Month: October 2014

Safe Halloween events offered for children in Wyandotte County

Safe Halloween events in Wyandotte County:

Safe trick-or-treating offered at recreation centers
Safe trick-or-treating events will be offered at Unified Government recreation centers on Friday, Oct. 31. The times of the events are 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Armourdale, Bethany, Eisenhower, Argentine centers, and from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kennedy and Kensington centers. Center locations: JFK Recreation Center, 1310 N. 10th St.; Eisenhower Center, 2901 N. 72nd St.; Argentine Community Center, 2810 Metropolitan; Armourdale Community Center, 730 Osage; Bethany Community Center, 1120 Central Ave.; Kensington Gym, 2900 State Ave. For more information call 913-573-8327.

Leavenworth Road Association to help at Eisenhower and FOP trick-or-treat events
The Leavenworth Road Association volunteers will assist from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Eisenhower Recreation Center and the FOP safe trick-or-treat events. The Eisenhower Center, 2901 N. 72nd St., will have games and treats for children. FOP also will hold a trunk-and-treat event and haunted house at the FOP Hall, 7844 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kan.

Alcott Center plans Halloween event
The Alcott Arts Center will hold a “Super Heroes and Villains” theme safe Halloween event for children from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the center, 180 S. 18th, Kansas City, Kan. Children may dress up in Halloween costumes, meet super heroes and villains characters on the decorated south lawn of the center, where they can trick-or-treat. Parents may bring a camera to take a picture of the child with the superheroes. There also will be children’s face painting by Sheryl Nance Durst, and posters by artist Darryl Woods will be drawn. There is no charge for the event. Donations of candy and items to give away are being accepted for this event. There are often 400 to 600 children attending this event, according to organizers. Call 913-233-2787 or email [email protected] to arrange for drop-offs of donations.

Safe alternative to Halloween offered at Mt. Carmel
A Fall Festival, “Night of Safety,” is offered as a Christian alternative to Halloween from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at Mt. Carmel Church of God in Christ, 2025 N. 12th St., Kansas City, Kan. The event is free and open to the public, and is geared to children. There will be food, a moonwalk, games and activities for children. According to a spokesman, since a recent drive-by shooting happened in the area, many persons could be afraid to “trick or treat,” and this event is being offered as a safe alternative. Members of the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department, Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, along with leaders and churches in the community, plan to attend. Those attending are asked to stay at the event from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., although they also may stay through the entire event until 8 p.m. “With serious thoughts and prayers, our church is committed to be there for the healing process of our neighborhood,” a spokesman said.

The Wyandotte Daily News is interested in news of your community event in Wyandotte County. Send information to [email protected] and include your name and phone number.

Federal charges filed in bank robbery case

A bank employee was dragged by the hair during an armed robbery at a bank in Overland Park, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Friday.

Clifton B. Cloyd, 53, and Steven A. Watts, 54, were charged with one count of bank robbery and one count each of brandishing a firearm during the robbery.

A criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., alleged Cloyd and Watts were arrested Oct. 29 as they fled with money they stole from the Bank of America at 9500 Mission in Overland Park, Kan.

The affidavit alleges that during the robbery:

• Five bank employees and a customer where held at gunpoint.
• Cloyd, who was carrying a handgun, grabbed one of the bank employees and pulled her by the hair and scarf to the teller station. He struck her in the face three times with a handgun.
• Cloyd struck a customer so hard her glasses flew off and she was knocked to the floor.
• Cloyd struck a male bank employee with such force that his head started bleeding.
• Watts pointed a handgun at an employee and demanded she open the safe after they had tried to get into the safe-deposit boxes but failed.

If convicted, the defendants face a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than 25 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the bank robbery charge, and a penalty of not less than seven years and a fine up to $250,000 on the firearm charge.

The Overland Park Police Department, the Prairie Village Police Department, the Leawood Police Department and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel is prosecuting.

Sporting KC falls 2-1 at New York in playoff

Sporting Kansas City’s 2014 season came to an end with a 2-1 loss on Thursday night at the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round of the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Dom Dwyer scored his team-record 24th goal of the year across all competition, but Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his second goal of the game in the 90th minute to complete the comeback.

In the postseason for a fourth straight year and returning to the playoffs as the reigning MLS Cup champions, Sporting Kansas City fell to the Red Bulls for a third time in 2014 and suffered its second such defeat in a five-day span.

New York, which earned its first playoff victory at Red Bull Arena and snapped a postseason home winless streak that dated back to 2005, now advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against No. 1 seed D.C. United.

The two sides — meeting for the first time in the playoffs in their 19-year history — played to a scoreless first half that saw scoring chances on both ends of the field. Australian international Tim Cahill sent his shot over the crossbar from six yards out in the 17th minute, as did Wright-Phillips with a header 15 minutes later.

Thierry Henry found space on the left side of the penalty area in the 34th minute only to push his shot wide of the far post. Sporting Kansas City responded less than a minute later as Dwyer chased down a long ball from Aurelien Collin and picked out Paulo Nagamura, whose first-time shot was saved by Luis Robles.

The second half started emphatically with New York nearly finding the breakthrough goal in the 48th minute. Henry’s free kick into the area was punched away by Eric Kronberg and fell to Dax McCarty at the top of the 18-yard box. The eight-year MLS veteran directed his header narrowly wide of the empty net.

Instead it was Sporting Kansas City that recorded the game’s opening goal in the 53rd minute. Benny Feilhaber forced a turnover at midfield and ran at goal before slipping the ball centrally to Dwyer. The Englishman made no mistake, burying a first-time shot with his left foot past Robles for his second career postseason goal.

The Red Bulls rally would commence immediately as the East’s top scoring team forced three saves in a four-minute span. Kronberg made his best save of the night in the 55th minute to tip a Henry header over the crossbar, followed by a save on Jamison Olave’s header on the ensuing corner kick and finally a stop on Lloyd Sam with two New York players looming.

The equalizer came in the 77th minute courtesy of Wright-Phillips, the MLS Golden Boot winner who matched the MLS single-season record with 27 goals in the regular season. Henry put the ball into his path and his right-footed shot took a deflection off Matt Besler before hitting the back of the net to set the stage for the last-minute dramatics.

In the final minute of regulation, Wright-Phillips rose to meet a cross from second-half substitute Ambroise Oyongo and directed his header off the inside of the far post for the game-winning goal. Wright-Phillips goal was his sixth against Sporting KC in 2014, including braces in back-to-back games over the past week.

The loss snapped Sporting Kansas City’s 45-game unbeaten streak (43-0-2) in MLS competition (including playoffs) when leading in the 75th minute dating back to 2011 and brings the 2014 campaign to a close after 43 competitive matches.

With Thursday’s elimination, Sporting Kansas City will hold the 11th position in Major League Soccer’s various player acquisition mechanisms (MLS SuperDraft, allocation order) for the upcoming 2015 season.
– Story from Sporting KC