Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by KC Currents
A Kansas man with a rare disorder spent decades advocating for gene therapy. It may never help him
In the summer of 1999, a soft-spoken air traffic control specialist from South Dakota named Donavon Decker captured national attention when he signed on for a patient trial testing the safety of a potential breakthrough treatment for a form of muscular dystrophy. On the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon — hosted by comedian Jerry Lewis — in USA Today and in news outlets across the country, Decker told his story.
More Blacks are buying guns. Is that driving up Black suicide rates?
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 7, 2022 at 6:06 AM CST STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Gun buying among African Americans has soared recently, as have suicide rates among young Black men. Experts believe the two are linked. Alex Smith of KCUR reports. And we should warn you the sound of gunshots at a gun range will be heard in this story.
More Blacks are buying guns. Is that driving up Black suicide rates?
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 7, 2022 at 7:06 AM EST STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Gun buying among African Americans has soared recently, as have suicide rates among young Black men. Experts believe the two are linked. Alex Smith of KCUR reports. And we should warn you the sound of gunshots at a gun range will be heard in this story.
More Blacks are buying guns. Is that driving up Black suicide rates?
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 7, 2022 at 5:06 AM MST STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Gun buying among African Americans has soared recently, as have suicide rates among young Black men. Experts believe the two are linked. Alex Smith of KCUR reports. And we should warn you the sound of gunshots at a gun range will be heard in this story.
More Blacks are buying guns. Is that driving up Black suicide rates?
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 7, 2022 at 7:06 AM EST STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Gun buying among African Americans has soared recently, as have suicide rates among young Black men. Experts believe the two are linked. Alex Smith of KCUR reports. And we should warn you the sound of gunshots at a gun range will be heard in this story.
More Black Americans are buying guns. Is it driving up Black suicide rates?
Alex Smith/KCUR Sharis Lewis of Florissant, Missouri, tries a 12-gauge shotgun with the help of her husband, Russell, at the SharpShooter, an indoor range near south St. Louis. When Russell and Sharis Lewis want to unwind, they pack up their guns and drive from their home in Florissant, a suburb north of St. Louis, to an indoor range called the SharpShooter on the city's south side.
Kansas saw more gun homicides after 'Stand Your Ground' laws began
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 1, 2022 at 4:19 PM CST Chris Haxel / KCUR 89.3 Since 2005, nearly half of states, including Kansas and Missouri, have introduced “Stand Your Ground,” laws, which were designed to allow people who felt threatened to defend themselves with firearms without requiring them to attempt to flee.
Missouri and Kansas saw more gun homicides after 'Stand Your Ground' laws began
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published March 1, 2022 at 8:35 AM CST Chris Haxel / KCUR 89.3 Since 2005, nearly half of states, including Kansas and Missouri, have introduced “Stand Your Ground,” laws, which were designed to allow people who felt threatened to defend themselves with firearms without requiring them to attempt to flee.
Anxiety and grief comes with climate change
Published November 20, 2021 at 8:50 AM EST The environmental movement is doing more to address the psychological toll on activists and volunteers, encouraging resilience and self-care to counteract anxiety and grief over planetary damage. Copyright 2021 NPR Alex Smith began working in radio as an intern at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. A few years and a couple of radio jobs later, he became the assistant producer of KCUR's magazine show, KC Currents.
As climate worsens, environmentalists also grapple with the mental toll of activism
When I was growing up in the '90s in Johnson County, Kansas, in the suburbs of Kansas City, I had a friend named Kevin Aaron who was a dedicated environmentalist. To strangers, Kevin appeared to be a laid-back punk rock music fan with a dry and slightly mischievous sense of humor, but those of us who knew him best saw his passion for sustainability blossom during high school.
More than 60% of Kansas kids have lead in their blood and other Midwestern states have even higher rates
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published October 5, 2021 at 1:34 PM CDT Children in Missouri appear to have some of the most exposure to toxic lead in the United States — a problem that's also common in Kansas. A new national study published online this week in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that 82% of Missouri children under the age of 6, and 65% of Kansas children in that age range, have detectable levels of lead in their blood.
As COVID Booster Shots Become Available, Here’s What Kansas Residents Should Know
Studies of a possible COVID-19 vaccine are now or soon will be underway. Starting in September, booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine will be available for all teens and adults in the U.S., federal officials announced on Wednesday. The news arrived just a few days after booster shots were authorized for people who have compromised immune systems. The shots are meant to provide additional protection as the delta variant drives a new case surge.
In Missouri And Other States, Flawed Data Makes It Hard To Track Vaccine Equity
Yvette Richards, director of community connection at St. James United Methodist in Kansas City, checks temperatures before Sunday morning services. The church is hosting vaccination clinics and holding socially-distanced services after shutting down for much of the pandemic. Throughout the COVID-19 vaccination effort, public health officials and politicians have insisted that providing shots equitably across racial and ethnic groups is a top priority.
Flawed Data In Missouri Skews Tracking For Vaccine Equity
KCUR | By Alex Smith Published May 29, 2021 at 5:43 AM MDT SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Data from across the country shows wide disparities in the vaccination rates of different racial and ethnic groups. However, the way that race and ethnicity is counted varies from one state to the next, and experts say that makes it harder to achieve vaccine equity. From member station KCUR in Kansas City, Alex Smith reports. YVETTE RICHARDS: Ms. Robin - hey, Jen. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Good morning, Yvette. How are doing?
These Families Raised Millions To Fund Treatment For Their Kids' Genetic Disorders. It Hasn't Happened
Over the last several years, parents from across the country have appeared on television and news outlets to raise money to develop treatments for their children with rare genetic disorders. Many of these families, including one from Kansas City, Missouri, have pinned their hopes on one Texas researcher, Dr. Steven Gray of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who claims to be on the verge of treating a number of rare conditions.
'The Wolf Is At The Door:' How Missouri’s Garbled COVID Data Misled The Public Until It Was Too Late
As coronavirus infections grew exponentially in Missouri in the fall, many hospital leaders found themselves in the unusual position of explaining that the official state data about their bed space was wrong. Though Missouri’s data showed that hospitals had plenty of beds available for patients, the numbers were inflated for months, in part because many hospitals themselves failed to follow reporting guidelines.
Rural Areas Send Their Sickest Patients To The Cities, Straining Hospital Capacity
Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City is one of the 18 hospitals in the Saint Luke's Health System. Two-thirds of the COVID-19 patients transferred to Saint Luke's from rural areas need intensive care. "We get the sickest of the sick," says Dr. Marc Larsen. Registered nurse Pascaline Muhindura has spent the last eight months treating COVID-19 patients at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Missouri Faces Costly Dilemma: How To Treat Inmates With Hepatitis C?
Jymie Jimerson collects Willie Nelson memorabilia in her home in remembrance of her late husband, Steve, who was a fan. In a corner of Jymie Jimerson's house in the town of Sparta, in southwest Missouri, she has set up a kind of shrine. It has Native American art representing her Cherokee heritage alongside Willie Nelson albums, books and photos in remembrance of her late husband.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with KC
Contact KC, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack