November 2018 – Page 70 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Wyandotte County seeing a 31 percent voter turnout so far

Wyandotte County saw a voter turnout of 31.3 percent as of 11 a.m. on Election Day, according to Election Commissioner Bruce Newby.

Ballots that were voted by mail and returned by Nov. 5 totaled 8,128; in-person early voting totaled 7,686 ballots cast; and Election Day turnout as of 11 a.m. was 10,243, according to Newby.

The highest turnout in a midterm election since 1996 in Wyandotte County was 44 percent in 2002, according to Newby. The average turnout for a midterm election is 40.1 percent.

The highest turnout in a presidential election year was 71 percent in 1996 in Wyandotte County, with the average turnout for a presidential election at 63.2 percent.

Polls will be open until 7 p.m. Tuesday. Voters should bring their driver’s licenses or other approved identification.

Residents, groups come together to build new playground at Fisher Park

Unified Government parks and recreation staff, along with volunteers, put together new playground equipment on Saturday, Nov. 3, at Fisher Park, 3800 Fisher St., Kansas City, Kansas. (Staff photo by Mary Rupert)

Billy Brame was happy about the Fisher Park playground build on Saturday.

“It means we have a place for my daughter to play,” Brame said.

He lives close to Fisher Park, 3800 Fisher St., in the Rosedale area of Kansas City, Kansas.

A few years ago, the slide broke at the playground and since then, there was nowhere for his daughter to play, he said.

“Then we got a grant going,” Brame said. Neighbors contacted the Rosedale Development Association for help to repair the playground. A partnership developed with the neighborhood, the UG and RDA. Some grants were received to fund the project.

Participating in the selection process, about 100 children and 44 adults in the neighborhood chose from five different designs for the playground, and most selected a design by ABCCreative.

On Saturday, Nov. 3, the residents saw the results of their efforts.

“It’s really exciting for our community,” said Alissa Workman, RDA development and events coordinator.

She said about 40 people attended the playground build on Saturday, including mostly volunteers, with about 15 parks and recreation staff members. Those attending included UG Parks and Recreation staff, including director Jeremy Rogers, volunteers from neighborhood families, Rosedale Development Association volunteers, youth volunteers from the India Association of Kansas City, and the Gunter Construction team.

The new playground will have areas that accommodate children with mobility and sensory issues.

Workman said three grants were received for the project, including a large grant for redeveloping the park’s play space from the Meet Me at the Park grant program, a part of the National Recreation and Park Association and Disney Place group. It was a collaborative project, with in-kind donations and grants from Wyandotte County Parks Foundation, the Neighborhood Rising Fund, and the Rosedale Development Association.

A drawing showed what the playground will look like when it is finished. (Staff photo)

Fisher Park is at 3800 Fisher St. in the Rosedale area of Kansas City, Kansas. (Staff photo)

KCKCC jolts No. 3 Highland 3-2 in Jayhawk’s biggest volleyball stunner

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 2018 volleyball season came to an end Saturday but not before the Lady Blue Devils landed the biggest Jayhawk Conference upset blow in recent years.

Athletic Director Tony Tompkins called it “Awesome.”

“Fantastic,” agreed coach Mary Bruno-Ballou in the wake of KCKCC’s stunning 3-2 win over No. 3 Highland, much to the dismay of a partisan home crowd in a raucous, jam-packed Highland gymnasium.

Just five days earlier, the No. 3 ranked Scotties had staked their claim to the No. 1 ranking with a 3-0 home court thrashing of Coffeyville.

The win sealed the Jayhawk East championship and No. 1 seed in the District M pairings for the Lady Scotties, who came into the playoffs with 24 straights wins after their only losses to No. 1 Parkland and No. 4 Johnson County,

But that was before taking on a gutsy gang of Lady Blue Devils, who quieted the crowd with their best performance of the season.

Highland took the opening set 25-15 but visions of an easy romp to the district finals were quickly dispelled as the Blue Devils took command. Trailing 12-5 in the second set, KCKCC rallied for a 25-23 win and then jumped in front 10-5 in a 25-18 third set win.

Highland got the match back to even with a 25-22 fourth set win before KCKCC surged to 6-3 and 8-4 leads on the way to a 15-10 clinching win.

“Every time Highland would get some momentum, we’d have some one step up and score,” Tompkins said.

Bruno-Ballou said a switch offensively from a 6-2 to a 5-1 was the key to the Blue Devils’ comeback in the second set.

“We were down seven points and rallied as a group. We played awesome. Our four attackers, three of them freshmen, combined for 53 kills.”

Amilex Ayala had 16 kills, Tara Mattingly 13 and Allayah Stillwell and sophomore Randi Johnson 12 each. Sophomore Kelsey Rankin led in assists with 47 while Lopez added 21 and sophomore Libero Kelli Sleefe 18.
The win sent KCKCC into the championship against No. 4 Johnson County, who had to rally for a 3-2 win over Neosho County. The Cavaliers dropped the first two sets 25-18, 25-21 before winning the final three 25-12, 25-21, 15-10.

That set up a championship match that started at 10 p.m. After taking a 25-17 opening win, JCCC (27-7) held on 25-23 in the second set and then won the third 25-14 and a berth in the national tournament.

“We were up by five points in the second game but let Johnson creep back in,” Bruno-Ballou said. “We were not able to maintain the same intensity and focus as we did against Highland.”

The final match did not end until nearly midnight but Bruno-Ballou refused to blame the late start for the loss.

“We had a four-hour wait, time to refuel but it was also four hours since we had played. But it was a great atmosphere in which to play,” she said.

The loss ended KCKCC’s season at 19-16. The best season in history for Highland, the Scotties finished 34-3.

JCCC will be joined by No. 1 ranked Coffeyville in the NJCAA Division II national to be played in Charleston, West Virginia, Nov. 21-23. Coffeyville defeated Fort Scott 3-0 and No. 5 ranked Cowley College 3-2 in the District N playoffs.