Month: October 2022

Election meet-and-greets, other events planned

A candidate meet-and-greet is planned from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the First Baptist Church, 500 Nebraska Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.

The event is sponsored by Servicing LIPPS (Legislative Interactions Producing Positive Solutions).

Other upcoming events include:

• Wednesday, Oct. 5, ACLU – “My Wyandotte County, Our Home, Our Voice: an ACLU of Kansas meet and greet tour,” 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the South Branch Library, Conference Room A, 3104 Strong Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The program is about ACLU’s work defending civil liberties and the vision for the future of Kansas. For more information, see : https://secure.ngpvan.com/CPR_Bv6xr0yNAj3FSy14nQ2.

• Saturday, Oct. 8, Johnson County NAACP candidate forum, with statewide candidates, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Shawnee Mission Park, Shelter No. 1, 7900 Renner Road, Shawnee, Kansas. Those attending should bring a lawn chair. Other sponsors are the League of Women Voters in Johnson County, Mainstream Coalition, MORE2 (Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity) and Voter Rights Network of Wyandotte County. This event is free and open to the public.

• Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., Mainstream Coalition, Justice Retention Event with Loud Light, Johnson County League of Women Voters, Kansas Interfaith Action (KIFA), at Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, current and former justices discuss the retention issue.

• Saturday, Oct. 15, meet-and-greet session with candidates from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Beatrice Lee Community Center, 1310 N. 10th St., Kansas City, Kansas. This event is sponsored by Unity with Purpose and the Kansas City, Kansas, Branch of the NAACP.

Also, poll observers are being trained by Loud Light and ACLU for the upcoming election. One of these sessions is at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16. See more information at https://secure.everyaction.com/CFQOv9C4L0-9xY9YwGywFA2.

KCKCC to hold open house Thursday on automation engineering program

Students can become an advanced manufacturing technician with little or no cost in two years through Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Automation Engineer Technology program.

More information about this program is available at an upcoming open house from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Dr. Thomas R. Burke Technical Education Center, 6565 State Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas. The event is free and open to the public.

Wyandotte County has more than 5,500 skilled jobs available with an average pay of $19.70 per hour. KCKCC is helping fill this gap with the AET program. Through its partnership with FAME (Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education), students not only can be prepared for an in-demand career but finish debt free, according to a KCKCC spokesman.

KCKCC students will spend two days a week at the college and the other three days as a paid intern at a local manufacturer. This is an “earn while you learn” program. The open house will give those interested an opportunity to learn about the program, visit the new AET lab and meet the first cohort of AET FAME students.

First developed by Toyota, the FAME program serves to solve a local skills trade shortage while providing a pathway for people to earn a technical associate of science degree debt-free. Currently, there are 32 FAME chapters in 14 states, and participation continues to grow. Local manufacturing company leaders – Amsted Rail, Best Harvest Bakeries, Brill, Inc., Catalent, Empire Candle, INX International INK Co., TT Electronics and CH Guenther & Son dba Williams Foods, established the first FAME chapter in Kansas – the Kansas City FAME chapter. Supported by the Kansas Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Kansas Manufacturing Solutions, Wyandotte Economic Development Council and Workforce Partnership, the Kansas City FAME chapter expects to grow its membership base of manufacturing companies.

For more information on applying for the FAME internship program, visit the FAME KC website. For more information on the AMT program at KCKCC visit the website or contact Rich Piper.

– Story from Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public information manager