Kansas
Jackie Robinson statue is rebuilt in bronze in Colorado after theft from Kansas park
As he coats a mold of Jackie Robinson with wax, metalsmith Alex Haines reflects on the extra importance of a project that will soon give the city of Wichita, Kansas, a replacement bronze statue of the baseball icon after thieves brazenly destroyed the original.
“Many sculptures come through here,” said Haines at the Art Castings studio in Loveland, Colorado, where the original statue was cast. “Some are a little bit more important than others. And this is definitely one of them.”
It all started in January, when thieves cut the original statue off at its ankles, leaving only Robinson’s cleats behind at McAdams Park in Wichita.
About 600 children play there in a youth baseball league called League 42.
It is named after Robinson’s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major league’s color barrier in 1947.
The news spread wide, and a national outpouring of donations followed that enabled Wichita to quickly reorder a replacement.
“There’s been a lot of serendipity when it comes to League 42 throughout our entire existence,” said Bob Lutz, who is executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the statue.
“It’s almost like there’s somebody watching out for us. And certainly, in this regard, we feel like … there was a guardian angel making sure that we could do this statue again.”
As news spread of the theft, the nonprofit was flooded with an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 in donations.
That includes a $100,000 gift from Major League Baseball, which will cover the statue’s $45,000 replacement cost and other improvements, including landscaping and adding decorative bollards that will keep people from driving too close to the statue.
The rest of the money raised will go toward enhancing some of the nonprofit’s programming and facilities.
Last year, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and a learning lab.
There might even be enough money to add artificial turf and more lighting, Lutz said.
Another blessing for Lutz is that the replacement will look exactly like the original, which was created by his friend, the artist John Parsons, before his death in 2022 at the age of 67.
That is possible because the original mold was still viable.
“If that wasn’t the case, I don’t know that I would feel as good about all this as I do,” Lutz said.
It looked dire five days after the theft, when fire crews found burned remnants of his statue while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles away from the scene of the theft.
One man has pleaded guilty, and the investigation continues into a crime that police have said was motivated not by racial animus but by plans to sell the bronze for scrap.
It was a stupid plan, said Tony Workman, owner of Art Castings of Colorado. The town where the business is located, around 50 miles north of Denver, is well known for its abundance of sculptors and artists.
“The problem is you can’t get a fire in a dumpster hot enough to melt metal,” Workman said. “All you’re gonna do is burn the sculpture. So you’re still going to be able to tell what it was.”
Beyond rebuilding the statue, the severed bronze cleats from the original statue found a new home last month at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
It is a fitting location. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers.
He is considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.
“The outpouring of support that folks have gotten as a result of this, it reminds us that light indeed does come out of darkness,” said Bob Kendrick, the president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
At the museum, the cleats are part of a display that also includes a gunfire-riddled plaque that had been erected outside Robinson’s birthplace near Cairo, Georgia.
“It renews our spirt and belief in people because sometimes people will do despicable things, and it makes you want to give up on people,” Kendrick said.
“But you know you can’t give up on people, even though sometimes you want to.”
On a recent morning, Emilio Estevez, a financial services worker from Miami, stopped to look at the cleats. He described Robinson as an inspiration — both because of this athleticism and his ability to put up with jeers while integrating the sport.
“We can all learn from that,” he said.
And the thieves couldn’t take that away, Estevez said.
“He’s still in all our minds. He’s still very present, like here in the museum, very prevalent,” he said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.
According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.
Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.
On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
No further information has been released.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.
Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.
Police are investigating how the crash happened.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.
Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.
“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.
“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.
The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.
First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.
“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.
Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.
“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.
Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.
But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.
“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”
“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.
Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.
“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.
“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”
It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.
“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.
After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.
“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”
Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.
“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.
“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.
Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.
But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.
“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.
“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.
“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.
The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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