Month: August 2020

KCK school board votes to suspend fall sports

The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Education tonight voted to suspend fall KSHSAA sports.

It was another casualty of COVID-19.

In her motion, board member Janey Humphries said that during the past few years she has seen the value that parents and students place on participating in sports and seen the joy on the faces of the students. She knows how much sports means to kids.

“I also believe the health and safety of our students come first,” Humphries said. “That is my first priority, the health and safety of our students. I am concerned about keeping them safe in this environment.”

She said there is contact in sports and there is no way to keep football, soccer and volleyball players from coming into contact with each other.

Dr. Stacey Yeager, a board member, said it was important for kids to get out there and play and have athletics. She said she believed the students should be allowed to follow a modified sports schedule.

The action comes at a time when several college athletic conferences are canceling the fall sports season, also.

“We’re not trying to kill sports or students’ futures,” Dr. Valdenia Winn, a board member said. Safety is the main concern, she said. She said higher education institutions will be making provisions for athletes during these times.

The vote was 5-2 on the motion by Humphries, with Humphries, Yolanda Clark, Randy Lopez, Wanda Brownlee Paige, and Valdenia Winn voting yes, while Maxine Drew and Stacey Yeager voted no. The vote was on Aug. 11 at a Zoom meeting.

The motion specifically stated “KSHSAA fall sports,” including sports under the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

The board members noted that with the wording, “suspend,” it left a little room open for a later decision.

Tammie Romstad, the district’s athletic director, went over some of the guidelines from the KSHSAA for restarting sports. The state organization had many modifications in place to make the sports safer.

Limited crowd sizes, physical distancing while on the sidelines, masks, no handshakes, temperature checks, more space between lockers and other KSHSAA safety precautions will be in place.

Romstad said the district had been meeting with local public health officials about guidelines they are expected to issue soon concerning high school sports.

Later in the meeting, the school board was scheduled to go into a closed, executive session, to discuss coaches’ contracts with its attorney.

According to the school district’s website, the board voted to honor supplemental contracts that have been entered into, whether or not the sports seasons are suspended or not.

The district’s website stated that the sports will include: football, volleyball, cross country, girls tennis and boys soccer. The vote also suspends marching band and spirit squad. However, band will remain as a class option for students, but there will be no performances.

The school district had previously decided that the first nine weeks of the fall semester will be remote education.

Wyandotte County reports 101st COVID-19 death, while case rate is declining here


Hospitalizations increasing

Wyandotte County reported its 101st COVID-19 related death on Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. Wyandotte County also reported 44 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday afternoon, with a cumulative total of 4,959. The 7-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths in Wyandotte County is currently very low. (From UG COVID-19 webpage)
A chart showed a 7-day rolling average of positive COVID-19 cases in Wyandotte County. The mask order went into effect June 30. Cases spiked about two weeks or so after the Fourth of July, and since then, the cases have been declining. (UG COVID-19 webpage)

Wyandotte County reported its 101st cumulative COVID-19 death on Tuesday, and Mayor David Alvey urged residents to continue complying with the mask mandate.

The county has made progress since the mask-wearing mandate went into effect in Wyandotte County on June 30. Unified Government Health Department charts show that after a spike on July 16, around two weeks after the Fourth of July, the seven-day average rolling rate of cases has been declining here.

Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients at the University of Kansas Health System are increasing, doctors reported.

Mayor Alvey said at a news conference Tuesday sponsored by the University of Kansas Health System that health officials have mentioned that those places without a mask order saw an increase in cases, while in those areas where masks were required of everyone, there was a 25 percent decrease in transmission.

There are still some people not complying with the mask order, and some are continuing to gather in large groups where the transmission risk is higher, Mayor Alvey said.

Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said it was remarkable that the mask order here has already had the effect it has had.

“There is absolutely no question about the importance of mask wearing, and anyone who thinks it is not is just deluding themselves,” Dr. Stites said. Masks have protected patients in hospitals for generations, and it keeps patients safe, he said. It’s no different around COVID-19, he added.

In Wyandotte County, cases are now around 43 a day, Mayor Alvey said. That’s down from the first spike. The numbers spiked again when people began to think it was over. Since the mask order the numbers have been declining, according to the 7-day rolling average chart.

“We still have some places where people don’t understand the necessity of the mask and where it’s an act of kindness to others, especially to those closest to you,” Mayor Alvey said.

Those who don’t wear masks are playing Russian roulette with their health and their family’s health, he added. He sometimes asks people who don’t wear masks, who among their friends and relatives they would be willing to part with?

The less people do the simple measures, such as wearing a mask and distancing, the more they have to do the drastic measures, such as medical intervention, he said.

The mayor and the doctors said COVID-19 had a very real negative impact on the economy, including on the businesses, local governments and hospitals.

The KU Health System reported 39 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday morning, including 11 in the intensive care unit and eight on the ventilator, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control.

On Monday the total was 31, and last week there were 23, he said. There is an 18-year-old COVID-19 patient in the hospital, he said. Those in the ICU range from age 30 to 86, and on the ventilator, 30 to 72, Dr. Hawkinson said.

Wyandotte County reported its 101st COVID-19 related death on Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. It was an increase of two since Monday. Wyandotte County also reported 44 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday afternoon, with a cumulative total of 4,959.

The 7-day rolling average of COVID-19 related deaths is currently very low in Wyandotte County, according to a chart on the UG COVID-19 website.

Dr. Stites said people can stop the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask, washing hands, and socially distancing.

“We can stop it in its tracks,” he said, “before it stops you.”

Free testing offered

Free COVID-19 testing is planned from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Zotung Christian Church, 5010 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas.

The pop-up test is offered through Vibrant Health and the Health Equity Task Force.

Free testing also is offered from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Unified Government Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann, Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call 311.

The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/3680520225309926.

For more information on who may be tested and what to bring, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.


The Wyandotte County school start order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.


Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask order and is in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan. For more information, residents may visit the UG COVID-19 website at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information or call 311 for more information.


The CDC’s COVID-19 web page is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.

Public hearing date set for the Yards apartment complex near Kansas River

A drawing of the Yards II redevelopment area, where a TIF district is proposed, showed it is close to a levee improvement area, as well as the proposed Rock Island Bridge project. (From UG agenda)

A public hearing date was proposed for the Yards II apartment redevelopment project east of the Kansas River, west of State Line Road, north of Kansas Avenue and south of I-670 in Kansas City, Kansas. The development is near the Rock Island redevelopment project at the Kansas River.

The proposed public hearing on the first phase project plans will be Oct. 29, according to officials at the Unified Government Economic Development and Finance Committee meeting Monday night.

Another public hearing on the project is coming up this week. Katherine Carttar, Unified Government economic development director, said a public hearing is scheduled Thursday, Aug. 13, for the proposed tax increment funding district, the Riverfront Redevelopment District, and a resolution adopting the development agreement for the Yards II Apartments.

The developer, Flaherty and Collins, will build a first-class river overlook apartment building, she said. It will complement the work being done on the levee, she added.

The first phase, with project costs of $40.7 million, will have 225 to 245 units, she said. It would have about 6,000 square feet of retail space.

The project includes a health and fitness center, outdoor kitchen and grills, patio space, and a dog park, she said.

The incentives for the first project area include a pay-as-you-go TIF, with no bonds; a public incentive cap of $11 million and not more than 23 percent of the total project cost; and equal to 100 percent of the increase in property taxes for project area 1 for up to the maximum 20 years, according to UG information.

According to Carttar, the project is expected to stimulate future riverfront development; bring residents to the Kansas side of the stockyards district and West Bottoms; increase sales tax and PILOT revenues; and leverage the Kansas River as an asset.

Stimulating residential development brings additional development to an area, she added.

The project was also moving through the zoning process on Monday night at the City Planning Commission meeting.

The EDF committee approved the hearing date, and the item will go to the full UG Commission.

Quindaro Ruins trust to come back to later meeting

Also on Monday night, commissioners delayed a proposal to establish a Quindaro Ruins trust after Commissioner Gayle Townsend requested more information on it, including a more detailed map.

The proposal is an agreement between Western University Association of the AME Church and the Unified Government to form a trust to own property, seek grants and donations and develop the Quindaro Ruins project. The commission did not discuss the details of the project on Monday night at the Neighborhood and Community Development meeting. The project is expected to come back to a future NCD Committee meeting.