Tasked with some tough decisions last offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs prioritized guard Trey Smith and traded away veteran offensive lineman Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a future pick, as they looked to shed salary.
Kansas
It’s Your Business: Kansas Hospital Association has new hire; FHLBank promotes officer
Hires
The Kansas Hospital Association announced it hired Summer Fangman as an administrative professional. Fangman is a recent graduate from Washburn University with a degree in psychology. Before joining KHA, Fangman worked as a shift supervisor for Glory Days Pizza. Prior to that, she worked at Ascension Living Via Christi Village as an activities assistant. Fangman brings excellent customer service skills to this position. Fangman enjoys entertaining her friends and family using locally grown foods when possible. She lives in Topeka.
Promotions
Lance Liby has been selected as the new chief business officer for FHLBank Topeka, a wholesale bank that serves as a source of credit for member financial institutions in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. “Lance’s work as former chief credit officer provided numerous opportunities to engage with our members. His strong commitment is essential to our collective success and ability to serve members and communities across our district through our member-owned cooperative,” said Jeff Kuzbel, president and CEO of FHLBank Topeka. Liby will lead many of the member-facing areas. He joined FHLBank Topeka in May 2013 as director of credit analytics and served as chief credit officer since 2017. Prior to joining FHLBank, he was vice president at Mortgage Liquidity Solutions and a consultant with the Rochdale Group. He has a bachelor of science in business administration from Kansas State University and master’s of business administration from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. “As chief credit officer, I had the pleasure of getting to spend time collaborating with members on pledging collateral to FHLBank to help facilitate their liquidity and funding needs,” said Liby. “In this new role, I’m excited to spend more of my day thinking about how we might continue to improve our various products and services to ensure we are meeting the liquidity and funding needs of our members, so that they can continue to build stronger communities.”
Topeka-area hirings, promotions, retirements and other announcements can be emailed to iyb@cjonline.com.
Thuney was looking for an extension, and the Chiefs had quite a few that they’d recently handed out or were looking to, leading to a departure after two straight first-team All-Pro seasons.
With the 2026 NFL Draft upon us, let’s revisit the Thuney trade and what the Chiefs got in return.
Original terms of the Joe Thuney trade
- Kansas City Chiefs receive: 2026 fourth-round pick (No. 125)
- Chicago Bears receive: LG Joe Thuney
What did the Chiefs do with the pick from the Joe Thuney trade?
Kansas City ultimately used the fourth-round pick it acquired to trade up with the New England Patriots from No. 95 to No. 85 in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, taking cornerback Nohl Williams at the spot.
The Patriots now have the No. 125 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
How did the Chiefs fare in the Joe Thuney trade?
The loss of Thuney came after some questionable moves from the Chiefs, which included paying Jawaan Taylor and Jaylon Moore significant money at tackle to fix their problems there.
So far, neither has panned out, with Taylor heading elsewhere this offseason. The Chiefs were already in a tough position financially after recent extensions for Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, Nick Bolton, and others, and had to make a decision.
They ultimately picked the younger Smith over Thuney, who fetched only a fourth-round pick on the open market. But, the reality is, Kansas City gave up quite a productive and durable player, and now it is still figuring out its offensive line.
Was the trade a poor move on its own? Maybe not with the financial situation Kansas City was in. But then again, they’re the ones who put themselves in that situation, costing them a quality player who had another strong season in 2025.
How did Joe Thuney play in 2025 for the Chicago Bears?
Thuney was huge for the Bears last season, earning first-team All-Pro honors for the third-straight year, while making his fourth-straight Pro Bowl appearance.
He remained durable for the entire year, playing 17 games for the third straight year. That’s been a key part of his entire career, be it in New England, with Kansas City, or in Chicago.
With a strong interior offensive line, the Bears saw their run game take key steps, while their offense as a whole matured into one of the better groups in the NFL.
He’s set to be on the second year of a two-year, $35 million extension that he signed with Chicago after the trade happened last offseason.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — One person died in a traffic crash Thursday night on southbound Interstate 35 at Antioch Road in Johnson County.
The wreck forced the closure of exit ramps at Lamar Avenue, Interstate 635 and Metcalf Avenue, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Overland Park police investigators are working to determine what caused the wreck.
The Kansas Highway Patrol and other agencies also are on the scene.
An overhead road sign could be seen on the interstate.
Ryan Gamboa/KSHB 41
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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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.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From 25,000 parking spots to 19,000 within a 10-minute walk to the stadium, that’s how many Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says will be available near the new Royals ballpark in Crown Center, with 9,000 of those spots on the actual campus.
While there will be less parking, Royals fan Roger Nickell says he believes this move is good for Kansas City.
“I think anything that makes Kansas City an exciting place to come to, and a good destination, the parking itself is not going to be the issue,” Nickell said “We’d rather have good things in our city, and if you go to other cities, Kansas City is actually really, really easy right now.”
While it might not be ideal for some, downtown stadiums and parking is the normal for a number of teams and cities throughout Major League Baseball. Upwards of 20 teams have a stadium in the downtown area, including the Twins, Cardinals and Tigers.
“I think every new stadium in the MLB is being built downtown, so I kind of expected it,” Royals fan Jackson Fort said. “I think parking will be kind of, they’ll have to figure out something because there’s going to be a big building and not a lot of space to put it. I think you’ll see a lot more Ubers and less of that tailgating scene that the chiefs and the royals are so known for.”
While tailgating as we know it will look different, walking to the stadium won’t actually look that bad if you use the streetcar. From the stop at the World War I Museum, you’re looking at a nine-minute walk to Crown Center, and four-minute walk if you get off at Union Station.
“I think it would be a good thing for the city, for the baseball park and for everybody,” avid streetcar user Gary Henderson said. “Especially for the people who use the trolley would get a chance to see how comfortable it is and maybe it’ll increase their business too.”
With hopes of the new stadium to be ready for opening day in 2030, the Royals, Kansas City, and fans have time to figure out any potential obstacles.
“I think we’ll get to figure it out,” Royals fan Caden Tucker said. “I think that they have plenty of time to be able to figure everything out and make sure everything’s not going to be packed in here and just kind of slowed down in the process.”
While a lot of parking will be taken away in the near future, if one thing is for certain, the Royals will not. The current lease for Kauffman stadium is set to expire in 2031.
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