KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All year round, you can explore the spooky side of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska with UHaunted taxi ghost tours.

They have six different tours:

• The Most Haunted Town: Atchison, Kansas
• 1322 Maple Street: The House of the Dead
• Rockn’ Haunted History: Ghost Tour of KC
• Ghostly Gangster Hotel Tour of KCMO
• Rock’n Haunted History Grave Tour: Omaha
• The Haunted Heartland Taxi: Omaha

These tours are filled with history, fun facts, and depending on which tour you choose, paranormal investigations. They’re also family friendly.

You can try your luck with ghost equipment and even stay the night in their haunted House of the Dead… if you dare.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  — Amid a 0.4% increase in inflation for the month of September, businesses in the Kansas City area continue adjusting.

Along Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, there’s a number of shops, from nail salons, to barber shops and sweet shops. Some people consider those services a want, not a need.

These shop owners know prices are going up, but they say they feel protected for now.

“I’ve been on the block for almost 11-years,” said Kim Jones, a nail tech. “Everyone has that little thing they do for themselves.”

Kim Jones is a full-time manicurist, she’s appointment only and plans to stay that way.

“I know that I provide a luxury service, but most of my clients include me in their budget,” she said. “Like it’s their rent or their lives, God is good.”

Jonathan Bush owns High Hopes Ice Cream.

“We haven’t raised our prices, but our cream costs more than it used to,” Bush said. “If it’s quality product, they are happy to spend the money.”

Bush said his business has felt the increase in utility bills.

“We’re using a lot of energy,” Bush said.

KSHB 41 spoke with Julia, who was grocery shopping to make dinner.

“(My) Mom and dad came from Minnesota, it’s a nice cool, fall evening — I thought chili would be perfect, but it’s $120 chili,” she said. “I had to buy 10 spices and a chili packet for 99 cents and the spices were $4.99 a piece.”

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted to approve a resolution that will designate a $50 million bond funding for affordable housing to the Housing Trust Fund.

The resolution passed out of committee with four votes and a recommendation for Council to pass.

The resolution was written by KC Tenants leaders and is sponsored by council members Melissa Robinson, Andrea Bough, Eric Bunch and KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas.

The Neighborhood Planning Committee unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday to make certain if voters approve a $50 million bond issue, the money would be sent to the Housing Trust Fund.

Question 2 on the November ballot in KCMO asks voters to approve issuing $50 million in general obligation bonds to fund affordable housing and remove blight.

“Together we can ensure every person in our city is housed, fed, and given access to the resources needed to have a healthy, safe and joyful life,” a KC Tenants member said.

Members of KC Tenants shared stories and the hardships of lives derailed by the homeless and by housing too expensive to afford.

“It wasn’t long before I found myself homeless and couch surfing for six months before I could no longer afford an apartment in midtown,” one member of KC Tenants told councilmembers.

Councilwoman Robinson and leaders with KC Tenants said the money, if approved, will help those at or below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) find housing they can afford.

“Looking at individuals that make about $18,000 a year or so, they don’t make enough to receive a subsidy or subsidized housing from the Housing Authority,” Robinson said. “But they also can’t afford market rate rent, so we’re looking at individuals that can afford about $600 or so for an apartment.”

Duncan added that 30% AMI is around $500 for a one-bedroom versus the 60% AMI, which is $1,200 for a one-bedroom.

KC Tenant leaders and Robinson tell KSHB 41 News that forwarding this resolution to the City Council is a great first step in fixing the housing crisis.

“If we have individuals who are working, who are living, who are being productive in this city, then we have a stronger city, and so this is a great deep need that we need to prioritize,” Robinson said.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  — At Wednesday night’s Kansas City, Missouri, Public Schools board meeting, a recommendation was heard concerning the closure or repurposing of 10 schools, including two high schools and eight elementary schools.

Such a change aligns with the district’s “Blueprint 2030” which is set to prioritize budget redistribution, new facilities, alternative learning models and school mergers.

“We’re spread too thin across too many schools given the population of the students we serve,” said Nate Hogan, KCPS school board member.

If the proposal to close Central High School in the fall of 2023 moves forward, those students would be moved to Southeast High School.

The Central High School building would then be converted for other uses by the district.

Other recommendations discussed Wednesday include:

• Longfellow Elementary School would be repurposed in the fall of 2023, with students transitioned to Garcia and Hale Cook elementary schools.
• Troost Elementary School would be repurposed in the fall of 2023, with students transitioned to Hartman and Banneker elementary schools.
• James Elementary School would be repurposed in the fall of 2023, with students transitioned to Gladstone Elementary School.
• King Elementary School would be converted into KCPS use in the fall of 2024, with students transitioned to Hartman, Faxon/New Construction King and Melcher elementary schools.
• Wheatley Elementary School would be repurposed in the fall of 2024, with students transitioned to Phillips and Rogers elementary schools.

Kata Jones, senior at Central High School, thinks the merging of two campus cultures will provide difficulties.

“Chaos, to be honest. That’s two rival schools. That’s not gonna be a good thing,” Jones said.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier addressed how the district will help ease any transitions at a media press conference Thursday morning.

“We’re going to put transition teams in place that help address both of those communities — the families and our staff — to help walk them through this process in making sure the schools can merge comfortably and that everyone feels welcomed and a part of those new communities,” Collier said. “Having family nights in the new school where families are connected, maybe even by grade level — all freshmen parents coming together to meet one another and then opportunities for students to merge and do some activities.”

Jones’ biggest concern is transportation to a school farther away and more crowded classrooms. He says the current call time for students is already too early and Central High School has been struggling with a lack of teachers for some time.

“I don’t think it’s worth it,” Jones said. “I think the overall objective is to get kids in school, and that’s going to be the main problem. So I think all that can wait.”

The district says current staff will not be affected by the recommendations.

“If we have a surplus of teachers, that’s great, because we can utilize all of those certified, highly effective staff to really work with our children, perhaps some one-on-one with students, which we can’t do that now,” Collier said.

Closing down10 existing campuses would free up additional money that can be put toward bettering curriculum, according to the district.

“You’ll have beyond-the-four-walls learning experiences,” Collier said. “They’ll have instrumental music in kindergarten, they’ll have world language beginning in kindergarten, we will have flushed out career pathways and opportunities for our secondary students.”

Looking to the future, Victor Alfonso, an alumnus of Central High School, says he is sad to possibly see his school disappear. Although, he thinks the additional resources for programs like STEM is important enough.

“It’s really good for the students because a lot of people didn’t have the opportunities that are given to students now,” Alfonso said.

To reiterate the importance of community feedback in considering such recommendations, KCPS will be hosting a series of open forums starting next week.

“We know people are going to be emotional about it, but we also need solutions. What are some solutions to perhaps what we put forward?” Collier said.

The first feedback session is set for 6-7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, at the Southeast Community Center, 3400 E. 63rd St.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — MG Salazar grew up as a reader.

“I read through recess, and dinner, and breakfast in the morning; under the covers at night with the flashlight,” they described.

Salazar loves reading so much she hold writers and poets to very high regards.

“I think poets and writers should be treated like rap stars, I think that our level of contribution to society is at an equal level to a rock star or a sports celebrity,” Salazar said.

As an adult, Salazar has not abandoned their love of reading. So much, they created a publishing company in Kansas City, Missouri, called La Resistencia Press.

The Press specifically seeks out authors from Hispanic, Black, Indigenous, and other minority backgrounds to publish their stories. Salazar decided to open the publishing company after two bad experiences publishing books in the typical, white-male-dominated publishing world.

“It’s great, it’s thrilling being able to find new talent and people who never thought that they could publish books or have a book of their own,” Salazar says.

The Press is a labor of love for Salazar. So far, they’ve worked with about five authors.

One of those is KSHB 41’s own Christina Santiago.

Santiago works at KSHB as a producer. This month, Santiago published a book through La Resistencia Press. Her book, titled You Can Go to Hell and Back, details her struggles and solutions to mental health challenges. Santiago said Salazar and La Resistencia Press made the process easy.

“Our voices need to be heard, minority will soon be majority. There are readers out there who want to hear a story from someone who looks like them and sounds like them,” Santiago says.

Voices is the key word for Salazar. They hope La Resistencia Press is a springboard for writers to achieve bigger things and get their voices to larger audiences.

“I want to get them out there so that they get those opportunities so that they can grow their career,” they said. “It’s not your endpoint.”

You can view books published by La Resistencia Press on its website.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Treasury announced Tuesday afternoon 11 states, including Missouri, will receive funding to help small business financing.

In total, 1 billion dollars was given out to the 11 states, made possible by President Joe Biden’s American Rescue plan.

Missouri will receive $94.8 million from the Department of Treasury. The money will be put in the IDEA Fund, a venture capital program operated by the Missouri Technology Corporation.

The program provides equity or equity-like co-investment (convertible notes) alongside primarily angel investors or venture capital funds.

The IDEA Fund targets companies based on their stage of development: pre-seed companies, seed-stage companies and venture-stage companies with an established private venture capital fund identified as a lead investor.

The other states receiving funding alongside Missouri include Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Utah. Ohio will get the largest share of the money, with slightly over $182 million.

After this round of funding, 31 states have now been approved in receiving small state business credit initiative spending. In total, nearly $5 billion has been provided so far.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Missouri-Kansas City launched new partnerships with Kansas City Public Schools and North Kansas City School District Tuesday to provide automatic, renewable scholarships for any student who enrolls from those two districts.

UMKC introduced an automatic $1,500 scholarship for up to five years for any student from the KCPS or NKC school districts, which can also be combined with any other award.

“As Kansas City’s university, we’re committed to increasing college access to students here at home,” said Dr. Kristi Holsinger, senior vice provost for student success at UMKC, in a press release. “Through this partnership, students will save money, earn their degree sooner after high school graduation and go on to serve our community through rewarding careers.”

Students from both districts can also earn college credit on the UMKC campus before high school graduation for added savings through the university’s Early College Academy program.

The program is open to qualifying juniors and seniors at KCPS and qualifying seniors at NKC. Tuition is covered by KCPS and NKC at a reduced rate.

“The Early College Academy model makes so much sense for our scholars,” KCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier said in a release. “We know partnering with UMKC will open doors for KCPS students.”

Like Jayla Williams, who said within the first few weeks she has already had a chance to connect with her professors and meet friends in her classes.

“It’s been an easy adjustment because my school prepared me,” Williams said. “I’m doing something that many people don’t get to do. I’m doing something that is bettering my future.”

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At 10 a.m., fans of the Kansas City Current professional women’s soccer team can place a deposit on 2024 season tickets, reserving their place in the team’s new stadium along Berkley Riverfront Park in Kansas City, Missouri.

The team plans to break ground on the new stadium Oct. 6. It will open in the spring of 2024 in time for the NWSL season. The $117 million, 11,500 seat stadium is the first ever built specifically for a NWSL team. Current owners say it will be the only stadium in the world “built for an active women’s professional sports team.”

Information about how to reserve season tickets is available on a specific website the Current created for the stadium.

The stadium comes as enthusiasm for the Current swells. The team is currently in first place. During a match last month, the club set a new attendance record for a home game, attracting 10,395 fans to Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The Current will play the 2023 season at CMP, which it shares with professional men’s soccer team Sporting KC.

In June, the team unveiled its own training facility in Riverside, Missouri, calling it the country’s first professional women’s soccer specific training facility.

The Current hasn’t lost since May 25; going 9-0-4 in that stretch. The team’s overall record is 9-4-5. Four matches remain on the 2022 regular season schedule.

Katelyn DePenning remembers seeing Kansas City’s first NWSL team play at Shawnee Mission North High School in 2013. Now she’s a principal and project manager for Lenexa-based Henderson Engineers. She’s a member of the primarily female team helping design the new stadium. The firm made the conscious choice to make its Current stadium team more than 60% female. Nearly half of Henderson’s engineers based in the KC-area are female.

“It’s exciting for other females within our team to get to work with other females on such a big project,” DePenning said. “It does’t really change how we approach projects, we’re all engineers first, but the fact we get to work together and support the first-of-its-kind stadium focused on women’s professional sports is an exciting thing to share together.”

DePenning is sharing the experience with Andrea Mulvany, Henderson’s principal-in-charge of the KC Current stadium. Mulvany admits the historical nature of this project is hard to ignore.

“Knowing just how important it was to women’s sports and women’s history as the first dedicated stadium for women’s professional sports – not just soccer – we knew we wanted to have our strong women leaders, and as many as possible, involved in this project,” Mulvany pointed out.

The KC Streetcar’s riverfront extension will not open until 2025, about a year after the stadium opens.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Workers at Casey’s in Independence, Missouri, resigned and walked out on Wednesday, according to a release from non-profit Restaurants Opportunity Center United.

The employees walked out of their jobs at the pizza and convenience store chain due to allegations of “sexual harassment, mental abuse, lack of training and staff shortages,” the release says.

During the walkout, workers at the Independence location posted a sign on the door, which stated: “Loyal customers – Due to abusive management tactics by our District Manager, Casey’s employees resign, effective immediately. We are sorry for your inconvenience. Sincerely, Casey’s staff.”

One former Casey’s worker named Jasmyne claims that the district manager was “manipulative and abusive” and kept the employees fearful of losing their jobs and of retaliation.

“I was threatened every day… Comments of a sexual nature, abuse of power, lack of training. In a two week period, I pulled 122 hours,” Jasmyne said in a statement.

The former employee also said that when she and other workers asked for labor assistance from other Casey’s locations, they were told there was no help to send.

The release from ROC United says the workers who walked out have filed HR complaints to Casey’s corporate office.

KSHB 41 News has reached out to Casey’s for comment. If a response is received, this story will be updated.

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