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People from all across the country are coming to Kansas to see a bird. The lesser prairie chicken used to roam the Great Plains by the millions, but now... the population has dwindled to around 25,000. Commentator Rex Buchanan recently took some out-of-state folks to see the rare bird in its native habitat.
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Ever been to a museum in a foreign country and discovered an item on display from your own neck of the woods? Depending on the object and the exhibit, it can be hard to know how to feel about seeing that item. Commentator Rex Buchanan talks about a trip to a museum in Great Britain where he discovered an object on display from his own home state.
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Renewable energy sounds like a good idea to most people. But wind and solar power come with a cost. Commentator Rex Buchanan talks about the trade-offs of green energy and why a massive solar project in central Kansas has been put on hold.
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Efforts are underway to return a large boulder, now located in a Lawrence park, to the Kaw Nation. The rock was moved to Lawrence nearly 100 years ago and installed as a tribute to the white settlers who founded the town. In this guest commentary, we hear from a member of the Kaw Nation as she reflects on the meaning of the tribe's sacred red rock.
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A Lawrence attorney says his LGBTQ+ clients are alarmed and frightened by several new Kansas laws taking effect July 1st.
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On the night of May 25th, 1955, a massive EF-5 tornado tore through the small town of Udall, Kansas, while most of its residents were fast asleep. A new book tells the story of that deadly night. Commentator Rex Buchanan has this review of Without Warning, by Jim Minick.
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It was 88 years ago today that a massive dust storm descended on western Kansas, blacking out the sun and covering everything in a thick layer of dust. The day came to be known as Black Sunday. Hear why so many Kansas believed it was literally... the end of the world.
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Topeka area native Georgia Neese Clark Gray was the first female Treasurer of the United States. But she wasn't the last. Ever since, all U.S. Treasurers have been women. For Women's History Month, Commentator Katie Keckeisen has this remembrance of a remarkable Kansas woman.
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A new art exhibit in Kansas City about the Kansas River will help you see the Kaw in new ways. Commentator Rex Buchanan tells us more about the art and the artist, Lawrence resident Lisa Grossman.
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Lorenzo Fuller, who grew up in Stockton, Kansas, became a Broadway sensation in the mid 1900s. This singer, musician and performer was the first Black man to have a network TV variety show (nearly a decade before Nat "King" Cole).
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Have you ever made a contribution to KPR? Want to make another one? Double up on KPR on this Groundhog Day. Thanks.
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In the early 1870s, Dr. Brewster Higley stepped outside his cabin in Smith County, Kansas and wrote a poem to express his love for the land he now called home. His poem became the state song, Home on the Range.