field of work that is overly academic or philosophical in nature. You need to have a real skill. If you have a good work ethic, If you do get married, stay married. Again, I'm not going to moralize on any of that, but the data is super clear that people who get married and stay married almost always end up in the middle class or better in this country. Make yourself valuable to others, you know, from family to neighbors. Get involved in your community in some fashion, you know, in the real world and Be frugal. Save your money. Don't waste it until you can afford to waste it.And if you have any sense of frugality when you're a younger person and you can put money away in your 20s and 30s, you will get older. And by the time you hit your 40s, 50s, or 60s, you're going to find you're going to have maybe some money, more disposable income, At that point that you can really enjoy and you're still young enough to enjoy it. And health care these days is so good and health science is so good that you should be able to stay healthy for a much longer period of time. Buy a small house, take care of it, and then either add to it or sell it and buy a bigger one when you can. That is part of the process that we just don't talk very much about today. So I think in general, I would suggest let's stay away from, try not to lean too much into doomerism.Regardless of your own personal feelings, you know, how you see the world today or not, focus on yourself, what you can control, and what's possible. And figure out how to create your own life trajectory that is valuable and great for you.What's NextI'm going to tackle a couple other subjects in future episodes. I want to talk a little bit more about how I think the... The administrative and regulatory processes we created over 100 years ago have failed us and what's to be done about that, like what's a different idea or path. And then I also want to touch on a little bit, there's a whole other subject. There's a big part of what we call the housing crisis that is really driven by a series of policy choices we've made for the last 50 years or so. That have really benefited a small number of cities and the professional class in those cities. And it's really hard to uncouple these realities that we have what a lot of people have described elite overproduction today. We have been emphasizing for 50 years to tell everybody to go to college and get a degree, any degree. And I understand why we did that at the time.I went to college and I think going to college to get a degree. To go for higher education and get a really great skill is a great thing to do. But we have a lot of people who went to college and don't really have still very marketable skills or degrees. And they're all kind of following a path that I think they were told to follow by parents and grandparents and counselors, which was go to college, go move to one of these really great cities where there's a lot of jobs for college graduates. And starting your path and what you end up with is you have too many people chasing housing and jobs in too few cities.That has led to a lot of what we talk about as the housing crisis, but there's the flip side of that we don't talk very much about, which I'll also delve into in a future episode, which, in my opinion, is the true housing crisis, and that is that we have too many places in our country that have been in terminal decline for decades. They often are well located neighborhoods. Or well-located communities, but they have been dying. And this proliferation of dying and derelict communities and neighborhoods is really at the heart of a terrible, terrible problem where people are just more bent on trying to figure out survival. Because there's not an economy to attach themselves to that gives hope for the future. So we've got two sides of the same coin with very different concerns.One is we have an awful lot of people chasing a certain lifestyle in a very small number of places that is driving price increases in those places. And then we have actually a much larger number of places that have basically been abandoned. Some that could really have hope for the future and others that there are not great answers for, at least today. And that's a subject that I'll try to tackle a little bit more for a future day. So at any rate, I hope this has been interesting for you. If you've listened to this podcast at all since I've been doing it, you know I actually really enjoy talking about my family and talking with my family members. And I've had my brother and one of my sisters on here before. And I'll be having my brother on again very soon because he's got a new book out that I think you'll be actually very interested in. So that's all for today.I hope everybody's having a good summer and we're dealing with the full breadth of the Midwest heat at the moment, but it'll be over soon and then fall is right around the corner and on into another year. Thanks so much for listening. As always, if you enjoy it, please hit like, leave a review, follow, whatever it is. I am terrible about marketing this podcast since it's something that is basically a hobby for me. But if you enjoy it, please help me out and help spread the word. Thanks so much. Bye. Farewell, farewell with a friend, farewell. Farewell, farewell with a friend, farewell. Farewell, farewell with a friend, farewell. Farewell, farewell with a friend, farewell. Get full access to The Messy City at kevinklinkenberg.substack.com/subscribe

EncounterKC Summer Intensive, Lenexa - 6-24-26

Recorded live at KCRAR in May, local city officials, including three mayors, share the latest developments in their cities. - Chris Lievsay, Mayor of Blue Springs, Mo. - Julie Sayers, Mayor of Lenexa, Kan. - Jesse Smith, Mayor of North Kansas City, Mo. - David Johnston, County Administrator for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan.

Artspeak Radio, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, 9am -10am CST, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live audio www.kkfi.org Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd welcomes poet/activist Miguel M. Morales and Marissa Pappas Great Plains Senior Major Gifts Officer. MIGUEL M. MORALES grew up in Texas working as a migrant/seasonal farmworker and child laborer. He was a finalist for the 2023 Kansas Poet Laureate. Miguel is a Lambda Literary Fellow and alum of VONA Voices and of the Macondo Writers Workshop. As a journalist, Miguel earned numerous awards including the Society of Professional Journalists' First Amendment Award. In addition to the anthologies featured here, Miguel's work also appears in Pilgrimage and Raspa magazines, Green Mountains Review, Hawaiʻi Review, Texas Poetry Review, Duende Journal, and other print and online publications. Morales is a prominent Kansas City, Missouri-based Latinx writer, poet, and community organizer. He is well-known for his work advocating for and uplifting farmworker communities and LGBTQ+ voices. Literary and Community Work • Writing: Morales is a Lambda Literary Fellow and an alum of the Macondo Writers Workshops and VONA/Voices. • Anthologies: He co-edited the widely recognized anthologies Pulse/Pulso: In Remembrance of Orlando and Fat & Queer: An Anthology of Queer and Trans Bodies and Lives. • The Common: He co-edited a landmark farmworker portfolio for The Common literary journal, highlighting essays, poems, and art by agricultural workers. • Local Involvement: He is a core member of Kansas City's Latino Writers Collective and regularly participates in local arts and reading events, such as those at The Writers Place. • Rocket Grants Project Morales was awarded a Rocket Grant—a program administered by the Charlotte Street Foundation and the Spencer Museum of Art. His envisioned project supports farmworker youth in creating a dedicated poetry and art chapbook, drawing on his over twenty years of experience with youth education programs. Where to Follow His Work You can keep up with his writings, readings, and community projects via these platforms: • Instagram: @trustmiguel • Facebook: Miguel M. Morales - Writer • Books & Anthologies: Browse his catalog and edited collections on his Amazon Author Page MARISSA PAPPAS, Senior Major Gifts Officer, Great Plains SPCA- As an independent 501(c)(3) no kill shelter, with a 97% life release rate, GPSPCA provides lifesaving services for approximately 6,000 animals annually in the greater Kansas City area. Great Plains SPCA exists because of our caring Kansas City community and generous donors. We offer a lifelong, full-circle approach for pets and their human companions with our three-pronged approach: prevention, adoption, retention. When we began as Animal Haven in 1966, we committed to working as the community shelter, filling in a need that didn't exist at the time. Today, our commitment remains to the cities and residents we support. As Kansas City's premium family shelter, we continue to support the seven municipalities that we are contracted with including Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee, Lake Quivira and Johnson County Parks and Recreation and unincorporated Johnson County. We work every day to provide best in class care for homeless pets, reuniting lost pets with their owners, and serving those in greatest need through our HERO, Pups for Parolees, Public Behavior classes and Pet Food Pantry programs. Our commitment to matching pets with forever homes is at the center of everything we do. Our Mission To drive change in our community through innovative programs that promote adoption, outreach and a better life for pets and the people who love them. As an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our lifesaving services for animals can only be provided because of your generosity and commitment to our mission. Great Plains SPCA exists solely because of our caring Kansas City community and gracious donors like you. • We proudly report a live-release rate of 97% or higher.  Our live-release rate is calculated by the number of adoptions, returns to owner, transfers and other live outcomes for a given time period divided by the total number of animals the shelter brought in for that same period. • We offer a lifelong, full-circle approach for pets and their human companions with our three-pronged approach: prevention, adoption, retention. Great Plains SPCA is located at 5424 Antioch Dr. Merriam, KS 66202 (913)831-7722 www.greatplainsspca.org Lend A Paw is a donation match drive. This summer every contribution made to Great Plains SPCA will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling the support for our pets. Will you Lend A Paw to help us raise $670,000 by July 31?

Continuing our Theme this month, looking at how the Church ministers to (or doesn't minister to) the entire body of Christ.We have on the panel today representatives from Together We Care, SOAR and KeyMinistry/Disability and the Church.Do you know the difference in Diversity- Inclusion & Belonging? The importance of community!About our panelistsJilliam Palmiotto/Together We CareJillian Palmiotto is the Founder and Executive Director of Together We Care, a Georgia-based nonprofit that equips and empowers families impacted by disabilities through strategic planning, advocacy, and practical support. With over a decade of experience in special needs ministry, Jillian also serves as the Special Needs Inclusion Coordinator at West Ridge Church and as the Executive Director of the Together Conference. Her passion for building inclusive communities is fueled by her personal journey as a special education teacher and disability ministry leader. Jillian brings a wealth of knowledge, compassion, and real-world expertise to every conversation—helping families, churches, and organizations navigate complex systems with hope and clarity. Doc Hunsley/SOARStephen “Doc” Hunsley, M.D. is the Executive Director and founder of SOAR Special Needs in Lenexa, Kansas. SOAR (Special Opportunities, Abilities, and Relationships) serves over 1500 individuals with special needs through regular respite events and the nation's largest Disability Day Camp. Doc is currently assisting over 725 churches locally, nationally, and globally in starting a Disability Ministry. Doc also organizes the Wonderfully Made Conference held annually every October in Kansas City. Doc is a USAF veteran and a retired disabled pediatrician while his wife, Kay, continues practicing pediatrics. They are proud parents to three beautiful children: Luke, Mark, and Sarah. The Hunsley's middle child, Mark, is presently running the halls of heaven. During Mark's five-year earthly stay, he gave his family the opportunity to learn from and love a child with autism. Dr. Steve Grcevich/Disability & the Church/Key MinistryDr. Steve Grcevich is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with 40 years of experience as a clinician, researcher, and professor who serves as President and Founder of Key Ministry. He plays a lead role in Key Ministry's work to support churches in evangelism and outreach to the mental health community. He is the author of Mental Health and the Church (Zondervan), the first comprehensive model to guide churches in their mental health outreach and inclusion efforts. In his role with Key Ministry, he has been invited to speak or create resources for the American Association of Christian Counselors, the Christian Medical Dental Society, the Colson Center, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals. He currently serves on Focus on the Family's Physician Resource Council and is a widely requested speaker at national ministry conferences.

Steve Holle spent decades in real estate investment before walking away at 55, moving back to his Kansas City hometown and opening KC Bier Co. — one of the region's most distinctive breweries. Now 12 years in, Steve sits down with Nigel and Nick to talk about the brewery's German roots, the Reinheitsgebot purity law it follows, and why imported Bavarian malt changes everything in the glass. He also breaks down the realities of running a craft brewery today: tariffs on German ingredients, a softening wholesale market, and why the tasting room model is quietly winning. Plus — a second KC Bier Co. location is coming to Lenexa, Kansas, complete with a beer garden, live music stage, full scratch kitchen, and yes, an off-leash dog area. Three mystery beers round out the episode, including a Krampus winter warmer and a West Coast IPA that earns some genuine praise from a certified beer judge.

On this segment of Mundo in the Morning, it's Tirade Tuesday, where listeners share their opinions on current events. Mark from Lenexa shares his thoughts on basketball etiquette, saying high-fiving after missed free throws is a no-go. Pete welcomes Paul, who's upset about a cancelled meeting at the East Independence Courthouse, and Libby's tirade is about President Trump's response to a journalist's family crisis. Other callers weigh in on everything from Kansas City's cleanliness to the Nancy Guthrie case and the NFL's presence in Johnson County.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kansas taxpayers are on the hook for $7 BILLION to subsidize the Kansas City Chiefs stadium through a massive STAR bonds scheme. In this hard-hitting special edition of The Right Side, Doug Billings exposes the backroom deal cut by RINO Senate President Ty Masterson, RINO Speaker Dan Hawkins, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, and Governor Laura Kelly — all while cutting Kansans out of the process.Senator Mike Thompson's explosive breakdown reveals:$189 million per year in bond payments for 30 yearsEveryday sales taxes on groceries, burritos, and lawnmowers in Shawnee, Lenexa, Olathe, and Edwardsville funding billionaire ownersChiefs pay only $7 million rent while taxpayers own the stadium and cover all maintenance foreverUnbacked bonds at sky-high interest, frozen sales tax “base year,” $1.3 billion in future HPIP tax creditsExtra 2% CID sales tax spikes pushing some areas over 11%NFL ticket sales completely exempt from contributing to repaymentSix separate 5-year deals — the Chiefs can renegotiate even better terms every five yearsMissouri taxpayers got abandoned after decades of subsidies… Kansas is nextThis isn't conservatism. It's crony uniparty socialism — taking from hardworking Kansans to give to the ultra-wealthy.Kansas needs a bold, populist, America First outsider as Governor — someone who fights the RINO elites, calls liberals what they are (Commusocialists), and puts taxpayers first.Listen now and share if you're fed up with corporate welfare disguised as economic development.New episodes weekly. Subscribe and leave a review to help spread the truth.Visit: www.DougBillings.usFollow on X: @DougBillingsFollow on YouTube: @TheRightSideDougBillingsTimestamps:0:00 – The $7 Billion Chiefs Stadium Heist1:45 – STAR Bonds & Corporate Welfare Exposed3:20 – The Math That Screws Kansas Taxpayers5:10 – Naming the RINO & Establishment Players7:30 – Why Kansas Needs a True Outsider Governor#ChiefsStadium #TaxpayerBetrayal #KansasPolitics #RINO #RINOsExposed #LauraKelly #TyMasterson #DanHawkins #STARBonds #CorporateWelfare #AmericaFirst #MAGA #KansasFirst #SwampExposed #PopulistSupport the show

A KCUR investigation uncovered a criminal probe launched against a resident by Lenexa police because of a newspaper opinion piece critical of the department.

Did Lenexa police stalk a man for an anti ICE column? HR 1 full 2435 Tue, 03 Feb 2026 16:10:55 +0000 Sjew6gMD6YeEF1zxZ2y2XfxkE8e0efsi news MIDDAY with JAYME & WIER news Did Lenexa police stalk a man for an anti ICE column? HR 1 From local news & politics, to what's trending, sports & personal stories...MIDDAY with JAYME & WIER will get you through the middle of your day! © 2025 Audacy, Inc. News False https://player.amperwavepodcasting

On this segment of Mundo in the Morning, it's Tirade Tuesday, where listeners share their frustrations and opinions on various topics. Mark from Lenexa vents about the lack of sign language translators at press conferences, wondering why it's not a standard practice. John from Kansas City expresses his frustration with the inconsistent use of braille on ATMs. April from Lee's Summit shares her tirade about the confusing zipper merge at a local intersection. Randy from Blue Springs talks about the inefficiencies in the postal service, with packages being sent to the wrong locations. Other callers share their thoughts on topics ranging from government projects to immigration policies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on “Follow To Lead” we will be talking with Sam Rockford, Director of Educational Programming with St. James Academy, Lenexa, KS. Sam led the launch of an initiative as SJA that expanded student involvement and development in media. This initiative included students on both sides of the camera and microphone for their Thunder Broadcasting Network as well as other media projects and upgraded other communications areas such as Yearbook. Sam will not only share with us the developments made in this area but offer some practical guidance on how other schools can do the same. You won't want to miss this program!

In Episode 231 of Theology In Particular, Pastor Joe Anady and Dr. Daniel Scheiderer are joined by Jerry Slate, IRBS student and Pastor of Berean Baptist Church to discuss his book Reforming World Missions which presents a theology of missions with important practical considerations.   Contact: For information about International Reformed Baptist Seminary, go to irbsseminary.org. For feedback, questions, or suggestions, email Joe Anady at tip@irbsseminary.org.    Links: To receive the Harvest Field Prayer Guide, please send an email to contact@berean1689church.org.   Announcements:  You're invited to the "Deep Dive Into Baptism" mini-conference on January 17th, 2026, featuring Dr. James M. Renihan, President of the International Reformed Baptist Seminary. The conference will be hosted at Calvary Baptist Church: 8130 Lackman Rd, Lenexa, KS. To learn more and register, go to baptism.reformedbaptistkc.org/.  

In Episode 230 of Theology In Particular, Pastor Joe Anady and Dr. Daniel Scheiderer are joined by Drs. Jason Montgomery and Ryan Davidson to discuss On The Incarnation, by Athanasius.    Contact: For information about International Reformed Baptist Seminary, go to irbsseminary.org. For feedback, questions, or suggestions, email Joe Anady at tip@irbsseminary.org.    Announcements:  You're invited to the "Deep Dive Into Baptism" mini-conference on January 17th, 2026, featuring Dr. James M. Renihan, President of the International Reformed Baptist Seminary. The conference will be hosted at Calvary Baptist Church: 8130 Lackman Rd, Lenexa, KS. To learn more and register, go to baptism.reformedbaptistkc.org/.  

   President Trump has announced the United States has surrounded Venezuela with a complete blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in an effort to cut off all the money flowing into that country.  At the same time, he's announced he will address the nation Wednesday night from the White House in a speech that's expected to feature accomplishments and plans for 2026.  Let's hope he stays on script.    Marco Rubio makes a bold statement about what will keep him from running for president in 2028.      The Royals seem to be infuriating everyone except the people that make the decision on whether they can build a ballpark at 119th and Nall.  The City of Lenexa is trying to pull another crazy liberal scam on its good citizens after failing with a homeless shelter.  Wait until you hear this joke.    There's a ton of reporting on Travis Kelce's future and we'll explain why you shouldn't be listening to any of it just yet.  Darryn Peterson sits for the 8th time in 12 games as KU gets an easy win.   Kansas State is losing its only good wide receiver to the transfer portal and our Final Final is not great news for KC.

Ukrainian physician Dr. Lev Prystupiuk and Kansas resident Roxanne Jones are central to efforts by Lenexa-based Global Care Force to fill the health care gaps caused by Russia's war. The nonprofit's volunteers are sometimes the only providers reaching Ukraine's communities.

Longtime partners, parents of three, and now both cancer survivors, Matt and Chrissy Stewart's journey is one of resilience, faith, and the power of choosing hope in the face of adversity. Diagnosed within months of each other—Chrissy with angiosarcoma and Matt with colorectal cancer—they turned their trials into testimony, leaning on family, community, and kindness to carry them through. Their story reflects how even in life's hardest seasons, love and purpose can shine brighter than fear, inspiring others to live fully in each moment.  Key Takeaways:  Hope is a powerful choice that can carry us through life's hardest seasons.  Resilience is built by leaning into faith, family, and community support.  Kindness—both given and received—becomes a lifeline during adversity.  Sharing your story can inspire healing and courage in others.  Even in challenges, living with intention brings deeper purpose and meaning.  Join us for the Kindness Campaign and help create a ripple of compassion in your community! Sign up today at SmallChangesBigShifts.com/Kindness to receive daily acts of kindness and inspiration.   We're also inviting sponsorship partners to help us expand this movement and touch even more lives. If your organization would like to be part of spreading kindness across communities, explore the opportunities here: https://smallchangesbigshifts.com/download/9926/?tmstv=1757105005    About Matt and Chrissy Stewart:  Chrissy and Matt have been married for 23 years and have three kids. Jackson is 20, Alex is 18, and Madeline is 15. They lived in Lenexa for 23 years. Chrissy was diagnosed with angiosarcoma four years ago. It's a very rare and aggressive cancer of the blood vessels. Hers stemmed from a cyst her ovary. Matt was diagnosed with colorectal cancer one year ago. It spread to his lungs and his brain, but chemo is helping both of them stay alive. Theye are in the process of writing a memoir about our cancer experiences. Matt published author of six books while Chrissy is in the process of writing her first children's book.    Connect with Matt and Chrissy Stewart at:  https://www.instagram.com/allthethingsmemoir/   https://mattstewartbooks.com/   https://www.facebook.com/matt.stewart.4/     Connect with Dr. Michelle and Bayleigh at:  https://smallchangesbigshifts.com  hello@smallchangesbigshifts.com  https://www.linkedin.com/company/smallchangesbigshifts  https://www.facebook.com/SmallChangesBigShifts  https://www.instagram.com/smallchangesbigshiftsco    Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.  Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!  Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.  Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. 

On today's show:Local contestant from Lenexa gets a four chair turnaround on The Voice The invention originally named "Pleasure Pit"Daily Drama, My boyfriend steals

We talk some record breaking stuff from Cal Raleigh along with Carter Jensens good day at the park before talking to Nicky Jones! Shes the mother of X or Zay as we learn here. We also discuss with her the Walk for The Single Moms KC. It's Saturday, October 18th at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park 87th & Lackman Road, Lenexa, KS. For more information: https://www.thesinglemomkc.org/give/walk/

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to the Bowl After Bowl Episode 403 Producers: SircussMedia, harhvat, ChadF, Wiirdo, ericpp, Paul Allen, setto Send cash, checks, and goodies to: PO BOX 410154 Kansas City, MO 64141 Intro/Outro: Raven - System Failure (00:40) FIRST TIME I EVER... Tonight, Bowlers called in to talk about the First Time They Ever drank beer. Next week, we want to hear about the First Time YOU Ever had a crisis of faith. TOP THREE 33 West Chicago, Illinois ICE arrests caught on video; District 33 schools spend day on soft lockdown (CBS News) Grandmother who has spent 33 years in US detained by ICE, faces deportation (Newsweek) How 33-hour manhunt ended with Charlie Kirk suspect in custody (BBC) * video (FOX News / YouTube) UTJ's Goldknopf demands Netanyahu secure release of 33 Haredi draft dodgers (The Times of Israel) 33 malaria cases in New Delhi last week (Times of India) BEHIND THE CURTAIN Charlie Kirk on weed (Instagram) Ben Carson on rescheduling pot (Fox Business / YouTube) California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a bill on his desk to pause recently enacted tax hike on weed products (CBS) Eric Adams filmed by random person in weed dispensary Texas District Attorney faces legal challenge over smoking joint live online (Sarah Stogner Twitter) Drew Barrymore bag of weed story (The Late Show Stephen Colbert / YouTube) -- 3:55 (it's like 10 seconds) METAL MOMENT Tonight, the RevCyberTrucker brings us Royal Republic's cover of Shocking Blue's Venus. Follow along with his shenanigans @SirRevCyberTrucker@noauthority.social ON-CHAIN, OFF-CHAIN, COCAINE, SHITSTAIN Podcasting 2.0 Episode #234 Fountain proposal Bitcoin Core 29.1.0 Clark Moody Dashboard Cake Wallet Pay Anything feature KC Bitcoiners coffee FRIDAY @ Maps in Lenexa, KS 8:30 am KC Bitcoiners Karaoke at Tanner's @ 7:00 pm FUCK IT, DUDE. LET'S GO BOWLING! Meth burn by FBI smokes out Montana animal shelter (The Associated Press) Greenville Spider-Man saves two stuck on waterfall (WYFF / YouTube) Cruise passenger jumps overboard allegedly to avoid $16,000 gambling debt (CBS) Video shows missile bouncing off mystery aircraft (ABC / YouTube) North Carolina teen discovers airplane boneyard filled with classic planes left to rot since the '90s (Supercar Blondie) UK doctor left in the middle of surgery to have sex with nurse (FOX) Chinese drunk teens pee into broth pot (BBC) Man allegedly urinates in movie theater during Demon Slayer, beaten up and arrested (Complex)  NASA responds to concerns 31/ATLAS is an alien spaceship coming to invade Earth (Dexerto) Emotional support alligator no longer welcome in Pennsylvania Walmart (NBC)

VALUE FOR VALUE Thank you to the Bowl After Bowl Episode 401 Producers: dugitup, Robert Willey, Kevin S., ChadF, harvhat, Oystein Berge, Boolysteed, makeheroism, ericpp Send physical mail to: PO BOX 410154 Kansas City, MO 64141 Intro/Outro: Jaxius - Retrograde NudePodcastApps.com Check out the RSS DeMu template Listen to Homegrown Hits Episode 100 ft. ovvrdos Enjoy the sights and sounds of Truth Machine from The Great Unthinking Homegrown Hits is going live TOMORROW at 7pm Central HyperSpaceOut.com FIRST TIME I EVER... Bowlers called in to talk about the First Time THEY Ever went to a funeral. Next week, we want to hear about the First Time YOU Ever showed I.D. TOP THREE 33 NEBRASKA: August cooled down with coolest temperatures in 33 years (Central Nebraska Today) 66 civilians killed in Gaza since dawn, including 33 seeking humanitarian aid (WAFA Agency) Assam pushes back 33 Bangladeshi infiltrators as part of intensified crackdown (New Indian Express) Colombia's ombudswoman says 33 soldiers allegedly kidnapped under orders of a rebel group are freed (ABC) Landslide kills 33 as communications partially restored in Indian-administered Kashmir (AA) BEHIND THE CURTAIN The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the federal government must prove people who use pot "pose a risk of future danger" if it wants to justify applying a law banning them from owning firearms (USCourts.gov) The Department of Veterans Affairs posted tips on "how to smoke drugs safer" (VA) Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer vetoes bill overriding restrictive marijuana business zoning rules in counties (DE.gov) Green Thumb Industries confirms Robin Westman, shooter, previously worked at its Rise dispensary (The Minnesota Star Tribune) Laura Ingraham says she hopes Trump does not reschedule pot (via Alex Berenson + FOX on Twitter) New York Post op-ed suggests slowing down on rescheduling or loosing pot laws (New York Post) Missouri activists filing 2026 initiative to unify hemp, marijuana regulations (Marijuana Moment) Oregon attorney general issued certified ballot title for 2026 initiative to legalize social lounges (OR SOS) Grunt Style has a message for Texas' lieutenant governor (Twitter) Deion Sanders said he's "never been high a day in (his) life" (Twitter) METAL MOMENT Tonight, the RevCyberTrucker brings us FLOPPOTRON's cover of Master of Puppets. Follow @SirRevCyberTrucker@noauthority.social for shenanigans! ON-CHAIN, OFF CHAIN, COCAINE, SHITSTAIN Clark Moody Dashboard Strategy adds $449M in Bitcoin, raising August total to 7.7K BTC (CoinTelegraph) Bitcoin network hashrate returns to all-time highs in August (CoinTelegraph) KC Bitcoiners Coffee FRIDAY September 5, 2025 at Maps Coffee in Lenexa, KS FUCK IT, DUDE. LET'S GO BOWLING! Body cam footage released of Chuck E. Cheese arrest (FOX YouTube) Man, 33, called 'weird' by his adult sister, punches and strangles her (Cleveland Heights police blotter) China 'PhD village' celebrates after gaining another doctoral student, has 33 PhDs already (South China Morning Post) Powerball soars to sixth largest in game's 33-year history (Hays Post) Mexico's jaguar population has jumped 33% since 2010 (Mexico News Daily) 33-year-old rider rescued on trail near Aspen (Denver Gazette) Ancient head unearthed by archeology student at Scottish farm (FOX) Elderly women rescued from hot tub at remote Kentucky cabin (FOX) Umbrella mistaken for assault rifle sparks Syracuse, NY mall lockdown (WBNG) North Carolina official charged with putting drugs in grandchildren's ice cream (FOX) Dozens of piles of cremated remains discovered in desert outside Las Vegas (KLAS)  

Healing often begins with the courage to ask questions—and the right guide to walk you through the answers. Dr. Jill Jenkins shares how pediatric oral health connects to far more than teeth, influencing everything from nursing success to sleep, speech, and even a child's overall development. With warmth and wisdom, she explains how individualized care and a collaborative approach with other practitioners can empower parents to identify tongue ties and make confident decisions. Her passion is a reminder that small interventions early on can create ripple effects of wellness for a lifetime. Key Takeaways: Understanding tongue ties and their subtle symptoms can help parents advocate for their child's health. A multidisciplinary approach—including dentists, lactation consultants, and bodywork—leads to better outcomes. Early, individualized care builds a foundation for proper oral function and overall well-being. Parents' instincts are powerful; trusting your gut can lead to answers others might overlook. Restoring oral function can positively impact sleep, feeding, and emotional connection between parent and child.   About Dr. Jill Jenkins: With almost 20 years of experience as a pediatric dentist, Dr Jill Jenkins felt like there wasn't a child she couldn't help through her pediatric dental practice, Jenkins Dentistry for Kids. That was until 2 of her long term employees had infants with tongue tie restrictions, requiring frenectomy procedures. Without the proper training and equipment, Dr Jenkins had to refer her patients to another practitioner at a vulnerable time for the families who had come to trust her. So, after extensive coursework and in-person observation with one of the most renowned tongue tie pediatric dentists in the field, Dr Richard Baxter, Dr Jenkins is thrilled to now be able to provide frenectomy services to patients through the establishment of Midwest Tongue Tie Professionals. By utilizing the state of the art Lightscalpel CO2 laser and working closely with functional providers, Dr Jenkins is confident that patients receive exceptional care before, during and post-procedure to ensure not only a precise tongue tie release, but also the movement and functionality the release is designed to achieve. Dr Jill Jenkins attended dental school and her pediatric residency at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Dentistry and Children's Mercy Hospital. After 15 years in her original partnership, Dr Jenkins pivoted to develop a practice based on her own patient and team centered philosophy to open Jenkins Dentistry for Kids with locations in Lenexa and Shawnee. She is also the owner and founder of Midwest Tongue Tie Professionals. Dr Jenkins has served organized dentistry in many volunteer roles throughout her career, most notably as President of the Fifth District Dental Society of Kansas, President of the State of Kansas Dental Association and currently as Chair of the KDA Membership committee, member of the ADA Council on Membership, and as a Delegate for the State of Kansas to the ADA. Dr Jenkins is a board certified pediatric dentist, and is involved with many professional organizations where she is a diplomate for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, fellow of the American College of Dentists and fellow of the International College of Dentists. She also received the Women Who Mean Business Award from the Kansas City Business Journal in 2017, where she continues to stay active. She has also been awarded Dentist of the Year both locally and at the state level. Dr Jenkins has been married for over 25 years and is fortunate to have 3 amazing children. www.jenkinsdentistryforkids.com www.midwesttonguetieprofessionals.com https://www.facebook.com/JenkinsDentistryKids/ https://www.instagram.com/jenkinsdentistryforkids/    Connect with Dr. Michelle and Bayleigh at: https://smallchangesbigshifts.com hello@smallchangesbigshifts.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/smallchangesbigshifts https://www.facebook.com/SmallChangesBigShifts https://www.instagram.com/smallchangesbigshiftsco   Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.  

In 1990 Pastor Steve Dighton and his family loaded up their belongings and made the journey from Piedmont, OK to Lenexa, KS to serve as the first Senior Pastor of the newly constituted Lenexa Baptist Church. Over the next 26 years, Pastor Steve would lead a small congregation of less than 100 people meeting in local schools, to a congregation of over 3,000 with multiple campuses. His ministry is marked by parked compassionate pastoral care, humble service, and biblical preaching. Prayerfully, these qualities continue define the ministry of Lenexa Baptist. Much of what we know here at Lenexa Baptist, we owe to the bold faith and sacrificial service of Pastor Steve. This weekend Pastor Steve will lead us in the study of God’s Word from Psalm 90. I pray that you will make every effort to join us for worship this weekend. Your attendance is a way of expressing gratitude to Pastor Steve for his faithful service to the Lord. Let’s pack every room and every service as we come with great anticipation to hear from the Lord through one of His faithful shepherds in the study of God’s Word. — Pastor Chad McDonald

In 1990 Pastor Steve Dighton and his family loaded up their belongings and made the journey from Piedmont, OK to Lenexa, KS to serve as the first Senior Pastor of the newly constituted Lenexa Baptist Church. Over the next 26 years, Pastor Steve would lead a small congregation of less than 100 people meeting in local schools, to a congregation of over 3,000 with multiple campuses. His ministry is marked by parked compassionate pastoral care, humble service, and biblical preaching. Prayerfully, these qualities continue define the ministry of Lenexa Baptist. Much of what we know here at Lenexa Baptist, we owe to the bold faith and sacrificial service of Pastor Steve. This weekend Pastor Steve will lead us in the study of God’s Word from Psalm 90. I pray that you will make every effort to join us for worship this weekend. Your attendance is a way of expressing gratitude to Pastor Steve for his faithful service to the Lord. Let’s pack every room and every service as we come with great anticipation to hear from the Lord through one of His faithful shepherds in the study of God’s Word. — Pastor Chad McDonald

In 1990 Pastor Steve Dighton and his family loaded up their belongings and made the journey from Piedmont, OK to Lenexa, KS to serve as the first Senior Pastor of the newly constituted Lenexa Baptist Church. Over the next 26 years, Pastor Steve would lead a small congregation of less than 100 people meeting in local schools, to a congregation of over 3,000 with multiple campuses. His ministry is marked by parked compassionate pastoral care, humble service, and biblical preaching. Prayerfully, these qualities continue define the ministry of Lenexa Baptist. Much of what we know here at Lenexa Baptist, we owe to the bold faith and sacrificial service of Pastor Steve. This weekend Pastor Steve will lead us in the study of God’s Word from Psalm 90. I pray that you will make every effort to join us for worship this weekend. Your attendance is a way of expressing gratitude to Pastor Steve for his faithful service to the Lord. Let’s pack every room and every service as we come with great anticipation to hear from the Lord through one of His faithful shepherds in the study of God’s Word. — Pastor Chad McDonald

Black streaks on your roof? It's not just grime—it could be a hidden health risk. Learn how Edwards Gutter Cleaning & Power Wash (913-359-7695) helps Lenexa homeowners tackle algae, mold, and moisture damage with professional soft-wash roof cleaning. Get a free quote: https://edwardsguttercleaning.com/roof-washing-kansas-city Edwards Gutter Cleaning and Power Wash City: Overland Park Address: 8101 College Blvd # 100, Website: https://edwardsguttercleaning.com/

Roxanne Jones is a nurse with Global Care Force, an organization based in Lenexa that provides medical aid around the world. She returned Saturday to the United States from Jordan, a country located in between Israel and Iran, and witnessed missiles fly between the two nations.

Happy Saturday! Live Broadcast from the Kansas State GOP Summer Convention 2025 in Lenexa, KS!

The drones head out before human first responders to scope out the scene. Lenexa Police say it's cut response times by two minutes in emergency situations, and the city just approved funding to buy more.

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DJukAwlvMOh/These candles' glass containers crack or break while burning creating risks of lacerations and burns.About 3,000 units were sold nationwide at gift shops, including Bachman's in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Flowers Around the Corner in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Coopers Uptown Store in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Haws & Co. Floral and Gifts in Lehi, Utah; Past and Presents in Lenexa, Kansas; and online at www.demdaco.com between July 2024 and November 2024.Stop burning these candles and contact DEMDACO at customercare@demdaco.com for a full refund as well as more information. Do not return the candles to retail stores. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/DEMDACO-Recalls-Maril-Brand-Scented-Candles-Due-to-Laceration-and-Fire-Hazards#maril #demdaco #candles #containers #lacerations #burns

Lindsey Cavillo, Lenexa Police Crime Analyst | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Curtis Weber, Lenexa Police Sergeant | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lenexa Detectives Betsy Peterson and Caitlin Demarest | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justin Schopfer, Lenexa Police Captain | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dawn Layman, Lenexa Police Chief | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kristin Boyes, Lenexa Dispatch Supervisor | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Raniag, Lenexa Police | 4-4-25See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Tasty Brew Music Podcast,  I'm thrilled to bring you a conversation with a young artist from Lenexa, Kansas. His name is Max Cooper III — a young and incredibly gifted piano-playing songwriter with a unique sound that's already turning heads here in the Heartland. Max blends heartfelt lyrics with intricate melodies, creating music that resonates deeply with listeners of all kinds.In today's episode which I believe came from Max's firstever appearance on the radio, we'll talk about his young journey pursuing his dreams in the music world, the creative process behind his songwriting, and what he's done so far to carve out his place in an ever-evolving industry.I am always humbled and a little nervous to host someone fortheir first radio appearance.  I want it to be a good experience for the artist as we both hone our respectiveinterviewing and performance chops.So, sit back, relax, and join us for this inspiring debut radio conversation and performance with Max Cooper III.#community radio #tastybrewmusic #maxcooperIII #piano #songwriter

   Missouri and Kansas hit the road for the NCAA tournament and will play at roughly the same time on Thursday night.  Mizzou heads to Wichita to play Drake and they expect a big local flare crowd in that one.  KU heads east to face Arkansas in a pod filled with Hall of Fame coaches.  We break it down for you.    The Chiefs keep making moves and the Royals season opener is just around the corner.  We'll explain why Cole Ragans is their guy for opening day.    President Trump made birdies and won his club championship and then watched on a monitor as American forces targeted Houthi drones making shipping lanes dangerous with terrorism attacks.  Then, my co host Stephen Miller is getting tons for credit for his work.  Miller orchestrated 261 violent criminals deported to an incredible prison in El Salvador that is the greatest crime deterrent in the world.    The City of Lenexa is pulling a total scam on voters that sounds like an April Fool's joke, our astronauts are thrilled at the chance to come home and KSU women make the big dance even as their coach is targeted by Mizzou.  

This week, in Lenexa, Kansas, a lifelong con man slowly evolves into a prolific serial killer, luring women in with promises of jobs, money, and kinky sex, but all they ended up getting, was murdered. All of this, while maintaining the image of an upstanding father, husband, kid's sports coach & Sunday school teacher, but also running a residential brothel, and recruiting sex partners, under the screen name "Slavemaster"!!Along the way, we find out that BBQ, or spinach are apparently the only foods available in Kansas, that if someone offers you a job, that includes strange sex, that might be the best job, and that just because someone wears a tie, and combs their hair, it doesn't mean they don't have several bodies, rotting in oil drums!!New episodes every Thursday!Donate at: patreon.com/crimeinsports or go to paypal.com and use our email: crimeinsports@gmail.comGo to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Small Town Murder & Crime In Sports!Follow us on...twitter.com/@murdersmallfacebook.com/smalltownpodinstagram.com/smalltownmurderAlso, check out James & Jimmie's other show, Crime In Sports! On Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Wondery, Wondery+, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A Kansas man is charged with killing his mother and aunt in their Lenexa home after being served an eviction notice. Police say he turned himself in, covered in blood, at a Walgreens in Liberty, Missouri.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the third episode of “Beyond Faculty Faith Formation,” a special four-part series of podcasts looking at ways that Catholic educators can enhance their own spiritual growth and development, deepening their faith in Christ and strengthening their life in the Church. In this episode Deborah Nearmyer, Vice-President of Faith and Mission and Austin Krause, Director of Campus Ministry at St. James Academy, Lenexa, KS, discuss thoughts, ideas and resources that can be helpful for teachers and administrators in their spiritual walk. We also will get an overview of the Faculty Faith Formation program at St. James.

Leslie Nunnery talks with Jonathan Edmondson from the Herzog Foundation about the organization's mission to support and enhance Christian education. They discuss the various programs and resources offered by the foundation, including free training for educators, support for co-ops, and innovative approaches to curriculum. Jonathan shares insights on the rapid growth of Christian education in response to recent societal changes and emphasizes the importance of equipping parents and educators to create effective learning environments. The conversation highlights the foundation's commitment to making Christian education accessible and affordable for families. Meet the Guest: Jonathan Edmondson is the administrator of the SchoolBox and HF Homeschool programs at the Herzog Foundation, which have supported over 200 Christian school and homeschool group launches across the country in the past two years. A product of Christian education himself, Jonathan is both a believer and an advocate of a child's education including Christian morality and discipleship in addition to rigorous academic standards. Jonathan resides in Lenexa, Kansas with his wife Bailey, where they are involved in church activities as well as Jonathan's alma mater. https://youtu.be/VqthtGs2Rxc Additional Resources: Find out more about the Herzog FoundationFind out more about Teach Them Diligently Events in 2025Find out more about Heart School with Teach Them Diligently

On Friday, August 2, 2019, Erin Langhofer was attending a First Friday event in the Crossroads District with her boyfriend and friends in Kansas City when she was struck and killed by a stray bullet. Erin had graduated from the University of Kansas in 2016 with a BS and an MS in 2017. As an undergrad, Erin received the Margo Award, the top prize in the School of Social Welfare. Erin was a counselor and therapist at Rose Brooks Center and helped domestic violence survivors. Honoring her giving nature, Erin had registered as an organ donor; her decision will give new life to at least 50 people. In this episode, we have the honor of visiting with Erin's parents, Tom and Marcy. They vulnerably share their grief experience and about the incredible foundation created in honor of their daughter. Meet Marcy and Tom Langhofer Marcy and Tom have been married for 38 years and have two girls, Kathryn and Erin. Marcy has worked for Northwestern Mutual and Tim Moyer for the past 15 years in financial services. She is passionate about helping others though Do Good for Erin. Tom serves as the Recovery Ministries Pastor for Resurrection Church.  What We're Loving In Kansas City Holiday Reflections at Union Station Held in the Grand Plaza, Holiday Reflections is a feast for the eyes. This spectacular themed experience is a walk-through holiday village featuring floor to ceiling lights, a multitude of decorated trees, forest friends, floating mirrored ornaments and a bigger-than-ever Winter Wonderland where kids can ride the historic Jones Store Train, for an additional $5 per child. Check out our everything you need to know guide here. Morning at the North Pole Join us for Kansas City Mom Collective's annual Morning at the North Pole on Saturday, Dec. 7, at The Mint in Lenexa! Holiday fun is the name of the game when you take part in this awesome and stress-free morning full of games, crafts, treats and of course a visit with Santa! Be sure to snap an adorable holiday picture of your little ones at our photo stop sponsored by Fry Orthodontics. The event will finish with a reading of “Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Lost Christmas!” read by Alastair Heim, author of the book. We would love to see you there and meet you in person so come say hi! Connect with Megan and Sarah We would love to hear from you! Send us an e-mail or find us on Instagram or Facebook!        

D&P Highlight: A 19-year cold case, solved, in Lenexa. full 503 Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:57:28 +0000 nshsNtqfiqKsrYbaaxXwIBcrZcfq7V7D news The Dana & Parks Podcast news D&P Highlight: A 19-year cold case, solved, in Lenexa. You wanted it... Now here it is! Listen to each hour of the Dana & Parks Show whenever and wherever you want! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.

   It's astonishing how easy it is for any and all democrats to NOT answer a question and pivot to blame somebody or something else.  But when it comes to assassination attempts called "incidents" and blaming a reporter for asking about stoking the tempers of 26 million Americans that believe its ok to hurt Trump, this is more like treason.     The City of Lenexa has a brief moment of clarity in  rejecting Johnson County's plan for a homeless shelter.    Nobody is paying attention to the Detroit Tigers who are making a big push to knock the Royals out of the playoffs.    Running Back Kareem Hunt is back with the Chiefs, we'll tell you why this isn't as great as you may think.    When Utah and Oklahoma State play Saturday, they will feature starting QB's that are a combined five years older than the QB's in the Bears/Colts NFL game last Sunday.    And Mitch Wheeler joins us from www.thebattlewithin.org ... an organization that helps military and first responders with PTSD.  We'd love for you to donate or visit their outstanding whiffle ball event which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Lenexa said 'NO' to homeless shelter at 95th and I-35. Hour 3 9/18/2024 full 2149 Wed, 18 Sep 2024 21:00:46 +0000 Q4ysUeW5XsohCAXJX8hJwXhVYc38uwir news The Dana & Parks Podcast news Lenexa said 'NO' to homeless shelter at 95th and I-35. Hour 3 9/18/2024 You wanted it... Now here it is! Listen to each hour of the Dana & Parks Show whenever and wherever you want! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc.

   The Royals are getting national attention at a level fit for a team making history.  And they should.  This has been unexpected and fun and all... but what the Royals are doing this year is more rare than winning Powerball!  We are literally witnessing history.  Wait until you hear the numbers.    We focus on my favorite three new toys the Chiefs have this year after making moves to settle their 53 man roster.      The Chiefs debut around 20 new concession items including a really disgusting sounding Tom and Jerry Corn Dog named after their famous Super Bowl plays.  But... there is one new item that looks incredible.   Kamala Harris is finally sitting down for an interview and I think there's a reasonable chance it won't be a fluff piece.  RFK wants off the ballot but now the Dems want him on it.    The city of Lenexa is fighting against the county over a proposed massive homeless shelter and you better sharpen up your game to watch your favorite college team beginning tomorrow.

BIG Win in Lenexa, Loss in Jackson County, New Trump Ads | 8-27-24See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BIG Night in Lenexa at City Hall Over Proposed Homeless Shelter | Mundo Clip 8-26-24See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.