Serving Kansas City (Wyandotte County) Kansas for over 50 years!
The Kansas City, Kan., Women’s Chamber of Commerce is planning a fundraiser at Culver’s at The Legends Outlets from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30.
The Women’s Chamber is raising funds for its scholarships. This year the organization awarded $5,000 in scholarships.
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Fresh off a sweep of the “Battle of the Dells” Tournament in Wisconsin Dells over the weekend, Kansas City Kansas Community College opens Jayhawk Conference volleyball action Wednesday against one of the top ranked teams in the nation.
The unbeaten Lady Blue Devils (6-0) will start conference play at 5:30 p.m. at Johnson County, the No. 3 ranked team in the NJCAA Division II pre-season poll and the favorite to win the Jayhawk title.
“We’re going to be thrown right into the fire against the defending conference champions,” said head coach Mary Bruno. JCCC’s opening schedule includes a win over Central of Columbus, Neb., and a five-set loss to Lincoln Land, the nation’s No. 2 ranked team and last year’s national runnerup.
KCKCC’s sweep of the “Battle of the Dells” started Saturday with a three-set upset of No. 5 Des Moines Area 25-19, 26-24, 25-18 and was followed immediately by a three-set win over DuPage, Ill., 26-24, 25-16, 25-15.
On Sunday, the Blue Devils needed four sets to get past Monroe College, a Division I team out of New York, winning 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 25-17, and then came right back with a five-set win over Iowa Central. The Blue Devils took the decisive fifth set 19-17 after splitting the first four, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 23-25.
“That was a good match,” Bruno said. “Iowa Central is very solid and we had to play back-to-back matches both days so we were exhausted. It was tough competition all weekend which is just what we needed going into a very tough conference schedule.”
The Blue Devils were led by 5-11 sophomore middle blocker Alexis Harrell of St. Charles, Mo., who in 21 sets had 67 kills and only six errors.
“We also got great performances from right side sophomore Brianna Bonner, sophomore libero Kimberly Martinez and freshman outside hitter Katie Heeter,” Bruno said.
It was the second tourney sweep for KCKCC, which defeated Neosho County and Wentworth Military earlier in the Neosho Tri-Match in Chanute. The Blue Devils needed only three sets in both matches.
At 6-0, the Blue Devils will play six more foes on the road before the home opener against No. 12 Cowley County on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 6:30 p.m. In addition to playing at JCCC Wednesday, KCKCC goes to Highland Sept. 7 and then competes in the Pasco Hernando tournament at New Port Richey, Fla., Sept. 9-10.
Editor’s note: Bob Evans, a freelance writer in Kansas City, Kan., shares his experiences of getting through the floods on Friday night.
by Bob Evans
Weather in Kansas City has always been difficult to predict as many of the TV meteorologists have explained so many times after they miss the forecast, but, still, they do their best to warn the public what’s in the stars.
Just look at the last week and the storms that roared through the metro. Probably the most intense of these stalled almost directly over the Westport area on Friday, Aug. 26. While many areas received between two and three inches of precipitation, the area around Westport received six inches of rain.
I happened to be at the Just Off Broadway Theatre for the debut of their current production “A Soft Escape,” a comedy that stirs memories of The Jeffersons and Jackie Gleason’s The Honeymooners. The show began with no fanfare, but about 15 minutes into it, thunder could be heard rumbling and crackling outside. Soon after, torrential rain could be heard and the actors had to nearly shout to be heard over the storm.
At intermission, the audience all headed to the windows to see how heavy the rain was falling—and it was shocking. Torrential rain continued through the second act. After the show, an opening night party allowed the audience the opportunity to eat some sandwiches and snacks until the rain subsided. And, that was almost 45-minutes.
Upon exit, proprietor Harvey Williams was directing patrons to drive south on Wyandotte Street and up a steep hill to avoid overflowing street drains. Once on Linwood Boulevard, emergency crews could be seen directing traffic away from the Westport area.
So, now, out of the theater, safe in my car, I needed to figure a way home to Kansas City, Kan. Parts of Broadway remain closed for some construction. Southwest Boulevard always seems to present problems. Interstate 670 was closed for the weekend, so the Bottoms would not be a good choice.
The best option seemed to be Interstate 70. So, the plan was to use Main and then switch to Broadway once beyond the construction. Good plan. All was fine until about Eighth and Broadway and emergency crews had stopped all traffic headed over the Broadway Bridge by the old airport.
To make things more difficult, the loop to the right from Broadway to Interstate 70 was flooded. Traffic on I-70 heading west was stopped. Police crews re-routed traffic to turn left to get to I-70.
Once on I-70 what could go wrong? Well, the sky opened up again, and visibility was barely one car length beyond headlights. Traffic was moving about 20 mph on the Interstate. Just changing lanes was a near nightmare. I wanted to exit and go down Minnesota Avenue. I could not get in the exit lane. So, I continued on I-70 westbound.
I considered getting off at 38th Street, but that’s a low area and I had no idea what I might find there, so I continued to 635. Once there, I exited at State and soon after moved to Parallel and home.
What is strange is that the trip from my house to Just Off Broadway Theatre is generally about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic and detours. The trip home was well over an hour, after a 45-minute wait after the play.
I checked with my cousin when I got home to make sure she was home and safe. She said that she had to stop at Quick Trip on Roe for over 45 minutes because she could not see to drive. She chose to come back 18th Street and go through town because she was not sure where there might be problems.