Brian Ellison

Kansas City

Host and Contributor at NPR

Host and Contributor at KCUR-FM (Kansas City, MO)

Host/contributor covering MO & KS politics, @NPR affiliate @KCUR; Executive Director, @CovNetPres; minister; sports announcer; partner; dog dad. he/him 🏳️‍🌈

Articles

After Patriot Front rally, Kansas City mayor says he doesn't want to amplify white supremacists

1 week ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

After about 150 masked members of the Patriot Front, a white nationalist hate group, marched through downtown Kansas City last Saturday, Mayor Quinton Lucas took to social media. "While the First Amendment provides the right to bring any message to Kansas City," he wrote, "we know that our diversity, our welcoming community, and our respect for the rights of all reject whatever hate and cowardice come our way."Kansas City Police said they didn't have any advance warning of the march.
During 38 years in a Missouri prison, Patty Prewitt maintained hope - and her innocence

1 week ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Patty Prewitt spent 38 years in Missouri prisons for the 1984 murder of her husband, a crime she has always maintained she did not commit. Then, on Dec. 20, 2024, she was released from prison when then-Missouri Gov. Mike Parson commuted her sentence, which had been 50 years without parole. “Jane, my oldest daughter, was visiting me, and they called us out and said, 'You're leaving in the next two hours,’” Prewitt told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Tom Papa from 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!' performing in Kansas City this weekend

1 week ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Comedian Tom Papa is a jack of all trades. He has done several stand-up comedy specials for Netflix, starred in multiple network TV shows, written books and soon will even have his own line of kitchen supplies for making bread at home. But public radio listeners know him best for his contributions to shows like "Live From Here" and "Wait Wait...
Missouri banned Callery pears and 5 other invasive plants. Grow these instead

1 week ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Selling, importing or exporting several invasive plants, including Callery or Bradford pear trees, will soon be illegal in Missouri, after the state legislature passed a ban. Experts say the ban will help slow the spread of the Callery pear, as well as burning bush, Japanese honeysuckle, climbing euonymus, sericea lespedeza and perilla mint — species that often spread uncontrollably and wreak havoc on the environments where they take root.
Mario Vasquez takes the reins in Kansas City

2 weeks ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

The Kansas City Council has found its next city manager. Get to know Mario Vasquez, the first Latino to permanently hold one of most powerful positions in the city. Plus: Stay up to date with the latest political headlines from around the region. Kansas City Council voted 11-2 earlier this month to hire Mario Vasquez as the city manager. The vote came a little more than two months after former City Manager Brian Platt was suspended and fired when the city lost a major whistleblower lawsuit.
Josh Hawley's own brand of populism

3 weeks ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Sen. Josh Hawley spent his first time in office building up his reputation as an arch-conservative — and in the Jan. 6 insurrection linked himself to President Trump and the MAGA movement. But in several ways, the Missouri senator is also positioning himself as a champion of the working class. Robert Draper, domestic politics reporter for the New York Times, joined Steve Kraske on Up To Date to discuss the sometimes perplexing policy positions of Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
Food recs: The best late-night eats in Kansas City

4 weeks ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

A late-night meal is often associated with a night on the town — and maybe a couple too many drinks. “You want something that's going to soak up whatever you've been consuming previously in the night,” says Liz Cook, a freelance food writer and creator of the Substack Haterade.
A preview of Missouri lawmakers' final weeks in session

1 month ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Missouri lawmakers are still wrestling with abortion rights, paid sick leave, tax cuts and the state budget. What's ahead for the General Assembly in the last two weeks of this legislative session? KCUR's Brian Ellison spoke with Rudi Keller, deputy editor of the Missouri Independent, to get up to speed on what to watch the next two weeks. Contact the show at [email protected]. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news. Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison.
Missouri international students push back

1 month ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

Five international college students in Missouri filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security's termination of their visas. And although the Trump Administration backed off the terminations on Friday, the students’ battle — and their uncertainty about their future legal status in the U.S. — continues. Brian Ellison spoke with Mary Sanchez of The Beacon about the details of the case and how these students are taking action against what they believe is unfair treatment.
How federal health funding cuts will hurt Kansas City

1 month ago | kcur.org | Brian Ellison

The Trump administration canceled more than $12 billion in public health grants last month. Local public health departments are worried about what that will mean for Kansas Citians. The cuts included millions of dollars for Kansas and Missouri, with effects that trickle down to virtually every local community. Here in the Kansas City area, impacts include loss of staff and research projects cut short. So what might it mean for you and your neighbors?