Connect with us

Kansas

Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph expands its veterans program with additional federal funding

Published

on

Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph expands its veterans program with additional federal funding


KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.

Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph honored the sacrifice and dedication of veterans at a luncheon ceremony Monday morning.

Advertisement

Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph expands its veterans program

JuYeon Kim

CEO Karen Noel took a moment to pause and reflect on the success of the agency’s veterans program.

“We’re expanding our footprint, we’re expanding the number we serve,” said Noel. “They have tasked us to serve 430 families, which I envision will be well over 500 by the end of the year.”

Advertisement
Screenshot 2025-11-10 at 7.10.38 PM.png

JuYeon Kim

The federal Supportive Services for Veteran Families program focuses on rapid re-housing and homeless prevention.

This year, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph is taking on three more counties, expanding into Kansas. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded them $4.4 million to double their outreach.

“The increase for our grant has just been tied to our ability to assist our veterans and be able to get them housed,” said Supportive Services Coordinator, Ti Vaughn.

Screenshot 2025-11-10 at 9.58.15 PM.png

JuYeon Kim

Advertisement

The SSVF program has been a lifeline for veterans like Cheryl Frederick.

“I was almost this close from like being homeless,” said Frederick. “I went through the food pantry, so I’m not hungry anymore. I’m not homeless anymore. They are helping me with my rent, they are helping me with my finances — budgeting. So I’m just wholeheartedly like, so humble and grateful and thankful.”

Screenshot 2025-11-10 at 7.10.10 PM.png

JuYeon Kim

Veterans are offered other wrap-around services like employment assistance and one-on-one counseling. Last year alone, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph provided over $210,000 in rent and utility assistance.

“What do you need, what do you want, we’re getting it done. I need the address, phone number. I mean, she was on it like a military person,” said veteran Aaron Bean of a SSVF staff member. “I was about ready to lose my apartment. I had no heat.”

Advertisement
Screenshot 2025-11-10 at 7.10.20 PM.png

JuYeon Kim

Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph’s SSVF program paid for Bean’s energy, water and rent.

“Just those three were huge,” said Bean.

In order to meet the demand, Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph is hiring 12 additional case workers. Half of those positions are already filled.

Any veteran hoping to serve other veterans are encouraged to apply.

Advertisement
Screenshot 2025-11-10 at 7.10.49 PM.png

JuYeon Kim

“I think it’s awesome and amazing. The more they can help, the better off these veterans so we won’t lose them after serving our country,” said Frederick. “I feel so whole now because they have really blessed me.”

JuYeon Kim





Source link

Kansas

Newly released song depicts world visiting Kansas City for historic summer

Published

on

Newly released song depicts world visiting Kansas City for historic summer


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – One creator has written an anthem for Kansas City to reflect the metro’s historic summer for years to come.

An Omaha-based Afrobeat artist, Kusher Snazzy, released a World Cup song, ‘KC to the World,’ celebrating the tournament’s culture and diversity.

A shot of the Kansas City skyline taken on July 4, 2024.(Zoe Shriner, KCTV5)

The song features soccer players and dancers representing multiple nations that played in the World Cup, including Germany, Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Italy. It was filmed locally in multiple locations, including a metro studio and rooftop.

READ MORE: Kansas City eyes 2031 Women’s World Cup bid after hosting FIFA tournament

Advertisement
'KC to the World' depicts the uniqueness and excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime Kansas City...
‘KC to the World’ depicts the uniqueness and excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime Kansas City summer.(Kusher Snazzy)

Kusher Snazzy’s goal with the song was to depict the once-in-a-lifetime summer. His passion for soccer and the Midwest inspired the lyrics.

“We don’t know when FIFA is going to choose KC again,” said Kusher.

Joseph Termini is the mastermind behind the project. He took a vision and made it come to life. As a Kansas City native, he knew the importance of showcasing his city positively through a music video.

“Kansas City has been under the radar, and I feel like this is the first time we’re being put on a pedestal, and that pedestal is allowing other people to realize that this is more than just a small-town city,” said Termini.

KC to the World depicts the cultural connectivity the World Cup brings.
KC to the World depicts the cultural connectivity the World Cup brings.(WMTV)

Listeners can find the hit song on YouTube.

ALSO READ: Heart structure may stay in Kansas City after Fan Festival ends

Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Kansas

Pilot of crop duster plane survives crash Monday in NE Kansas

Published

on

Pilot of crop duster plane survives crash Monday in NE Kansas


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The pilot of a crop duster aircraft appears to have survived without serious injury after a crash on Monday in northeast Kansas.

The Jackson County, Kansas, Sheriff’s Office was called around 12:30 p.m. Monday on a crash involving a crop duster aircraft south of Kansas Highway 9 near Whiting, Kansas, or about 80 miles northwest of Kansas City.

Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said that after the crash, the pilot was able to exit the aircraft before it caught fire. The pilot walked to a nearby farmhouse for help.

Advertisement

Several area fire departments responded to the location to extinguish the fire.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Kansas

Keystone Pipeline system’s operator agrees to pay $26.9M penalty over major Kansas oil spill

Published

on

Keystone Pipeline system’s operator agrees to pay .9M penalty over major Kansas oil spill


TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed legal settlement with the U.S. government would require the Keystone Pipeline system’s operator to pay a $26.9 million civil penalty over a major oil spill in Kansas in December 2022 and spend about $40 million more to prevent future accidents.

The agreement would resolve allegations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Kansas that South Bow, based in Canada, violated U.S. and state clean water laws. The rupture dumped nearly 13,000 barrels of heavy crude oil into a creek running through a rural pasture in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.

The accident was the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in the U.S. in nine years and surpassed all 22 previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The total amount of oil spilled would have nearly filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposal after a 30-day public comment period.

Advertisement

South Bow also would pay Kansas more than $3 million for environmental restoration projects under a proposed decree filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas. A judge would have to approve the proposed decree after a 30-day public comment period.

“The oil spill blanketed land and water, rendering the waterway lifeless and useless and requiring extensive cleanup and remediation,” Jeffrey Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator for its enforcement office, said in a statement. “The substantial penalty reflects the seriousness of the environmental harm.”

South Bow officials did not respond immediately Sunday to a phone message and email seeking comment, but the company told The Canadian Press that it “proactively” began cleaning up the area before receiving directives from U.S. officials. The cleanup was completed early in 2024.

The company that built the pipeline, TC Energy, spun off South Bow as a separate firm in 2024, after the Kansas cleanup was done.

No pipeline workers or area residents were injured, and officials said public water supplies weren’t affected by the spill. However, a complaint filed Friday by the U.S. government along with the proposed settlement said more than 2,700 animals were harmed or killed. The area is home to an endangered species, the long-eared bat.

Advertisement

In a May 2023 report for the U.S. government, an engineering consulting firm said that a bend in the Keystone system where the spill occurred had been “overstressed” since its installation in December 2010 — likely because construction activity itself altered the land around the pipe. The complaint filed Friday in court said soil under the pipe had been “improperly compacted” and that while the company re-excavated the site in 2013, it did not replace that section of pipe.

The 2,689-mile (4,327-kilometer) Keystone system carries thick, Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas.

In April, President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for South Bow and another company to build a second pipeline from Canada to Wyoming, a smaller version of a massive $8 billion pipeline project known as Keystone XL blocked by former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 over environmental concerns.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending