Kansas
How in the world does sending a 70-year-old man back to prison make sense? • Kansas Reflector
I met Mike McCloud back in 2018, when I worked for the ACLU of Kansas. We were fighting for clemency for dozens of people, and Mike was one of them.
We hit it off immediately. Mike has a sunny, southern way about him. He’s chatty and fun, the kind of person you’d like hanging out with.
A judge looked at his time served — and at the fact that he’d been a model inmate who paid back every dime he’d stolen — and released him. Mike had even managed to save money from working, so he had a financial parachute to help him gently reenter society.
Storybook ending? Not with Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe rushing the stage as the villain. Howe challenged Mike’s release, arguing that the judge had no authority to modify the sentence. The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in Howe’s favor.
This kind of poor judgement is why we can’t have nice things. Back in 2018, Howe defended his decision, but I’ll say now what I said then: We can’t afford prosecutors like Howe if they’re prone to expensive mistakes like this.
Mike will freely admit that he committed a series of robberies back in the 1990s, netting roughly $7,000. Mike will tell you that he served 27 years for that crime, and I will tell you that while he was incarcerated, Kansas lowered the penalties for such crimes.
Under the new legislation, Mike served nearly twice the amount prescribed in the new law. In fact, at about $70 a day, incarcerating McCloud cost taxpayers almost $690,000. Howe wanted Mike, who was 67 at the time, to serve another 21 years.
Again, Mike stole $7,000. Even adjusted for inflation, that’s $14,000. That ain’t Fort Knox.
Mike had diabetes. Had he gone back, he’d likely have contracted COVID-19, given that prisoners simply could not practice social distancing. Considering his age, another 21 years would have amounted to a death sentence. Thankfully, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly granted him clemency in 2021, and he remains a free man today.
This isn’t a tough call. This kind of prosecutorial vengeance remains terribly expensive.
This is just one case. When you consider that the nation has more than 2 million people in prison, this excessive, spendthrift rush to fill our prisons should label Howe and folks like him “tax and spend” conservatives. We’re paying for all this bluster.
He had discretion but chose to send taxpayers another huge, unnecessary bill.
The ACLU of Kansas and the national ACLU have focused considerable reform efforts on prosecutors, who are some of the most powerful people in the justice system. They decide who gets charged, what the charges will be, and make recommendations on sentencing.
I live in Johnson County, and this kind of profligate government spending is concerning. Feeding the ever-expanding prison industrial complex remains expensive, but there’s another element here that disturbs me more: the judgement here, or lack thereof. Considering the costs to taxpayers and the fact that Mike had served his time with exceptional focus and dignity, Howe could have left this matter in his pocket. Most of us wouldn’t consider a diabetic septuagenarian a menace to society.
I’m guessing few people would have complained, and I doubt any of the folks Mike robbed would have wanted to see him go back to prison.
Given the costs, sending Mike back to prison didn’t make sense, but this just seemed cruel and disproportionate. For so many people in these kinds of decision-making positions, it seems cruelty is the point.
Kick them while they’re down. Pile on. Run up the score, as well as the taxpayers’ tab.
If anything, Mike represented a success story. Authorities should be interviewing him about how he entered a cruel and broken system, and emerged not just rehabilitated, but contrite and driven to succeed. He might have the answer to our recidivism issues.
But no.
We’re so focused on retribution that we can’t see (or refuse to see) the lives we’re destroying along the way. I swear, if any of these folks ever saw a rose growing out of a crack in a sidewalk, they would stomp it.
Mike is a beautiful person. I’m so glad that he got to go home.
But what worries me, are all the people like him still sitting in prison, running up bills for taxpayers because someone wanted to prove to voters that they were “tough on crime. Most of them will be returning to Kansas communities.
I’d rather they return with Mike’s sunny disposition, not with the cruelty and bitterness of a virtue-signaling, “look how tough I am” flex.
Mark McCormick is the former executive director of The Kansas African American Museum, a member of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and former deputy executive director at the ACLU of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Kansas
Longtime KCK family-owned Mexican restaurant closing after 61 years
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jalisco Restaurant has been a staple in the Kansas City, Kansas, community since 1965. But after 61 years, the restaurant is closing its doors.
A sign posted on the restaurant at North 50th Street and State Avenue on Monday said:
Jalisco Restaurant will permanently close at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, May 30, 2026. Thank you for your patronage. Remember us, we will never forget you. The Hernandez Family.
Erika Dominguez, an employee at Jalisco’s, told FOX4 that one of their cooks, who has been there for more than 40 years, is retiring. One of the other cooks is 90, and has been with the family since the beginning.
“The family is getting older, and it is time,” she added.
“Our wall tells the story of generations of families and Jalisco’s little angels, babies who grew up coming through our doors,” Dominguez said in a social media post earlier this year.
The Hernandez family also owned another Jalisco’s Restaurant location in KCK’s Argentine neighborhood for 48 years. That location closed in 2012. They also owned a location in Mission, Kansas, years ago.
Dominguez said the building at North 50th Street and State Avenue is for sale, and there’s also been talk about the family leasing it – but nothing is in the works at this time.
Kansas
Child killed after being struck by Amazon delivery vehicle in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A child is dead after being struck by an Amazon delivery vehicle Monday night in Kansas City.
The Kansas City Police Department responded to the incident just before 6:30 p.m. in the area of East Missouri Avenue and Lexington Avenue in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast neighborhood.
Preliminary investigation indicates that a marked Amazon delivery vehicle had just completed a package delivery in the area. Police said after the delivery, the driver of the vehicle began traveling westbound on East 3rd Terrace toward Woodland Avenue.
Police said at the same time, a child, under the age of 5, was playing in a grassy area of a nearby public park. The child entered the roadway and was struck by the Amazon delivery vehicle.
The Amazon driver initially stopped at the scene but left before officers arrived, according to police.
Police said a family member attempted to follow the Amazon vehicle and inform the driver of what had happened. The driver denied involvement and left the area.
The child was pronounced dead as a result of the injuries, according to police.
Kansas City police said the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Kansas
Defiance also draw in Kansas City
The Tacoma Defiance continued a weekend of Seattle vs Kansas soccer with a draw against Sporting Kansas City II. The Sporting second team has not been immune to the struggles in Kansas City, as they have started the season with six points through 9 games and a -15 goal difference. With a Defiance starting lineup featuring six players on first-team contracts, taking home three points should have been the expectation.
The first half was eerily similar to Saturday with Defiance dominating the run of play but entering the locker room with a 1-1 draw. They conceded the opening goal in the 40th minute where Charlie Gaffney and Cody Baker did not organize themselves well to cover the cross from the left side. That cross found an unmarked Shane Donovan who was able to score off a header to the near post, past academy goalkeeper Noah Newman in his first start of 2026.
Five minutes later, Baker equalized with a golazo from 25 yards out that was ripped into the upper right corner. This shot came off a clearance but the sequence right before was representative of how dangerous the left side of the team was. Peter Kingston found a cross-field ball to Sebastian Gomez, his combination play with Codey Phoenix and ability to create space on the dribble led to the cross.
The second half was more evenly played throughout but ended the same as the first with a goal apiece. The Defiance first-teamers came through in the 57th minute when Gomez received the ball on the left touchline, dribbled and centered for Osaze De Rosario. He made a nice move around the defender and slotted the ball in the corner from the top of the box.
SKC II scored in the 63rd minute on a corner after the initial ball wasn’t cleared. It bounced around before landing to previous goal scorer Donovan whose shot was on target but got a slight touch from Tega Ikoba.
With regulation ending in a draw, the teams went to a PK shootout where Defiance won 4–2 after Newman made two saves. Edson Carli converted the winning spot kick.
Overview
Lineup

Stats
xG

Shots

Key performers
Sebastian Gomez
Gomez is making the left winger position his own, consistently being a dangerous outlet and getting an assist in his second straight game. His dribbling and passing ability make him a creative machine out wide and he is finding dangerous passes forward illustrated by his four key passes on the evening. He also finds the pass before the pass, like in the 46th minute when he finds a little through ball from top of the box to Tsukanome on the right side of the box. This led to a dangerous cross to De Rosario but was really kickstarted by Gomez. He has grown throughout the year thus far and looks to be hitting a strong run of form.
Peter Kingston
Kingston returned to the double-pivot in this one and showed why this is probably his best position moving forward. He set the tempo for the team, keeping possession with 86% passing on 58 attempts. However, he also knew when to take the chance and had two key passes of his own. His best pass of the evening was in the 11th minute when he broke two lines on a through ball to Mark O’Neill. His versatility is a key factor in getting as many minutes as he has with the first team but performances like tonight make the case on where he should be long term.
Osaze De Rosario
De Rosario got a run out a day earlier with the first team and followed that up with a start for Defiance. He wasn’t quite as involved as is ideal with only 3 total shots but he was also in the right positions and close to finishing in the 2nd and 46th minute. He did ultimately find the back of the net in the 57th minute after receiving the ball at the top of the box, beating his defender to open up space and placing his shot in the corner. The longer run out and seeing the ball hit the back of the net will hopefully get him some rhythm for his next appearance at the first team.
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