Month: May 2016

KCK CVB to present annual tourism awards May 4

The Kansas City Kansas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. will celebrate a successful year at its annual Tourism Celebration on Wednesday, May 4.

The luncheon will be held at the Jack Reardon Event Center, 520 Minnesota Ave., in Kansas City, Kan.

Approximately 150 people will be in attendance, including elected officials and tourism industry professionals.

Six awards will be presented to the following tourism advocates and organizations.

A Special Mayor’s Recognition will be presented in honor of Jesse Hope III, proclaiming Wednesday, May 4, as Jesse Hope III Day in Kansas City, Kan. Hope was the founder and curator of the Old Quindaro Museum and dedicated his life to preserving and honoring the legacy of the families of Quindaro. Hope died in 2015.

Unified Government Mayor Mark Holland will recognize Hope’s contributions in preserving the history of the Underground Railroad in America and the significant transformation the town of Quindaro had on our community. Accepting the award will be Anthony Hope, Jesse’s brother.

The Excellence in Hospitality Award will be awarded to Mendi Jones, director of sales at Country Inn and Suites Village West. The award, chosen by the KCK CVB staff, recognizes Jones for her support and partnership with the CVB, as well as her professionalism, hospitality and exceptional customer service to all visitors.

Jones came to Kansas City, Kan., after spending 24 years in the hotel business in Pensacola, Fla., where she also had the reputation for going above and beyond. Kerry Green, meetings, group and event manager of the KCK CVB, will present the award to Mendi Jones.

A special Tourism Partnership Award will be presented to Linda Craghead, assistant secretary of parks and tourism for Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism. Her primary responsibilities include the operation and promotion of the 26 state parks in Kansas and the overall tourism initiatives for the state.

Craghead is being recognized for her commitment to each segment of the hospitality industry in Kansas and her collaborative efforts. Craghead is passionate about outdoor adventure and nature, but mostly, she is passionate about the people and the tourism industry in the state of Kansas. Bridgette Jobe, executive director of the KCK CVB, will present the award to Linda Craghead.

The Tourism Event of the Year Award will be presented to the NCAA Division II Football Championship that was held on Dec. 19, 2015, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. Division II football came to Kansas City after it completed a 26-year-run in Florence, Ala.

The championship will be played at Children’s Mercy Park through 2017. The attendance at the 2015 championship game was a record-setting crowd of 16,181 fans and was televised on ESPN2. The game generated over 1,100 hotel room nights for the Kansas City region. The ability to be the host of the Division II championship game was the result of the efforts and partnership of several organizations. Presenting the award will be Matt Lawrence, general manager of Schlitterbahn Waterpark KC and a current KCK CVB board member. Accepting the award will be Amber Feldman of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Molly Cage of the Kansas City Sports Commission, and Chris Wyche from Sporting KC.

The Tourism Organization of the Year Award will be presented to Strawberry Hill Ethnic Museum and Cultural Center. The museum is located at 720 N. 4th St. in Kansas City, Kan. The Queen Anne style house was built in 1887 as the home to John and Margaret Scroggs, and later became the St. John Orphanage.

The orphanage was originally founded after the 1918 influenza epidemic. During its existence, it was home to over 3,000 children. The museum was founded in 1988 and was dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Slavic heritage prevalent in the Kansas City, Kan., area. Today the museum preserves the history and cultures of over 16 different nationalities. More than 175,000 people have visited the museum. Presenting the award will be Unified Government Commissioner Brian McKiernan. Accepting the award will be Adrienne Nastav, long time museum volunteer and board member.

The Tourism Advocate of the Year Award will be presented to Chris Browne, vice president and general manager of Kansas City T-Bones, for his leadership and contributions to Kansas City, Kan., tourism. Browne started with the T-Bones in 2002 before the first game was ever played at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan. He was named vice president and general manager in 2008.

Browne served on the Kansas City Kansas Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors from 2012 to 2015, serving two years as board chair. The Tourism Advocate award will be presented to Chris Browne by Greg Jackson, general manager for Dave & Buster’s at The Legends and current KCK CVB board chair.

Legislature takes no action on racino bill affecting Woodlands

Although The Woodlands received a special use permit from the Unified Government April 28 to reopen its horse racetrack facility at 97th and Leavenworth Road with slots, residents should not expect to see action on it this year.

Last weekend, a racino bill in the Kansas House did not advance.

Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, R-5th Dist., whose bill passed the Senate last year on increasing the amount of slots revenue that racetracks can keep, said he would not expect to see any movement on the issue until next session. It basically ran out of time this year, he added.

The House considered another bill in the final days of this session, which had included an option for Wichita citizens to vote again on approving slots. Wichita residents turned down slots, while Wyandotte County approved slots at the racetracks in a public vote in 2007.

The Kansas attorney general issued an opinion on April 22 that a re-vote in Wichita, as allowed by House Bill 2537, could result in a breach of contract with state casinos, requiring the state to repay the millions of dollars in privilege fees to the Kansas casinos, and the state might even have to repay the privilege fees if it was determined there was not a breach of contract.

House GOP leadership was quoted as responding to the attorney general’s opinion, saying they did not want to risk a breach of contract.

That bill, 2537, would have increased gaming revenue to the racetrack manager from 25 percent to 64.5 percent in the first and second year of operation, and then to 60 percent in third and future years. The state’s share would have been reduced from 40 to 22 percent. The Unified Government’s share of the slots revenue would have been reduced from 3 percent to 2 percent under that bill.

Sen. Fitzgerald said there is actually a lot of support across the board for the racetrack bill, and he thought his bill would have passed the House if it could have made it out of committee. His bill would not have run into any controversy from the attorney general opinion, since it did not discuss a re-vote in Wichita.

He expects a racetrack bill will be back next year, and those who support it will continue to polish it.

Although he has not heard discussion of plans for next year, he said, “Reading the tea leaves, I would think they’re going to come back with the last thing they tried to get before they ran out of time.”

The Legislature is now adjourned and will come back for a day of final adjournment on June 1.

BNSF honors safety coordinators

BNSF Railway Co. has named 15 safety coordinators in its south region as Safety Employees of the Year. They were all recognized for their efforts at BNSF’s annual Employees of the Year ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.

John Krueger, locomotive engineer and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen safety coordinator, accepted the honor on behalf of his 14 co-workers in the south region.

The annual Employees of the Year program is designed to recognize employees who demonstrate BNSF’s vision and values through their commitment, leadership and focus on working safely and efficiently to meet customer expectations. Their achievements positively affect BNSF customers, fellow employees, owners and the communities served by BNSF. Of the more than 40,000 team members across the company, 52 employees were recognized during the ceremony for their individual and team achievements in 2015. An additional 40 BNSF employees were acknowledged for their safety leadership last year – all of whom led teams that worked throughout 2015 without a reportable injury.

“Our Employees of the Year program is a way to recognize our people for outstanding efforts and results. I’m grateful for the south region’s safety coordinators’ hard work and dedication,” said Carl Ice, BNSF president and chief executive officer. “They are a reflection of our entire team’s commitment to always remaining focused on safety, serving our customers, and delivering on the integral role we play in moving our global economy forward.”

Based in Kansas City, Kan., Krueger joined BNSF nearly 40 years ago and started his current role as a safety coordinator for the Kansas Division’s BLET 11 years ago. Krueger is responsible for establishing a weekly communications to track the division’s safety issues resolution process. “My goal is to make a difference and I want people to go home and have no life-altering events,” Krueger said.

For well over a decade at BNSF, a team of safety coordinators, jointly chosen by their unions and management, have been focused on reducing risk and creating a safer workplace. These safety coordinators represent and support safety initiatives for their respective unions, divisions and regions. They have played a crucial role in building a safety culture of commitment by helping facilitate training, sharing ideas for making the workplace safer and engaging employee-led site safety teams.