Month: April 2022

Braves, Cyclones set high marks at Bonner Springs Invitational meet

Bonner Springs senior Noah Doss won the boys’ 100-meter dash with a time of 11.22 seconds at the Bonner Springs Invitational track meet on Thursday. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

by Brian Turrel

Bonner Springs High School played host to 10 other local track and field teams, including Bishop Ward, Schlagle and Wyandotte, at the Bonner Springs Invitational on Thursday.

A passing thunderstorm delayed the meet for a half-hour due to lightning, but once the storm passed, weather conditions were beautiful for the athletes and spectators.

The Basehor-Linwood Bobcats won both the boys’ and girls’ team competitions, while Bonner Springs took third in the boys’ standings and fourth in the girls’.

Bonner’s Mariyah Noel, last year’s 5A state champion in girls’ discus, made a throw of 132-feet, 9-inches, the best 5A throw and second-best overall in Kansas this season. Jenna Knight won the girls’ 100- and 300-meter hurdles.

The Braves’ Noah Doss took first in the boys’ 100-meter dash, and Jason McConico won the boys’ 110-meter hurdles. Cooper McWilliams won the boys’ high jump and set a personal best jump of 6-feet.

K.J. Smith led the Bishop Ward Cyclones to a seventh place showing, winning the boys’ long jump and taking second in the 100-meter dash. Smith’s jump of 21-feet, 9-inches is the best by a 3A athlete this year.

Washington finished eighth in the girls’ standings and 10th in the boys’. Freshman Kylnn Lawrence took third in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles, and the girls’ 4×100-meter relay team also placed third.

Bonner Springs junior Jenna Knight won the girls’ 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.80 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bishop Ward senior K.J. Smith won the boys’ long jump with a distance of 21-feet, 9-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bonner Springs senior Cooper McWilliams won the boys’ high jump with a personal best of 6-feet, 0-inches. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bonner Springs junior Jason McConico ran in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles. McConico won with a time of 17.65 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bishop Ward sophomore Ezekiel Hernandez won his heat in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles with a time of 19.80 seconds and finished third overall in the event. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Basehor-Linwood junior Brant Wilson narrowly edged out Bishop Ward senior K.J. Smith in the boys’ 200-meter dash. Smith finished with a time of 22.91 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Washington freshman Treyvion Tibbett won his heat of the boys’ 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.17 seconds and finished fifth overall in the event. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Washington senior Markayla Bowens led off the girls 4×100-meter relay. Washington took third place in the event with a time of 53.26 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Washington freshman Kylnn Lawrence placed third in the girls’ 300-meter hurdles with a time of 58.11 seconds. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

 

Bishop Ward freshman Olivia Marshal competed in the girls’ javelin throw. (Photo copyright 2022 by Brian Turrel)

Higher energy costs forecast, KCC says

Higher energy costs are expected in the future, based on current national forecasts, according to the Kansas Corporation Commission.

This will likely increase the cost to cool homes and businesses this summer and heat them this winter, according to the news release from the KCC.

The KCC advised homeowners to weatherize their homes and undertake energy efficiency investments as they are able.

Like many other energy and commodity prices, monthly wholesale natural gas prices have recently increased to levels not seen in the United States since September 2008, the KCC stated.

Wholesale electricity prices have increased as well. On April 18, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) futures price for natural gas climbed to nearly $8/MMBtu (Metric Million British thermal units) for May and June, with prices over $8/MMBtu for the rest of this year and upcoming winter. For context, natural gas prices regularly traded in the $2-$3/MMBtu range for much of the last decade.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its Short-Term Energy Outlook indicating energy price forecasts for the rest of the year are subject to heightened levels of uncertainty from factors such as the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine, decisions of OPEC+, and the rate at which U.S. Oil and Natural Gas producers increase drilling in response to higher prices.

The KCC has launched an online resource to provide additional information, help consumers minimize the impact, and find financial and weatherization assistance. The information is available at https://kcc.ks.gov/consumer-alert-spring-2022

Supreme Court upholds lower court decisions in repressed memory case

The Kansas Supreme Court today upheld decisions from the Kansas Court of Appeals and Wyandotte County District Court concerning an individual who alleged he was sexually abused by a priest in Shawnee County in the 1980s.

In the case, a man stated he had repressed memories of the alleged incidents that happened in the Topeka area, and he recalled it after media published reports about other abuse cases.

The Supreme Court affirmed both the Court of Appeals and the Wyandotte County District Court and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings. The lawsuit was in Wyandotte County District Court because of the location of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

Writing for the court majority, Justice Eric Rosen noted that further discovery will be necessary to establish the time frame of the abuse and the time frame for discovery of the abuse. These will ultimately be questions of fact for determination in the district court, and the answers to these questions will govern whether the individual, identified by his initials in the lawsuit, filed his petition in time to preserve his cause of action.

A state law requires a plaintiff to start an action no more than eight years after the events that caused harm, but the law had an exception for injuries resulting from sexual abuse. Plaintiffs are allowed to bring an action for childhood sexual abuse up to three years after the plaintiff turns 18 or three years after the plaintiff discovers injuries caused by childhood sexual abuse. In this case, there were questions about the exact years the alleged abuse actually took place.

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas argued separately that claims against it were time-barred because the statute exception applied only to suits against individuals, not against institutions. The Supreme Court rejected the argument, holding the statutory exception focuses on harm resulting from abuse, not on perpetrator liability.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Caleb Stegall, joined by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, agreed with the outcome but disagreed with the majority’s determination that the statute contains no requirement that a defendant must have been the active perpetrator of the abuse. The concurring justices would find the statute ambiguous but would hold the Archdiocese potentially liable under a theory of aiding and abetting.