Serving Kansas City (Wyandotte County) Kansas for over 50 years!
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., will hold a town hall meeting at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24, at St. Andrew Christian Church, 13890 W. 127th St., Olathe, Kansas.
The event is open, but seating is being reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Those attending should register in advance at https://repdavids.eventbrite.com.
For more information, visit https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-sharice-davids-hold-town-hall-event-march-24-olathe.
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College has returned to the pinnacle of NJCAA DII women’s basketball, winning the 2019 national championship with an 84-59 victory over Union County, New Jersey.
The championship is the second for the Blue Devils, who won the 2016 national title by an average of 19 points per game. This year the margin was nearly 18 points a game and the final score nearly the same (KCKCC won 81-59 in 2016).
The Blue Devils led each of their first three national tourney games by 20 or more points and the championship game was no different.
Cheered on by a raucous boisterous crowd, the Blue Devils held the Owls scoreless for the first five minutes while opening a 10-0 lead.
Ahead 17-10 after one quarter, the Blue Devils widened the lead to 40-22 at halftime and stretched it to 30 points in the second half. And it could have been more had they not missed shots usually made.
Nija Collier led the early surge, scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds on the way to being named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Collier finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. She was joined on the all-tournament team by the Magnolia, Arkansas, duo of Kisi Young and Lillie Moore. Young had 13 points and 9 rebounds; Moore 12 rebounds and 6 points.
Freshman Lenaejha Evans just missed a second double-double in two nights, scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds and sophomore Camryn Swanson knocked down three treys in an 11-point night.
Brodi Byrd again put KCKCC ahead to stay with a game-opening 3-pointer and finished with nine points; Caroline Hoppock added five points, Caitlyn Stewart four points and three assists and Lexy Watts three points to round out the scoring.
But again it was the defense that set the tone for the win. The Blue Devils limited the Owls to 10 of 34 first half shots (,294) in building the 40-22 halftime lead and 33.8 percent for the game (27 of 80).
In addition, the defense gave up just two of 19 3-point attempts (.105). KCKCC also monopolized the rebounding 52-39 including 22 off the offensive boards while shooting 40.3 percent from the field (31 of 77) and .27.6 from 3-point (8 of 29).
“I believe the girls were as locked in and as calm as they’ve been all year,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry, who was named NJCAA DII Coach of the Year. “Our girls were in better shape and they went out there and did what they do best which is to work hard. The embodiment of this team is that they go out and do what they’re told to do. I know Union was one of the top scoring teams in the nation and they struggled. And I think they were only giving up 59 points a game and we hung up 84.”
As Arkansas natives playing in their home state, the championship was super special for Young and Moore.
“This is what we talked about since way last year,” Moore said. “It’s unreal now that we’re here and have won it. I’m very proud of this team.”
“I’m in shock right now,” echoed Young, who had several reasons for the decisive win. “Our post play, our rebounding, our effort; everything we been working on all season.”
“I think it was our defense, that’s what it takes,” Collier said. “It was a big win. I’m so happy. It’s even bigger than beating Johnson County. This is the national championship!”
While McKinstry didn’t favor one championship over the other, he did get emotional in a post-game TV interview.
“Both were extremely gratifying, very different but very equal experiences,” he said. “What people don’t know is that while I coach these girls very hard, I love these girls and their families so very much and am so very, very proud. We have two rules. We don’t negotiate on effort and we don’t negotiate on team work and those were things I didn’t have to deal with this year.”
The championship continued the Jayhawk Conference’s unparalleled success in the national tournament, something McKinstry felt very important.
“We really felt an obligation to represent our conference to the best of our ability. It’s the toughest in the country.”
In the last six seasons, the Jayhawk has had teams in the Final Four each year. In addition to KCKCC’s two championships, Johnson County won in 2015 and was second in 2017; Highland was second in 2014 and third last season. This year, four conference teams finished in the Top 10 in the NJCAA national rankings.
by Mary Rupert
The Missouri River is expected to crest around 1 a.m. in Wyandotte County, according to Matt May, the county’s director of emergency management.
May said on Saturday evening that the 1 a.m. crest is the latest projection from the National Weather Service forecasters.
“We probably have another 6 inches in water elevation yet to go before we crest,” May said on Saturday evening.
It will stay at that elevation for about 12 hours, then it will start to recede, May said.
The river forecast is based on an assumption that water release levels upstream from the reservoirs will not change. If they do not change, the river will start to slowly decrease during the next week or two, he said. The forecast could change if for some reason higher levels of water are released from the reservoirs or if there is an unusual amount of rain along the system.
May said the forecast is “very fluid,” as it depends on different factors.
May said that as expected, there is water in low-lying areas north and east of Wolcott Drive, on both sides of I-435. There also is water by the BPU’s Nearman plant, which is located on the Missouri River near North 55th Street.
He said that was anticipated, and he said he has not heard any reports of any residential flooding. The power plant is protected by a large, tall berm, he said.
“We don’t think there’s any imminent threat to any homes that we’re aware of,” he said. It’s not a highly populated residential area.
Wolcott Drive is closed at Hutton Road to the west because of flooding. In that area, Wolcott Drive also is Highway K-5. May said he thinks that area of Wolcott will be impassable for the next 24 or 48 hours, depending on how fast the water recedes.
Besides a road closure on Wolcott Drive, a Union Pacific train track that runs parallel with the road is closed, with a few places under water, he said. Repairs are currently ongoing at that site, he said.
May said that any residents who have had problems in the past, such as water in their basements previously, should keep an eye on the conditions.
“If you have property susceptible to that, you probably already know it,” he said. People should be diligent, he said, but he doesn’t anticipate a lot more water.
A weather service forecast for major flooding this morning decreased to moderate flooding in mid-morning. Every time a levee breaches upstream, it drops the water level in the river here, May said. Once the water stabilizes, the level goes back up. The river levels in the forecast can’t be anticipated sometimes, and other times they can.
May is keeping his eye on water backflowing into tributaries, but added he didn’t anticipate anything happening with the creeks or tributaries, as there is only another 6 inches until the river crests.
He said the businesses along Wolcott Drive did a lot of preparation for the flooding. Sandbagging probably would not have worked, he said, because all it does is push the water in a different direction. It sometimes is good for protecting a piece of equipment or filling a gap, he added. The businesses were able to drive their trucks away to protect them, he added.
May does not believe the east side of Kansas City, Kansas, is at risk in this flood.
For example, on James Street the levees are much taller and the river is much wider, he said, so the area is not in danger. He said he is watching the Kansas River, which joins with the Missouri River at Kaw Point in Kansas City, Kansas, because the Missouri water could backflow into the Kansas River a little.
May and his colleagues have been taking bridge readings on the Kansas River every 12 hours, and found the water level has gone up about 3 feet during the last 48 hours, he said. He believes it will peak soon. The river is at 29.5 feet and flood stage is 41 feet, so he does not believe there will be any significant level of flooding on the Kansas River.
The Tuttle Creek reservoir near Manhattan, Kansas, has been holding back water, not releasing it, he said, so the Kansas River levels have been kept lower.
With this flood in Wyandotte County, there were no injuries, no displaced people and no shelters needed, he said.
There could be a possible need in the future to clean up any debris left behind by the flood, he added.
