Pounding out 28 hits, Kansas City Kansas Community College stayed unbeaten in Jayhawk Conference play with 9-4 and 12-7 wins over Highland Sunday in games played on the Benedictine College campus in Atchison.
The sweep stretched the Blue Devils’ winning streak to 14 in a row and kept them atop the Jayhawk Conference with an 8-0 record.
Fort Scott (6-0) and Johnson County (4-0) are also unbeaten while Cowley College is 3-1.
Home Tuesday for games against Baker University junior varsity at 2 p.m., the Blue Devils (16-5) resume Jayhawk play Thursday when they play host to Allen County at 1 p.m.
The Blue Devils’ 28 hits were highlighted by eight extra base hits in each game.
Sophomore Kemper Bednar led the way with five hits including a triple and three doubles. Matt Schrick, Eric Hinostroza and Jose Sosa each had four hits in the two games and Everett Griffin tripled twice and doubled and J.T. Goodfellow homered in the second game.
Freshman lefthander Osvaldo Mendez allowed just two hits and no runs in six innings of the 9-4 opener.
He struck out four and walked six. Mendez faced only 13 hitters over the first four innings and had a no-hitter until the fifth.
“Mendez pitched around his walks and was very effective otherwise,” KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck said.
Highland’s four runs, two of which were unearned, scored with two out in the bottom of the seventh off Hunter Paxton, who gave up two hits and struck out three.
The Blue Devils backed Mendoza with 10 hits. Goodfellow homered, Bednar doubled and tripled, Sosa doubled twice and Schrick drove in a pair of runs with a double and single. Doubles by Hinostroza and Tyler Henry rounded out the extra base assault.
KCKCC took a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Bednar started it with a triple and scored on Henry’s sacrifice fly and two more runs scored on a double by Schrick, error and wild pitch.
An error, Bednar’s double and Henry’s ground ball made it 4-0 in the third and Goodfellow belted a two-run home run in the fourth.
Henry doubled and scored on an error in the fifth and Schrick singled in two runs in the seventh after a double by Sosa and two walks loaded the bases.
Blue Devil pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in the 12-7 nightcap. Sophomore Victor Gotay fanned nine in five innings. He gave up three runs on five hits and one walk. Gaby Ramos allowed just one run on three hits while striking out five in three innings before the Scotties scored three times in the ninth on four hits, two walks and an error off Jose Amaro.
In addition to Everett’s triple and two doubles, Eduardo Acosta and Bednar each doubled and singled twice and Hinostroza, Schrick and Henry had two hits apiece in the nightcap.
KCKCC took a 2-0 lead in the second on a double by Bednar, walk and run-scoring singles by Schrick and Acosta only to fall behind 3-2 in the third.
Everett’s double and an Acosta ground ball tied the game in the fourth and the Blue Devils went ahead to stay with three runs in the fifth. With two out, Sosa singled and Bednar doubled and both scored on Henry’s single and Everett scored Henry with a triple.
Doubles by Acosta and Hinostroza and a single by Sosa made it 8-3 in the sixth; Everett tripled and Schrick and Traice Harter each singled in runs in the seventh; and singles by Acosta and Hinostroza closed out the KCKCC scoring with a run in the ninth.
“A huge day with the bat from Kemper Bednar,” Goldbeck said. “J.T. Goodfellow had a big two-run home run in the fourth inning of the first game and Tyler Henry and Griffin Everett had big hits in the fifth to give us the lead in the second game. Outstanding pitching in both games. Gotay walked only one with nine strikeouts and Ramos walked none and struck out five in the second game. Once again a good team day and production throughout the lineup to go along with effective pitching.”
There was a lot of activity and events at the Capitol this past week including Theatre in Our Schools Advocacy Day, W.E.A.L.T.H. Day, Mental Health Advocacy Day, Kansas Ag Day, Nonprofit Day on the Hill and the State Refugee Update.
SportingKC was the sponsor for the Wyandotte-Leavenworth Delegation Luncheon. Even though the debate on the floor extended into the lunch hour most members were able to take a few minutes to visit with Marty Nevshemal, chief financial officer for Sporting KC.
It was such a pleasure to have former Mayor Joe Reardon, president-CEO Greater Kansas City Chamber, as the speaker for a joint Johnson-Leavenworth-Wyandotte County Luncheon. He gave a very informative presentation focusing on regional issues including early childhood learning, workforce development and transportation.
This past week, I joined my fellow legislators to promote a resolution to condemn the separation of children from their families at the border. Kansas House and Senate Democrats presented a resolution and hosted a press conference on the Keep Families Together Act. Resolution 1260 urges the federal government to end their separation and detainment practices of children and their families. We felt compelled to speak out because it affects many of our constituents.
It is a special honor to serve as your state representative. I value and appreciate your input on issues facing state government. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. My office address at the Statehouse is: Room 452-S, 300 SW 10th, Topeka, KS 66612. You can reach me at 785-296-7430 or call the legislative hotline at 1-800-432-3924 to leave a message for me. You can also email me at: [email protected]
School funding finds traction
Late into the evening on Thursday, the Senate approved a clean K-12 education bill on a 32-8 vote.
The bill, which is in line with Governor Kelly’s education plan, will add roughly $92 million into the general state aid to public schools. The measure is hoped to meet the Kansas Supreme Court’s order requiring the state to provide “adequate” funding for K-12 education.
The bill will head to the House. House Democrats have repeatedly advocated to address school funding this session and are eager to resolve the continuous cycle of litigation, providing Kansas children with the quality education they deserve.
Meanwhile, a Republican bill was worked in the House K-12 Education Committee that is essentially a private school voucher bill poorly disguised as a public-school funding bill. It would actually remove around $200 million from base state aid that passed last year. Essentially, it would make policy changes and cut money from schools, all but guaranteeing an unconstitutional ruling if passed.
House Democratic caucus meets with Mexican consulate This week, for the House Democrats’ monthly summit, they played host to the Kansas City based Mexican consulate delegate. We learned how beneficial Kansas’ relationship is with Mexico.
In 2018, Mexico became Kansas’ largest export market. $2.8 billion in goods are traded between Kansas and Mexico. 18.2 percent of Kansas’ worldwide exports go to Mexico. Mexico is also Kansas’ second largest export market for transportation equipment, particularly aerospace components and parts, with over $300 million in export revenue. 97 percent of worldwide corn exports, 26 percent of worldwide pork exports, and 16 percent of fresh beef from Kansas all head to Mexico.
They also advocated for labor rights and protections, explaining that they are at the core of USMCA, the new agreement between United States, Mexico and Canada. We enjoyed speaking with them on how to continue this successful relationship.
The ‘do-nothing’ Kansas Republican-led Legislature
The turnaround deadline two weeks ago officially marked the halfway point of the 2019 session.
With the deadline, over 40 bills and issues were left to die. These are bills that had passed through committees but were never brought to a floor debate by the House Majority Leader. The bills covered a range of issues, such as removing the spousal exception from sexual battery, medical marijuana, due process for teachers, and more.
Furthermore, Democratic attempts to address some of the most critical issues facing Kansans, like school funding, have been met with partisan games. These issues deserve serious deliberation and the development of policy alternatives to pursue the best path for Kansas. It is not a race, but the deadlines are real.
In 2011, the first year of Gov. Brownback’s administration, the Legislature debated and acted on 99 more pieces of legislation by this point in the session than they have this entire year. Under the direction of the ultra-conservative Republican leadership in both the House and Senate, only one piece of legislation has reached the governor’s desk.
We have deep respect for the legislative process. The Democratic House caucus started this session ready to reach across the aisle to get things done.
There are dire issues facing Kansas — our schools are severely underfunded, children are missing and dying in our mismanaged foster care system, rural communities are struggling, hospitals are closing, and our prison system is dangerously underfunded. Instead, we have spent a significant amount of session trying to give giant tax giveaways to giant, multi-national corporations and discussing issues that impact other states.
This past week, the House had a lengthy floor debate on SCR 1606. House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer released a statement:
“Today, 32 Kansas House Democrats voted ‘present’ on SCR 1606 in protest. Rather than focusing on the condemnation of New York’s policies, House Democrats believe we should be working toward funding our children’s educations, expanding Medicaid, and toward resolving the many issues facing our state. We were elected here in Kansas to serve the people of Kansas, not to waste time worrying about what other states decide to do for their constituents. The resolution brought to the floor today was further demonstration of a do-nothing Republican-led legislature.”
Senate Bill 22 update
The Senate concurred on Senate Bill 22 with a 24-16 vote. Senate Bill 22 is the massive tax giveaway to giant, multi-national corporations.
The bill will now head to the governor’s desk for either a veto or passage. The governor said shortly after the Senate’s passage saying, “Just two short years ago, the state of Kansas was on the brink of financial disaster. Our state faced a massive, self-inflicted budget crisis that caused three credit downgrades and devastating budget cuts. The consequences of those cuts were real and painful…In 2017, we defied the odds, acknowledged the mistake, and ended the experiment in a historic act of bipartisanship. Since then, Kansas has seen a gradual recovery. My administration has only just begun to repair the severe damage done in the last eight years. Our recovery is tenuous; our budget is fragile. This is not the time to make significant changes to our tax code.”
This week on the floor
This week, the House worked several bills on the floor. All of these bills passed through the chamber. They are as follows: SB 17: Requires class M driver’s licenses when operating a motorcycle registered under a temporary permit. SB 39: Compensation for warranty services under the vehicle dealers and manufacturers licensing act. HB 2133: Required reporting for entities who deliver alcoholic liquors to consumers. SCR 1606: Condemning the reproductive health act of New York.
State Library of Kansas Early Learning Resources from the State Library BookFlix is an online resource from the State Library of Kansas for children in grades PreK-3 that pairs video storybooks with related nonfiction e-books. Imagine Curious George paired with a nonfiction book about monkeys. The read-along storybook highlights each word as it is read. This option can be turned off. Related games reinforce early learning reading skills. BookFlix requires Flash. Britannica E-Stax (PreK-6) features nonfiction books that can be read online or downloaded to any Internet-enabled device. Britannica School has a Pre-K component called Britannica Learning Zone. This engaging online tool covers colors, letters, words, numbers, and more. All are available at no charge through the State Library’s web site http://kslib.info/kids
Resources My Legislative Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PamCurtisKCK. My Twitter account, https://twitter.com/pcurtiskck My website, https://www.curtisforkck.com/ Kansas Legislature website, http://kslegislature.org/
Kansas City Kansas Community College got the 2019 Jayhawk Conference softball season off in winning fashion Saturday, defeating Cloud County in a 19-8 slugfest and a 4-3 pitcher’s duel.
The sweep improved the Blue Devils’ record to 8-4 heading into a doubleheader Monday with Northern Arkansas starting at 1 p.m.
Tied 3-3 in the nightcap, KCKCC scored what proved to be the winning run when Hannah Redick doubled and Devin Purcell singled in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Alexis Rymer put the Blue Devils in front 2-0 in the first with a two-run single. Cloud pulled even with two runs in the third but KCKCC regained the lead on a double by Shaylun Grosstephean and a single by Kaylee Arnzen in the bottom of the inning.
Grosstephan got the pitching win, blanking the T-Birds the final three innings. Scattering 10 hits, she walked two and struck out two in recording her fourth straight win without a loss.
Pounding out 13 hits and taking advantage of nine walks, the Blue Devils scored seven runs in the first and eight in the second in the 5-inning opening game.
MacKenzie Pinkerton got her third win, allowing 11 hits, walking five and striking out two.
Reddick, a freshman from Shawnee Mission North, led the Blue Devils as she drove in five runs on two doubles and a single.
Brittney Beck doubled and drove in four runs; Alaina Howe and Grosstephan each drove in three with a double and single; and Jennica Messer doubled in a pair of runs.
In addition to playing host to North Ark Monday, the Blue Devils will also entertain Ottawa junior varsity Tuesday at 2 and 4 p.m. and then return to Jayhawk Conference play Thursday when they play host to No. 14-ranked Highland (4-3) at 2 and 4 p.m.
