Frank Morris
Frank Morris has supervised the reporters in KCUR's newsroom since 1999. In addition to his managerial duties, Morris files regularly with National Public Radio. He’s covered everything from tornadoes to tax law for the network, in stories spanning eight states. His work has won dozens of awards, including four national Public Radio News Directors awards (PRNDIs) and several regional Edward R. Murrow awards. In 2012 he was honored to be named "Journalist of the Year" by the Heart of America Press Club.
Morris grew up in rural Kansas listening to KHCC, spun records at KJHK throughout college at the University of Kansas, and cut his teeth in journalism as an intern for Kansas Public Radio, in the Kansas statehouse.
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The second largest Native American city in North America may have been in Kansas. In 1601, a group of Spanish conquistadors stumbled on a vast city. By the time French explorers showed up in the area a century later, the inhabitants had been decimated by European diseases and the city was gone. It's in Arkansas City, Kansas, where locals had been pulling "literally tons" of artifacts from plowed fields for years. But it wasn't until a high school kid with a metal detector found a Spanish cannon shot, that a local archaeologist knew he had a match.
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More Americans are looking for a second home — on wheels. After crashing hard in the recession, RV sales have rebounded and are on track to approach record levels this year.
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The U.S. has a chronic shortage of truck drivers — by one estimate, the trucking industry is short almost 50,000 drivers. If that number doubles as predicted, shipping disruptions will ensue.
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A shortage of line workers raises the question: How do you entice millennials into tough electric utility work, when "you can't get a kid to lick a stamp, much less climb a pole" these days?
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Two of the state's prominent Republicans, Tom Schweich and Spence Jackson, committed suicide just a month apart. Both men were upset about political attacks early in the state's gubernatorial primary.
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Kansas City boasts one of the fastest, most competitive Internet service markets. But people are still trying to figure out what to do with all that speed — and some neighborhoods aren't being served.
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Some U.S. cities are bypassing private Internet providers and creating their own, faster networks. But laws in 19 states impede those efforts, and some cities want the FCC to get involved.
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Robert Finn, head of Kansas City's diocese, is the only U.S. bishop convicted of shielding a sexually abusive priest. Supporters say Finn received conflicting advice about how to handle the problem.
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Secretary of State Kris Kobach is a national crusader against illegal immigration, but this year some of his GOP brethren are turning against him as he struggles to win reelection.
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The EPA wants to "clarify" the scope of its oversight of water under the Clean Water Act. Big farm groups like the American Farm Bureau Federation call this a power grab that would place every ditch and mud puddle under federal regulation, forcing farmers to get permits for small trenches around the farm.