Lisa Rodriguez

Oct 3, 2024 | kcur.org | Lisa Rodriguez

Rayan Makarem says his family in Lebanon— who include his parents, cousins, and in-laws— are "as safe as they can be.""Safe" is a relative term right now for the country of roughly 5.5 million people, with a smaller landmass than Connecticut, as Lebanon faces constant aerial bombardment and an ongoing ground invasion from Israel's military, as part of a campaign against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Makarem grew up in Lebanon and moved to U.S. 10 years ago.

Oct 3, 2024 | kcur.org | Lisa Rodriguez

The Kansas City Royals completed a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles yesterday in the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series. Excellent team pitching performances in both games and key hits from players like shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino led the team to its first postseason series victory since 2015. KCUR's Sam Zeff told Up To Date that he thinks Witt was the star of the series. "It's that hustle, I mean, just the all around greatness," Zeff said.

Oct 2, 2024 | kcur.org | Lisa Rodriguez

Entering the Kansas City Renaissance Festival means going into a world of pirates, wenches, kings, queens and turkey legs. A new local film takes you beyond that façade — into the world of the people playing those wenches, queens and maidens. "Rennie" is a feature-length mockumentary that follows a motley group of Ren Fair performers on a quest to save their small town from a flood — and maybe find themselves along the way, too.

Oct 2, 2024 | kcur.org | Lisa Rodriguez

Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz squared off in a vice presidential debate in New York on Tuesday. The two candidates — both from Midwestern states — have similar roles in their respective campaigns: to appeal to working-class voters in the "Blue Wall" states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. They debated on issues relating to the war in the Middle East, the economy, reproductive rights and immigration, among other topics.

Aug 8, 2024 | kcur.org | Lisa Rodriguez

KC Scholars is a program through the nonprofit Great Jobs KC offering scholarships to low-income students of all kinds in Kansas City. It has programs for 11th graders getting ready to apply to universities and for adult learners who didn’t get the chance to go to college right after high school. Great Jobs KC Chief Operating Officer Natalie Lewis told Up To Date that state cuts to DEI initiatives increase the need for programs like KC Scholars.