poverty

A new pedestrian safety effort by Springfield Police Department is expected to start next week with a handful of officers working voluntary overtime shifts.

Along with the governor, some 2,000 guests celebrated Convoy's new $61 million headquarters near Springfield on Thursday.

For nearly two decades, Springfield has been trying to better prepare children for kindergarten. A series of studies show that most of Springfield’s kids are ready, academically and socially, when they get to their first day of school. But not much progress has been made in terms of lowering the number of kids who aren’t prepared.

Last week, a citizen-driven report on what to do about run-down Springfield homes was made public by the Springfield News-Leader. The Nuisance Property Work Group offers unusually pointed criticism of the city’s track record for making sure homes are livable.

Missouri Medicaid is going through a big change starting Friday, March 31. A pandemic-era federal requirement that kept people enrolled is ending. KSMU’s Gregory Holman is joined by Springfield News-Leader health and public policy reporter Susan Szuch to talk about what that could mean for your family.

The Connecting Grounds church created a free app for people to find Springfield-area homeless shelters, food banks and other community resources.

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act — a COVID recovery law signed by President Biden early in his term — Springfield City Council now has millions in federal money to address pandemic budget problems and spend on issues like homelessness and affordable housing.

The clinic, which serves only uninsured patients, now treats people who make at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Recently a church in Springfield serving unsheltered people came out with its latest “Street Census.” Compared to 12 months ago, church officials found the number of homeless individuals in the area has doubled — even as volunteer preparations for this year's crisis winter shelters kick into high gear.

Ozarks Technical Community College held a ribbon-cutting Monday for its big new Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing. College officials and politicians praised the $40 million project. It’s intended to be a “game-changer" by meeting a shortage of skilled workers and creating a new pathway toward better-paying work.