Alex Smith
Alex Smith began working in radio as an intern at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. A few years and a couple of radio jobs later, he became the assistant producer of KCUR's magazine show, KC Currents. In January 2014 he became KCUR's health reporter.
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The environmental movement is doing more to address the psychological toll on activists and volunteers, encouraging resilience and self-care to counteract anxiety and grief over planetary damage.
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After her son's death, a mother in the Kansas promotes mental health for environmentalists. It's part of a larger push to address the burnout and psychological stress that can affect activists. -
Midwestern states had some of the nation's highest percentages of kids with detectable blood-lead levels. And the authors of a new nationwide study say there is no amount of lead that is safe for children.
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Biden administration officials announced plans for COVID-19 booster shots to be made widely available starting September 20. But local health departments and experts are scrambling to keep up with the latest guidance and research.
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Data collection for race and ethnicity vary among states, complicating efforts to distribute COVID-19 shots to all groups. In Missouri, health officials have questioned the data's usefulness.
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To avoid racial or ethnic disparities in vaccination rates, health officials are doing outreach. But demographic data quality varies between states. In Missouri, there are errors they can't quite fix.
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KU doctors urged the public to recognize the proven safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
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In Kansas City, hospitals are treating local COVID-19 patients as well as patients transferred from rural counties in Missouri and Kansas, where there's no mandate or culture for wearing masks.
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With coronavirus infections at record rates in rural areas, the sickest patients are being sent to big cities for care, and those urban hospitals are getting alarmingly full.
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Coronavirus hospitalizations are now several times higher than during the initial spring wave.
