Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

The project to Reconnect the Westside is a city-led initiative focused on restoring connections within the Westside neighborhood addressing historic challenges caused by the construction of I-35 and I-670. The project works in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Transportation and uses a $1 million grant for this Planning and Environmental Linkages Study.

The initiative, Selina and Josh say, prioritizes listening to the community and engaging community members in the planning. The Westside neighborhood was made up of 14,000 residents in the 1940s, when the interstate freeways were initially built; the neighborhood now contains about 3,300 people. The interstate caused the displacement of homes and businesses, while creating a physical barrier with noise and air quality issues.

The project was launched with the bipartisan infrastructure law that acknowledged impacts of interstate development. Josh said the city recognized an opportunity to correct the harm and improve safety and efficiency. With the highways now aging, there will be requirements for state investment – and this project can give the community a voice in those coming investments.

 “This is a very community-driven process, and that’s what it’s intended to be,” said Selina. “This is about the community and making the quality of life better for the West side, connecting the neighborhood.”

In community engagement sessions, the discussions are targeted to explore three broad options: should the interstate highways remain the same, be realigned or removed entirely.

• Remain: What can be done to connect if the highways remain as they are? Consider enhancing and developing viaduct space, ways to connect blocks without street access and open up Penn Valley Park to the West side.
• Realign: Based on idea that I-35 could be realigned to a different location, for example, to the west lots where rail infrastructure is dominant. This option would require federal and state funding and would have significant regional impact.
• Remove or possibly Reroute: Starts with the idea to tear down the interstate, and perhaps provide local access parkways in its place.

Josh and Selina announced the upcoming  community session at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Mattie Rhodes Community Center. They also discussed the separate project examining reconnecting the East side, which will be the subject of a separate discussion on One on One with Swope Health.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/0mxVXwz93F0

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The event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5 at Swope Health Central in the C building. Lunch will be available for purchase.

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Johnson first participated in a One-on-One with Swope Health interview in her role as the Mayor’s director of public safety, and again in a conversation marking her first 100 days in office. At the time of this conversation, Johnson is approaching the one-year mark of her term in office.  

“I’m pretty proud of the progress we’ve been able to make,” she said. “If you know anything about crime, you know we didn’t get here overnight and so we’re certainly not going to fix it overnight. Incremental progress is still progress. Baby steps are still steps forward.”

One area of focus and progress is domestic violence. Johnson noted that in her earlier position as director of public safety she had learned that 90 percent of domestic violence cases are charged at the Municipal level. On her second week as Prosecutor, Johnson sent a letter to law enforcement and municipal prosecutors outlining the factors that could elevate a municipal charge to a state or felony domestic violence charge.

That effort resulted in a 13 percent increase in the number of cases referred to the county. She also noted the details of this increase are presented to the public on a new Domestic Violence Dashboard. Her next step is to incorporate property crime, harassment and other categories of cases that may have a connection to domestic violence.

Johnson also discusses SAVE KC, a focused deterrence strategy to identify individuals who are likely to be impacted by violence or subject to group-related violence. Those individuals are invited to a “Call In” meeting where law enforcement provides a warning of enhanced enforcement and consequences. At the same meeting, individuals formerly incarcerated or involved in criminal activity or violence share personal stories, often addressing grief and pain. Finally, social service organizations are present to offer assistance on a new path with job resources, housing, education or other services.

“We know we can’t expect you to put the gun down if we are not prepared to put something else in your hand,” she said. Early evidence is showing reductions in violence associated with these identified individuals.

The conversation also addresses actions addressing property crime, the development of the county jail, and a new program to expand diversion options while providing accountability.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/tiQcB0uGuo8

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Stations will be set up to distribute household goods, toiletries, blankets and a food box, including turkey, ham, or chicken for the first 500 families.

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This drive-through event gives kids a chance to dress up and receive a treat bag of goodies.

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Join us at Legends Field for a weekend that honors the past, celebrates the now, and carries the Kansas City Sound into the future. From after-hours jams to all-star sets, this isn’t just a festival — it’s KC’s rhythm reborn.

2025 Lineup Features:

• Stanley Clarke – Grammy-winning bass legend
• Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – Jazz-funk brilliance
• Bill Frisell – Master of genre-bending guitar
• Shemekia Copeland – Soulful, modern blues royalty
• Roosevelt Collier – Slide guitar fire
• Rell Davenport, Jackie Myers, Brody Buster – KC’s own keeping the flame alive

Tickets are available at Maxfunent.com. More details at https://monarchsbaseball.com/blues-and-jazz/.

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Lewis briefly recaps his education in Kansas City, attending Kansas City Public Schools and schools in Hickman Mills before graduating from Raytown South. He began his career in the Air Force, then worked in teaching at Ruskin Heights, real estate, and then workforce and community development through a Kansas City partnership program.

Lewis describes himself as “always having a customer mindset first,” he works to educate people on city processes – whether that’s gaining MBE/WBE certification or other steps toward compliance and successful urban development processes. He sees progress in streamlining city processes and making sure ideas grow into actual projects and developments through the Central City Economic Development program, a 1/8^th cent tax to raise funds for urban development,

One example of a successful and important project, he noted, is the KD Academy Early Learning Center, a 24-hour child care facility in the urban core.

He notes there remains a demand for housing for seniors, despite the many housing developments in Downtown, the Crossroads, and the 18^th and Vine entertainment areas.

Lewis is a supporter of the Central City Economic Development project, which will soon come up for renewal. He notes that the CCED program is operating much more efficiently and smoothly now, acknowledging a slow start with the many processes and procedures. He says, again, customer service is a key to helping improve the processes since 2022.

“It is not only important that we renew it but that we expand it,” he said. “We are still missing some areas that are in critical need, especially going out to the Fifth District.” He said he looks forward to showing the impacts of the CCED program in the community. For example, the Emmanuel Family and Child Development Center has completed one project and is now launching into phase two, a program for Science-Technology-Engineering-Math education.

Regarding the need for affordable housing, Lewis noted the emphasis is focused on the most vulnerable population – those with income below 60 percent of the average median income. Lewis cited a number of programs supporting housing creation and preservation, transitional housing, affordable home ownership and wrap-around services.

Lewis argues that the city is making a dent in the homeless issue, including with transitional housing and affordable housing.

“We have found ways to provide technical assistance, education, customer service. We’ve grown in those areas.” While there’s still criticism of the city’s bureaucratic processes, Lewis sees continuing focus on new ways to achieve efficiency and speed up the processes, with accountability.  

Lewis noted the intentional cross-over between departments, reducing the need for multiple touchpoints in separate encounters. He also emphasizes the customer focus of providing development assistance and streamlining application processes.

The result, he said, is 90 percent of CCED projects fully contracted and moving forward – up from a low of 20 percent at the start.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/Qk6AAhKuR5I

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Eric Wesson, founder and publisher of The Next Page KC, a newspaper focused on the Black community, hosts the show’s conversations with Kansas Citians about issues of importance to the community’s health and wellbeing.

Lewis, a native of Boston, talks about how easy it was to fall in love with Kansas City, which, he says, has the right amount of large city experiences as well as family and career experiences – without some of the negatives like gridlock traffic. He describes Kansas City as the “core Midwest,” addressing a large central region that spans from Minneapolis to Dallas with a culture that is less aggressive than some (like Columbus or Indianapolis) and a bit more resistant to change.

Consider the airport as an example: he recalled the difficulty in convincing people of the need for a new airport, but now that it’s done, he notes how locals love to brag about it.

Lewis also notes pointedly that economic development has been slow in the core of the city, especially in the urban areas of the East Side.

“We have to do more to support the Third and Fifth districts,” he said. “The entire city has to do more to support the East Side.”

The closing of the SunFresh grocery at Linwood Shopping Center, he said, marks the loss of an anchor to that area. He noted there were challenges in operating a large store, with a requirement for volume, in an area that may not have fully valued it and continued to travel west for its grocery shopping. The East Side still suffers from the challenges of flight from years ago, he said.

He also cautioned that development takes a long time, as an example citing former Mayor Kay Barnes’ vision for downtown’s Power and Light District that dated from 1999.

He pointed out that the East Side has experienced decades of disinvestment and now will need to see decades of new investment. This investment should not rest only on the shoulders of the city, Lewis said, it also has to also be supported by the business community.  

Lewis noted that EDS holds the role of developing that holistic community gathering – of city, business, and neighborhood leaders – to focus attention and support on the East Side and the Prospect Corridor. The EDC can help find innovative ways to evolve and develop the community, including through a series of projects like:

• ProspectUS plan – a transit-oriented strategic plan for the Prospect corridor.
• The developments at 18^th and Vine, including the expansion of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and hotel.
• The recently launched AmeriCold facility, a $100 million investment bringing nearly 200 jobs to south Kansas City. Lewis noted this facility will attract other types of industry nearby, stimulating additional development.
• Housing developments, including the strategy to redevelop Columbus Park with tax-increment financing.

Lewis also discusses the positive opportunities of the Central City Economic Development Sales Tax District. Despite nearly eight years of little action, Lewis is optimistic that the Mayor, City Manager, Council and EDC are now pulling in the same direction and new investments will materialize.

Listen to the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/rF8mYHbvupQ

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