Month: August 2019

Solid pitching prevails for T-Bones in doubleheader

by Luke Schrock

The Kansas City T-Bones swept the doubleheader against the Lincoln Saltdogs, 4-2 and 1-0, thanks to some stellar defense.

Game one on Wednesday night at T-Bones Stadium was a slow start offensively until the sixth inning when Lincoln put up a run to break the silence. Cody Regis was responsible for the first run with an RBI double to score Christian Ibarra.

The T-Bones weren’t far behind as they put up four to answer, and that is all they needed to put the game away.

Chris Colabello hit an RBI single to score Dylan Tice, tying the game at one. Casey Gillaspie singled as well, scoring Roy Morales; then Omar Carrizales got his first hit and RBI with the T-Bones with a hard-hit double to bring in Chris Colabello.

Christian Correa brought the finishing touch to the onslaught, getting hit by a pitch to score Casey Gillaspie.

Winning pitcher Akeem Bostick (2-0) let up his first run in a T-Bones uniform and earned his first quality start since joining the team. Bostick now has a 0.82 ERA after two starts. Hunter Smith came in the seventh to close out the game, letting up Lincoln’s second run but holding on for his second save of the season.

Losing Pitcher Ricky Knapp (4-9) went the full game, pitching six innings with only one walk but letting go eight hits on four runs. Knapp pitched a good ballgame until the sixth inning hit, and Colabello started what a four-run bottom of the sixth.

Game two was quiet overall in the 1-0 win over the Saltdogs with eight total hits between the two teams.

Winning pitcher Jose Mesa Jr. (3-2) earned his third straight win in his last four starts. Mesa finished the night with six innings, three hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.

Robert Calvano came in in the seventh and completed the combined shutout with no problems— one strikeout and no hits. Losing Pitcher Tyler Anderson put in three good innings for the Saltdogs, giving up only three hits and no runs.

KCK is now tied with Sioux City for second place after Sioux City took down the southern division first place Cleburne Railroaders 5-3.

Kansas City plays game three of the four-game series Thursday at 11:05 a.m. for a day game against Lincoln at JustBats Field at T-Bones Stadium. Catch all the action live on the T-Bones Broadcast Network, http://mixlr.com/t-bones-baseball/.

Tickets to all T-Bones home games are on sale online or by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke’s Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale.

  • Story from T-Bones

Kansas officials to students: Tell us how we can help prevent bullying

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Kansas News Service

Topeka — Bullying just won’t go away. If anything, the advent of smartphones and social media has made it worse.

That’s forced a conversation on what Kansas schools can do to help. The problem? It’s easier to get adults to weigh in than students.

But for kids and teens out there who have suffered or witnessed bullying online or in person, the state wants you to adults what you think they should know. (And for the record: Parents, teachers and others who deal with bullying, your input is welcome, too.)

Earlier this year, Kansas put together a panel (https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Division-of-Learning-Services/Special-Education-and-Title-Services/Early-Childhood/Blue-Ribbon-Taskforce-on-Bullying) of teachers, counselors, officials and others to craft recommendations that will go to the Kansas State Board of Education for consideration this winter.

Kansas has had an anti-bullying law for more than a decade with basic requirements for school policies and procedures.

It’s too early to know what new measures the panel will suggest. It could be anything from tweaks to state policies to guidance on how schools should handle bullying incidents.

“Some of those things are already there,” said Myron Melton, who works for the state Department of Education. “But we know that they haven’t been fully effective in remedying the problem. Our goal now is to say, what’s missing?”

Anyone can send in their thoughts and ideas by email, but should know that those letters become part of the panel’s meetings and materials. They are available to the public and archived online at https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Division-of-Learning-Services/Special-Education-and-Title-Services/Early-Childhood/Blue-Ribbon-Taskforce-on-Bullying.

Instructions for writing to the panel are available at https://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/ECSETS/Bullying%20Taskforce/Public%20Comment%20Ground%20Rules.pdf?ver=2019-04-26-125321-373.

The education department also has a chat room dedicated to the topic that functions similar to a closed Facebook group. It’s hosted on the pro-privacy social media platform called MeWe; only people age 16 and older can use it. (https://mewe.com/join/kansasblueribbontaskforceonbullying)

Cyberbullying on the rise

A survey released by the U.S. Department of Education last month shows an uptick in cyberbullying reports. And girls were more likely than boys to say others had bullied them through social media and texts.

Equality Kansas, a civil rights group that fights discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, pushed for the anti-bullying legislation more than a decade ago and has called for additional measures since.

“There are districts that have done the absolute bare minimum” under the current law, executive director Tom Witt said. Others “have gone all out in educating their faculty and students on bullying prevention.”

“And there’s no correlation between the size of the district and the quality of their bullying prevention efforts,” he added. “It’s real spotty.”

Among the changes Equality Kansas wants to see: Require all districts to explain their anti-bullying policies, procedures and prevention efforts online, and give hard copies of those policies to students and parents at enrollment.

That would help solve the problem of students not knowing how to seek help, who at their district handles bullying allegations and in what way they process those allegations.

Witt said his organization frequently gets questions about how students can seek help or how a district handles bullying allegations, and parents get frustrated when schools aren’t responsive.

“It’s a persistent problem with at least a partial solution,” he said.

The anti-bullying panel’s public meetings wrap up Dec. 2, so comments should be submitted before then.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-officials-students-tell-us-how-we-can-help-prevent-bullying

Driver crashes after trying to avoid debris on I-70

A driver tried to avoid debris in the middle lane of eastbound I-70 at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21, but crashed into a guardrail, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s report.

A 33-year-old woman from Blue Springs, Missouri, was taken to the hospital with possible minor injuries in the incident.

She lost control of the 2016 Ford while trying to avoid debris on I-70, west of the Park Drive exit,, then went to the outside shoulder and collided with a guardrail, the trooper’s report stated.