Kansas

Kansas City 911 calls reach longest wait time in years

Published

2 years ago

June 8, 2023

Kansas City 911 calls reach longest wait time in years

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – If you call 911 in Kansas City, Missouri, in a crisis, you will wait an average of a full minute for someone to answer.

Hold times have been a consistent problem for Kansas City as it copes with high call volume and low staffing.

Wait times have been inching up. In April, people waited an average of 46 seconds. Newly released May data show the average is now a full minute.

Saturday, May 6, was the worst day of the month. People waited for an average of 1:39. Data shows a caller sat on hold for 16:24. On May 5, a person was on hold for 19:44.

KCTV5 has covered the hold issue for years as people give up on 911 and run to firehouses for help or drive seizing children to hospitals themselves. We’ve interviewed people who question if hold times mattered in the deaths of their loved ones.

Kansas City’s Mayor Quinton Lucas recently stepped forward about his own personal experience. His sister sat on hold for five minutes before she connected with a call taker. She had found their mother unresponsive in the front yard.

“No one should be waiting on hold when they call 911. Full stop. And that’s something that needs to change in Kansas City, whether it’s my mother, whether it’s anybody it is a terrifying experience,” Lucas said.

Mayor Quinton Lucas tweeted that when his sister called 911 for their mother (left) on Wednesday, she waited on hold for five minutes.(Mayor Quinton Lucas)

KCTV5 submitted a sunshine request for 911 data from that day, May 24. The Lucas family’s call for help wasn’t even the most extreme hold time, just the most public.

At least six calls sat on hold for more than five minutes, ranging from 5:09 to 16:12.

If you have had a problem with KCMO 911, email us here at investigate@kctv5.com.

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Kansas

K-State’s Coleman Hawkins On Kansas Loss: ‘I Feel Like We Should’ve Won’

Published

21 minutes ago

January 19, 2025

Press Room

K-State’s Coleman Hawkins On Kansas Loss: ‘I Feel Like We Should’ve Won’

The Kansas State basketball team has lost games in just about every way possible this season.

Close calls. Blowouts. Turnovers. Free throws.

On Saturday, the loss to rival Kansas stung the most because it was a game the Wildcats felt was winnable.

“I think if we don’t come out to the slow start like we did, we win,” senior Coleman Hawkins said. “I won’t consider anything different, the name on the front of the jersey. Honestly, I feel like we should’ve won this game. It’s a rivalry game but regardless, I feel like we should have won. I’m not into moral victories. I want to win but we’re going to have to move on. We’ll see them again.”

Asked Coleman Hawkins if there’s any solace in the loss, considering how well K-State played against KU of all teams
“If we don’t come out to a slow start like we did, we win. I wouldn’t consider anything different, the name on the front of the jersey” pic.twitter.com/EeN5PdTkf1
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) January 18, 2025

The Wildcats never recovered from the Jayhawks’ 14-0 run to start the game. Kansas State took some solace in rallying to keep it close in the second half. The Wildcats pulled to within six points on two occasions but it wasn’t enough.

The next step is for the Wildcats to regroup after a slow start to the Big 12 season. They have lost eight of nine, including five straight.

“Life throws things at you and you man up,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. “You believe in who you are and what you’re about and move onto the next thing … We don’t have guys who hang their heads. These are high character dudes.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Road to Super Bowl will run through Kansas City after Chiefs victory

Published

8 hours ago

January 19, 2025

Press Room

Road to Super Bowl will run through Kansas City after Chiefs victory

The Kansas City Chiefs won on Saturday, meaning the AFC Championship Game will be in Missouri next Sunday. It’s the seventh straight AFC Championship Games with the Chiefs in the game, and they have hosted six of them.

In 2024, the Chiefs beat the Ravens in Baltimore (the only away game)
In 2023, Kansas City beat the Cincinnati Bengals at home
In 2022, KC hosted the Bengals but lost in overtime
In 2021, the Bills went to Arrowhead and lost
In 2020, the Tennessee Titans came to Kansas City to lose.
In 2019, the New England Patriots beat the Chiefs in overtime in Arrowhead

The Chiefs beat the Ravens in Kansas City in Week 1 to open the 2024 season. The Bills were able to knock off the Chiefs, but it was in Buffalo in November.

Kansas City will have an extra day of rest with the Bills and Ravens playing Sunday night — and the winner has to travel.

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Caitlin Clark sits with Taylor Swift at Kansas City Chiefs vs. Houston Texans NFL playoff

Published

16 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Caitlin Clark sits with Taylor Swift at Kansas City Chiefs vs. Houston Texans NFL playoff

Caitlin Clark has never been shy about her Kansas City Chiefs fandom, and her superstardom allowed her to enjoy Saturday’s game with coveted company.

The Iowa women’s basketball legend and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year was spotted in the same box as Taylor Swift during the team’s NFL Divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans.

According to Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star, Swift invited Clark to the game when Clark attended one of the pop star’s Eras Tour concerts.

Clark and Swift were even caught on camera chatting during the game.

Swift is famously dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who is trying to help his team become the first team in NFL history to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.

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