KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.

City Council members in Kansas City, Missouri, passed two ordinances in September to deter illegal street racing and sideshows; Rumble strips at intersections and penalties ranging from $250 to $1,000 and possible jail time.

Spinouts and racing spectacles plagued Kansas City’s Crossroads District through the summer and left businesses, customers and neighbors frustrated and concerned for their safety.

“We were really desperate and begging for some sort of action,” David Johnson said.

Johnson lives near what used to be a notorious intersection before the city installed rumble strips in September.

He said there are fewer side shows and spinout spectacles, but the racing noise still continues.

“It’s gone down a little bit,” Johnson said. “We just don’t see the tire marks, which is the telltale sign that this is happening.”

Rumble strips have been installed at 37 different intersections throughout the metro.

Councilman Crispin Rea said the rumble strips and penalties are a good start, but there’s more work to be done to stop illegal side shows and street racing permanently.

Chase Lucas

“The activity has been diminished, but it’s not completely stopping some of the gathering of folks on four-wheelers, motorcycles, and some of these other disruptive events,” Councilman Rea said.

While neighbors like Johnson are happy their streets are safer, they’ve noticed dangerous drivers flocking to other parts of the city.

“It’s a bit like whack-a-mole trying to chase people,” Johnson said. “The less opportunity you give for people to create havoc in our streets, they’ll go elsewhere.”

Illegal street racing has made its way down to south Kansas City, where a recent crash took the lives of two innocent people.

“It’s one more unfortunate example in a long list of many that we need to continue to make our streets safer,” Councilman Rea said.

Rea said traffic safety is one of the top priorities for the city council in 2025. The city is looking at long-term solutions like road diets and safer street redesign.

“We owe it to our residents to make our streets safer. They deserve safer streets,” he said.

A spokesperson with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said there has been a decrease in illegal street racing and side shows since the recent implementations.

“These physical additions to roadway with continued enforcement by patrol and targeted efforts by the traffic unit have made a significant impact in street racing,” KCPD PIO Sgt. Phil DiMartino said. “We will continue these efforts into 2025 and we will continue to encourage our community members to report any illegal sideshows.”

Just minutes before tip, we learned that West Virginia would be without starters Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry against No. 7 Kansas. With those two out of the lineup, it felt like the Mountaineers would have no shot of taking down the Jayhawks. They proved a lot of folks, including myself wrong with a 62-61win.

Here are some takeaways from today’s action.

Andre has played well off the bench this year, especially on the defensive end of the floor. Hansberry typically provides more of an offensive punch, but Andre had it all going for him today. Scoring, rebounding, setting up his teammates, blocking shots – just a complete performance for the Mountaineers’ lone seven-footer.

No Tucker DeVries, no Amani Hansberry, no Jayden Stone…no problem? I mean, just what a tremendous coaching job by DeVries in his first-ever game coaching in the Big 12. To win his first game at the Phog after Bob Huggins fell short several times and went 0-11? Unreal. What’s even more impressive is the resume he’s already put together in just twelve games on the job. If this is what he can do in twelve games with a team he threw together over the summer, what is the ceiling for him in Morgantown?

It’s only one game, but when you knock off Kansas at Kansas without two starters, you have to think this team is a legitimate contender in the Big 12 Conference. Getting DeVries and Hansberry back will be the determining factor. The deeper they get into the season, the more they are going to need those guys for offensive and depth purposes. At the very least, this looks like a surefire NCAA Tournament team.

The Mountaineers will be back at it on Saturday as they play host to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. EST.

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The Kansas State basketball program has little time to celebrate Monday’s upset of Cincinnati in the Big 12 opener.

There is still plenty of work left for the Wildcats to start thinking NCAA Tournament. After struggling through the non-conference portion of the schedule, they need more quality wins to have any chance of an at-large bid.

According to the website Field Of 68, the Wildcats at least took a step in the right direction.

“K-State (7-5, 1-0) still has a lot of work to do to be in the tournament field after not securing a single marquee non-conference victory,” wrote Samuel Lance. “Coming into the game, the Wildcats were one of the10 worst power teams in the NET and KenPom. But this win over the Bearcats is a good place to start a run. Jerome Tang is now 10-2 vs. AP Top 25 opponents at home since taking over the Wildcats in 2022.”

The Wildcats are seemingly starting to figure things out. Forward Coleman Hawkins, who transferred from Illinois, had his best games of the season. He finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. He shot 7 of 13 from the field.

“I feel like I was a little bit more aggressive,” Hawkins said. “I feel like I was kinda all over the place, it’s hard to determine what to do with me because we wanted to exploit if they were switching. If not, try to pick and pop. I was used as a ball handler a little bit, but I think I was just a little bit more aggressive.”

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

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