Latest news with #KansasCitians
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Council authorizes KC Current to negotiate park along levee near CPKC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City City Council unanimously gave new City Manager Mario Vazquez the go-ahead to begin negotiations Thursday with the Kansas City Current and developers on a new park along the levee at Berkley Riverfront Park. There's a quick timeline for the project. The city wants the project done in time for the World Cup at no cost to the city. Legislator Manny Abarca pleads not guilty to domestic battery charges in Johnson County People already enjoying the walkways along the Berkley Riverfront have watched the area transform before their eyes over the past few years. New additions include apartments, CPKC Stadium, a hotel and a mixed-use riverfront district under construction. 'I moved from the Northland, and it's really nice to be along the river and all these walking paths,' Katelyn Banning said. 'This used to be kind of the festival grounds. So seeing it come back to life is really exciting for me. I've always been in the KC area really looking forward to it, especially with the streetcar too and 2026 with all the soccer coming this way it's going to be awesome. I'm really excited,' Shelby Richardson said. With an eye toward the World Cup now just one year away, the Kansas City Current announced this week plans for a new levee park. But since it's city land, it needs city approval. 'I think this is a long way from what the riverfront used to be, so I commend our developers and who have worked in connection with this,' Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said before Thursday's vote. Renderings show Levee Park with native plants, curated landscaping and new trails and an overlook taking joggers and outdoor enthusiasts safely closer to the water. Besides other amenities like children's play areas and performance spaces, there's one other favorite part of the deal for Kansas City lawmakers. Royals doubleheader recap: Jac Caglianone debut, hot bats, more 'The city desires to grant an easement and enter into an agreement to secure the improvements at no cost to the city. Let's see how many times I can say at no cost to the city,' Councilwoman Andrea Bough joked, completing a summary of the plan that pointed out several times the city won't pay for the park. 'This is something that we would love to do, but it would have cost too much for us to do it. So this is a great way to get a project done that we don't have to invest money into, and yet it's going to have a great impact on the city.' Kansas City Current's owners, Angie and Chris Long, who will pay for the park, said in a statement, 'By transforming this unused space into a beautiful new community asset, we hope to inspire Kansas Citians to engage with the water in ways we haven't yet imagined.' The agreement that will now be negotiated calls for the Kansas City Current and developers to operate and maintain the park for the next 50 years. Once negotiations are finalized, park developers will still need to get Army Corps of Engineers approval as they work to get the project done by the World Cup next summer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
A memorial for a Pendergast? The legacy of ‘Big Jim' in Kansas City
What's Your KCQ is a collaboration between The Star and the Kansas City Public Library series that answers your questions about the history, people, places and culture that make Kansas City unique. Have a suggestion for a future story? Share it with us here, or email our journalists at KCQ@ The Pendergast name carries different meanings in Kansas City. For some residents, it recalls the freewheeling 'Paris of the Plains' era, when Boss Tom's machine kept liquor flowing and nightclubs thriving, giving rise to the city's distinct style of jazz. For others who value open governance and respect for law and order, it remains a symbol of corruption and political patronage. Today, most Kansas Citians seem drawn to the city's more colorful past. While that image fits well with throwbacks to its seedier side, it hardly seems like something the city would officially memorialize in a public place. That's why a KCQ reader found it odd to see the Pendergast name on a statue in West Terrace Park — and was even more surprised to learn it honored James Pendergast, not Tom as they had anticipated. The plaques on the monument offered only vague details, describing him as the 'embodiment of truth' — also unanticipated — leaving the reader wondering who James Pendergast was and why the city chose to memorialize him. The Pendergast name didn't always carry the same weight in Kansas City. Reporting on the apprehension of an accused murderer in its June 21, 1883, edition, The Kansas City Journal noted that the suspect had been found in a West Bottoms hotel kept by 'a man named Pendergast.' The local press — and the city at large — would soon learn exactly who that man was. Born in Ohio in 1856 to recent Irish immigrants, James Pendergast's family later settled in St. Joseph. After the completion of the Hannibal Bridge in 1869, Kansas City's booming West Bottoms offered plenty of work in packing houses and iron foundries. Pendergast answered the call, arriving in 1876. 'Big Jim,' as he came to be known, quickly built a reputation as a hard-working and trustworthy laborer. Years later, Fire Department Chief George Hale described him as a 'fine-looking, husky lad, steady as a church and careful of money.' Local lore claims that Pendergast made a small fortune by betting on a horse named Climax. True or not, his rapid rise was apparent. Around 1880, he went from working as a 'helper' at the D.M. Jarboe & Company foundry to serving as proprietor of the American House hotel, which he later renamed the Pendergast House. He also entered the saloon business, and opened The Climax — said to be named after the horse that launched his rise — on the same block as his hotel. Pendergast thrived in business, expanding his real estate holdings and opening new establishments, including a saloon at Fifth and Main streets. Location was key: His West Bottoms ventures sat near the bustling Union Depot railroad station, while his new saloon stood kitty-corner from the city's second City Hall. From that strategic vantage point, Pendergast set his sights on a new venture — politics. In 1882, he was elected to represent the West Bottoms in the House of Aldermen — the predecessor to today's City Council — a seat he held for 17 years. He became known for his skill at navigating municipal affairs and turning out supporters at the polls, earning him the title of 'Boss.' Pendergast didn't boast of his boss status but didn't shy away from the label. Nor did he apologize for his influence, explaining, 'All there is to it is having friends, doing things for people, and then later on they'll do things for you.' He lived up to those words. As a saloonkeeper, he functioned as a banker for West Bottoms laborers, exchanging paychecks for cash — without cheating them. In 1903, when a flood devastated the city's low-lying areas, Pendergast reportedly personally directed recovery efforts in his ward. As an alderman, he began the Pendergast tradition of securing city jobs for his supporters — but only after sizing them up. Despite an abundance of friends, Pendergast had no shortage of rivals — even within his own party. He led the Goats, named for his First Ward constituents, many of whom lived along the steep bluffs below Quality Hill. In contrast, his chief Democratic rival, Joseph Shannon, led the Rabbits, who drew support from newer neighborhoods southeast of downtown. Their clashes dominated Kansas City's Democratic politics for years. All Republicans, of course, were his opponents. Yet Pendergast was often praised for not letting politics turn personal — except for an 1888 incident at a Republican gathering in a downtown saloon, where he punched a man during a heated dispute and was arrested. Afterward, he became a teetotaler and gained a reputation for helping others struggling to overcome alcoholism — a remarkably selfless turn for a saloonkeeper. His selflessness extended to politics as well. When city officials proposed building a new railroad station on higher ground, safe from flooding, Pendergast supported the move—even though abandoning Union Depot would devastate his West Bottoms businesses. When a local reporter asked why he supported the Union Station vote, he simply replied, 'The public needs it.' Perhaps his most formidable rival was newspaper publisher William Rockhill Nelson. Nelson championed Progressive Era reforms aimed at eliminating poverty, managing the effects of industrialization, assimilating immigrants, and dismantling boss-led politics — putting him naturally at odds with Pendergast. When one of Nelson's reporters asked Pendergast in 1908 about his biggest election obstacle, he growled, 'You know … it will be The Kansas City Star-r-r-r.' In poor health, Pendergast retired from politics in 1910 and died a year later at age 55. Friendlier newspapers covered his life and funeral — then one of the largest in the city's history — in greater detail, but even The Star conceded he would be remembered as 'the man who never broke a promise.' Big Jim's empire was in good hands. Years earlier, he had been joined by his three younger brothers, including a rising Democratic power broker: a young Boss Tom. Democrats and Republicans quickly united around the idea of memorializing Pendergast. They chose a site in Mulkey Square Park, near 13th and Summit streets where he could watch over the First Ward for a bronze statue and fountain. A sculptor was commissioned, and funds were raised by public subscription. The monument debuted on Independence Day 1913. That July 4, the public gathered to see a bronze likeness of Pendergast seated atop a granite base. Beside him stood two children, also cast in bronze, holding water basins that served as fountains — a nod to his charitable nature. Tom's daughter, Marceline, pulled a cord to remove the cloth covering the statue, while a giant American flag served as a backdrop. A camera crew filmed the ceremony and the speeches from local dignitaries, later charging 10 cents to view the film and boasting, 'You can almost hear them speak!' Unfortunately, the monument faced trouble almost immediately. In 1914, thieves managed to dislodge one of the bronze children and carry it 150 feet before abandoning the 300-pound figure. The child was replaced, but by 1915, both figures had been stolen — and the fountain features were never restored. The local press debated whether the culprits were metal thieves or worse — Republicans. Pendergast sat alone until the city replaced the missing figures from the original casts in 1919. However, starting in the 1930s, thieves unwilling to move the heavy statues began sawing off the children's limbs piece by piece. During the construction of Interstate 670 in the late 1960s, the monument was relocated within the park. By 1976, both children were gone again. Big Jim, too heavy to steal and too thick to saw through, endured decades of vandalism. By 1990, when the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners voted to restore the memorial, it bore a hacksaw gash in its neck, remnants of roofing tar that had been poured over its head, silver paint over its eyes, dried egg stains, initials carved into the granite base, and a hole — possibly from a bullet — in its backside. Along with approving restoration work, the parks board authorized moving the statue from its isolated spot in Mulkey Square to West Terrace Park. A Friends of Jim Pendergast organization, joined by local Irish clubs and labor organizations, helped fundraise for the restoration and commissioned local sculptor Tom Corbin to recreate the missing children — proving that Big Jim still has plenty of friends in Kansas City and that the Pendergast name means more than corruption and vice. Big Jim continues to watch over his beloved West Bottoms from his new vantage point.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Japanese actress moved to KC for coffee but stayed to build community
Editor's Note: This interview is part of an ongoing Star series highlighting Kansas Citians from historically underrepresented communities and their impact on our region. The series builds on The Star's efforts to improve coverage of local communities. Do you know someone we should interview? Share ideas with our reporter J.M. Banks. As a teenager growing up in Tokyo, Japan, Madoka Koguchi attended a Japanese production of the musical Cats. The performance left such a lasting impression on her that she decided to pursue a life on stage. Her dream became reality in 2016, when she moved to New York and landed a role in the Broadway revival of Miss Saigon. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought Broadway to a halt, Koguchi found herself in a foreign country, unable to perform. During that time, a fellow cast member, Jackie Nguyen, invited her to help open a new coffee shop in Kansas City. Since relocating Kansas City in 2020, Koguchi, 32, has made Kansas City her home. She has served as manager of Café Cà Phê. Located at 916 E 5th St, popular Vietnamese owned coffee shop in the Columbus Park a neighborhood known for the historic Italian and Vietnamese immigrant populations. She also works in public relations for KC Craft Ramen, and co-founded Yakuri KC, the metro area's first nonprofit dedicated to building community among Japanese residents. Banks: Can you begin by telling me what it was like growing up in Japan and how did you find your way into acting? Koguchi: So I was born in Tokyo, Japan. I was born in kind of an entertainment family. Both my mom and dad were in the music industry. My dad is a professional drummer, but I was introduced to classic ballet when I was watching a comedy show on TV when I was six and I started dancing ballet when I was seven. I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer until middle school. Then I went to see a musical called Cats. It was a Japanese production of Cats and I switched my goal to musical theater after. I immediately thought I want to be on that stage I was fortunate to see a lot of international touring productions of musicals, mostly from the United States. So I watched West Side Story, Hairspray and The Heights. A lot of major, major shows coming from the United States. My parents were pretty supportive because of the entertainment industry background, but it was more my grandparents or my aunt. They didn't really have much understanding of pursuing a career as an artist. I was able to go to Toronto, Canada to study abroad to learn English for a year and a half from 2014 to 2015 and I was also able to audition for Performing Arts School in New York in 2016. I was able to graduate and then shortly after, I was able to book the National Revival tour of Miss Saigon as one of the main roles. What brought you to Kansas City? I moved to Kansas City in 2020 because COVID hit and our tour got shut down for good in the middle of the tour. Like so many other industries, the Broadway industry just got shut down and disappeared. Our industry felt like it was the first to be gone and the last to come back. I didn't want to wait for the Broadway industry to come back. I felt defeated at that time. I moved to the United States for Broadway but my profession just did not exist during COVID. But one of the cast members, Jackie Nguyen ask me if I can move to Kansas City to help her open a coffee shop called Cafe Cà Phê . So I said yes, of course, and that's how I ended up in Kansas City. What do you enjoy about your work with Cafe Cà Phê? At Café Cá Phe we do a lot of community work for marginalized communities like the Asian American communities, LGBTQ+ communities. I experienced a lot of difficulties as an immigrant, as a foreigner, as a non-citizen of the United States, but also as a person of color. So I'm able to contribute my own experience to the Cafe Cà Phê community work. When you moved here were there any cultural shocks for you? Yes, very many culture shocks. People take their time and there is this thing called personal boundaries. Because there's no word for boundaries in Japanese. So it's a very American or Western idea to me. In Japanese culture, people text about work 24/7 and you're expected to respond to the text 24/7. The sizes of everything was a shock when I went to McDonald's for the first time in New York. I was surprised by how big a small cup of soda was. Then one portion of pasta at a diner, that was so big. But also to find a happy culture shock that it is OK to take it home, like pack the food up and take it home. In Japan that is not a thing. You're supposed to finish the meal and you're supposed to not have to take the food that you couldn't finish home. So a lot of restaurants still don't carry take out. Also the grocery store, people walking around eating grapes before checking out. How do you tackle portraying roles that are traditionally occupied by non Asian actresses? I got to experience that through being in the musical Little Woman at the Music Theater Heritage earlier this year. I was able to play Meg March, that was one of the sisters in Little Women. I got to portray a character that was traditionally not Asian and it is such an honor to do it. But, also understanding that there's a controversy because it's such a iconic piece and iconic sisters. Theater is supposed to be a safe place for anybody and also imaginary as well. So I was able to focus on what's true to the character. The challenging thing for me personally was I am speaking English as my second language, and technically I'm the only person in the whole cast with an non-American accent. So I spent so much time to just pronounce each word for so many times and I recorded it myself so that I can correct my pronunciation. There are so many words that I didn't know and people don't speak in the daily life because that piece is from the 1800s. But it was such an honor and I am so grateful. What inspired you to start the nonprofit Yakuri KC? Our nonprofit organization, Yukari KC, is heavily inspired by Cafe Cà Phê and Hella Good Deeds, their sister nonprofit. I started the organization to create spaces for the Japanese community in greater areas of Kansas City. There are a lot of opportunities for us to educate our culture to non Japanese people or non-Asian people in general. We do that in our daily life, either consciously or subconsciously, but what's missing is the spaces just for us, where we don't have to educate anybody. Where we can just communicate in our own languages and save space for us. I learned that taking up space is a wonderful thing by moving to Kansas City and working for Cafe Cà Phê. When I moved to Kansas City in 2020 there was just no Japanese community that I could find. Then it took three full months for me to accidentally bump into a Japanese person in Independence. I was like, Oh my God, there's a Japanese person here. And then she happened to know a lot of people in the Japanese community in Kansas City. So she took me everywhere to bring me to people that she wanted me to meet. If I hadn't bumped into her, that wouldn't have happened, obviously. By meeting her, by being able to speak Japanese for the first time in months, I just realized how much I needed that. So one of my personal missions for the organization is to be kind of the lighthouse for the Japanese community by hosting cultural events and community events on a regular basis. With Yakuri KC hosting its first vendor popup recently how did it feel to be at the helm? It was so weird but in a good way. Because I was always at the Cafe Cà Phê events as a part of Cafe Cà Phê and it was for the first time for me to be there as a part of my own organization. It was incredible to see other people, from loyal customers to other vendors, get to learn about our organization. What do you think is the most difficult aspect of the work you do? So there are many different Japanese people in Kansas City because Panasonic is building the power plant in DeSoto, Kansas. A lot of people from Panasonic are very new to Kansas City in general and for them they thought Yukari KC is not really something brand new. They all thought that Yukari KC was a thing for years in Kansas City and then we're like, no, we just founded our organization in January and this is a very new thing that we are trying to do. They're pretty new. They don't really have the idea of how hard it can be to live in a place where there is no community. So I am encouraging them to come to our events so that they can meet the Japanese people who have been living in Kansas City who can help them if they need any help; like which hair salon do they do they go to, what grocery store they should get certain food at. Where should they take their kids to on the weekends. It's a new concept so we're just trying to put our names out there and put what we're doing out there so that it's more noticeable. What's the most fulfilling aspect of the work you do? Just people getting connected meeting for the first time. Seeing them exchanging their numbers and I see pictures posted on their Instagram that they hung out for the first time. That just generally makes my day. What are your organization's goals for the future? Our goal is to be able to reach the Japanese people so we become a better, stronger community with connections within the community. I also would like to host workshops or cooking classes. Japanese people, and Japanese Americans too, miss the connection with Japanese food. I obviously missed my mom's cooking, my grandma's cooking and I'm fortunate enough that I can get the recipe from them. So connecting ourselves with food is important. For more stories about culture and identity, sign up for our free On The Vine newsletter at
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Suburbs grow as Kansas City metro adds thousands of new residents
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City metro is growing — and not just by a little. The U.S. Census Bureau released the latest population numbers for the metro on Thursday, showing the area's growth. Download WDAF+ for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV The latest numbers show that from April of 2020 to July of 2024, Kansas City gained 8,000 more people. Many metro suburbs also saw population growth over that four-year period as many decided to move even further out of town. Reacting to a post on X about the numbers Thursday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the growth is great, but there's more to be done. 'This is undeniably good news, but we need to continue our ongoing work to repopulate the core of our city, particularly in east and south Kansas City, with infill housing development,' Lucas said in a post on X. The U.S. Census Bureau conducted an official census back in 2020 and will do another one in 2030. But every year, they conduct surveys to estimate population growth or regression within every city in America. View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at Right now, the Census Bureau says our country's population is at 341,785,342 people and growing. Almost every city in the metro has seen population growth since 2020. The only cities to see a decrease in population are Independence, Raytown, Prairie Village and Roeland Park. Here's how the Missouri side looks: Kansas City, MO: +1.56% Parkville: +24.88% North Kansas City: +26.09% Independence: -1.06% Raytown: -2.56% Blue Springs: +4.25% Lee's Summit: +5.24% Grandview: +1.65% Liberty: +3.60% Platte City: +1.82% Riverside: +12.14% Missouri news: Headlines from St. Louis, Jefferson City and across the Show-Me State Here are the numbers for the Kansas side: Kansas City, KS: +0.09% Overland Park: +2.86% Olathe: +5.48% Gardner: +10.67% Spring Hill: +26.43% Leawood: +0.35% Mission: +0.57% Merriam +4.10% Roeland Park: -2.69% Shawnee: +3.5% Prairie Village: -0.14% Kansas news: Headlines from Wichita, Topeka and around the Sunflower State Gardner's and Spring Hill's populations have tripled in the past four years. Grain Valley, Kearney, and Oak Grove's populations have also gone up a lot, showing a trend that many Kansas Citians are moving outside the city limits to live in more rural areas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
As a measles outbreak creeps toward Kansas City, public health leaders urge vaccination
A nurse gives an MMR vaccine at the Utah County Health Department on April 29, 2019, in Provo, Utah. The vaccine is 97% effective against measles when two doses are administered (). Amber Schmidtke, a microbiologist, remembers feeling a tinge of relief five years ago as COVID spread across communities. At least it wasn't measles. 'Measles is the most contagious disease we have,' said Schmidtke, who teaches at Kansas City University. But now, she and other public health experts are watching with alarm as the largely preventable virus marches toward Kansas City in the nation's largest outbreak since 2019. So far this year, health officials have confirmed 884 cases across the country, including 46 in southwest Kansas. One Missouri case reported on April 18 involved a child visiting the Branson area. Marvia Jones, director of the Kansas City Health Department, said her agency will be as prepared as possible when cases reach the metro. But there's little doubt about whether they will come. 'It's clear to us that measles is just a car ride away from Kansas Citians,' Jones said at an April 29 press conference that was called to urge people to get vaccinated before the virus gets here. But rising vaccine skepticism, falling immunization rates and recent major cuts to federal public health funding are all working against efforts to quickly end the current measles outbreak, health officials said. 'This makes me heartsick,' said Lynelle Phillips, president of the Missouri Immunization Coalition. 'I think more children will be struck down and killed by a completely preventable outbreak of measles. And I think the question to us as Americans is how many of these children will have to die before we realize the mistake we've made?' Three deaths have been attributed to the outbreak so far, including two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico. Unlike the start of COVID when there was no vaccine, a highly effective measles vaccine is widely available. Until recently it was also widely adopted. By 2000, 37 years after the measles vaccine was introduced, United States health officials could declare measles eliminated because there hadn't been continuous spread for more than a year. Now, that designation is in danger as measles cases spread. So far, the outbreak has reached 30 states. The largest cluster is in Texas, where 663 cases have been confirmed since late January. The rise in measles infections, health leaders said, can be directly linked to low vaccination rates. Herd immunity for measles, when the virus is unlikely to spread, requires a vaccination rate of 95%. But communities and schools are increasingly slipping below that mark. And where that happens, an outbreak becomes much more likely. In Kansas City, three ZIP codes fall below the 95% threshold, city health officials said. 64114 in the Waldo area has an immunization rate of 93%. 64151, where Lake Waukomis is located north of the river, is at 92%. And 64155, where the upscale Staley Farms development is located, has a vaccination rate of only 84%. Jones said these undervaccinated ZIP codes will get special attention as the city works to convince more people to let their kids get vaccines. The health department plans to hold community meetings in these areas in hopes of answering questions and easing hesitancy. 'We are doing all we can to add outreach and have real conversations,' Jones said. The health department also will extend the hours it offers vaccinations. Beginning May 14, vaccines will be available at 2400 Troost Ave. until 7 p.m., and Saturday hours will begin May 17. For an appointment, people can call 311, but appointments are not required. Parents, faced with an internet awash in inaccurate information about vaccinations in general and the measles vaccine specifically, are more often skipping routine childhood immunizations. Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine are recommended for children. The first dose is recommended at about 1 year old, and a second dose when a child starts school, between 4 and 6 years old. During the 2023-24 school year, immunization rates for kindergartners fell to 92.7% nationwide, from 95.2% during the 2019-20 school year. In Missouri, the rate went from 94.6% in 2019-20 to 90.4% in 2023-24. In those same years, Kansas' rate climbed slightly, from 90% to 90.4%. Six metro counties showed MMR vaccination rates below 95% for kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year. Schools require children to have the MMR and other vaccinations in order to attend kindergarten, but states allow exemptions for religious or medical reasons. And those exemptions have been on the rise. The Staley Farms ZIP code's religious exemption rate doubled to 14% last year from 7% in 2019, city officials said. According to state records, private schools in Clay County, where the ZIP code is located, had a religious exemption rate of 13.4% in 2023, compared with 5.4% in 2019. In Kansas, the statewide exemption rate was just over 1% in the 2010-11 school year. But by the 2023-24 year, it was up to almost 3%. And Missouri's statewide rate is getting close to 5%, said Dr. George Turabelidze, Missouri's state epidemiologist. Phillips said the increase can also be traced to a change in Missouri law that took effect at the beginning of 2024, lowering barriers for parents to get vaccine exemptions for their children. It's now as simple as filling out a form online and submitting it to the school. 'Prior to that, you would have to make an appointment at the health department and meet with a public health nurse,' Phillips said. Parents who oppose vaccines objected to the state's previous exemption requirements, saying they violated their speech and religious rights. But Phillips said the added step of going to the health department gave parents an opportunity to learn about the health consequences of choosing to forgo their child's vaccinations. And they also found out that children who are unvaccinated have to miss weeks of school if they are exposed — even if they don't get sick. Public health officials understand that a growing number of people are afraid of having their kids vaccinated. In part, they blame strong anti-vaccination views that took root during the COVID pandemic related to the vaccines developed to treat that virus. 'That (skepticism) spills over to other vaccines as well,' Turabelidze said. In addition to fueling anti-vaccine views, the pandemic also led to more distrust of public health agencies, which became the face of shuttered schools and businesses and other restrictions that some people abhorred. That distrust has made it even harder to get accurate information to people who may be worried about unfounded claims about vaccines that flourish on the internet. One of the most persistent myths — that the MMR vaccine is linked to autism — has been especially common, Turabelidze said. 'It's been debunked so many times, I can't even count,' he said. 'But people keep repeating this myth.' Now, many fear that the vaccine doubts have been given more credibility with the appointment of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. As Missouri's immunization rates have slipped, Turabelidze said the state Department of Health and Senior Services has been working to increase outreach and education efforts, especially to schools or communities with lower vaccination rates. Those communities are sitting ducks for such a highly contagious virus, health experts said. Nine out of 10 unvaccinated people exposed to measles will get sick. And the virus can infect people who don't even come into contact with someone who has it. Measles spreads when people talk, cough or sneeze, but can linger in the air for three hours. 'If I had a person in my class that had measles and didn't know it and they left, everyone who enters that classroom for the next several hours could get it,' Phillips said. 'It's really difficult to manage transmission when you realize just how infectious measles is.' And the measles virus can be dangerous. One in five people who get the virus end up in the hospital, Dr. Susanne Luedtke, an infectious disease specialist at University Health, told reporters during the April 29 press conference hosted by the Kansas City Health Department. One in 20 children contract pneumonia with measles. The disease can cause brain swelling and serious long-term side effects like seizures, hearing loss and a condition called immune amnesia, which can destroy a child's immune response. And between one and three of every 1,000 children who get measles will die. 'Measles is not a rash and a fever,' Luedtke said. 'It's a serious disease with real risks.' Before the measles vaccine came along in 1963, almost everyone came down with measles before they turned 15. The telltale rash would begin at the hairline and move down the torso and out to the extremities. A high fever developed, along with symptoms like a runny nose and cough. Of course, most people recovered as they would from the flu or another viral infection. But before the vaccine, every year an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized and 1,000 developed encephalitis or brain swelling. 'This is not a disease you joke around with,' Turabelidze said. 'It's highly contagious. And it can put you in the hospital. We already have three persons dead in this country. And you can also have long-term consequences.' The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services operates a 24-hour helpline that doctors can call if they run into a potential case of measles. Turabelidze said calls have increased as doctors, many of whom have never run into a case of measles before, grow increasingly wary of unidentifiable rashes. 'More often it's not really measles,' he said. 'But we would rather have a consultation' than an undetected case. The state also has added capacity for the state laboratory to conduct PCR tests for measles. That service, which began in March, will reduce the time test results take, which could make a big difference in quelling an outbreak. 'We wanted to have a very, very quick response time because measles is so highly contagious,' Turabelidze said. When measles is detected, public health agencies play a crucial role in quickly locating anyone an infected person has been around. They also track down people who have shared an inside space where the infected person could have left behind the virus. Public health is critical in managing an outbreak. But for the system to work, experts said, the public needs to trust public health. And public health agencies need to be available to answer questions to assuage concerns, provide information to doctors and patients and offer easy access to the vaccine. 'Vaccines in the refrigerator never yet prevented a single case of infection,' said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 'They have to be administered… This takes human beings and it takes time.' It also takes money. But recent federal funding cuts by the Trump administration have slashed support for public health outreach efforts. On March 24, the Missouri Immunization Coalition, Phillips' organization, lost all of its funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That money funded the group's entire budget, which means it is now 'on life support,' Phillips said. And like other public health organizations that had relied on those funds, the work the coalition had been doing — educating people about vaccines, providing transportation and other resources to improve access — is hanging by a thread. 'Vaccination rates are not going to raise themselves,' Phillips said. 'The organizations involved with all of the education and logistics and support … have been dismantled. At a time when we're witnessing a resurgence in measles, these are the ingredients of a perfect storm.' Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services lost a combined $255 million in the March 24 CDC cuts. That included $135 million in projects currently underway to support the state's public health system and about $119 million for projects that hadn't been determined. Turabelidze said it is unclear how the cuts will affect the state's vaccine efforts. The Kansas City Health Department has seen federal cuts so far of about $3 million, money that was allocated to pay for adult vaccinations and outreach, enhanced laboratory capacity and community health workers. On April 25, the city announced it had joined a coalition of other local governments and a labor union representing government workers in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funding cuts. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said, 'It's important that we as cities and people stand up for common sense and public health in the courts.' It's also worth remembering, Schmidtke said, that eliminating outreach programs may save money in the short term. But if measles cases increase as a result, the ultimate cost will be much more. While each MMR vaccine dose costs around $2, she said, managing a case of someone who contracts measles can cost $50,000. 'I know money isn't everything,' Schmidtke said. 'But when we don't have enough money to get the outreach, to educate the public about the importance of vaccination, to educate them about where to find it, we run the risk of really expensive outbreaks that are hard to control.' This article first appeared on Beacon: Kansas City and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
