Category: Leavenworth

Several Veterans Day events planned in area

Some Veterans Day events are planned in the Greater Kansas City area.

Free admission to National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial today

Today, the National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., is one of the hubs of activities saluting veterans. This year is the 100th anniversary of World War I.

Several activities are planned at the World War I Museum, and there is free admission for the public today.

A ceremony is planned at 10 a.m. to feature local dignitaries and officials as well as biographer A. Scott Berg. Berg will speak at 6:30 p.m. about Woodrow Wilson’s fight for peace after World War I.

There will be a donation drive for Red Racks Thrift Stores, operated by the Disabled American Veterans. Clothes, shoes, small household items and toys for children are sought.

Claudio Bisogniero, ambassador of Italy to the United States, is expected to visit the World War I Museum on Monday, Nov. 17, for a private event before the debut of “War & Art, Destruction and Protection of Italian Cultural Heritage During World War I,” a special exhibit featuring photographs documenting the preservation of priceless works of art during the war.

Leavenworth plans Veterans Day parade

Leavenworth is planning a Leavenworth County Veterans Day parade starting at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11.

The event begins at 10:30 a.m. at Fourth and Cherokee streets in Leavenworth, Kan.
David R. Thomas of Leavenworth, who volunteers with the American Legion and other organizations, is the parade grand marshal.

For more information about the parade, visit www.lvvetsparade.com.

Veterans Day observance scheduled at Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa

Veterans, family members and friends are invited to attend a flag-raising ceremony and tribute at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, at the Veterans Memorial at Resurrection Cemetery, 83rd and Quivira Road, Lenexa, Kan.

The American Legion Band will provide a patriotic musical prelude at 1:30 p.m. The brief ceremony will include the flag-raising, patriotic music, a tribute to veterans, prayer, a 21-gun salute and playing of taps. American Legion Post 370 will be the color guard. Small flags will be available for gravesite decorations.

Chaplain, Lt. Col. James E. Ludwikoski will pay tribute to veterans during the program. Father Ludwikoski is pastor of Good Shepherd Parish, Shawnee, Kan.

The Veterans Memorial at Resurrection Cemetery features monuments and flags representing the five branches of the Armed Forces and the Merchant Marines. Family members and friends can remember and honor veterans by arranging to have their names engraved on the granite walls adjoining the monuments. Adjacent to the memorial is a section dedicated for burial of veterans and their spouses.

Gratitude ceremony for veterans planned Nov. 12

The University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth, will honor the veterans, active-duty, and military families within its university community at a special gratitude and pinning ceremony at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the Mead Hall Walnut Room on the Saint Mary campus in Leavenworth. Among the special guests who may be in attendance at the event is Col. Timothy Wulff, garrison commander at Fort Leavenworth.

The university will also participate in Leavenworth’s Veterans Day parade on Nov. 11.

KCKCC-TEC holds Manufacturing Day event

Students from five high schools in Kansas City, Kan. and Leavenworth had the opportunity to speak with manufacturing professionals who talked about their jobs during the 2014 Manufacturing Day event at KCKCC-TEC. (Photo from KCKCC)
Students from five high schools in Kansas City, Kan., and Leavenworth had the opportunity to speak with manufacturing professionals who talked about their jobs during the 2014 Manufacturing Day event at KCKCC-TEC. (Photo from KCKCC)

by Kelly Rogge
High school students from Kansas City, Kan., and Leavenworth spent some time recently learning about what types of manufacturing careers are available to them through Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Manufacturing Day.

The 2014 Manufacturing Day event was a first for KCKCC-TEC, which hosted it Oct. 2. Started three years ago as a grassroots initiative to overcome the challenges of finding skilled labor for manufacturers, the day is designed to address the public perception that careers in manufacturing are undesirable. Both of these problems stem from a lack of understanding of present-day manufacturing environments, which are highly technical. This event allows manufacturers to open their doors to show prospective employees what opportunities they have. This is a nationwide plan to continue to draw awareness to the manufacturing industry and to showcase the benefits of choosing a career in the field.

“One of the biggest challenges for manufacturers across the country is finding that skilled labor,” said Tiffany Stovall, representative with the Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center in Kansas City. “This is a grassroots movement of manufacturers who are dedicated to address this shared challenge.”

Close to 100 students from five high schools – Wyandotte, Washington, Harmon and Schlagle high schools in Kansas City, Kan., as well as Leavenworth High School, attended the day-long event, hosted by KCKCC-TEC. Students had the opportunity to tour the General Motors Plant and A&E Custom Manufacturing, representing manufacturers on a large and small scale. They then had lunch with manufacturing professionals who talked about what their jobs are like and what students need to do to gain such employment. These positions included an engineer, machinist, CAD/Designer, welder, electrician, industrial maintenance and an assembler/fabricator. The day ended with a tour of several KCKCC-TEC programs including machine technology, HVAC, major appliance and welding, among others.

“This was a whole brand new experience for many of these students,” said Donna Shawn, director-Perkins coordinator at KCKCC-TEC. “What we were doing was really opening their world. As the boomers start retiring, there is really going to be a shortage of skilled labor. We want them to see that there are plenty of opportunities for them out there with the right education and training.”

KCKCC’s event was just one of dozens throughout the state of Kansas in October. Nationwide, more than 1,500 companies will be participating. The event is co-produced by the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, International; the National Association of Manufacturers; the Manufacturing Institute, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Industrial Strength Marketing.

“What we want is for students to be exposed to the variety of careers in manufacturing and begin considering the industry as a career path. These may be paths that they otherwise may not have considered,” she said. “As more people begin talking about this effort and how the manufacturing industry is hurting for skilled labors, I think there is more interest in events like Manufacturing Day. Manufacturing is screaming that they need help, and we are beginning to shape students’ visions of what kinds of opportunities there are out there for them.”

For more information on Manufacturing Day or to see other events occurring, visit www.mfgday.com. For more information on programs available at KCKCC-TEC that relate to manufacturing, visit the college’s website at www.kckcc.edu or call 913-288-7800.

Students from five high schools in Kansas City, Kan. and Leavenworth had the opportunity to speak with manufacturing professionals who talked about their jobs during the 2014 Manufacturing Day event at KCKCC-TEC. (Photo from KCKCC)
Students from five high schools in Kansas City, Kan. and Leavenworth had the opportunity to speak with manufacturing professionals who talked about their jobs during the 2014 Manufacturing Day event at KCKCC-TEC. (Photo from KCKCC)

Business owner indicted on federal bank fraud charges

An area business owner has been indicted on federal bank fraud charges, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Brenda Wood, 45, Leavenworth, Kan., was indicted Wednesday on five counts of bank fraud, one count of theft from an employee benefit program, and four counts of willful violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The indictment alleges the crimes took place while Wood owned several businesses including one in Kansas City, Mo. — Professional Cleaning and Innovative Building Services, Inc. (PCI) — and three in Bonner Springs, Kan. — Action Real Estate Services, LLC; G&W Investments, LLC, and Riverview Crossings, LLC.

The indictment alleges Wood obtained loans for herself and her companies through Farmers Bank in Overland Park, Kan., by making false representations and submitting falsified documents to the bank. Among the allegations in the indictment are these:

• Wood obtained a loan on behalf of Riverview Crossings to purchase property in Bonner Springs in part by forging the signature of a second mortgage holder releasing the deed, the indictment alleged.
• Wood submitted falsified invoices totaling more than $100,000 to support fraudulent draws on the Riverview Crossings loan, the indictment alleged.
• Wood obtained a loan on behalf of PCI to buy property in Basehor, Kan., in which she fraudulently inflated the purchase price to make it appear the loan met the bank’s loan-to-value ratio requirements, the indictment alleged.
• Wood obtained a $350,000 line of credit in part by fraudulently representing to the lender that her company, PCI, was awarded a contract to provide cleaning services at an Internal Revenue Service building in Kansas City, Mo., the indictment alleged. In fact, her company was not even a finalist for the contract, authorities stated.
• Wood diverted more than $200,000 from an escrow account for PCI to her personal account, the indictment alleged.
• Wood set up a 401(k) plan for PCI and embezzled more than $30,000 from the plan, the indictment alleged.
• Wood failed to file annual financial reports for the PCI 401(k) plan, the indictment alleged.

Farmer’s Bank received $12 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. In November 2012, the bank paid the U.S. Treasury approximately $11.4 million to redeem the funding, resulting in a shortfall of more than $500,000.

If convicted, Wood faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on each of the bank fraud charges, a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of theft from an employee benefit program, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of violating ERISA.

The Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, the Special Investigator General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.