Kansas
Everyone has a role to play in alleviating our fellow Kansans' despair and daily needs • Kansas Reflector
Poverty. Crime. Anger. Despair. Confusion.
They’re everywhere. The pain is deep and far and wide these days in Kansas and beyond. When I am near downtown Topeka, I shop at a store where there are people who exhibit great needs. I often see homeless people with stolen grocery carts, using them as places to keep their belongings.
A local nonprofit called Let’s Help is opening a location nearby, and I can just see ahead to the people who will seek assistance there. I truly care, however, and my compassion gives me strength in a time when despair and lack threaten to overtake us all.
Last month, I was given a tour of the Lois Curtis campus on Indiana Street in southeast Topeka. They have renovated an old grade school to provide services to people in need, especially those who have a disability. They have a food bank section, a room with durable medical equipment along with other resource rooms. The people who work there are lovely.
That’s just how it is for folks. Poverty affects too many people, but it especially affects those who have an extra struggle, such as a physical or mental disability. It also affects people of color and those who struggle with addictions.
There are people who say that Jesus is the answer for the poverty issue — that churches are the answer, not the government. While my faith is vital to my life and very, very important, I think Jesus would ask us all to lend a helping hand. That includes local nonprofits, homeless shelters, and federal, state and local government.
It definitely takes all of us — everyone — working together to help eradicate poverty.
One of the issues I think a lot about is food insecurity. When we see someone in front of us in the grocery store checkout using a food benefit card, I would say that’s the time to offer a smile and a kind word, or even a prayer. We don’t know that person’s story.
I just completed another gift card drive for the housing specialist at a local mental health nonprofit, and my friends gave $300 in gift cards for vulnerable clients. The housing specialist emailed me and shared her joy that she and also the case managers experience when they drive their clients to the store to use the gift cards to purchase food and other necessities. This made me happy.
My grandpa was a minister for 60 years. I often wonder: What would grandpa do? My grandpa gave to people in need. He and my grandma lived in a huge home in Americus, Georgia, yet they weren’t snobs or prideful. They always helped people.
I want to make a difference like my grandparents did. I have volunteered at Doorstep, a Topeka nonprofit that gives food, clothes and rent and utility assistance. I have also helped provide food for a friend in need. I drop off sandwiches for lunch at her doorstep.
We can all work together to face the poverty we see. We can work together to address the needs creatively and bravely. We will need the courage of people like Barry Feaker, who has been helping folks experiencing homelessness for years. He and LaManda Broyles and their team at the Topeka Rescue Mission truly provide hope and health.
Sgt. Matt Rose at the Topeka Police Department and the officers there truly care about homelessness. Rose has been given a huge job to help deal with complex needs in individuals and he and the officers on his team really reach out to help people in crisis. I have the honor of speaking each year to law enforcement in the Crisis Intervention Team training. It’s very important.
Yes, it’s time to gather our courage and our strength and to work together to address these huge issues in our communities and our state. There isn’t just one easy answer, and we need to congratulate ourselves when we find even part of an answer and when we help even just one individual in need.
Let’s run into the future with hope and heart and embrace the needs with strength.
Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.
Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.
In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.
He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.
In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.
He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.
The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.
The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.
Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.
More transfer portal information:
For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
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LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.
The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.
Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.
Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.
Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.
Kansas football transfer portal additions
Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle
Kansas football transfer portal departures
Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)
Jacoby Davis (cornerback)
Dylan Brooks (defensive end)
Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)
Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)
Trey Lathan (linebacker)
Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)
Harry Stewart III (running back)
Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end
Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)
David McComb (3-star quarterback)
Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)
Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)
Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)
Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)
Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)
Damani Maxson (3-star safety)
Jaden Hamm (tight end)
Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)
JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)
Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)
Efren Jasso (punter)
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Hundreds of people packed the Gem Theatre over the weekend to celebrate Kwanzaa.
The celebrations run nightly through January 1. Each night highlights a different core value, including unity, cooperation and faith.
The event features local vendors and performances. Organizers say it’s a great way to start the new year.
The Kwanzaa celebration is free and open to everyone.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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