Month: April 2019

T-Bones make more roster changes

The Kansas City T-Bones have signed two right-handed pitchers, Corey Walter and Marc Magliaro, for the 2019 season.

That move comes in addition to some other recent changes. The T-Bones also recently signed right-handed pitcher Jesus Balaguer and outfielder Forrestt Allday for the 2019 season.

Walter joined the T-Bones from the Oakland Athletics organization, where he was the 28th round pick in the 2014 June draft. Walter spent most of last season at AA Midland in the Texas League, going 4-6 with a 6.21 ERA in 75.1 innings and adding 39 strike outs for the RockHounds. He appeared in 26 games and made nine starts at AA. Walter was sent to the rookie level Arizona League in June for a rehab stint for the Athletics. He tossed four innings, giving up two earned runs in those four innings.

Walter was drafted out of West Virginia University and has been a part of two Texas League Championship Clubs with Midland in 2016 and 2017. The 6-3 right-hander comes from Wheeling, West Virginia, where he starred at Wheeling Park High School. Walter was a four-year player for the Mountaineers where he went 14-20 in 265.2 innings with a 4.46 ERA in 58 games with 31 starts.

As a professional, Walter has a career 3.50 ERA in 378.2 minor league innings with 246 strike outs.

Right-hander Marc Magliaro arrives in Kansas City, Kansas, with a five-year resume of pro baseball experience, all with the Colorado Rockies organization. Magliaro, a career reliever, has 149 appearances in the minor leagues with a 4.81 ERA in 200.1 innings.

In 2018 Magliaro pitched in 36 games for AA Hartford in the Eastern League. He posted a 3-4 record with a 4.44 ERA in 48.2 innings with 51 strike outs. He gave up 24 earned runs on 49 hits at AA last season. Magliaro spent the entire 2017 season at high A Lancaster in the California League. He worked in 61.2 innings over 41 games out of the pen with a 5.11 ERA. Magliaro struck out 53 while surrendering 73 hits and allowing 35 earned runs.

Magliaro was a non-drafted free agent signee out of Rowan University (New Jersey) in 2013, but he did not pitch until his senior season. Magliaro made a name for himself in college as a shortstop. He was a four-year starter at short with a .328 career batting average in 164 games and was team captain his senior year. Magliaro, 29, played high school ball in Monroe, New Jersey.

Jesus Balaguer comes to Kansas City, Kansas, after a short stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Arizona purchased the contract of the Cuban native after a strong second half of the season with the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League.

In 10 regular season games, Balaguer fanned 34 batters in 18 innings of work while scattering 12 hits and seven runs with 11 walks. Washington qualified for the Frontier League playoffs and made it all the way to the league championship series, eventually falling short to Sussex County.

In the post season, Balaguer pitched in seven games, including in all five of the Frontier League Championship Series games. Balaguer tossed 7.2 playoff innings of scoreless relief, giving up only two hits and striking out 13. Balaguer joined Washington on Aug. 7, 2018, after parts of two seasons with the Houston Astros organization. In three seasons as a professional in Cuba, Balaguer went 6-3 with a 3.36 ERA in 68.2 innings, punching out 49 batters, all in relief.

This past off-season, Balaguer had a solid winter league campaign, working 14.1 innings in relief and allowing just two earned runs with 13 strike outs for Mayaguez in Puerto Rico. Overall, in five professional seasons he has pitched 167.1 innings with 192 strike outs and has posted a 16-10 record with five saves. Balaguer has 111 appearances on his resume, all coming out of the pen.

Forrestt Allday was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of Central Arkansas. Allday comes to KCK after spending the last season with the San Diego Padres organization between AA San Antonio and AAA El Paso. The native of Galveston, Texas, spent the bulk of his time last season El Paso in the Pacific Coast League.

In 80 games Allday hit .281 with four home runs and 35 RBIs. He led the team with 11 stolen bases and finished fourth in runs scored with 54. He opened the season at AA San Antonio in the Texas League, playing 41 games through the season’s first month and a half and hitting .248 with four RBIs.

In college Allday helped the University of Central Arkansas to the 2013 Regional tournament and was Rawlings/ABCA 1st Team All American, Southland Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, Baseball America 3rd-team All-American and UCA Student Athlete of the Year his final season. He began his college career at Alvin Community College before transferring to UCA. Born in Galveston, Allday attended Friendswood High School in south Houston where he was part of the 2009 Regional Semifinalist team.

Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages, as well as mini plans, are on sale online, by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

Opening day for the T-Bones is set for Friday May 17, at T-Bones Stadium when the T-Bones play host to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

  • Story from T-Bones

2019 Offseason Roster


Position Name Hometown
 RHP Robbie Gordon St. Louis, MO
OF Darnell Sweeney Miami, FL
IF Nick Basto Southwest Ranches, FL
OF Daniel Robertson West Covina, CA
RHP Dustin Hurlbutt Coffeyville, KS
INF Mason Davis Stone Mountain, GA
C Christian Correa Coconut Creek, FL
RHP Marcus Crescentini Tampa, FL
Utility Shawn O’Malley Southridge, WA
LHP Joe Filomeno Chicago, IL
RHP Jackson Lowery Little Rock, AR
IF Mikey Reynolds Glendale, AZ
RHP Tommy Collier Houston, TX
C Roy Morales Toa Alta, Puerto Rico
INF Ryan Brett Seattle, WA
RHP Dylan Baker Juneau, Alaska
OF Forrestt Allday Clearlake, TX
IF Dylan Tice Perkasie, PA
RHP Jesus Balaguer Havana, Cuba
RHP Marc Magliaro Monroe, NJ
RHP Corey Walter Wheeling, WV

Legislative update by Rep. Pam Curtis

Rep. Pam Curtis

by Rep. Pam Curtis, D-32nd Dist.

A historically slow session came to a head last week when the House worked over 50 bills in two days. The House worked late into the evening both Monday and Tuesday nights, March 25 and 26 – just 30 minutes shy of the midnight rule on Monday. The pace will continue to be very busy leading up to first adjournment on April 5th as the Legislature attempts to come to a consensus on remaining issues.

Many thanks to Trinity and GiGi for serving as legislative pages on Wednesday. It was such a pleasure to have them both spend the day with us in the Kansas Legislature.

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].

Budget passes the House
On Monday, the House passed a budget plan: House Substitute for Senate Bill 25, with little debate. The final vote was 99-25, which moved the bill to the Senate. The Senate non-concurred with the House amendments and a Conference Committee (three conferees from each chamber) was appointed. Overall, the House plan appropriates $18.2 billion in spending with a $7.7 billion impact on the state general fund.

The House budget plan contained many of the governor’s recommendations. A few highlights:
• Ridding a contract with Maximus, the Medicaid clearinghouse, and returns more than 300 employees to the state.
• A 2.5 percent pay increase for state employees. Judicial branch employee raises would be phased in over five years.
• Sets aside more than $50 million for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, including $13.4 million for home and community-based services, $6 million in services for intellectual and developmental disabilities, $13.6 million for nursing facilities, $3 million for community health centers, $4.8 million for psychiatric residential treatment, and $12.4 million for a program that serves the elderly.
• The budget also includes the governor’s significant recommendations for child welfare reform, including funding for additional 52 workers and participation in the federal Families First program.

Gov. Kelly vetoes SB 22
On Monday, Gov. Kelly vetoed the controversial Senate Bill 22. The Kansas Chamber immediately called for an override. An override attempt of her veto would require two-thirds of the House (84 votes), and Senate (27 votes) to be successful.

The bill would have benefitted giant multinational corporations, and was estimated to have reduced state revenue, at a minimum, of over $500 million over three years. Gov. Kelly stressed this would “throw our state once again into a self-inflicted budget crisis, diminishing all the investments we’ve worked so hard to rebuild and restore. It would put our future at risk once again in order to give significant tax breaks to entities who need them the least while continuing to leave working families behind.” This was the governor’s first veto.

School funding debate continues
The House has made little progress on school finance while the court-mandated deadline is looming. Senate Bill 16 has been strongly critiqued as a bad policy bill that fails to resolve litigation. It contains layers of unfunded mandates, strips school districts of local control, removes the consumer price index (CPI), and targets English Learner Language and special education programs (including reducing funding for SPED). It also removes the last two years of funding that was passed in 2018. House Democrats have always been strong proponents of education – every child deserves access to a quality education.

One of several Democratic amendments attempted was to restore due process for teachers. Since its repeal under Gov. Brownback’s leadership in 2014, House Democrats have continuously fought for its reinstatement. The amendment failed 68 to 55.

The underlying bill narrowly passed final action on a 63-60 vote.

This week on the floor

This week, the House worked over 50 bills. If you would like to read the full list of bills worked, please go to www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/chamber/house/journals/2019/3/. Here are a few highlights:
HB 2274: Requires notification to patients that the effects of a medication abortion may be reversible.
HB 2054: Provides for fully-insured association health plans.
SB 15: Amends the definition of “service connected” in the Kansas police and firemen’s retirement system.
HB 2018: Creates the Kansas criminal justice reform commission.
SB 90: Extends the tax credit under the center for entrepreneurship act to financial institutions and increasing the annual tax credit limit for all contributors.
SB 94: Establishing a minimum course duration for motor vehicle accident prevention courses. Reduces premiums.
H Sub SB 25: House Substitute for SB 25 by Committee on Appropriations – Appropriations for FY 2019, FY 2020, FY 2021 and FY 2022 for various state agencies.
HB 2137: Legislative review of exceptions to disclosure of public records under the Kansas open records act.
HB 2396: Allowing use of certified drug abuse treatment programs for certain offenders convicted of unlawful cultivation or distribution of controlled substances.
HB 2173: Establishes a commercial industrial hemp program.
HB 2389: Requires electronic prescriptions for certain controlled substances.
HB 2383: Amendments regarding the licensure and regulation of barbering.
SB 20: Extends the judicial branch surcharge to fund the costs of non-judicial personnel; extending recognition of tribal court judgments pursuant to supreme court rules.
SB 16: House Substitute for SB 16 by Committee on K-12 Education Budget – Making amendments to the Kansas school equity and enhancement act and other statutes related to education.
HB 2154: Making unemployment benefits available for federal and state employees who are required to work without pay.
HB 2118: Providing income tax credits for aerospace and aviation program graduates and their employers.
HB 2326: Recognizing licenses to carry a concealed firearm issued by other jurisdictions. Contains amendment lowering license age to 18.
HB 2372: Providing for an increase in registration fees for electric and hybrid vehicles.
HB 2244: Authorizing the use of cannabidiol treatment preparation to treat certain medical conditions.

State Library of Kansas

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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/

30-day Indoor Duathlon begins at KCKCC

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

The Kansas City Kansas Community College Wellness and Fitness Center is holding a KCKCC Wellness Center Indoor Duathlon in April.

The Indoor Duathlon started April 1. Its purpose is to encourage students, staff, faculty and community members to maintain or develop a healthier lifestyle through exercise.

Upon registering, individuals will receive a Tracking Booklet, which is what they will turn in at the end of the event to show the activity logged. Participants mark the box for each day they complete an activity. When the challenge ends April 30, individuals will submit their completed cards for a chance at winning a prize. The goal is to complete 40 miles of walking or running and complete 100 miles on a bicycle or stationary bicycle during the month of April.

“This is a way to challenge and motivate each participant to stay consistent with their cardiovascular exercise this spring,” said Pam Hall, wellness specialist at the KCKCC Wellness and Fitness Center. “With such a long winter, I feel our Health Challenges have been a great tool this year to keep everybody motivated.”

The Tracking Booklet includes tracking slots for each day, but miles can be completed at your own pace within the 30 days. If you do not have a speedometer or cycling computer to track miles then use the average of 10 miles in 60 minutes or 5 miles in 30 minutes.

For more information or to register for the challenge, contact Pam Hall at [email protected] or at 913-288-7368. Individuals can also register by calling the Wellness and Fitness Center at 913-288-7610 or visiting the front desk.