Month: June 2015

The Kansas Supreme Court today said an insurance company should cover a Sumner Academy student who was injured on the way to a soccer match.

According to the court documents, the Sumner Academy student was riding in the back of a pickup truck in 2006 on the way to a soccer match when there was an accident, he was thrown from the truck and sustained serious injuries that required round-the-clock care.

The student, who was a player on the soccer team, should be covered by insurance carried by the Kansas State High School Activities Association, the court stated. The travel during which the student was injured was authorized and subject to reimbursement, and so there was coverage under the policy, the court ruled.

The Supreme Court reversed the ruling by a Wyandotte County District Court judge and a panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals.

One justice dissented from the decision.

The decision is online at http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2015/20150612/107174.pdf.

Improvements for streets and sidewalks in downtown Kansas City, Kan., are planned to start in the next few weeks.

Randy Gorton with BHC Rhodes, which is doing the design work for the project, said the work is planned on Minnesota Avenue between 7th and 8th streets.

The work on Minnesota Avenue around 8th Street is part of the Unified Government’s plan to upgrade Minnesota Avenue, build on the improvements that took place with the transit station and Winkler’s clock on 7th Street, and start carrying those kinds of improvements west, Gorton said.

The improvements will help connect this part of downtown with the Healthy Campus project planned near Waterway Park, he said.

There is currently some activity from utility companies working on Minnesota around 8th Street before street construction can start, he said. This 8th and Minnesota project is not related to work being done this week around City Hall on 7th Street, he added.

The work on Minnesota at 8th Street is a UG-funded project, which will replace all sidewalks, street lights, and the traffic signal at 8th Street, Gorton said. A few other decorative enhancements will be added, so the intersection will look similar to what has been done the last few years around 7th and Minnesota, he added.

The cost of the project is around $1 million, and the contractor is Gunther Construction of Kansas City, Kan., he said.

“The real purpose here is not only to take care of pavement and sidewalks, but to improve and enhance the feel of this part of downtown, and also pave the way for the next steps, continue to enhance the image,” Gorton said.