Month: March 2019

Federal authorities ask for public awareness on flooding

A KC Scout photo showed some water to the right, in fields around I-435 near the Missouri River in Wyandotte County, about 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Wolcott levee area in northwest Wyandotte County is at some risk as the Missouri River rises, as are areas in eastern Kansas City, Kansas. (KC Scout photo)
The Kansas River in Wyandotte County also is high. This view near 55th Street today showed water up to some of the trees on the banks. However, the river was not outside of its banks in this location.

The Kansas City District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has asked local and state authorities and the public to pay close attention to conditions on the Missouri River, as the threat to levees is significant.

Flooding is ongoing on the Missouri River and its tributaries at some communities upstream from Kansas City. A quick glance at a few places in the Wyandotte County community today saw that rivers are high, but they did not appear to be flooding.

More water was released Thursday and today into the Missouri River from a reservoir in South Dakota, according to the corps.

Water releases upstream went from 50,000 cubic feet per second to 90,000 cubic feet per second on Thursday, March 14, at Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota, then earlier today releases went to 100,000 cubic feet per second. Today the corps stated it plans to make a reduction of 7,000 cubic feet at regular intervals of around 12 hours on Saturday, but that plan could change overnight, according to officials.

The corps cited heavy runoff from rain and melting snow, and heavy inflows into the dam at Gavins Point. It usually takes three to four days from the water from South Dakota to reach the Kansas City area, according to officials.

Communities upstream along the Missouri River already are experiencing flooding, including Leavenworth and Atchison, Kansas, St. Joseph, Missouri, and Parkville, Missouri.

A hydrology chart from the National Weather Service showed the Missouri River at Kansas City was 28.16 feet at 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 15, with flood stage at 32 feet. It was projected to rise to action stage Saturday, and to minor flood stage on Sunday evening, cresting at 33.5 feet from March 17-18, then declining out of flood stage on March 20.

A hydrology chart also showed that the Kansas River at 23rd Street in Kansas City, Kansas, had risen into the action stage this morning. It is projected to go into minor flood stage on March 17 or 18, according to the chart.

A news release today from the Corps of Engineers stated that water releases were cut to a minimum at Tuttle Creek Dam in the Manhattan, Kansas, area because of flooding downstream.

A Corps of Engineers’ chart showed flows on the Missouri River at Kansas City at 96.7 cubic feet per second (figures are in the thousands) on March 12, rising to 107.7 cfs on March 13, to 173 cfs on March 14 and 209.9 cfs on March 15. It is projected to go up to 240.8 cfs on March 16, 270.6 cfs on March 17 and 291.4 cfs on March 18, before declining to 273.1 cfs on March 19. (See http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/pdfs/GRFT.pdf).

The Corps of Engineers activated an Emergency Operations Center on Wednesday evening in the Kansas City area, and the area is under an Emergency Watch condition. It is at a partial activation level, according to a news release, designed to collect, evaluate, interpret and disseminate information on flooding. It is providing direct and technical assistance to levee owners and has dispatched teams to work with state emergency agencies, including providing sandbags and sandbag filling machines.

The Missouri River at Kansas City could go into action stage by Saturday, and into minor flood stage on Sunday, according to this hydrology chart from the National Weather Service – USGS. (National Weather Service – USGS chart)

The Kansas River at 23rd Street in Kansas City, Kansas, is already in the action stage, and is projected to go into minor flood stage on Monday, according to this hydrology chart. (National Weather Service – USGS chart)

Five things to like about KCKCC’s women’s tournament chances

KCKCC will bid for a second NJCAA DII national championship with a team of, front row, from left, Diamond Williams, Camryn Swanson, Lenaejha Evans, Lexy Watts, Caitlyn Stewart and Brodi Byrd; second row, assistant coach Timeka O’Neal, Carson Chandler, Kisi Young, Lillie Moore, head coach Joe McKinstry, Nija Collier, Caroline Hoppock, Lizzle Stark and manager Liz Briggs. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins

Five things you have to like about Kansas City Kansas Community College’s chances in the opening game of the 2019 NJCAA Division II national women’s tournament next Tuesday.

The No. 3 seeded Blue Devils (28-4) will meet No. 14 seeded Chesapeake College (20-5) in the tournament opener Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Pioneer Pavilion on the campus of North Ark Community College in Harrison, Arkansas. Here’s what the Blue Devils have going for them:

Familiarity – This will not be the first game for KCKCC’s sophomores in Pioneer Pavilion. All played in a 78-75 loss to North Ark Nov. 15, 2017, a loss the Blue Devils avenged three weeks later with a 73-57 home court thumping. The Blue Devils also will practice on the court Monday.

Battle-tested – Playing in the nation’s toughest DII conference has its merits – once you get through the Regional. Seven of KCKCC’s last nine games were against teams ranked in the NJCAA’s Top 10 with the Blue Devils winning six. The Blue Devils defeated No. 10 Johnson County three times, won two of three from No. 6 Highland and beat No. 9 Labette. No team in the entire 16-team tournament had to go through a schedule as tough.

Depth – Throughout the season coach Joe McKinstry has rotated six sophomores and three freshmen in and out without missing a beat.

In 6-0 Nija Collier, 6-1 Lillie Moore and 5-9 Kisi Young, McKinstry can rotate three sophs averaging more than eight rebounds a game in the front court. Assist leaders Caitlyn Stewart and Lexy Watts split time at the point guard. Sophomore Camryn Swanson and freshman Brodi Boyd divide time at the wing. Freshmen Lenaejha Evans and Caroline Hoppock provide great versatility, Evans from the wing and backcourt, while Hoppock is capable of bringing the ball up court, shooting 3-pointers and playing the post..

The depth is accentuated by a look at the scoring averages – seven players at nearly eight points a game or better. Collier (17.2), Moore (15.2) and Young (10.2) provide the interior scoring and all are shooting better than 54 percent for the field. Evans (11.4) is also shooting above 50 percent and third in scoring while Swanson (8.9), Boyd (8.5) and Hoppock (7.8) are the 3-point leaders, each with 55 or more.

Statistically – When it comes to scoring, KCKCC ranks in the top five nationally in virtually every category as well as rebounding. The national rankings:
Points – No. 1, 2,877; per game No. 2, 89.9
3-pointers – No. 3, 9.5 per game; attempts No. 3, 27.8
Free throws – No. 3, 16.2 per game; attempts, No. 5, 23.8.
Field goal percentage – No. 6, 47.3 percent
Assists – No. 5, 19.1 per game
Rebounds – Defensive, No. 5, 32.5 per game

Coaching – With 15 seconds left in overtime in a 76-76 tie with Johnson County, McKinstry spurned the usual protocol of having your best player drive to the basket in hopes of scoring or drawing a foul and told Collier “shoot the three.” “I thought it gave us our best look because we were struggling inside,” said McKinstry. Collier did as ordered, a game-winning three with 1.8 seconds left.

Three days later facing a Highland team averaging 89.3 points a game that had hung 94 points on KCKCC earlier, McKinstry designed a defense that limited the Scotties to 71 points and 33.3 percent shooting in an 84-71 cruise in the region championship game..

All national tourney games will be streamed on the NJCAA website but there is a charge – $4.99 for a single game or $14.99 for the 5-day tournament. To sign up, go to www.njcaatv.com/landing/index. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students. All-tournament passes are also available for $40.

New mobile food partnership to include food bank, medical group in KCK

Harvesters–The Community Food Network, Sunflower Medical Group and Humana Inc. are participating in a mobile food collaboration to offer members of the community fresh, nutritious food items at 1 p.m. on the fourth Saturday of each month, beginning March 23, at 2040 Hutton Road, Kansas City, Kansas.

The location is at Heartland Primary Care on Hutton Road, which is near 110th north of Parallel Parkway.

Members of the community may visit the mobile food pantry to receive food at no cost.

According to a spokesman, this initiative will help fight food insecurity in the area and the community will find it easy to access the new services. People will not have to show proof of residency or income.

A spokesman said this is the first time Harvesters has partnered with a medical group to provide a mobile food distribution program. It is a way to make sure people are getting healthy food they need so they can stay healthy, the spokesman said.

The food distribution is open to everyone in the community, including any patients at the medical group, as well as anyone from surrounding communities, the spokesman said.

“No patient or member of our community should have to choose between medication and food,” said Dr. Yvette Guislain Crabtree, Sunflower Medical Group’s president. “We’re proud to partner with Harvesters and Humana to improve the lives of the community and give back healthy days by launching a food distribution program that will help our patients achieve their best health.”

Food insecurity is a societal issue that affects 1 in 8 people in the United States. In the Kansas City area alone, nearly 14 percent of the community face food insecurity. Defined as the lack of access to enough nutritionally adequate foods to live an active, healthy life, food insecurity contributes to poor health, lower productivity and higher medical costs. “Helping our patients with food insecurity will help them to stay healthier and better able to take care of their overall health,” said Dr. Guislain Crabtree, Sunflower Medical Group. “Since we started screening our patient population for food insecurity we have found many more people than we thought we would find who will benefit from this program.”

“We are excited to launch this new mobile food distribution in partnership with Humana and Sunflower Medical Group,” said Harvesters’ president and CEO, Valerie Nicholson-Watson. “The distribution will help us increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need of emergency food assistance and to those managing chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension. We know the right type of food can help people lead healthier lives.”

Humana’s objective is to create partnerships and integrated health systems that are positioned to address social determinants of health, such as food insecurity and social isolation, and how they affect health care outside of the doctor’s office.

“Our collaboration with Harvesters and Sunflower Medical Group aims to bring mobile food distribution to an area with unmet needs,” said Jeremy Gaskill, Humana’s regional president. “This joint community effort expands our outreach and addresses the demand for emergency and supplemental food as we seek to provide solutions that address food insecurity in the Kansas City Metro area.”


More information about mobile food distribution at Sunflower is at https://www.sunflowermed.com/.

Harvesters sponsors many food distribution points throughout Wyandotte County on a regular basis, according to the Harvesters spokesperson.

People who want to see the food distribution point closest to their home, or the most convenient time for them, may click on the “get help” button at harvesters.org and they will see a list of mobile locations in the area.