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Health & Wealth Desk

Wednesday mornings during Morning Edition
Harum Helmy

KBIA’s Health & Wealth Desk covers the economy and health of rural and underserved communities in Missouri and beyond. Reporter Harum Helmy produces a short weekly radio segment, as well as in-depth features and regular blog posts. The reporting desk is funded by a grant from the University of Missouri.

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Health & Wealth Update
7:46 am
Wed February 22, 2012

New program eases debt for rural medical students

Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Brady Didion, fourth-year med student at MU, was recently chosen for an early loan repayment program with the National Health Service Corps.
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The average medical school student graduates with close to $160,000 in debt. That heavy burden is one reason why there is a long-running shortage of primary care doctors in rural America. More and more graduating students choose higher-paying specialties over rural primary care. In this weekly update, a new pilot program helps medical students pay off loans as soon as they start residency, so it's easier to choose a lower-paying, but possibly more fulfilling career path.

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Health & Wealth Update
11:09 am
Wed February 15, 2012

Republicans in Congress seek cuts to walking and biking programs

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Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
The new crosswalk at Old 63 and Walnut, connecting Stephens Lake Park to Benton-Stephens. The high-tech crosswalk and two blocks of extra-wide sidewalks cost $247,786.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Ted Curtis heads up GetAbout Columbia, which uses federal grant money to improve pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
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Today the U.S. House of Representatives is debating a Republican-backed transportation bill, which would authorize $260 billion for the next five years. More money would go to highways, but at the expense of stable funding for public transportation, and the elimination of pedestrian and cycling programs. In this Health & Wealth update, among the proposed cuts is a pilot project in Columbia that's responsible for many of the new bike lanes, sidewalks and crosswalks around town.

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Health & Wealth Update
7:00 am
Wed February 8, 2012

'Obamacare' opposition helps Santorum in primary

Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Rick Santorum greets supporters in Columbia on Friday.
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Rick Santorum trounced Mitt Romney yesterday in Missouri's "beauty contest" presidential primary. The state's delegates won't be chosen until caucuses on March 17, but the vote added to Santorum's momentum as he also swept Minnesota and Colorado. In this week's Health & Wealth update, how conservative opposition to Obama's Affordable Care Act may have helped Santorum in the Show-Me State.

Health & Wealth Update
7:05 am
Wed February 1, 2012

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks jobs, farm safety net

Credit Andy Dandino / USDA
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at a roundtable in Kansas City last week.
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Following up on President Obama's State of the Union address last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is touring the country, touting his boss's job-creation efforts in rural America -- Missouri was his latest stop. In this week's Health & Wealth update, a conversation with Secretary Vilsack: we talk rural jobs, USDA office closures, and the fate of the farmer's safety net in the face of natural disasters and shrinking budgets. 

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Health & Wealth Report
2:09 pm
Tue January 31, 2012

Mormons returning to northwest Missouri, 174 years after 'extermination order'

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Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
"We believe that this is the birthplace of the human race," said Barry Bartlett, who moved to Missouri 16 years ago. His great, great, great, great grandfather wielded a mean oak stick back in the Gallatin election day battle of 1838.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Bryan Youd is the bishop in charge of the local church here in Gallatin. He's standing in the chapel of the new building.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Just off Highway 13, past the Gallatin Quarry.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
The overlook at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. In the summer, the corn is tall and the tour busses thick.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
The church was built in 2005, but members quickly outgrew the new space, and added on in 2008.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Downtown Gallatin. The Mormon community here now numbers around 400, a sizable group in a town of less than 2000.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
"All of this is this noxious blend of religious bigotry, land hunger, and this cultural difference," said Tom Spencer, historian at Northwest Missouri State.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
John Dougan, the Missouri state archivist. The original "Mormon extermination order" of 1838 is housed at the archives, as is Governor Kit Bonds' rescission order of 1976.
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Ever since Mormon prophet and founder Joseph Smith revealed the Book of Mormon in 1830, his followers have struggled for acceptance. If you want to understand the "why" behind this rocky relationship, the rolling farmland of northwest Missouri might be the best place to start -- the birthplace of the human race, according to Joseph Smith, and the place where Christ will first step down in the second coming. 

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Health & Wealth Update
10:45 am
Wed January 25, 2012

Who's at fault when an emu attacks?

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Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Art Gelder with his Missouri mulefoot hogs.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Art and Vera Gelder on their 11 acre farm, just a few miles north of Columbia.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Representative Don Ruzicka, Republican from Lawrence County, introduced the agritourism bill.
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Agriculture and tourism are two of Missouri's biggest industries. But when the two activities meet -- think wine tastings or hay rides -- legal complexities ensue. On this week's Health & Wealth update, farmers in Missouri want the legislature to pass a law clarifying who is liable if someone gets hurt in the corn maze.

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Health & Wealth Blog
8:36 am
Mon January 23, 2012

Getting kids to eat their broccoli: interview with Marion Nestle

Credit foodpolitics.com
Writer Marion Nestle.
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In this extended interview with food and nutrition writer Marion Nestle, we discuss Michelle Obama's anti-childhood obesity campaign, what food companies are doing to fight it, and how to get kids to eat their broccoli.

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Health & Wealth Update
7:05 am
Wed January 18, 2012

The exercise commonly known as 'jumping jacks'

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Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
It's not official yet. But still good exercise.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Fourth graders at Pershing Elementary.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Jumping jacks are good for you.
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In all the political coverage lately, you may have missed Missouri House Bill 1063: it would make "the exercise commonly known and referred to as 'jumping jacks'" the official exercise of the state of Missouri. In this week's Health & Wealth update, could getting more kids jumping help reduce childhood obesity?

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Health & Wealth Update
11:45 am
Wed January 11, 2012

Another roadblock for Missouri health exchange

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Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Republicans in the Missouri Senate want to make sure the governor doesn't create a health care exchange without their consent.
Credit Jacob Fenston / KBIA
Senator Rob Schaaf, Republican from St. Joseph.
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Last session, Republicans in the Missouri Senate blocked the creation of a state-run health insurance exchange. The online insurance marketplace is required under Obama's health reform law, but has become a political football in states like Missouri, with a Republican-controlled legislature. In this week's Health & Wealth update, Republican senators move to put one more roadblock on the path to a state exchange.

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Health & Wealth Update
11:47 am
Wed January 4, 2012

Smoking in the LGBT community

Credit Willem van de Poll / flikr
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Missouri has one of the highest smoking rates in the nation -- at 21 percent, it's double the rate in states like Utah and California. But some segments of the population smoke even more. In this week's Health & Wealth update, I talk with MU researchers who have found that the smoking rate among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Missourians is much higher than in the population at large.

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