Kansas

Kansas City shelter at capacity still welcomes homeless with volunteers’ help

Published

6 months ago

December 1, 2025

Kansas City shelter at capacity still welcomes homeless with volunteers’ help

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Every night, Luis Arellano opens doors for Kansas City’s homeless at Unity Southeast church.

“And when they say ‘Hey, Luis!’, they remember me for something good. ‘Remember me you gave me the jacket!’,” said Luis Arellano, who serves as shelter lead.

Two years ago, someone opened a door for him when he needed it most. In 2023, cancer took his wife. The grief that followed he said nearly took him as well.

“I lost people. I didn’t want to continue living. Drinking,” Arellano said.

Arellano said he spiraled into darkness, drowning his pain in alcohol. On the night he was planning on ending it all, someone saw him differently.

They brought him to the church, where he said he finally slept after days.

“Finally, I cried. I put everything out, and I felt more peace. He said sometimes we don’t understand why God takes away the people we love the most. I tried to get it more. And from there I started to help here,” Arellano said.

That person was Reverend Randy Fikki. Both Arellano and Fikki dedicate their time making sure others don’t face their darkest nights alone.

“If it was my brother or my sister or my mom or my dad, I wouldn’t want it to be a based on if somebody had room or not. The question is not if we have room in our sanctuaries. It’s if we have room in our hearts,” Fikki said.

Sunday night, Unity Southeast was at capacity, but Fikki said they’re not turning anyone away. He’s working to find space for everyone who needs shelter.

For Arellano, it’s more than a mission.

“I miss my wife, believe me. Of course I miss, that’s my baby. But I know the best can happen from her,” he said.

Fikki said their capacity is 70 people, but will not turn anyone away. He said they started the shelter in 2019.

Along with a place for rest, Fikki and Arellano said they give guests food, clothing, and entertainment as asked.

Source link

Click to comment

Kansas

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

Published

3 hours 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.

—

Source link

Kansas

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

Published

15 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.

Source link