Matt Adams hit one of his two home runs Wednesday night June 8, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas, in the Kansas City Monarchs 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. (Photo by John Ellis, Kansas City Monarchs)
by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs
Wednesday night was the Matt Adams show. His two home runs and four RBIs helped the Kansas City Monarchs (16-7) defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes (11-12) 6-3.
Adams’ bat has been on fire, hitting nine home runs in the past nine games with six of them coming in the last five games.
After a two-out single by Gaby Guerrero, Matt Adams stepped up to the plate and belted a two-run bomb over the banner in right center to give the Monarchs an early 2-0 lead.
The Monarchs extended their lead in the fourth when David Thompson blasted the first pitch he saw over the home run patio in left field, giving the Monarchs a 3-0 lead.
To start off the fifth, Logan Hill roped a double to deep left center field. Andrew Martinez followed this up with a double down the left field line to score Hill. After five innings of play, the Monarchs led 3-1.
Lewis Thorpe kept the Goldeyes’ offense in check. He finished the night throwing 5.2 innings, allowing two runs while striking out four.
The Goldeyes scraped across a run in the sixth, but the Monarchs responded as Jan Hernandez hit a towering fly ball over the home run patio, giving the Monarchs a 4-2 lead. The solo shot marked four home runs in the past four games for Hernandez.
Matt Blackham had a dominant performance in relief, striking out four straight Goldeyes to keep the score 4-2 entering the bottom half of the seventh.
The Monarchs added two more insurance runs when Matt Adams launched his second two-out home run of the night to the exact same spot. The long ball gave Adams his second multi-home run game in the past four games. After seven innings, the Monarchs held a commanding 6-2 lead.
The Goldeyes brought one more run across in the eighth inning, but Jameson McGrane struck out the side in the ninth to slam the door shut and earn his third save of the season.
The Monarchs will face the Goldeyes in the two-game finale Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Legends Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.
The Fairfax Towers marker near 7th and Funston will be dedicated on Thursday afternoon as part of the 100th anniversary celebration for the Fairfax industrial district in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo from Fairfax Industrial Association)
by Mary Rupert
The Fairfax industrial district of Kansas City, Kansas, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with several events.
Thursday afternoon, June 9, a ribbon-cutting is scheduled at the tower that marks an entranceway to the Fairfax area, near 7th and Funston, said Melissa Clark, executive director of the Fairfax Industrial Association.
Fairfax, according to Clark, when it started was the main place to fly in and out of the area. It is believed to be the first planned industrial district in the nation, according to information from the FIA.
The late President Harry Truman used to fly in and out of the Fairfax airport, Clark said. The Fairfax district made B-25 bombers as well as landing craft during World War II.
Besides today’s ribbon-cutting at the Fairfax towers, the Fairfax Industrial Association is planning other events to commemorate the 100th anniversary.
An exhibit about the history of the Fairfax area will open July 5 at the Wyandotte County Museum, running through Sept. 24, she said.
Then, a “mini museum” exhibit will be displayed Oct. 6 at the annual Fairfax Festival, to be a finale of the 100th anniversary celebration, at Kaw Point Park, Clark said. This will be the main celebration event for the 100th anniversary, Clark said.
Other events that are scheduled include a Fairfax Night at the Monarchs on July 28, when video clips of Fairfax will be played on the stadium’s big screen; an FIA luncheon with Esther George, president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, at the Truman Library on Aug. 18; and an FIA luncheon on Sept. 15 at the Wyandotte County Museum, where the Fairfax exhibit will be on display.
Through the years, the Fairfax district has grown into a powerhouse of manufacturing. The district has about 135 businesses and has more than $5.4 billion in annual sales, Clark said. More than 10,000 people are employed there.
“We store all the metro’s fuel and the jet fuel,” Clark said, with 95 percent of the gasoline and diesel fuel in the Kansas City area and 100 percent of the jet fuel stored with three pipeline companies located there.
“The CertainTeed plant is the largest insulation plant in the world,” she said. “Seventy-five percent of all Cheez-Its are made at Kellogg’s in Fairfax.”
History of Fairfax district to be detailed in museum exhibit
A new exhibit on the history of the Fairfax district will open July 5 at the Wyandotte County Museum, located in Wyandotte County Park, Bonner Springs, near 126th and State Avenue.
Amy Loch, executive director of the museum, said there will be personal stories from employees who worked there, along with items collected that tell the story of the district.
The exhibit will have company uniforms, identification badges, hard hats, tools, even the Hydrox cookie recipe, Loch said. The Hydrox cookie was developed at the Sunshine Biscuit Company in the Fairfax area, and that plant is now Kellogg’s. Loch added the recipe will not be too valuable for home use, as it contains large industrial quantities.
“There are mortar shells brought in from the B-25 plant,” Loch said. “There’s also a cookie press, cracker press from Keebler, and a special tool to make the cookie shape.”
While the deadline for sending items to the museum for display has passed, if people still have Fairfax stories or objects they think could be part of the exhibit, they are encouraged to send them in right away, according to Loch.
Before its development, the Fairfax area was largely an agricultural area along the Missouri River. It was known as mostly swampy farmland before development, according to Loch.
Guy Stanley, an early promoter of the Fairfax district, became a champion for the district, she said. He represented landowners, who worked with the Woods Brothers and later the Union Pacific to develop the Fairfax area. The Woods Brothers, out of Nebraska, was one of the first companies to invest in the area and was instrumental in installing a dike system, she said. While the Missouri Pacific was there first, the Union Pacific was a major railroad that invested heavily in the Fairfax area, she added, putting in $3 million to purchase land, establish roads and tracks and funding the early vision of Guy Stanley.
The Fairfax district had a number of early flying schools in the early 1920s, and the municipal airport opened there in 1929, Loch said. Airplane manufacturers were some of the first industries in the area.
A display about the history of the B-25 manufactured in the Fairfax industrial district was featured at the 2018 Fairfax Festival. (File photo from 2018)
The Fairfax district started to develop as an industrial and aviation base prior to World War II, she said. Pre-war, the North American Aviation plant was constructed there to manufacture B-25 airplanes. After World War II industries left, the infrastructure was set up and it really boomed after that point, Loch said. The bomber plant was converted into automobile manufacturing, and a new auto plant was constructed in the 1980s.
Through the years the Fairfax district has had aviation-related businesses, such as Trans World Airlines. The Fairfax municipal airport, however, was closed in 1985.
Loch said she had seen different stories about how the Fairfax district was named. She said most people think it was named by Guy Stanley after Fairfax, Virginia, an area he liked, although historians are not completely sure about the name’s origin.
In a 1985 article, the late local historian Margaret Landis wrote that the history of the Fairfax airfield went back to 1921 when it was said to have been used for an American Legion air meet. E.J. Sweeny constructed a single-hangar workshop for six planes and started a flying school there, and his field was known as the Sweeny Airport in 1925, according to the article. The field was taken over by Woods Brothers in 1928, and named Fairfax.
According to Landis’ article, Kansas City, Kansas, purchased the Fairfax Airport for $600,000 in 1941 from Kansas City Industrial Land Co., a subsidiary of Union Pacific. It was then leased to the federal government, as part of the efforts for the North American bomber plant project.
The Fairfax district was annexed into Kansas City, Kansas, and it has been a huge resource to the city and county over the years, according to Clark.
Future looks bright for Fairfax district
Recent supply-chain shortages in America have placed a renewed emphasis on relying more on domestic manufacturing.
Clark believes there’s a lot of good things ahead for the future of the Fairfax district.
“I think its future is bright,” she said. “It’s an old district, but it’s a great location, and there’s almost no vacancies in Fairfax.”
Some of the older buildings that are not used for manufacturing currently are used for other purposes, such as storage, she said. There may be future space available when redevelopment happens for some nearby areas, she said, such as the old Quindaro power plant owned by the Board of Public Utilities.
“Everyone is thriving, manufacturing is thriving, and I think it’s going to get better and better, after what we’ve gone through,” Clark said.
For more information on the Fairfax 100th anniversary celebration events, visit https://fiakck.org/.
Fifty-two percent of Kansas food pantries reported serving more clients in 2021 than 2020, according to a new study from the University of Missouri.
This trend is nationwide, as food pantries are experiencing an increased need in food assistance because of inflation and lingering effects of the pandemic. In Kansas, the situation could soon get worse.
In April, the Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2448, which will require adults without dependents to complete an employment and training program in order to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program assistance, formerly known as food stamps, starting July 1. The law will only apply to those ages 18 through 49 who work fewer than 30 hours a week.
“This new study that just came out actually shows that people are working, and that at least one person in the home was working, and it’s really difficult,” said Joanna Sebelien, chief resource officer of Harvesters. “And many of them had full time jobs as well. And, yeah, the amount of money they’re making is basically below the poverty level.”
Harvesters is a food bank that serves 26 counties in northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. The organization testified in opposition to HB2448.
SNAP benefits are available to households whose incomes meet or are below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines. According to the study, 79% of Kansas households are eligible for SNAP based on their income, but only 31% of food bank clientele households have used the food assistance program within the previous year.
Harvesters attributes the lack of SNAP participation to state policy barriers, such as HB2448 and a series of bills passed in 2015 and 2016 called the HOPE Act. Between 2015 and 2020, SNAP enrollment dropped approximately 25%.
“The pandemic did bring more hunger and hardship to Kansans,” said Haley Kottler, the anti-hunger campaign director for Kansas Appleseed. “And so we really have seen food insecurity heightened over the past couple of years. But what I do want to say is programs like SNAP are there to help mitigate this. And so when the pandemic began, the food insecurity projections looked a lot higher than they actually ended up being because of programs like SNAP and Child Nutrition Programs.”
Seventy percent of Kansas food pantries reported serving more clients affected by COVID-19 in 2021 compared with 2020, the University of Missouri study shows.
Food insecurity in Kansas rose from 12.1% to 14.1% in 2020, according to Feeding America. As the biggest food assistance program in the country, the Kansas SNAP program alone has triggered approximately $164 million in economic activity since the beginning of the pandemic. As food insecurity grew, SNAP participation declined, according to Harvesters.
But enough Kansas legislators supported HB2448, model legislation brought to Kansas via an out-of-state lobbying organization, to override Kelly’s veto.
“What is the central solution to poverty? It’s work. Work is not a punishment, it’s a blessing,” said Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, as she argued in favor of the bill. “Helping someone move to a place of self-sufficiency is a gift to them. Work, not money, is a fundamental source of dignity, and getting that training that will move them there is a process to hope and self-respect.”
According to the University of Missouri study, of the Kansas households that utilize food banks, 60% have at least one working adult, 34% have at least one person who is working full-time, and 47% make $15,000 or less per year. Forty-one percent of these households choose between paying for food or medicine and medical care within the last year, and 49% choose between paying for food and utilities.
“I think (the University of Missouri study) shows that the people who are food insecure are people that you might not think, so many people think it might be an urban problem, or it’s an ethnic problem, but it’s not,” Sebelien said. “I mean, it shows we serve a very diverse group of people — Caucasians, Hispanics, African Americans, and other groups as well. And, you know, children and seniors.”
Of the food bank clients who were surveyed, 62% identify as white, 13% identify as African American, and 18% identify as Hispanic, according to the University of Missouri study. People of color experience higher rates of food insecurity. Families living in Indigenous communities are two times more likely to experience food insecurity compared with their counterparts, according to Harvesters. Nine percent of clients reside in temporary housing or are houseless.
“I cannot support a bill that makes it more difficult for Kansans to feed themselves, particularly when prices at the grocery store are increasing,” said Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat. “Thirty thousand hardworking Kansans will be affected by this, including families and those with children. I will not vote for a policy that makes it harder for children to grow and thrive in Kansas.”
According to Feeding America, one in eight Kansans face hunger, and one in six children in Kansas face hunger. The reality is more stark in regions like southeast Kansas, where one in four children are food insecure.
On Wednesday, the governor sent a letter to Congress requesting they extend the federal Child Nutrition Waivers, which were put in place at the beginning of the pandemic to guarantee students access to free meals during the school year and summer. These waivers have provided meals to 30 million students across the country. The waivers are due to expire on June 30, and if they are not extended, approximately 10 million students will be affected.
Food insecurity is not solely experienced by families. The University of Kansas Campus Cupboard is a food pantry that aims to reduce food insecurity among KU’s campus community. According to the study, 82% of food pantry clients in Kansas have a high school degree or higher level of education.
While the pantry is available to students, faculty, staff and affiliates, the pantry estimates the majority of its clients are students.
“This past academic year, we had over 3,000 visits to the Campus Cupboard,” said Sarah Ross, who oversees the daily operations of the Campus Cupboard. “I think a large part of that is because of the pandemic and inflation happening.”
SNAP eligibility rules differ for students in higher education compared to the general population. SNAP eligibility for higher education students expanded after The Consolidated Appropriations Act went into effect on Jan. 16, 2021, and is in effect until the end of the public health emergency is declared.
Kottler said Kansas Appleseed worked hard to encourage passage of House Bill 2215 and House Bill 2525. HB2215 would have reversed the ban on food assistance for Kansans with more than one drug felony. HB2525 would have reversed the ban on food assistance for Kansans who don’t cooperate with child support services. Neither bill passed this year.
To help Kansans determine their SNAP eligibility and navigate the Kansas SNAP application process, Harvesters established a SNAP Outreach program.
HB2448 goes into effect on July 1. Beginning in January, Kansans can expect some economic relief concerning food with House Bill 2106, which will phase out the Kansas sales tax on groceries. Kansas’ sales tax on groceries is the second highest in the country, at 6.5%.
Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
