Month: February 2017

Children’s book about bus inspires a library video

The magic of children’s author Matt de la Peña’s Newbery award winning “Last Stop on Market Street” comes to life in a video released by the Kansas City, Kan., Public Library.

The video features Matt de la Peña reading his book to a group of children from Quindaro Elementary while riding a RideKC bus. As he reads, actors from KC MeltingPot Theatre and Arrowhead Middle School portraying the book characters board the bus for a live-action depiction of the story.

This video, filmed on Sept. 16, 2016, was part of KCKPL’s Stories on the Bus program and Library in the Park celebration. Stories on the Bus was conceived by KCKPL as a way to use stories to connect the community through surprise pop up storytimes on RideKC busses. The “Last Stop on Market Street” live-action storytime was the culmination of the series.

“Last Stop on Market Street teaches us what it means to open our minds and our hearts to perceive the world around us as what it can be, not just as it is, and to be a better witness for what’s beautiful,” Louisa Whitfield-Smith, outreach librarian, said. “Filming the video was a really exciting opportunity to do something with a sense of wonder and fun for the awesome kids in our community.”

“One of the coolest parts of today is that I got to watch the book come to life. I love reading my books to kids because I feel like it’s one thing to read a book; it’s another thing to get the music of the text,” said author Matt de la Peña. “That’s kind of the dream of any author.”

The storytime and video are the result of a collaboration between KCKPL and RideKC.

“RideKC was honored to take part in this project with the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library,” said Bridget Moss, RideKC public affairs manager. “In Matt de la Peña’s ‘Last Stop on Market Street,’ a boy learns to see the beauty and magic in the ordinary world. Riding the bus becomes a way to experience more of life, not less. KCKPL found a creative way to reach out to citizens, young and old, through this live performance of ‘Last Stop on Market Street,’ and through the surprise storytimes over the summer.”

It was filmed and edited by Eric Smith of Majestic Rhinos, Andrew Thomas of No City Films, and J.R. Caines of Caines Design.

The video is available on the library’s Facebook page (facebook.com/kckpubliclibrary) and YouTube channel (youtube.com/KCKPublicLibrary).

“KCKPL’s Stories on the Bus: Matt de la Peña reads Last Stop on Market Street” Cast and Crew
Last Stop on Market Street:
Matt de la Peña – Author
Christian Robinson – Illustrator

Awards for Last Stop on Market Street:
Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
A New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2015
A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book of 2015

Cast:
Matt de la Peña – Reader / Narrator
Roy J. Tucker – CJ
Sharon Hunt – Nana
Jeff Stocks – Guitar Player
Ben Bragg – Visually Impaired Rider
Collin Hormann – Student Rider
Carwin Cooper – Student Rider
Thurman “T.C.” Craney – Mr. Dennis (the bus driver)
Bridget Moss – Woman with Butterflies

Linda Williams – General Manager, KC Melting Pot Theatre
Harvey Willaims – Artistic Director, KC Melting Pot Theatre

Crew:
Eric Smith – Director of Photography
Andrew Thomas – Camera Operator / Editor / Animator
J.R. Caines – Camera Operator / Graphics Artist

Music:
Original Song by Jeff Stocks

– Story from Kim Woolery, Kansas City, Kan., Public Library

Suspect in custody after bank robbery at 109th and Parallel

A suspect is in custody after a bank robbery this morning at 109th and Parallel Parkway, according to an FBI spokeswoman.

The robbery was reported at U.S. Bank at The Legends at 10959 Parallel Parkway, the spokeswoman stated.

Kansas City, Kan., police officers took the suspect into custody, according to the FBI spokeswoman.

The suspect had given the bank teller a demand note, and then the suspect fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money, the FBI spokeswoman stated.

T-Bones’ Blackwood to retire

Jake Blackwood (File photo from T-Bones)

The Kansas City T-Bones announced that one of the organization’s best players and a long-time Kansas City area resident, Jake Blackwood, is retiring.

Blackwood, who was born in Charleston, S.C., but moved to the Kansas City area at a young age, spent four of his 11 professional seasons in a T-Bones uniform, including the last two, 2015 and 2016.

“This was a hard decision but it’s something I want to do because of my family,” said Blackwood, who, along with his wife Chelsea, has a 3-year-old son and a newborn daughter. “I haven’t missed a summer of baseball since I was 4 years old, and I’ve spent 11 years of my adult life being gone in the summers. I want to be home during the week and be with my family.”

Blackwood, 31, retires near the top of the T-Bones’ franchise leaders in several categories including games played (second, 359), at-bats (second, 1,450), hits (second-tied, 430), doubles (third, 84), home runs (third-tied, 60), extra-base hits (second, 150), RBIs (fourth, 254), and runs scored (second, 706). The best single season of Blackwood’s career was with Kansas City in 2010, when he finished with 141 hits, five triples, 31 home runs, 86 RBIs and a .331 batting average. After the season he was selected as the league’s Player of the Year.

“The T-Bones have been proud to be associated with Jake Blackwood over the years,” said T-Bones vice president and general manager, Chris Browne. “Jake was a team leader on the field and in the clubhouse. He represented the T-Bones well, played the game the right way and respected the game.”

The then-Florida Marlins selected Blackwood in the 16th round of the 2006 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Maple Woods Community College. Blackwood, who starred at Platte County High School, spent the first three seasons of his career in the Marlins’ organization.

After finishing the 2009 season and playing all of ’10 with the T-Bones, he signed a minor-league contract with the San Diego Padres and played three seasons in their system, reaching double-A in 2012 and ’13. He played for Winnipeg in 2014, before beginning his second stint with Kansas City in 2015. Throughout his professional career, which includes one season of winter ball in Mexico and Venezuela, Blackwood batted .271 with 122 home runs, 635 RBIs and 541 runs scored in 1,127 games.

“It was a huge honor to finish my career with the T-Bones,” Blackwood said. “I loved being a hometown guy and playing in front of friends and family, but also in front of fans who were amazing. A lot of professional baseball players don’t get to play where they grew up and experience that. I couldn’t ask for a better experience, but now I’m ready to move on to the next chapter in my life.”

“Jake will be missed nightly by our fans, but he will always have a place at our park,” Browne said. “He will remain a T-Bone at heart.”

The “next chapter” for Blackwood, besides spending time with his family, includes coaching a 16u showcase baseball team. Blackwood has worked with many of those players as a private instructor in recent years.

“I’m excited to coach this team,” he said. “There are three to five guys on this team who could get drafted out of high school, so we have a lot of talented kids with good heads on their shoulders. I’m ready to give back to the game that gave so much to me.”

As Blackwood reminisces now about his 11-year professional career, he’s already pretty sure what he’s going to miss the most.

“I’ll miss the games as a player, of course, but it’s really the time with the boys,” he said. “When you’re playing, 17-hour bus rides to Laredo aren’t a lot of fun, but I’m going to miss those times, and the times in the clubhouse or going out with the guys after the game. I have made a lot of really good, lifelong friends in professional baseball.”

– Story by Matt Fulks, T-Bones