Kansas
Kansas turned Topeka’s historically Black tech college into a prison
![Kansas turned Topeka’s historically Black tech college into a prison Kansas turned Topeka’s historically Black tech college into a prison](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/06/09/NTCJ/9b58b135-d16a-4caf-8f55-71e4fab24f98-20220609_CorrectionalFacility_VocationalSchool.EN-2.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
A long time after the location of a Black vocational faculty was became a jail, Topeka neighborhood organizers need the state to return the property to its instructional goal.
The Topeka Correctional Facility makes use of the buildings of what was initially constructed as a Tuskegee-affiliated vocational faculty for African-American residents throughout the area.
Curtis Pitts, who calls himself a neighborhood servant, is pushing for lawmakers and the governor to show the property over to Black church buildings.
He mentioned the Topeka Correctional Facility occupying the buildings of a former faculty reinforces the school-to-prison pipeline.
“It is a image of one thing that we have to eliminate,” Pitts mentioned. “We won’t go from being an academic establishment — constructed by the sweat and laborious work of African-People, and like-minded and anxious white People — after which flip it into a jail.
“It is nearly like telling the neighborhood subliminally: ‘Your vacation spot shouldn’t be training. Your vacation spot is designed to be jail.’ And I do know that is not the intent of our management right here on this state.”
Extra:Beyoncé’s ex-vocal instructor hopes to show Nick Chiles buildings into faculty for presented children
Deed required Kansas to make use of land as Black faculty
Kansas Historic Society information present the Kansas Vocational College was initially organized in 1895 because the Industrial and Academic Institute of Topeka. It was meant to arrange African-American college students for agricultural, mechanical and home pursuits. In later years, it was often called Kansas Technical Institute.
Deborah Dandridge, a librarian and curator of African-American expertise collections on the College of Kansas, mentioned historic information point out Black Baptist church buildings sponsored the college.
It was often known as the Tuskegee of the West as a consequence of its connections to the distinguished Tuskegee Institute. A number of of the college’s early directors got here immediately from the traditionally Black school based by Booker T. Washington in Alabama, Dandridge mentioned.
The college initially operated out of rented buildings close to the all-Black Washington College, she mentioned. With the assist of state funding, the African-American college students as a part of their vocational coaching constructed everlasting buildings on the technical school’s campus — the identical buildings now used as a jail.
State funding led to the governor, and later the Board of Regents, supervising the administration of the college.
Pitts’ seek for historic paperwork turned up one that will assist persuade Kansas legislators.
That doc stipulates that, regardless of state appropriations and management over the property, the ability was required to stay a faculty for so long as the state owned the land.
“I feel it is fairly revealing,” Dandridge mentioned. “I used to be shocked once I learn it.”
The guarantee deed filed in 1910 states the title of the college’s land is “vested by acceptable deed within the state of Kansas upon the categorical situation that the mentioned property lands and appropriations needs to be perpetually used completely and solely for the commercial and academic coaching and growth of negro youth.”
The deed transfers 109.5 acres from direct faculty possession to the state for $1, topic to the situation that it stay a faculty. Below the phrases of the settlement, the land switch would instantly develop into null and void, reverting again to high school possession if the state now not used the property to teach Black youths.
“We do not see this as a struggle,” Pitts mentioned. “We see it as a chance to have a redemption.”
Extra:Native American boarding colleges in Kansas supported US land seize and compelled assimilation
Native American land transfers might set precedent
The case for a land switch could also be bolstered by current laws ceding land to Native American tribes.
This 12 months, SB 405 handed the Legislature unanimously and was signed by Gov. Laura Kelly. The legislation returns a half-acre cemetery in Johnson County to the Shawnee Tribe.
Final 12 months, HB 2408 ceded a 10-acre parcel of land in Doniphan County to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. It handed the Home unanimously however confronted opposition from a handful of conservative Republicans within the Senate.
The land was the location of the now-shuttered Iowa and Sac & Fox Mission close to Highland. The tribe plans to show the previous Indian guide labor boarding faculty right into a museum.
“Like we did the Native People, we returned issues again to them,” Pitts mentioned. “This is a chance to return that again to the neighborhood. Allow us to construct one thing that everybody no matter race can profit from and develop from, and get an opportunity at redemptive therapeutic that we want as part of our tradition.”
Extra:Corrections officers tout program placing inmates in jobs. Others say it deserves scrutiny.
‘That is the time’ to reside as much as civil rights basis of Kansas
From the Jayhawk mascot’s anti-slavery historical past to Exodusters settling in Kansas to the Brown v. Board of Training legacy, Pitts sees a powerful civil rights basis within the state.
“That is a traditionally Black school on the market that is a jail,” he mentioned. “For all of our ancestors and what this state was based on, that can not be. They’d roll over of their grave in the event that they knew that this abolitionist state, this free state, that shot the bow throughout racism on the earth, turned what they believed in and supported into a jail.”
Pitts is aware of if a land switch occurs, the method would possible take years. Questions stay unanswered on what would occur to the present inmates, together with whether or not the state would wish to construct a brand new jail.
He’s planning a sequence of neighborhood conferences within the lead-up to the subsequent legislative session to debate the way to reestablish the ability as an academic establishment.
Dandridge mentioned the vocational faculty was the one establishment the place African-American college students might entry increased training in technical expertise and liberal arts. She desires to see a studying heart that renews the legacy of offering vocational expertise whereas “educating and telling the story of African-People in Topeka.”
“It is a true alternative to create one thing that has a legacy of African-American achievement and success, and has the potential for creating extra of the custom for not solely African-People, however for all folks,” Dandridge mentioned.
Pitts mentioned he envisions a middle for enhancing race relations and the research of tradition, along with vocational coaching. He desires it to be open to everybody, maybe a featured cease on faculty area journeys to the capital metropolis.
He proposes a privately funded nonprofit establishment with a unfastened affiliation to the Board of Regents and representatives from the Legislature and governor on the board of administrators — however in contrast to the board illustration of a century in the past, the Black neighborhood would have a majority.
“In Topeka, they’ve the best alternative ever proper now,” Pitts mentioned. “That is the time and the season for this.”
Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He might be reached by electronic mail at jtidd@gannett.com. Comply with him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Kansas
Yuli Gurriel's Houston homecoming being realized with sudden Kansas City trade
![Yuli Gurriel's Houston homecoming being realized with sudden Kansas City trade Yuli Gurriel's Houston homecoming being realized with sudden Kansas City trade](https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/4328796_yuli-img.jpg?w=1600)
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — For the first time since Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, Yuli Gurriel will stand in the batter’s box inside Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Sunday. It just won’t be with the Astros.
On Saturday, the Kansas City Royals completed a trade with the Atlanta Braves to acquire the 40-year-old Cuban infielder, who has been playing on a minor-league deal. Despite the trade deadline having come and gone, the Royals were able to obtain Gurriel since he had yet to come up to the major league level in 2024.
The video above was produced in 2017.
And in a twist of fate, the Royals are starting Gurriel as the designated hitter when Kansas City and Houston face off Sunday in their series finale.
SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Former Astros teammates Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman reunite in heartwarming spring training photo
So, how did a sudden Gurriel homecoming unfold, and what was the first baseman doing since his exit after Houston’s latest world championship?
Gurriel’s final game with Houston was painful. In Game 5 of the 2022 World Series, he suffered a right knee injury that kept him out of the clinching game in Houston.
The Astros decided to attempt an upgrade at the first base position in the 2023 offseason by signing free agent Jose Abreu on a three-year, $58.5 million. The signing effectively put Gurriel, also a free agent, on the outs.
Gurriel signed a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins for 2023, where he played in 108 games and appeared as a pinch hitter in one postseason matchup.
The 40-year-old was back on the market for the 2024 season and signed with the Braves organization two weeks into the regular season. The Braves, who are in a dogfight with the Phillies for the National League East crown, were seemingly gearing up for a Gurriel call-up after he took reps as a second and third baseman in Triple A.
But after Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino broke his thumb during their series in Houston, Gurriel became appealing to postseason-contending Kansas City. He was reportedly traded for cash considerations.
Gurriel’s arrival on Sunday also coincides with major league rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players in time for the last month of the season.
The Houston Astros, who have found instant success with waiver-wire claim Ben Gamel and free agent Jason Heyward, both outfielders filling in the void left by Kyle Tucker’s injury, picked up Sugar Land Space Cowboys members Cesar Salazar, a catcher, and Forrest Whitley, a pitcher.
Salazar made his major league debut in 2023 and last played with the Astros on July 11 this year. Whitley, a San Antonio native, debuted on April 16, 2024, after eight seasons in the Astros minor-league system, but had yet to play again since.
Entering Sunday’s game, Houston holds a five-game lead over the Seattle Mariners for the American League West. The Astros head to Cincinnati on Monday for a series opener, take their first off day in 18 days on Tuesday, and resume the series with the Reds on Wednesday.
Houston can also add a wild-card bye into the postseason conversation. The ‘Stros sit three games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL’s second seed. The two teams face off for the last series of the season at the end of this month.
Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Kansas
Kansas State players of the game vs UT-Martin
![Kansas State players of the game vs UT-Martin Kansas State players of the game vs UT-Martin](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/08/31201911/Tobi-UTM-1-1.jpeg)
Kansas State offensive MVP: DJ Giddens
It was another nice and easy day at the office for Kansas State running back DJ Giddens.
The Junction City running back went over 100 yards for the fifth consecutive game. His five game streak of going over the century mark is tied for fourth in K-State school history. Giddens finished the game with 124 rushing yards and added six receiving yards.
Dylan Edwards provided a nice spark for the Wildcat offense in his first game after transferring from Colorado. Edwards scored multiple times in the contest Saturday night with one on the ground and a receiving touchdown.
In the first home start for Avery Johnson, there were some ups and downs.
However, Johnson still finished with two touchdowns through the air and added some nice runs as well. Jayce Brown was a major bright spot receiving as well with 71 receiving yards. The true sophomore led Kansas State in receiving and had the most receptions with five.
Defensive MVP: Tobi Osunsanmi
For defense there was a few different options for MVP. I really wrestled back and forth between two.
Ultimately, I decided on Tobi Osunsanmi. The Wichita native was a man possessed in his snaps. He showed his elite burst and was able to get to the quarterback at a very high clip. Osunsanmi finished the game with 1.5 sacks (2.5 if he completes one instead of letting the quarterback escape).
He also added another quarterback hit to go along with the sacks.
Desmond Purnell was also flying around the field Saturday evening. He led K-State in tackles with seven and was tied for first in tackles for a loss with 1.5.
K-State special teams MVP: Ty Bowman
Anytime you can create a touchdown on special teams, it is an easy choice for special teams MVP. Ty Bowman blocked his second career punt in the season opener versus UT-Martin. The beneficiary of Bowman blocking the punt was Colby McCalister who returned the ball one yard for a touchdown.
Chris Tennant was also perfect on all of his kicks. Tennant knocked in a 45 and 43-yard field goal and was perfect on all of his extra points.
Kansas
Tulane Football’s Path to Victory Must Exploit Inexperienced Kansas State
![Tulane Football’s Path to Victory Must Exploit Inexperienced Kansas State Tulane Football’s Path to Victory Must Exploit Inexperienced Kansas State](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4096,h_2304,x_0,y_268/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/tulane_green_wave_on_si/01j6mvw0vcfqn9xhqdjr.jpg)
The stage is set for Tulane football’s highly anticipated Week 2 matchup against the Kansas State Wildcats as they seek to become contenders on a national stage.
Intriguingly, the Green Wave and the Wildcats have some parallels on offense. Kansas State kicks off the season Saturday against FCS opponent UT-Martin, much like Tulane opened against Southeastern Louisiana.
Sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson will make his first regular season start, much like redshirt freshman Darian Mensah led Tulane to their 52-0 victory Thursday night. Johnson did appear in eight games as a true freshman and started for the team in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, beating North Carolina State.
However, he did so behind an offensive line that looks nothing like the one that will take the field next Saturday at Yulman Stadium. The Wildcats must replace four of five starters, including third-round draft pick Cooper Beebe. Just as Tulane had to find Vincent Murphy to take over for Sincere Haynesworth.
Though the group of returners isn’t exactly inexperienced, they don’t have any time playing together in concert. The lone starter remaining is right guard Hadley Panzer, who likely is starting this season at left guard. Presumed starting left tackle Easton Kilty is making his first FBS start.
It helps that Kansas State’s offensive line coach, Conor Riley, was promoted to coordinator. He has pieces to work with that have credible game snaps. The challenge is whether they can come together as a unit.
While Avery Johnson has more experience than Darian Mensah, Mensah benefits from a much more stable offensive line. Tulane returned both starting guards and right tackle and brought in key transfers to fill the remaining holes. In their season debut, they gave Mensah time in the pocket, but the run blocking left much to be desired.
Tulane brought in transfers on the defensive line to bolster their pass rush. They got to the quarterback twice with two sacks last Thursday, but the Bandit role was a point of concern. Their three-man front is spaced to spread out their top playmakers, Adin Huntington at defensive end and Patrick Jenkins at tackle.
With Huntington to the field and Jenkins to the boundary, it forces defenses to either focus attention on one side of the line or just shut down the best two players. That awards a lot of one-on-one opportunities for the rusher at Bandit. The players who rotated in the first game didn’t make much of a case.
Terrell Allen didn’t make any standout plays, nor did Matthew Fobbs-White, though the latter showed some disruptive abilities off the line of scrimmage. Frankly, Shi’Keem Laister was the most productive in a packaged role. Laister had a hurry and forced Southeastern to throw quickly, leading to incompletions on the drive.
Tulane doesn’t need the Bandit to be the hero, but they need a player to step up and credibly command attention to open up lanes for Huntington, who only recorded one hurry in his debut for the team.
Importantly, the team likely didn’t show their cards on the ways they might get to the quarterback. It might come from the second level. Linebacker Sam Howard had more pressure snaps than Fobbs-White and Allen, and he recorded a hurry and beat his blocker on another.
Could Tulane rely on blitzing and utilizing defensive backs and linebackers as rushers? Not all season. But creativity and confusion might just be enough to rattle the Wildcats as both teams race to figure out what the other is made of with merely one game of film.
The secondary came together as Tulane’s season opener went on, and should be a point of strength, but the best coverage is a pass rush. Especially with an opponent that has similar turnover and areas to exploit. For the Green Wave to pull off a victory on Sept. 7, the key lies in the lane to the quarterback.
-
Connecticut1 week ago
Oxford church provides sanctuary during Sunday's damaging storm
-
Politics1 week ago
2024 showdown: What happens next in the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump face-off
-
News1 week ago
Who Are Kamala Harris’s 1.5 Million New Donors?
-
Politics1 week ago
Vivek Ramaswamy sounds off on potential RFK Jr. role in a Trump administration
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump taunted over speculated RFK Jr endorsement: 'Weird as hell'
-
World6 days ago
Portugal coast hit by 5.3 magnitude earthquake
-
News1 week ago
Video: Kamala Harris’s Political Pragmatism
-
Politics1 week ago
With 13 days until voting starts, 'election season' kicks off sooner than you think