Month: December 2019

Sporting KC announces 34-game regular season schedule

Sporting Kansas City has unveiled the club’s 34-game schedule for the 2020 MLS regular season, which will kick off with a trip to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Feb. 29 and conclude with a Decision Day home clash against New York City FC on Oct. 4 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Sporting’s fan-friendly home slate — consisting of 13 Saturday matches, three Sunday games and only one Wednesday fixture — will once again feature a variety of exciting promotions and theme nights, including the return of Retro Night, Sporting Salutes, Sporting Legends, Kick Childhood Cancer Night and more.

Guided by 12th-year manager Peter Vermes, who enters 2020 as the longest-tenured MLS head coach, Sporting will begin their regular season campaign on Canadian soil for the first time when they visit Vancouver on Feb. 29. The earliest regular season start date in league history will see Vermes’ side lock horns with a Whitecaps team led by former Sporting Kansas City II head coach Marc Dos Santos.

Seven days later, Sporting will play host to rival Houston in the first of 13 Saturday home fixtures at Children’s Mercy Park.

The club’s entire 2020 schedule will feature 28 Saturday matches, four Sunday contests and just two Wednesday kickoffs. Sporting will play every single weekend over the course of 32 weeks between Feb. 29 and Oct. 6, when the team hosts New York City FC in the regular season finale.

The 2020 slate is also conducive to numerous road trips for Sporting fans wishing to support the club away from home.

Road matches at expansion side Nashville SC, FC Dallas, Minnesota United FC, Chicago and Colorado — each within an eight-hour drive of the Kansas City metro — will all take place on Saturdays. Sporting will continue to offer free away tickets to supporters in 2020.

Major League Soccer’s 25th Season Celebration will feature 26 clubs, with Sporting among the nine active MLS charter members from the inaugural 1996 campaign.

Each team will play 17 home games and 17 away games for a total of 34 matches.

Sporting will play their 12 fellow Western Conference opponents twice, once home and once away for a total of 24 matches.

The other 10 regular season fixtures will come against Eastern Conference sides. Three teams from the East will not appear on Sporting’s MLS schedule — D.C. United, the New York Red Bulls and expansion side Inter Miami CF — marking the first time that the club will not face every other team in the regular season.

2020 Home Opponents: FC Cincinnati, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew SC, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, LAFC, LA Galaxy, Minnesota United FC, Nashville SC, New York City FC, Orlando City SC, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

2020 Away Opponents: Atlanta United FC, Chicago Fire FC, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, LAFC, LA Galaxy, Minnesota United FC, Montreal Impact, Nashville SC, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Not on 2020 Schedule: D.C. United, Inter Miami CF, New York Red Bulls.

Sporting’s regular season docket is highlighted by four nationally televised matchups –one each on ESPN, FS1, ABC and Univision. Vermes’ men will make their ESPN and FS1 debuts against the Portland Timbers, visiting Providence Park on June 13 before playing host to the reverse match on June 28.

Sporting will play on network television for the first time since 2016 when they travel to meet reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC on Aug. 8 on ABC, then make their lone Univision appearance on Sept. 5 with a battle against Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field. Sporting will announce details for locally televised matches at a later date.

Playing 32 straight weekends from start to finish, Sporting will open 2020 with five of their first seven games on the road. The stretch includes a marquee tilt with defending Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion Atlanta United FC on March 14 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and an inaugural meeting with Nashville SC on April 11 at Nissan Stadium.

A daunting month of May will require Sporting to play five opponents that reached the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, including home games against MLS Cup finalists Toronto FC (May 9) and Seattle (May 23) as well as visits to reigning Supporters’ Shield winners LAFC (May 2), Philadelphia Union (May 16) and FC Dallas (May 30).

Fans will be treated to a home-heavy summer at Children’s Mercy Park, with Sporting set to be the host of seven of 10 games throughout June and July. The home match versus Orlando on June 6 will mark the 25-year anniversary of Sporting’s official launch as a charter member of Major League Soccer ahead of the 1996 season. Other high-profile encounters during the heart of summer involve visits from Western Conference rivals LA Galaxy (June 17), Portland (June 28), LAFC (July 5) and FC Dallas (July 25) as well as FC Cincinnati’s first game at Children’s Mercy Park on July 11.

The beginning of August will mark the start of another seven-game stretch that contains five away matches. The late-summer period is headlined by a road tilt in Seattle on Aug. 8 and a trip to Chicago in early September, which will be Sporting’s first game at Soldier Field since 2005.

Four of Sporting’s final seven fixtures will come against Eastern Conference sides, including the club’s regular season finale against NYCFC on Oct. 6. The curtain closer is one of 13 MLS matches set to kick off simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. as the 2020 regular season comes to a dramatic end on Decision Day.

Beyond the MLS regular season, Sporting will kick off their 2020 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign next April, entering in the Third Round of U.S. Soccer’s National Championship. In a notable format change, the 2020 competition will require 11 MLS clubs — including Sporting — to enter in the Third Round, one round earlier than in recent years. This change will see Sporting play up to six Open Cup matches in 2020, should they reach the final.

Sporting will visit Arizona for both legs of the 2020 preseason, presented by Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine. The first phase will run from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2 and the second phase will span Feb. 8-23, ending the weekend before the regular season begins. Sporting will announce its full preseason schedule later.

Season tickets for Sporting KC are available online at https://www.sportingkc.com/tickets/season-tickets. Some multi-game ticket packages for 2020 also are available at SportingKC.com.

Single-game tickets for the first half of the season will go on sale to the public in early 2020.

  • Information from Sporting KC

BPU approves reduced budget for 2020

The Board of Public Utilities approved a reduced budget for 2020 on Wednesday night, Dec. 18.

The reduction from last year’s $381 million budget to the 2020 budget of $373 million, about $8 million less, will not have an effect on customers’ bills, according to a BPU spokesman.

The reduction is mostly the result of lower capital spending, David Mehlhaff, BPU spokesman, said.

Mehlhaff said the reduction in capital spending is mostly from closing down the Quindaro Power Plant, and there are no large new capital improvement projects this year. He added the BPU is continuing to address aging infrastructure and water improvements, and is continuing Rosedale project improvements.

BPU General Manager Bill Johnson has listed his priorities as customer service, operating efficiency and safe and reliable service, while reducing capital and operating costs, Mehlhaff said.

There is no electric rate increase planned in 2020 and the BPU is looking at not doing an electric increase in 2021, he said. It is too early to tell if a water rate increase will be proposed, he said. Electric service makes up about 85 percent of the BPU’s revenues, he added.

“We’re just trying to do more with less,” Mehlhaff said.

The BPU is not currently seeing any large expansion of the customer base in Kansas City, Kansas, he added.

“This budget will get the job done,” he said. “It’s slightly less than last year’s. I think the public will be pleased.”

Mehlhaff said he didn’t anticipate any job cuts or reductions in this budget.

He listed the BPU’s goals and priorities:

• Providing cost effective, safe and reliable utility services, including efficient operation of electric and water production facilities.

• Continue efforts to improve customer service. Update business practices and programs as needed to meet the requirements of our broad and diverse customer base.

• Ensure continued fiscal sustainability by effectively managing debt service coverage, cash-on-hand, and credit ratings through open and transparent fiscal and budget policies.

• Continue to evaluate various communication initiatives to make information and services readily accessible across multiple media platforms to engage the community and increase public awareness.

• Review strategic alliances and expansion opportunities that benefit the utility and the community. Supporting economic development and retention and growth in the service area with other community partners.

• Ensure that electric transmission and distribution systems continue to operate in a safe and reliable manner. Continue efforts to improve system reliability indices (SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI).

• Continue to focus on electric generation plant availability and ensure that reliability standards follow industry best practices as it relates to maintenance and operation.

• Continue to support and champion a diverse generation portfolio, while still evaluating future renewable energy opportunities to ensure a sustainable outlook for our community. This includes continuing to monitor, evaluate, and address changes in all environmental regulations.

• Continue to focus on our water main replacement program and maintaining adequate water storage capacity for community service.

• Evaluate ways to effectively promote energy and water efficiency programs and initiatives through customer education, community outreach services, and targeted programs.

• Continue to evaluate ways to cost effectively improve employee usage of information technology systems as a way of improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs.

He stated that BPU will continue efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce costs; assist and support community partners and meet and prepare for future customer growth while maintaining world-class customer service.

Police notes

Theft reported on North 61st


Theft was reported at 8:50 p.m. Dec. 18 in the 1500 block of North 61st, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

A victim told police that he fell asleep, and when he awakened, the suspect was gone, according to the report. The victim realized his property and money were stolen in an unknown manner, the report stated.