Kansas
England get rapturous welcome as they settle in to sprawling Kansas City home
Before Thomas Tuchel and his England players departed for the United States, there was talk about their World Cup training ground in Kansas City being too open. It was motivated, in part, by the Southampton spygate scandal. Would England’s rivals be able to steal a glance at them? Tuchel even said that the Football Association would look to erect protective fences.
The nine-pitch facility at Swope Soccer Village is certainly sprawling but here’s the thing. Nobody is getting on site without going past the armed police officers at the entrance. There was a throwaway line from a steward on Saturday as England trained on the complex’s showpiece pitch after flying in from Florida after their pre-tournament camp. “You guys see spying,” he said. “We see personal security.” The latter rather overrides the former. It was safe to say that they have it covered.
The buildup to England’s arrival was further coloured by the theft of some of their kit in transit from Florida, including boots and footballs. Again, it did not feel like much of issue. Everything was recovered; two arrests have been made. “My boots?” said the goalkeeper, Dean Henderson. “I’ve got them on my feet so it’s all good. We got them all back so it’s nice.”
There did not seem to be much to fret about as the players went through a light session that lasted about an hour – if training under blue skies and a blazing sun that pushed the mercury to 29C can be described as light. The second chapter of England’s summer adventure has started and if the focus is about to narrow and the intensity pick up, then the excitement has gone up a few notches, too.
The opening tie against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday is edging closer and the good news is that England look to have what they need at Swope and, indeed, their hotel – the four-star, 54-room Inn at Meadowbrook, which is a 20-minute drive away.
England always wanted to stay in Kansas City because of its location in the centre of the US and how it would mitigate their travel distances to matches; the plan is to fly in and out for each assignment, the FA having been clear about the benefits of a fixed base, a home.
England were denied the first pick of Kansas City’s training bases and even the second because they were not drawn to play any of their group phase games here. Argentina and the Netherlands were and the former bagged the best facility – Sporting Kansas City’s performance centre. The latter went for the training ground of the women’s team, the KC Current, which is newer than Swope, perhaps a little slicker-looking. As an aside, a fourth nation – Algeria, who have matches in Kansas City – have ended up at the University of Kansas facility.
But Swope, which is home to Sporting KC’s second team and their academy sides, ticked the boxes for Tuchel and the FA. It was particularly reassuring to see the quality of the pitch they used on Saturday – in light of scare stories about that aspect of things. England will rely on a different grass surface which is around the back of the main building but the reality is that it is of the same standard. And the standard is high. Local media described all three grass pitches at Swope – the other six are astroturf – as among the best in the state. They are absolutely comparable to those that Argentina and the Netherlands will use.
The FA has put a new gym in at Swope and created a lounge for the players and they are happy, too, with the intimate Inn at Meadowbrook, which they have taken over exclusively. There are a number of permanent residents that live in condos close to the site and their access to areas like the principal restaurant will be restricted while England stay there. To say thank you, Tuchel’s players will have a meet and greet with them.
The training session at Swope was open to a number of local children, who were specially invited and thrilled to be there. Harry Kane felt a lot of love. “Harry, you’re better than Bellingham,” screamed one over-excited youngster. There were banks of media at one end of the pitch.
What stood out for England was the warmth of the welcome. The locals were out in force with flags and signs as they drove up to the hotel – a massive police escort having helped them there from the airport. As the players walked in, they heard music from the Kansas City Chief’s band and saw the NFL team’s cheerleaders. Even the mascot, KC Wolf, was there.
Kansas City was not supposed to be a host venue for matches but they got the invitation from Fifa after Chicago said no. They are overwhelmingly delighted to have been asked. It is a city of jazz music heritage, the birthplace of Charlie Parker. It is a city of fountains, with over 200 of them, some spectacular. There are 220 parks and 29 lakes. It is a city of barbecued meats, smoked ribs and burnt ends among the specialities. It is a city of charm and friendliness, which has a love affair with the heart symbol, partly because it is in the heart of the US. “We like to say that we greet people with a smile and a wink,” said one local.
Most urgently, perhaps, it is a city of sporting passion, headlined by the Chiefs, who have won three of the last seven Super Bowls. Also their baseball team, the Kansas City Royals. Football is big, too, thanks to Sporting KC and the Current, whose CPKC Stadium was the first in the world to be purpose-built exclusively for a professional women’s sports team.
The World Cup Fan Fest, which has been designed by the global architects’ firm Populous and holds 25,000, was rocking on Friday night as the US thrashed Paraguay in their opening World Cup tie. Fans enter it through a 65ft high heart. England intend to thrive off the positive vibes.
KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. She also focuses on issues regarding scams. Share your story idea with Megan.
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The Veterans Community Project completed its new outreach center in Kansas City, marking the latest milestone for the organization that began in 2016 with a vision to address veteran homelessness.
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Brandonn Mixon, chief project officer and co-founder of Veterans Community Project, said the growth reflects the support of the local community.
Veterans Community Project opens new, expanded Kansas City outreach center
“Going back to this just kind of a vision in 2016 with a group of combat veterans, to literally changing what veteran’s homeless looks like on a national scale, but it’s literally because of the Kansas City community,” Mixon said.
Mixon said the new building is already fulfilling its purpose of bringing veterans together.
“That’s what’s been great about this, Mixon said. “We’re seeing a big influx of veterans coming in and saying,’Hey I’m a veteran, how do I get involved? What can I do in KC? I want to be around other veterans.”‘ And that’s really what this building is doing,” Mixon said.
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The new outreach center evaluates and helps veterans with many things, including help at the center with military documentation, commissary, rent and bills, bus passes, resume writing, education, a Medicare broker and a workforce representative. In just a few months, the organization has helped 35 people find jobs.
Air Force veteran Terrion Lacy is a veteran with a new job. Lacy served from 1987 to 1994 as a radio communications analyst specialist.
Veterans’ Community Project helped him with his home and bills, a new car, and stable employment.
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“I needed help with my rent,” Lacy said.
Since starting his new job, Lacy has earned a role connected to the World Cup.
“Since I have been in my job, I’ve gotten two promotions,” Lacy said. “That extra boost of confidence continues to help me keep the optimism I already have.”
Lacy encouraged other veterans to seek out help through the organization.
“I am always optimistic, and even if you’re not as optimistic as me, I’m going to tell you, you need to come down here, because they will help you find some,” Lacy said. “If the walk leads you here, you can really believe you’re going to get help.”
Veterans’ Community Project now operates tiny home communities in Kansas City, St. Louis, Glendale, Milwaukee, Sioux Falls, Longmont, and recently announced a new projet in Dallas.
The organization also is planning a $2.5 million expansion of its headquarters, which had been operating out of a former auto shop garage.
“When it gets hot in there, its 90 degrees,” Mixon said.
Mixon said the space has become inadequate.
“To be honest with you, we outgrew our original building a long time ago, but at the end of the day, it’s about serving veterans,” Mixon said.
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The expansion, funded through donations, will repair the roof and HVAC system and create new offices to support the organization’s continued national growth.
“We have to expand before we keep going into other markets,” Mixon said. “Thank you for believing in us, thank you for giving us the opportunity to change lives and have these stories and I look forward to doing more in the future.”
Lacy said the outreach center offers something essential for veterans looking to rebuild.
“Any veteran that wants to better themselves, wants to find the community, this is where you get that at,” Lacy said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Kansas governor Laura Kelly and Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt stand outside the Kansas state capitol after an agreement was reached for a new state-of-the-art domed stadium in Wyandotte County.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are moving from Missouri to Kansas and into a glistening, $3 billion dome, which will be surrounded by an entertainment district.
“It will be a world-class facility,” Kansas governor Laura Kelly said, “the envy of professional sports.”
But going across state lines could have a potentially significant downside: Reduced income for both Chiefs players and staff as a result of the state’s different tax provisions.
The Chiefs are slated to play — and therefore work — in Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium complex until moving into their Kansas digs in 2031.
Currently, Kansas Citians who work in Missouri instead of Kansas pay less income tax, but the difference is marginal.
The top income tax rate in Kansas is 5.58%, and one reaches that rate with a taxable income of $46,000, which NFL players obviously would exceed. In Missouri it is 4.7% once taxable income reaches $9,436, and those who work in Kansas City, Mo. — like the Chiefs — pay another 1% as an earnings tax.
Another difference between the states is the corporate tax rate, which impacts the Chiefs as a privately held C corporation.
Both states have a base rate of 4%, but only Kansas assesses a surtax of 3% on taxable income of more than $50,000.
That discrepancy, though it wouldn’t impact the players’ individual income, is likely why Jason Sudeikis said tax issues forced him to film scenes from his Ted Lasso show in Missouri instead of Kansas.
And legislation in August could more drastically shift things between the border states.
As part of a special election on Aug. 4, Missourians will vote on Amendment 5.
If the amendment passes, it would eliminate individual state income tax in Missouri. So staying put at Arrowhead Stadium’s GEHA Field would have had financial benefits.
“If you have that situation,” Kenneth Woodward, a Kansas City-area certified public accountant, exclusively shared, “it would have been a totally different ballgame.” To put the numbers in perspective: If the amendment passes and the Chiefs had stayed in Missouri, a Chiefs player making $20 million a year would save about $1 million in taxes. (Guard Trey Smith, for example, will make $19.75 million in base salary this season, though that does not include his bonuses.)
The Chiefs could still save money while playing in Missouri through the end of the decade but not once they leave the Arrowhead complex in 2030 — unless Kansas changes its tax provisions before then, and Congress approves them.
Amendment 5 would not only impact players currently on the roster, but also the entire Chiefs staff, including owner Clark Hunt.
Moreover, it could have helped lure free agents.
After his then-Raiders team moved from Oakland, Calif., to Las Vegas, Nev., tight end Darren Waller lauded the financial windfall because Nevada is one of eight states — along with Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming — to have no state income tax. To offset the loss of income tax revenue, states typically increase sales tax, but Texas and Alaska compensate with taxes on oil drilling.
“Each state kind of deals with it on their own,” Woodward said. “They’re all going to get their money from somewhere. It’s not like the states are operating without revenue streams.”
Since moving to Kansas City from Dallas in the 1960s, the Chiefs have played in the state of Missouri.
But moving to Kansas became attractive to the Chiefs because the state will pay for about 60% of the new stadium through its sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds.
The Wyandotte County in Kansas, City, Kan., location also offers ample space for the stadium to be surrounded by an entertainment district, featuring hotels, bars, restaurants and shops. That will provide further revenue streams and capitalize on the NFL trend.
The New England Patriots have Patriot Place, an outdoor complex adjacent to Gillette Stadium, which has restaurants, hotels, a movie theater and shops. The Dallas Cowboys’ The Star District has a 12,000-seat practice facility also used by high school teams and 19 restaurants, a hotel, a cigar bar, a spa and multiple shops.
Having that kind of complex is the upside of moving to Kansas for the Chiefs.
The downside is they may have cost themselves some future income by staying in Missouri.
“That would have been a big motivator for the Chiefs to stay just to be able to avoid that state income tax,” Woodward said. “If they complete the move to Kansas, then there’s nothing they’re going to be able to do other than just complain to Kansas.”Amendment 5’s Potential Consequences
The Lure Of Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Investigators were called out Sunday night on a homicide near E. 47th Street and Pittman Road.
Online crime reports indicate Kansas City, Missouri, police were called out around 8:30 p.m. Sunday on a shooting in the 4600 block of Overton Avenue.
A police spokesperson was responding to the scene.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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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.
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