Category: News

Piper car show returns on Saturday

The Piper car show will return on Saturday, Sept. 24, after a two-year absence due to COVID.

The Piper Community Festival Car and Truck Show and Shine event will feature cars, trucks and motorcycles on display, said Sean Ziolo, who is working with the car show. It is held in conjunction with the Piper Community Festival on Saturday.

“It feels good, we’re excited,” Ziolo said about the return of the car show. They couldn’t hold the car show in 2020, and in 2021 they had the opportunity but decided not to risk it.

“We’re going to be back, bigger and better,” he said. “We’re looking forward to seeing everybody.”

They’re planning to have 250 to 300 vehicles in the show this year, he added.

Car show registration will be the same day, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at Piper High School, 4400 N. 107th, Kansas City, Kansas. There will be plenty of parking for trucks and trailers.

There will be a $10 entry fee per vehicle.

More than 60 awards will be given out, and the awards will be presented at 3 p.m. Saturday, he added.

One of the vehicles will be named the principal’s choice pick, and will be featured on next year’s T-shirt and banner for the car show, Ziolo said.

The Piper Community Festival, the same day and place, will start with a pancake breakfast by the Boy Scouts from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Saturday.

A 5k run-walk will start at 8 a.m. Online registration ends Sept. 23 but same-day registration will be available for the 5k. Registration for the 5k will be $25 for 19 and over, $20 for 18 and younger.

A silent auction will be held inside Piper school at the same time as the car show.

Also, a carnival will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be family wristbands for $50 per family, or individual wristbands at $20 per person.

Bingo is planned from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the festival, with a value pack offered for $10.

There will be no admission charge to walk through the festival, and food and refreshments will be available.

Proceeds will benefit the Piper Educational Foundation.

For more information about the car show, call Ziolo at 913-515-0417.

Thousands of Kansans eligible for student debt forgiveness, White House officials say

by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector

Kansans who have struggled to repay student debt may receive relief, with hundreds of thousands in the state eligible for some form of debt forgiveness, the Biden-Harris administration announced Tuesday.

In Kansas, about 360,900 student loan recipients qualify for some form of loan forgiveness, with 225,500 Kansan Pell Grant recipients eligible. In the neighboring state Missouri, 777,300 borrowers are eligible for some form of loan forgiveness, with 502,200 eligible Pell Grant recipients.

President Joe Biden unveiled his plan for student debt relief in August, saying his administration would forgive thousands of dollars in student loans to help people recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, before student loan payments resume in January.

Debt cancellation applies to current borrowers, with 2020-2021 income levels factored into consideration of eligibility for forgiveness. The majority of student debt relief is targeted at households making less than $75,000 annually.

The administration said the plan helps diverse groups, as about 71% of Black undergraduate borrowers and 65% of Latino undergraduate borrowers are recipients of Pell Grants, which are awarded to students with the lowest household income. Pell Grant recipients are eligible for $20,000 in debt forgiveness. Other loan recipients can have up to $10,000 in loans forgiven.

More than 40 million borrowers across the U.S. qualify for some form of loan forgiveness, and around 20 million borrowers could have all of their loans forgiven under the student debt relief plan, according to White House officials.

During a Tuesday White House virtual press conference on the program, officials said the plan had widespread backing.

“We know that many, many Americans are supportive of taking action to make student debt burdens more manageable, even those who don’t currently have student debt, which makes sense given that many of them will have experienced this challenge in the past,” said Carmel Martin, the White House deputy assistant to the president for economic mobility.

“Providing this relief and giving people breathing room as we move back into student loan repayment will help those who are supported to be stronger contributors to our economy. They’ll be able to think about buying houses, starting businesses, be in a better financial position for retirement, which will benefit the economy overall,” Martin added.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/thousands-of-kansans-eligible-for-student-debt-forgiveness-white-house-officials-say/

Crash reported near construction area on I-70

A crash was reported near a construction area from eastbound I-70 to northbound I-635 on early Sunday morning, according to a trooper’s report.

The one-vehicle accident took place as a Chevrolet Traverse was driving at 4:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, from westbound I-70 to northbound I-635 on the ramp, according to a Kansas Turnpike Authority trooper’s report.

The Traverse was on the exit ramp from eastbound I-70 to northbound I-635 when it drifted to the left into a closed construction area and struck several cones and a metal road barricade, the trooper’s report stated. The Traverse then traveled off the right side of the ramp and struck the base of an overhead sign post with the front end, the report stated.

The driver of the Traverse, a 39-year-old Bonner Springs woman, had a possible minor injury and was taken to a hospital, according to the trooper’s report.