Month: February 2016

KCKCC falls two games back in chase for first-round playoff bye

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Their hopes for a first round playoff bye jolted by a 71-59 loss at No. 5 Johnson County Wednesday night, Kansas City Kansas Community College basketball coach Kelley Newton issued a challenge for his Blue Devils the final four games of the season.

“We have to check ourselves,” Newton said. “I believe this team has the size, the talent and ability to win but we can’t continue to not to show up in big games. I’m challenging myself, my staff and my team: we ‘ve got to get better; we’ve got to play better in big games.”

At 5-3 in Region VI play and 17-9 overall, the Blue Devils trail both JCCC and Fort Scott by two games in the loss column heading into the final four games of the season. Idle Saturday, the Blue Devils are home against Labette Wednesday and Brown Mackie a week from Saturday, then finish on the road at Hesston Feb. 22 and Fort Scott Feb. 24.

Johnson County used a critical five minute stretch the final seven minutes of the half to take control. Tied twice and ahead twice, KCKCC trailed only 25-21 only to misfire on 10 of their final 13 shots of the half and trail 37-27. “We got within eight points three times in the second half but never closer,” Newton said.

Freshman Justin Myers did the most damage for JCCC, missing only one shot including 6 of 7 from three-point range in a 20-point performance.

“Justin Myers had a career night,” Newton said. His biggest trey came when KCKCC closed to a 9-point deficit with 4:50 left.

“For some reason, we looked tired and Johnson County (23-2) is really good,” Newton said. “They know how to score and have an identity and are very hard to play against. But we were not ready to play I’ll take full responsibility for that. It’s tough to swallow when we don’t show up in a big game like that.”

Jonathan Murray led the Blue Devils, hitting 8 of 13 shots for 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Joe Lendway added 11 points and five rebounds; Armoni Shorter 11 points and three 3-pointers; and Kellan Turner 9 points while Mike Lee led in assists with four.

Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.

KCKCC to present ‘The Vagina Monologues’

by Kelly Rogge

Kansas City Kansas Community College is holding a one-night only benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues” in time for the Valentine’s Day holiday.

Each year, Ensler allows colleges and universities throughout the world to produce the play for free as a way to raise funds and bring awareness to ending violence against women. She refers to this as “Women Against Violence Day.”

The production is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the KCKCC Performing Arts Center, 7250 State Ave. Admission is $5 per person and tickets can be purchased at the door. All proceeds will be donated to Safe Haven, a domestic violence shelter in Parkville, Mo.

The play will feature Sharell Hall, Gina Varriano, Christal Williams, Jozzi Rainey, Ashley McClain, Skyla Shaw, Shante Gray and Sparkle Jones.

“The Vagina Monologues” was originally an off-Broadway production created in the mid-1990s. It is based off Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women and talks about a women’s strength and sexuality. The play continues to give a voice to the experiences and feelings women do not generally expose in public and starts the more important conversation of ending violence against women and girls throughout the world.

In the beginning, Ensler performed all of the monologues herself. However, after she left the play, it continued with three celebrity monologists. Other performances of the play have included a different actress for each monologue. In 1998, Ensler along with Willa Shalit created V-Day.

Last year, there were more than 5,800 V-Day benefits raising more than $5 million through performances of the “Vagina Monologues” and readings of “A Memory, A Monologue and A Rant and a Prayer,” among other pieces.

KCKCC’s performance of “The Vagina Monologues” is part of V-Day’s One Billion Rising for Justice Campaign, which is a global call for women survivors of violence to gather in safe places where they can find justice. This includes courthouses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings and other sites where women can feel safe.

To learn more about V Day Kansas City Kansas Community College call 913-288-7106 or email the organization at [email protected]. To learn more about V Day and its campaigns visit www.vday.org.

Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at KCKCC.

Haley plays role in Medicaid expansion issue

Sen. David Haley
Sen. David Haley

State Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., played an important role in the Kansas Senate Feb. 9 concerning a floor discussion on Medicaid expansion.

Sen. Haley said that the chairwoman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee, Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook of Shawnee, had not yet held a hearing on Medicaid expansion in her committee, and she added an amendment on Medicaid expansion to an unrelated bill on the Senate floor. Observers believed her intent was to defeat the issue before a hearing could be held, showing that there was not support for Medicaid expansion.

The amendment was to a bill that required Medicaid recipients to use “step therapy.” If it is enacted, that bill would require Medicaid recipients to try cheaper drugs first in treating medical conditions, before moving to more expensive treatments.

“I called them on the rules and they had to admit this amendment did not fit,” Sen. Haley said. The Senate Rules Committee agreed that the amendment did not fit. The Senate then voted 22-15 that the amendment was not germane.

In a statement in the Senate Journal explaining his vote, Sen. Haley said: “I vote ‘Aye’ to sustain the Rules Committee (and reject the amendment as not germane to the underlying bill): Whatever our opinion(s) on any issue might be, we, the Kansas Senate, should be a chamber of guidelines and of rules…and of laws. Mr. Chair, we cannot just bend rules or decorum as we go along in debate and to do so by not affirming our own established laws would descend this chamber into metered chaos, ridicule and disrespect.”