Month: January 2019

Pro basketball team plays preseason game tonight; new coach is from KCK

A professional basketball team, the Kansas City Tornadoes, will play a preseason game at 7 p.m. tonight, Jan. 2, at the HyVee Arena, 1800 Genessee, Kansas City, Missouri.

Admission is free to this preseason game tonight.

Ed Corporal, who is from Kansas City, Kansas, will be the coach for the 2019 season, which has home openers at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 12, at the HyVee Arena against the Raleigh Firebirds.

Otis Birdsong is the president of the Kansas City Tornadoes.

“It’s a whole new ball game for the Kansas City Tornadoes 2019 season, with a new Coach Ed Corporal, new players, and we are looking forward to playing at the Hy-Vee Arena, formerly Kemper Arena, that was once the home of the Kansas City Kings. The Tornadoes consists of players from colleges across the country, to continue their basketball careers and move on to the next level,” said Otis Birdsong, president, The Kansas City Tornadoes.

During their first season, the Kansas City Tornadoes were in the North American Premier Basketball League, which recently became The Basketball League. The Basketball League will focus on all teams contributing to their communities. The Tornadoes will compete with eight teams that will expand to 14 teams in the 2019 season.

Group forming in area for foster parents and children

KC Kansas Angels is forming in the area to help foster parents and children.

The group is currently raising funds for a launch in 2019 as a chapter of the National Angels.

The group provides community support for children in foster care, as well as for foster parents, with emphasis on giving, relationship building and mentorship.

Through the program, volunteers are matched with children in foster care and their families. The volunteers meet everyday needs while building relationships with the family they serve each month. The goal is for the parents to feel support and for the children to gain a sense of belonging and self-confidence.

There is also a one-on-one mentorship program for volunteers to be advocates and role models for foster care youth ages 15-21 who have aged out of the system, or who are at risk.

“We want to form positive relationships with foster families, foster children and foster organizations in our community – these relationships will benefit those inside and outside the foster care community,” said Judy Temaat, president of the KC Kansas Angels. “We can all do ‘something’ to make a difference and we want to change the foster care program in our community.”

Melissa Haehl, who is working with the KC Kansas Angels, said many foster parents find that foster care is isolating. This program will reach out to foster parents to connect them with people in the community.

She said the idea for the local group came from foster parents here who did not know each other and had heard of the Austin Angels. They reached out to Susan Ramirez, founder of the group, who connected them. The KC Kansas Angels will include foster parents and children from Wyandotte, Atchison, Douglas, Johnson and Leavenworth counties.

So far there are more than 20 individual chapters in the National Angels, she added.

The local group is currently raising funds, which will send board members to training and cover insurance costs, she said.

For more information about the program, visit https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/NDU2NzU=.

Four Wyandotte County students receive academic honors at Benedictine College

Four Wyandotte County students have received academic honors for the fall semester at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas.

Students from Wyandotte County on the honor rolls include:

From Bonner Springs, Kansas:

Marriah Clayton, President’s List
Bridget Plunkett, Dean’s List

From Kansas City, Kansas:

Hannah Harrity, President’s List
Nickolas Passinese, Dean’s List

Students on the President’s List have a 4.0 grade point average with a minimum of 12 credit hours. Students on the Dean’s List have a grade point average of 3.5 with a minimum of 12 credit hours.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas.