Month: March 2015

Express Factory Outlet coming to Legends March 19

Express Factory Outlet will open its first location in the Kansas City metropolitan area on Thursday, March 19, at Legends Outlets in Kansas City, Kan.

It will be Express’s only designer outlet center serving the region, according to a Legends Outlets spokesman.

The new concept adds another widely recognized brand to the center’s already exciting and continuously expanding tenant line-up, a spokesman said.

“We are very excited to welcome Express Factory Outlet as a new addition to the center,” said Jessica Bachtel, marketing director of Legends Outlets Kansas City. “Our shoppers value the quality, selection, style and prices that Legends Outlets’ retailers offer, and Express Factory Outlet will deliver just that.”

The only area Express Factory Outlet will occupy the store where Tommy Hilfiger was formerly located, a 7,061-square-foot space next to Phoenix Theaters Legends 14 by the Civic Courtyard Fountain at 1837 Village West Parkway, B-129.

It will feature an assortment of men’s and women’s apparel and fashion accessories including work, weekend, going out and casual wear that reflect the brand’s modern, cool style, a spokesman said.

Many of the store’s target customers are in the 20 to 30 age range and include young adults getting out of college, who are starting careers, and looking for career wear, casual wear and going-out clothes.

The Legends Outlets location is Express Factory Outlet’s first Kansas store and fifth in the Midwest region. Express Factory Outlet joins other new additions at Legends Outlets including Eddie Bauer Outlet and the recently announced permanent Coach location. For more information about Express Factory Outlet, visit http://www.expressfactoryoutlet.com/.

KCKCC student group plans Catholic Mass

by Kelly Rogge
The Catholic Students of Kansas City Kansas Community College is planning a Celebration of Mass on March 23 (the first day after spring break) and is inviting all students, staff and faculty to attend.

The mass will be said by Archbishop Joseph Naumann, the archbishop of Kansas City, Kan. It will begin at 1 p.m. Monday, March 23, in Upper Jewell. Light refreshments will be served after the Mass, and there will also be an opportunity for a meet and greet with the archbishop. Bradley Herron, KCKCC student and the group’s coordinator said KCKCC is fortunate to have the archbishop attend.

“This will be a full Mass, but will be less than one hour,” he said. “Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to attend. You don’t have to be Catholic to attend.”

The group, which started last fall, is the first Catholic group on the KCKCC campus. Its purpose is to help all Catholic students have a place to connect, share their faith and discuss issues related to the Catholicism. And while the group is designed for Catholics, the group welcomes individuals from all religions, including the non-religious and irreligious, to come and learn about the Catholic faith. Everyone is welcome.

The group meets at 12:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of the month in Room 2325. Herron said it is a great way for people to spend time with others in the Catholic faith, especially if they are new to the area.

“There was a problem with students who were not from Kansas City not knowing where they could attend Mass,” he said. “I think that is the biggest reason why we wanted to have a group like this on campus. This is a benefit to so many because they can spend time with others on a spiritual level.”

For information on the Catholic Students of Kansas City Kansas Community College, contact the faculty adviser, Victor Ammons, at 913-288-7233 or by email at vjammons@kckcc.edu.

Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor for Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Five Kansas residents ill, three dead, from listeriosis outbreak linked to ice cream

Five Kansas adults have become ill with listeriosis after consuming ice cream from Blue Bell Creameries, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Listeriosis is a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium listeria moncytogenes, health officials said.

According to the KDHE, three deaths have been reported. Patients became ill with listeriosis after hospitalizations for unrelated causes at the same hospital, according to the KDHE. The KDHE stated it has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in this case.

The illnesses were recorded between January 2014 and January 2015 after a majority of them consumed Blue Bell Creameries ice cream at the hospital, the spokesman said.

According to KDHE, the hospital was not aware of the listeriosis contamination. The outbreak was recently discovered after two patients were identified with the same strain of listeriosis, a spokesman said. Three other patients were found who had been hospitalized for unrelated causes before the onset of listeriosis, according to KDHE.

Today, the FDA warned consumers about the potential contamination in Blue Bell Creameries’ products. Kansas health officials are warning consumers who have purchased the following Blue Bell Creameries novelty items and have not consumed the items to discard them:

• Chocolate Chip Country Cookie
• Great Divide Bar
• Sour Pop Green Apple Bar
• Cotton Candy Bar
• Scoops
• Vanilla Stick Slices
• Almond Bar
• No Sugar Added Mooo Bar (regular Mooo Bars are not included)

Potentially contaminated items have been pulled from retail locations by Blue Bell Creameries and are no longer available for purchase. At this time, no other products from Blue Bell Creameries have been linked to this outbreak.

The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of listeriosis include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms begin from three to 70 days after consuming the bacteria. In 2014, five cases of listeriosis were reported in Kansas.

Anyone who believes they may have become ill with listeriosis should contact their health care provider.

More information about listeriosis can be found on the CDC website www.cdc.gov/listeria. More information about this outbreak can be found on the FDA website http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm438104.htm.