Month: November 2019

Brrr … Freezing temperatures continue today

Wind chill readings were below zero this morning in Wyandotte County. (National Weather Service graphic)

Very cold weather continues today, about 25 to 30 degrees below normal for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.

The wind chill was down to zero about 7 a.m. Tuesday, and by 9 a.m., the temperature was 13 degrees with a calm wind, the weather service said.

This afternoon, the temperature may reach 28 degrees here, according to the weather service.

Temperatures will warm through the week, reaching the 40s on Wednesday and Thursday, and the lower 50s by Friday, the weather service said.

There is no precipitation in the forecast through the next seven days, according to the weather service.

Today, it will be sunny with a high near 28 and a calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon, the weather service said.

Tonight, it will be mostly clear, with a low of 22 and a south southwest wind of 9 to 15 mph, gusting as high as 21 mph, according to the weather service.

Wednesday, the high will be near 44, with increasing clouds. A south southwest wind of 12 to 17 mph will decrease to 6 to 11 mph in the afternoon, with winds gusting as high as 25 mph, the weather service said.

Wednesday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 25 and a calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph, according to the weather service.

Thursday, it will be sunny with a high near 41 and a north northwest wind of 6 mph becoming calm in the afternoon, the weather service said.

Thursday night, it will be clear with a low of 24, according to the weather service.

Friday, it will be sunny with a high near 52, the weather service said.

Friday night, it will be partly cloudy with a low of 30, according to the weather service.

Saturday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 53, the weather service said.

Saturday night, it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 36, according to the weather service.

Sunday, it will be partly sunny with a high near 52, the weather service said.

Sunday night, it will be partly cloudy, with a low of 36, according to the weather service.

Monday, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 56, the weather service said.

Late KCKCC rally falls short in 74-71 loss to Ellsworth

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Finding the right chemistry for a young basketball team is tough enough for a first-year head coach. Doing it on the road is even tougher.

For the second time in less than 20 hours, Kansas City Kansas Community College men’s basketball team had a big second half rally come up short in a 74-71 loss to Ellsworth Saturday.

The loss came in the Koenigsmark Klassic in Mason City, Iowa, and left the Blue Devils 1-2 heading into the final game of a four-game season opening road trip at Allen County Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Trailing 42-32 at halftime, the Blue Devils went ahead with seven minutes remaining before Ellsworth (4-1) pulled away in a see-saw finish.

“After Friday’s second half rally against NIACC, I thought with the late ending and quick turnaround Saturday, we would be hungry and eager to play,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. “Instead. I think we were tired and fatigued.”

The Blue Devils got a standout double-double performance from 6-8 Sevon Witt, who had game highs of 31 points and 13 rebounds although in foul trouble with four.

Robert Rhodes, a 6-7 freshman from Park Hill South, just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds as KCKCC dominated the rebounding 56-30 with 24 of the boards coming on the offensive end.

Cody Dortch added nine points, Ezekiel Lopes eight points and six rebounds and Jalen Davis six points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils, who had just 12 turnovers to nine for Ellsworth.

“Ellsworth couldn’t handles our bigs but our bigs couldn’t score around the basket,” Burgette said.

Field goal shooting continued to be a problem. The Blue Devils were just 27-of-73 from the floor for 37.0 percent and a frigid 2-of-18 from 3-point (.111).

“We’re in a rough patch struggling to score,” Burgette said. “We’re just not shooting the ball well anywhere on the floor. In the two days, we barely shot 30 percent from the field and less than 20 percent from 3-point.

“Having 24 offensive rebounds and not scoring really hurts,” he said. “We’re going to have to step up and make shots and make plays. It’s still early but we’ve got to figure out about us as a team and an identity. We have to stay together.

“It’s a long road ahead of us. With two home games and then five more on the road, it doesn’t get any easier.”

After Tuesday’s game at longtime rival Allen County in Iola, the Blue Devils finally get to play at home in the Keith Lindsey Classic. They’ll be the hosts for another longtime foe in Cowley College Friday at 8 p.m. and North Central Missouri Saturday at 6 p.m.

Parents say Kansas foster care system is chaotic, deceptive and traumatizing

by Peggy Lowe, Kansas News Service

Parents of kids who are in the Kansas foster care system described it Saturday as chaotic, deceptive and traumatizing to children.

About two dozen people rallied on the steps of the statehouse in Topeka, calling on lawmakers to bring more accountability to the Kansas Department for Children and Families, an agency long under fire for losing kids and housing them in offices.

Shelley Owens of Topeka came to the protest hoping to find help for her three grandchildren, who were taken from her and her husband recently without warning. The children, ages 1, 2 and 10, were placed in Kansas City, Kansas, but Owens said she rarely sees them because of DCF’s “miscommunication, abuse of power and lies.”

“It’s been traumatic,” Owens said. “They said they’d help us but they have lied to us from the beginning.”

The protest was organized by parents after a series of stories by KCUR and the Topeka Capital-Journal brought to light the dramatic increase in children added to the state foster care system after former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback reduced aid for poverty programs.

Asked for comment about the protest, DCF spokesman Mike Deines said the agency “continues to focus on our efforts to strengthen the system and work with our partners to develop effective supports for youth and families.”

Kansas faces a lawsuit filed by Kansas Appleseed, Children Rights and the National Center for Youth Law alleging civil rights violations. The state’s 7,500 foster children are often moved anywhere from 30 to 100 times, forcing them to “couch surf” or to stay unsupervised in “kid’s zones” in contractors’ offices, said Christina Ostmeyer of Kansas Appleseed.

“Bad things happen to these kids while they are in the state’s custody,” she said. “We are ripping childhood from these children who are in our state’s custody.”

Protesters said they will next meet inside the statehouse in January when lawmakers are in session. They also called on Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, to make systematic changes to the foster care system, reminding her that she had said it was one of her top priorities.

Last month’s joint investigation found that the volume of children in the Kansas foster care system swelled from 5,214 in fiscal year 2011 when Brownback took office, to 7,484 in July, a 43.5% increase. The rate of runaways surged as the growing number of kids in foster care overwhelmed child placement contractors. The joint investigation also revealed that at least 13 girls had run away from foster care and got trapped in sex trafficking.

Parents on Saturday recounted long stories of problems with DCF and its two private foster care providers, KVC Kansas and St. Francis Community Services. Heidi Beal, a Butler County woman who said she advocates for families who have lost custody of their children, said the system doesn’t need more money.

“What they need to do is stop throwing a broad net and pulling children into the system who do not need to be in the system,” she said.

Peggy Lowe is a reporter at KCUR and is on Twitter at @peggylowe.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/parents-say-kansas-foster-care-system-chaotic-deceptive-and-traumatizing-children