Kansas

Kansas City Chiefs join forces with Hallmark for Christmas rom-com ‘Holiday Touchdown’

Published

2 years ago

June 27, 2024

Kansas City Chiefs join forces with Hallmark for Christmas rom-com ‘Holiday Touchdown’

The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing together what the holidays are all about: football and Hallmark movies.

The NFL team has partnered with Hallmark to create an original holiday film centered around its back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

The movie, called “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story,” will begin production next month, filming entirely in Kansas City, Missouri. Fans will watch scenes at the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the first time a movie has been shot in the venue.

“This partnership unites two passionate fanbases and gives us an opportunity to show Chiefs Kingdom’s energy and tradition on one of the most-watched channels during the holiday season,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said in a news release.

To honor the project between the two Kansas City-based organizations, the city lit up its downtown skyline purple and red on Wednesday night, the news release shared.

Who will be in ‘Holiday Touchdown’?

While no Chiefs players have been announced to be in the movie, the team revealed its three leads.

The film will star “Shifting Gears” actor Tyler Hynes, “Two Scoops Of Italy” actor Hunter King, and “Better Call Saul” actor Ed Begley Jr. in the sports holiday romantic comedy.

What is ‘Holiday Touchdown’ about?

“Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” will follow Chiefs super fan Alana Higman (King), who’s determined to win the team’s Fan of the Year contest, and fan engagement director Derrick (Hynes). The two begin to feel romantic tension as Derrick evaluates whether Alana’s family deserves to the win the contest.

But when Alana’s grandfather (Begley Jr.) loses his vintage Chiefs winter hat, she begins to question her future with Derrick unless “a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary.”

50% of Hallmark viewers watch sports during the holidays

While the collaboration may seem odd, the Chiefs and Hallmark are assured that the movie makes the perfect holiday crossover.

More than half of Hallmark Channel viewers also watched sports during the channel’s Countdown to Christmas aired last year in 2023, according to the news release.

“With Hallmark and the Kansas City Chiefs both homegrown, rooted in values, tradition and community, there is a special alchemy between these two iconic organizations,” Hallmark Chief Brand Officer Darren Abbott said in a statement. “By blending the warmth of Hallmark storytelling with the excitement of professional football, we are thrilled to give audiences a front-row seat to this community’s spirit, rich traditions and passionate fans.”

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Kansas

Kansas man sentenced to 4 years in connection with 13-year-old Linn County boy’s death

Published

40 minutes ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Kansas man sentenced to 4 years in connection with 13-year-old Linn County boy’s death

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Bates County Circuit Court judge Friday sentenced a Linn County, Kansas, man in connection with the December 2025 death of Airen Andula, 13.

Damon Leonard, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison for abandonment of a corpse, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of abandoning a corpse on May 22.

Andula disappeared from his Pleasanton, Kansas, home on Dec. 21, 2025. A day later, law enforcement found the boy’s body in a ravine in Bates County, Missouri. He had died from multiple dog bite injuries.

Police were led to the boy’s body after a phone call from Leonard.

Court documents said Leonard “admitted that he transported the deceased child from Kansas to Missouri and left the body in the bottom of the creek” before he returned home.

KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva spoke with Andula’s family earlier this week — after the guilty plea and ahead of Friday’s sentencing.

His family shared that the guilty plea brought a small sense of justice, but it didn’t do much to ease the pain of their loss.

READ MORE | Family of Airen Andula speaks out ahead of sentencing

“We’re missing our kid every day of our lives,” the boy’s father Charles Andula told Silva.

Leonard received credit for time served of 158 days in his sentence, per court records.

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Kansas

Gas, diesel fuel prices down over past week across nation, Kansas

Published

13 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Gas, diesel fuel prices down over past week across nation, Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – It may not seem like a lot of relief, but gas and diesel prices have declined over the past week.

Friday morning’s national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.39, according to the Automobile Association of America.

That’s down three cents from $4.42 on Thursday; down 16 cents from a week ago; but was up 17 cents from $4.22 a month ago and up $.23 from $3.16 a year ago.

Gas and diesel fuel prices are down this week in Kansas and across the nation, according to the American Automobile Association.(KALB)

In Kansas, AAA says, unleaded gas on Friday was averaging $3.96 a gallon — down four cents from $4.00 on Thursday; down 13 cents from $3.96 a week ago; but up 26 cents from $3.70 a month ago; and up $1.07 over $2.89 a year ago.

Diesel fuel also was dropping in price. AAA says Friday’s national average for a gallon of diesel was $5.52 a gallon — down three cents from $5.55 on Thursday; down 12 cents from $5.64 a week a go; but up six cents from $5.46 a month ago and up $1.98 from $3.54 a year ago.

Kansas diesel fuel prices, according to AAA, checked in at an average of $4.98 on Friday. That’s five cents below $5.03 on Thursday; down 16 cents from $5.14 a week ago; but up 24 cents over $4.74 a month ago; and up $1.72 from $3.26 a year ago.

In Topeka, GasBuddy.com on Friday morning showed unleaded gas prices ranging between $3.77 and $4.09 in Topeka, with diesel fuel going for between $4.94 and $5.29 a gallon.

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