Des Moines game lounge and social bar Ricochet has plans to expand its footprint outside of Iowa.

Ricochet announced a new location to open in Missouri. This will be the second Ricochet venue to open. Traffic at the Des Moines Ricochet hasn’t let up since opening in 2021, allowing for growth.

Owner Brad Argo told the Register that the expansion of Ricochet through the Midwest started by hunting in Minneapolis and Kansas.

“It’s exciting that a Des Moines business is expanding throughout the Midwest,” Argo said on the phone Wednesday. “I think it says a lot about Des Moines and the things that come from here.”

Where will the new Ricochet location be?

The new Ricochet will be in Kansas City in an 11,000-square-foot building at 18th and Grand in the Crossroads Arts District, according to FOX 4.

“We love seeing the growth in Kansas City,” Argo said. “It has a lot of positive energy and a lot of momentum. And it’s close to what we call home which is Des Moines. It still allows us to stop in and spend time at the location without getting on a plane.”

What will be at the Kansas City Ricochet?

Similar to the Des Moines bar, the Kansas City Ricochet will have a U-shaped bar and many of the same games, including table tennis, pool, bags, darts and more.

“The games will typically be two-player games that will bring people together and allow them to connect without all the distraction of electronics,” Argo told the Register.

When is the Kansas City Ricochet opening?

The second Ricochet venue is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025. The new location is in the architectural stage with construction starting soon. The estimated opening date is early February.

Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – As the November election gets closer, illegal immigration has become a hot-button issue both nationwide as well as locally.

Political ads with many candidates for state and federal offices have made it a cornerstone of their platform. Recently, Missouri lawmakers created a committee whose sole purpose is to investigate crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants.

However, behind every ad and statistic is someone and their family living the asylum process. In many cases for years before they get answers on being able to stay and work or not. Advocates argue the current legal process needs to be reformed in order to function properly so people coming undocumented truly decrease.

Right now, there’s only one immigration court assigned to cover all of Missouri and Kansas immigrant cases. It’s in Kansas City and faces a backlog higher than some lawyers have seen in the more than 20 years they’ve been practicing. As a result, it’s dragging more people through the system for longer periods year after year.

KCTV met a couple of them. Mery Prada and Brenyelis Bracho both fled Venezuela more than three years ago. They told us through a translator they rode on top of trains and hiked through all of Central America to seek asylum in the U.S.

“There are many situations in Venezuala like political violence, food insecurity, and this makes it difficult to provide for your family,” Prada recalled. “The schools there aren’t great.”

“My husband and my two children were all on top of the train together,” Bracho said. “There were 36 cars and filled with people on top. The train just continues, so you go 12 hours without drinking water.”

They’ve both been in America for four months now but Venezuela hasn’t sent them all their IDs, and their documentation expired over the years. The paperwork is needed to seek asylum and obtain other documentation to immigrate to America.

“We haven’t been able to apply yet because my husband doesn’t have a copy of his birth certificate,” Bracho said. “If we’re unable to get his birth certificate, me and my daughters can apply but we’re unable to apply as a family.”

Even if Bracho and Prada do find their papers, Immigration Attorney Michael Sharma-Crawford says they’ll likely wait for at least a few years.

“I was just working on a case yesterday that started in 2012,” Sharma-Crawford said. “The last time I checked the figure of backlogs at the Kansas City Immigration Court was 48,000 cases. And there are more coming in than going out.”

In the Kansas City Immigration Court, only three judges oversee all of cases in both Kansas and Missouri. Attorneys argue the backlog only makes the process harder for people who want to immigrate to the U.S the legal way.

“If you at that point don’t file that application within one year of arrival, you may not be eligible for that work card,” Attorney Sharma-Crawford explained. “But, still waiting for that court date in four years.”

While Kansas and Missouri only have three judges to cover both states, places like Nevada have six judges just for that state and Virginia alone has four courts with 73 judges.

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Lindenwood at No. 22 Kansas in Kansas City, Kan., Thursday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: First meeting.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

No. 22 Kansas will try to get off to a fast start against Lindenwood, a school from St. Charles, Missouri, that became a full member of the Championship Subdivision last year. The Jayhawks are coming off a nine-win season highlighted by a win over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. They return quarterback Jalon Daniels, who missed most of last season with a back injury, along with most of their top wide receivers and running back Devin Neal, who is coming off his second 1,000-yard plus season. Lindenwood went 3-7 and finished last in the Ohio Valley last season. The game will be played at Children’s Mercy Park, the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City, due to the construction of the Jayhawks’ on-campus stadium.

KEY MATCHUP

Jalon Daniels against the Lindenwood defense. Daniels has been spectacular when he’s been healthy, but that was only for three games last season. He completed nearly 75% of his throws for 705 yards with five touchdowns and only one interception in those games. He has the benefit of experienced WRs in Quentin Skinner, Lawrence Arnold, Trevor Wilson and Luke Grimm.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Lindenwood: DL Kobe McClendon will be a good test for the Jayhawks’ new and unsettled offensive line. He had 32 tackles last season, including 9 1/2 for loss, while his 6 1/2 sacks led the team. DB Kanyon Walker was the lone Racer to land on one of the preseason all-Missouri Valley teams. He transferred last season from Tulane and finished fourth on the team with 54 tackles.

Kansas: Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson form one of the best cornerback tandems in college football. They have combined to make 64 starts with 16 interceptions, the most of any duo in the country. Eight of those came last season.

FACTS & FIGURES

Lindenwood will be playing against a Bowl Subdivision opponent for the first time. … The Lions were picked to finish eighth in the Big South-OVC preseason poll. … Kansas opened on Friday nights the past three seasons. The game in Kansas City, Kansas, is its first in the metro since 2011. … Neal had 3,077 yards rushing for his career. He needs 765 to break June Henley’s school career record. … Daniels has a career completion percent of 63.6, slightly better than the school record of 63.3 set by Todd Reesing from 2006-09. … Kansas allowed 378.2 yards and 26.5 points per game last season, the best marks for both since the 2007 season. … Leipold is coming off back-to-back bowl appearances, something only accomplished twice in school history. He is 163-60 overall with six Division III national championships.

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