Training exercises are being conducted today, as well as March 27 and 28, at the Kansas Speedway ear I-70 and I-435 in Kansas City, Kansas.
The exercises are conducted by the Mid-America Regional Council, with personnel from the civil support teams, the Kansas Speedway and public safety agencies in Wyandotte County and across the region.
The purpose of the training exercise to to help agencies practice an integrated response to an attack at a public venue, according to a news release from the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.
Businesses and motorists may notice emergency vehicles including ambulances, fire trucks and patrol cars at or near the Kansas Speedway during this exercise. Access to the site will be limited to authorized personnel, according to the spokesman.
Thunderstorm onset times today (National Weather Service graphic) Rain totals through Tuesday (National Weather Service graphic)
Rain has been falling this morning in Wyandotte County. Off-and-on storms are expected today through tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
Isolated hail up to 1 inch is possible for areas south of I-70 and west of U.S. 63, according to the weather service. (U.S. 63 is a north-south highway in the middle of Missouri.)
In Wyandotte County, the heaviest storms are possible between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. today, according to the weather service.
Most of the rain on Monday and Tuesday should fall on Monday, the weather service added.
Storms will diminish late tonight, but the widespread rain will stick around, with the heavier rainfall shifting south over the I-44 corridor, the weather service said.
The system will exit the area from the northwest to southeast through the day Tuesday, according to the weather service.
The amount of rain could lead to some isolated flooding, especially south of I-70, the weather service said.
Today’s high will be near 59 with an east southeast wind of 7 to 11 mph, the weather service said. There is an 80 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, and new rainfall amounts are expected to be between a quarter and half-inch.
Tonight, there is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a low of 41, according to the weather service. There will be a south southeast wind of 9 mph becoming north northwest after midnight. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is expected.
Tuesday, there is a 50 percent chance of showers, with a high near 48, the weather service said, and a north wind of 8 to 10 mph. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is possible.
Tuesday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 36, and a north wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening, according to the weather service.
Wednesday, the high will be near 62 with mostly sunny skies and a calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon, the weather service said.
Wednesday night, there is a 20 percent chance of showers after 1 a.m., according to the weather service. The low will be around 29.
Thursday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 57, the weather service said.
Thursday night, there will be a 50 percent chance of showers with a low of 35, according to the weather service.
Friday, there will be a 50 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m., with a high near 54, the weather service said.
Friday night, the low will be around 36 with partly cloudy skies, according to the weather service.
Saturday, the high will be near 58 with mostly cloudy skies, the weather service said.
Saturday night, there is a 40 percent chance of showers with a low of 36, according to the weather service.
Easter Sunday, there is a 50 percent chance of showers with a high near 51, the weather service said.
Diane Eickhoff, a Kansas City, Mo., editor and author, spoke during Women’s History Month at a meeting Sunday, March 18, of the Wyandotte County Historical Society. She told of women who disguised themselves as men and fought in the Civil War.
by Murrel Bland
Many of the images of women during the Civil War have been the result of two popular books — “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell and “Little Women” by Louisa Mae Alcott. Both stories became popular movies.
However, women played other very significant roles during this period. Diane Eickhoff, an independent author and editor, and her husband, Aaron Barnhart, told of this at a quarterly meeting of the Wyandotte County Historical Society Sunday, March 18, at the George Meyn Community Center in Wyandotte County Park, Bonner Springs. The program recognized March as “Women’s History Month.”
Eickhoff and Barnhart are the co-authors of the book “The Big Divide: A Travel Guide to Historic and Civil War Sites in the Missouri-Kansas Border Region.”
Eickhoff said that women were beginning to come into their own a few years before the Civil War. The Seneca Falls (N.Y.) Convention in 1848 marked the first meeting that focused on women’s rights. Women were forbidden to own property, sign contracts, serve on juries and vote in elections.
During the Civil War, women prepared bandages, cared for the sick and wounded and did laundry.
The story that had not been told, according to Eickhoff, was that women, both in the North and South, cut their hair and discarded their dresses, put on uniforms and fought alongside of men.
It was not known exactly how many women were in combat; estimates were from 400 to 1,000. One of the women who served was Sgt. A.J. Luther of Elwood, Kansas. She died in 1863 in the Battle of Vicksburg, Louisiana.
Eickhoff said many of these women combatants were farm girls used to hard work and handling weapons. One of the reasons that attracted women to combat was they were paid the same as men — 50 cents a day.
Eickhoff said that there was a shortage of male clerks in Washington, D.C., because many of them were off fighting the war; several women filled these positions. However, after the Civil War when the men returned to Washington, the women were dismissed.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a trustee of the Wyandotte County Historical Society.
