Month: November 2017

No. 10-ranked KCKCC seeded No. 11 in national soccer tournament

Blue Devils to face No. 2 ranked Schoolcraft (15-0) in tourney opener Monday

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

The No. 11 seed in a 12-team field, Kansas City Kansas Community College will go into the NJCAA Division I national tournament as an underdog.

But that’s the way the Blue Devil coaching staff likes it.

“We were underdogs at No. 7 ranked Cloud County and won and probably the underdog in the district playoffs and won,” KCKCC coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “Obviously we’re going up against the best in the country but then we feel we belong among the best.”

While seeded No. 11 in the national tournament, the Blue Devils finished No. 10 in the NCAA Division I rankings – the first time KCKCC has ever finished in the Top 10 let alone the Top 20.

The Blue Devils (12-3-1) will open national tournament play Monday against unbeaten Schoolcraft (15-0) of Livonia, Mich. The No. 2 team in both the national rankings and tournament seedings, Schoolcraft has 11 wins by shutout this season.

On Tuesday, KCKCC will face No. 7 seeded Monroe College (12-1-2) of New Rochelle, N.Y. Both games will kick off at noon (CST) and will be streamed on the NJCAA network.

Ironically, Monroe comes into the national off its first loss of the season. After winning the Region 3 championship, the No. 5 ranked Mustangs lost to Mercer College 1-0 in a battle of regional champions in which both teams qualified for the national tournament – Mercer as the No. 6 seed and Monroe as No. 7.

The Blue Devils will depart from Prescott Saturday morning, hold a practice Sunday and take part in a big pre-tournament Sunday night.

The final 12-team field is made up of four 3-team pools and includes each of the top 10 teams in the final rankings along with No. 18 Waubonsee (Ill.) and No. 20 Illinois Central.

All games will go to a Shootout if tied after regulation play and two 10-minute overtime periods. Each win is worth three points. In case of a tie, the tiebreakers are head-to-head, goal differential, goals scored and goals allowed.

The pairings and seedings for the national tournament:
Pool A – No. 1 St. Louis, No. 8 Pima (Ariz.), No. 12 Illinois Central.
Pool B – No. 2 Schoolcraft (Mich.), No. 7 Monroe (NY), No. 11 KCKCC.
Pool C – No. 3 Vavapai (Ariz/), No. 6 Mercer (NJ), No. 10 Wabonsee (Ill.).
Pool D – No. 4 Tyler (Texas), No. 5 Indian Hills (Iowa), No. 9 Louisburg (NC).

Kids Count Report shows steady drop in Kansas childhood poverty rate

Map from Annie E. Casey Foundation/Kansas News Service

by Madeline Fox, Kansas News Service

The childhood poverty rate in Kansas has been decreasing since 2014. But a recently released report from the national KidsCount organization shows that decrease isn’t evenly distributed across the state.

In 2015, the latest year for which county-by-county numbers are available, the number of Kansas counties with the highest child poverty rates —where roughly 23 percent to 33 percent of children live in poverty — stayed relatively level, dropping to 14 counties from 15 the year before.

The big difference in Kansas child poverty rates showed up one category lower, in counties where about 18 percent to 22 percent of kids live in poverty. In 2014 that included 45 counties, but in 2015 it dropped to 35.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families did not say whether the agency had targeted those communities nor whether efforts to reduce childhood poverty vary by county.

Taylor Forrest of DCF cited the statewide 26 percent decline in the childhood poverty rate from 2011 to 2016, crediting it to reforms under Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration such as the HOPE Act and follow-up legislation.

“As an agency, we continue to encourage Kansans to achieve self-reliance and promote the well-being of families,” she said.

According to the new Kids Count information, childhood poverty statewide decreased from 18 percent in 2014 to 17 percent in 2015. In 2016, it dropped to 14 percent.

Childhood poverty also declined nationwide during that three-year period, from 22 percent in 2014 to 21 percent in 2015 to 19 percent last year.

The federal government determines poverty based on family size and annual income. For 2016, a family of two adults and two children fell in the 100 percent poverty category if their annual income fell below $24,339.

Johnson County, the county with the lowest percentage of its children below the poverty line in both 2014 and 2015, saw its rate decrease from about 8 percent in 2014 to 6.5 percent in 2015. The county with the highest percentage of its children below the poverty line, Wyandotte County, also saw a slight decrease, from 34.5 percent in 2014 to 32.1 percent in 2015.

Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @maddycfox. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kids-count-report-shows-steady-drop-kansas-childhood-poverty-rate.

Cool temperatures through Friday, then light rain possible

National Weather Service graphic

After another couple days of cool temperatures, seasonable temperatures return to the area this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Clouds and some light rain will accompany the slightly warmer temperatures this weekend, but only a few hundredths of an inch, perhaps up to a tenth of an inch of rain, is expected this weekend, the weather service said.

Warmer temperatures will come in next week, with a few days of upper 50s to lower 60s, the weather service said.

Today, it will be sunny with a high near 48, the weather service said, with a north northeast wind around 8 mph.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear with a low of 22, according to the weather service, and an east northeast wind of 7 mph.

Friday, it will be mostly sunny with a high of 43 and an east southeast wind of 7 to 9 mph, the weather service said.

Friday night, the low will be around 36 with mostly cloudy skies and a south southeast wind of 8 mph, according to the weather service.

On Saturday, Veterans Day, there is a 30 percent chance of rain after noon, with a high of 50 and a south wind of 6 to 9 mph, the weather service said.

Saturday night, there is a 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before midnight, with a low of 41, according to the weather service.

Sunday, the high will be near 51 with partly sunny skies, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 33, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 53, the weather service said.