School lunch was free for all public school students during the pandemic, but, last fall, students had to start paying again and eligible families had to sign up for free or reduced lunch at the Cafe. Since then, school districts in the Midwest are reporting that fewer children are eating lunch and lunch debt is skyrocketing. Kate Grumke reports for Harvest Public Media on how state and federal officials are responding.
Water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer continue to plummet—agricultural irrigation siphons more than 2 billion gallons of groundwater per day. The Kansas News Service's David Kontos reports that after decades of little action on the issue, Kansas may be moving toward a more dedicated, and perhaps even mandatory, approach to saving the Ogallala.
Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR at Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.
Kansas City Today is hosted by Luke X. Martin. Produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.
You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a member of KCUR: kcur.org/donate
