Month: December 2020

Santa’s Express in Lights to be Dec. 4-5 and 11-12 at Ag Hall

Santa’s Express at the Ag Hall returns for 2020 in a new format – the drive-through Santa’s Express in Lights.

The event will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 11-12 at the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame, 126th and State Avenue, Bonner Springs.

This year, because of COVID-19, Santa’s Express will be a drive-through of a lighted village, with music and a nativity scene with barnyard animals. Those who attend will not get out of their cars.

Visitors will be able to see animals such as a camel, donkey, cow, goats and sheep, while driving through the illuminated holiday route. They also will see Farm Town, tractors, the barn, the train and Christmas trees with holiday lights.

Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves will be present to greet visitors from a social distance.

Kids will be able to bring their letters to Santa Claus and put them in his mailbox.

The suggested donation for the event will be $10 per car. Cars may enter from 126th Street. Proceeds will benefit the Ag Hall’s agriculture education programs.

There will be a canned food collection for Harvesters food bank at the entrance of the Ag Hall.

The Ag Hall is not currently open to in-person traffic inside the buildings.

For more information, visit www.AgHallofFame.com or call 913-721-1075.

KCK schools ‘grab-and-go’ curbside meal locations to be reduced

Starting Monday, Dec. 7, the number of meal sites for the “grab-and-go” curbside meals will be reduced for Kansas City, Kansas, Public School students and patrons.

There will be a little more than half the number of school nutrition sites now available for meal pickup. Students may go to a nearby open site to pick up the meals.

According to a school district website post, the consolidation of the meal sites was necessary to help the staff and the community stay safe.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools’ Board of Education voted Dec. 1 to reduce the meal sites after hearing a district staff report with that recommendation.

According to the staff report, there was a difficulty in trying to staff all the sites adequately, with an increase of COVID-19 in the community. There were more absences being reported among the staff recently, according to the staff report.

According to the district’s website, meals will be available for pickup Dec. 7 at these schools:

High schools: Harmon, Schlagle and Washington.
Middle schools: Central, Carl Bruce, Gloria Willis and Rosedale.
Elementary schools: Banneker, Claude Huyck, Douglass, John Fiske, Lowell Brune, Mark Twain, M.E. Pearson, New Chelsea, Stony Point South and Welborn.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools currently are in remote learning and are not in the classrooms.

The nutrition program provides meals for students, who pick them up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Breakfast and lunch are included, and milk and juice are available. Students pick up two lunches and two breakfasts on Monday, one lunch and one breakfast on Wednesday, and two lunches and two breakfasts on Friday.

Students must pre-register to pick up a meal; pre-registration is available by calling 913-627-3900. There is also a pre-registration form on the district’s website. The nutritional services department wants to know if students have a food allergy, when registering.

The meals are free for ages 1-18, and participants do not need to be a KCKPS student to have access to the meals, according to the district’s webpage.

School board members were concerned that the distance might be too great for some students to pick up their meals. Those who have transportation problems may call their school principal or school social worker to see if other arrangements can be made.

Members of the community with children using the grab-and-go meal program without a home school may call the district at 913-627-3900 to share any challenges around picking up meals.

Schools that will no longer serve curbside meals after Dec. 4 include Bridges, Caruthers, Eisenhower, Emerson, Frances Willard, Frank Rushton, Hazel Grove, KCKECC, McKinley, Quindaro, Silver City, Stony Point North and Edison.

For more information visit https://kckps.org/important-update-on-grab-and-go-meal-location-changes/. This website also lists some other food distribution sites, some through private agencies, that are operating in Wyandotte County.

See previous story at
https://wyandotteonline.com/kck-school-board-votes-to-delay-return-to-in-person-learning-until-april/.

Police notes

Victim in critical condition after being wounded by gunfire on 7th Street

A victim was wounded by gunshots about 5:32 p.m. Dec. 2 in the 1300 block of North 7th Street, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

Officers responded to a dispatched call and found the victim, who was then taken to a hospital in stable, but critical condition, the report stated. Detectives are investigating.

Victim stabbed, vehicle stolen on Central Avenue

A victim was stabbed and his vehicle was stolen about 11:20 p.m. Dec. 2 in the 700 block of Central Avenue, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

Officers responded to a call about a stabbing, and found the victim had apparent knife wounds, according to the report. The victim was taken to a hospital.

Police found that the suspect took the victim’s vehicle while attacking him with a knife, according to the report. The suspect , found inside the vehicle, was taken into custody and booked, according to the report.

Victim stabbed in 700 block of Minnesota

A victim was stabbed in the 700 block of Minnesota Avenue about 3:14 p.m. Dec. 2, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

The suspect, who was yelling at another person, was asked to stop yelling in front of the victim’s children, according to the report.

The suspect then became agitated, brandished a knife and stabbed the victim, the report stated. The victim had minor injuries, according to the report.

The suspect was taken into custody, the report stated.

Domestic disturbance reported

A domestic disturbance was reported about 7:39 a.m. Dec. 2 in the 2700 block of South 52nd Street, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

Officers who responded to the dispatched call tried to take the suspect into custody, the report stated. The suspect began to pull away in an attempt to escape custody, according to the report.

The suspect was ultimately taken into custody and booked into the Wyandotte County Jail, according to the report.