A lot has happened since John Sherman, principal owner of the Kansas City Royals franchise, first floated the idea of a new stadium in November of 2021. The road since then has been winding and frustrating, and four years and one failed vote later and we don’t know where the stadium is going or what it will look like.
Kansas
Prayer and peaceful protest planned in response to ‘black mass’ in Kansas
CNA Staff, Mar 27, 2025 /
15:50 pm
Amid plans for a blasphemous “black mass” at the Kansas Capitol building set to take place on March 28, Catholics in the state and elsewhere are urging a prayerful, peaceful response, the centerpiece of which will be adoration and Mass at a Catholic church directly opposite the Capitol.
Organized by the Satanic Grotto, the “black mass” — an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass — is set to begin around 10 a.m. Originally slated to take place inside the Capitol rotunda itself, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly later decreed that the event must take place outside, though organizers of the ritual have said they plan to defy Kelly’s order and enter the Capitol building “around 11:30.”
A promotional flyer for the “mass” posted on Reddit lists the “components” of the ritual, which include the “Denounciation [sic] of Christ,” the “Desecration of the Eucharist,” and the “Corruption of the Blood.”
To counter the Satanic event, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, will lead a Eucharistic Holy Hour at Assumption Catholic Church, which is directly across the street from the Capitol.
The Holy Hour will begin at 11 a.m. Friday followed by noon Mass. Similar Holy Hours and Masses are planned in the neighboring Kansas dioceses of Wichita, Salina, and Dodge City.
The planned Satanic ritual is an “affront to all Christians,” Naumann noted in a recent statement, but he urged the faithful not to “succumb to anger and violence, as that would be cooperating with the devil.”
During the authentic Catholic Mass, “we will pray for God to bless those who blaspheme him and who mock those who believe in Jesus Christ. After all, on Calvary, Jesus implored his heavenly Father to forgive those who crucified him because they did not know what they were doing,” Naumann wrote.
The archbishop noted that Pope Francis recently announced he will canonize Blessed Bartolo Longo, a 19th-century Italian who embraced the occult and Satanism, becoming a Satanic priest and promising his soul to the devil.
Amid the fervent prayers of his family, a priest motivated Longo, on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to make a sincere confession and return to the Church. He became a devout and charitable Catholic and even later inspired St. John Paul II to create the luminous mysteries of the rosary.
“Catholics should not underestimate Satan, his craftiness and power. However, as long as we keep close to Jesus, we need not fear the devil. Throughout the Gospel, we see Our Lord’s authority over the demonic, liberating many who had given themselves to Satan,” Naumann wrote.
“If we seize the opportunity to draw closer to Jesus through prayer, then we can make this attempt to mock and blaspheme our Catholic faith into what Satan most fears and despises,” the prelate said.
“Let us pray that the Lord of Life can penetrate and change the hearts of the Satanists of our time with his merciful love. St. Bartolo Longo, pray for us and especially for those who have become ensnared by the evil one. All things are possible with God!”
Archdiocese filed lawsuit over alleged theft of consecrated hosts
Naumann had on March 14 filed a lawsuit in Leavenworth County District Court seeking an order to secure the safe return of any consecrated hosts in the Satanist group’s possession. Satanist groups intending to stage so-called “black masses” have on at least one other occasion boasted of possessing a stolen consecrated host with an intent to desecrate it.
Naumann settled the lawsuit after the Satanist leaders testified under oath that the hosts and wine they plan to desecrate in the ritual are not “Catholic in origin.”
The planned Satanic event has sparked a heated debate among Kansas lawmakers as to whether the event should be allowed to go forward. The Legislature passed a nonbinding resolution March 20 denouncing the planned ritual.
(Story continues below)
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The leader of the Satanic Grotto, Michael Stewart, who has described himself as an atheist who does not believe in Satan, posted a video this week in which he said he expects “up to 5,000 counterprotestors” to show up at the Capitol during his event.
“5,000 Catholics are what the Capitol Police are preparing for,” Stewart claimed.
A Catholic-led petition asking Kelly to shut down the event has attracted over 50,000 signatures as of Thursday.
Students at Kansas’ Benedictine College are invited to pray a rosary in the school’s Mary’s Grotto at 11 a.m. on Friday, school spokesman Steve Johnson told CNA.
Benedictine students can then participate in daily Mass at 12:10 p.m. that day, which will be offered with the intention for the conversion of those involved in the “black mass,” Johnson said.
Benedictine is in Atchison, about an hour northeast of Topeka. The school is not taking an official group to the capitol to take part in the prayerful protest, Johnson said, but he said some students may be going of their own volition.
Kansas
Free rides offered for Kansas Mobility Week including Election Day
OCCK Transportation is offering free rides on Election Day, Nov. 4, as part of Kansas Mobility Week.
The free rides will be available on Salina CityGo, regional paratransit, GoAbilene, GoConcordia, 81 Connection and KanConnect, according to a community announcement. However, OCCK OnDemand services in Salina are not included.
Kansas Mobility Week, which runs from Nov. 2-8, is a statewide initiative aimed at promoting efficient and safe transportation choices. Public transportation providers, mobility managers, the Kansas Department of Transportation and other partners will host events throughout the week to encourage the use of multimodal transportation options and introduce new initiatives and policies.
OCCK normally offers free rides on Election Day each year to help increase voter turnout.
“We are excited to provide free rides again for Election Day and as a way to celebrate Mobility Week,” said Trell Grinter, transportation director for OCCK. “It’s a great opportunity for people to experience public transit and increase their mobility choices.”
For more information about OCCK, visit occk.com. For more information about CityGo and OCCK Transportation, visit salinacitygo.com or contact the OCCK Transportation Center at 785-826-1583.
More information on how to participate in this year’s Mobility Week is available at ksrides.org/mobility-week.
More information about the state’s Mobility Managers can be found at ksrides.org/our-team.
This story was created by reporter Charles Rankin, crankin@salina.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
Kansas
The North Kansas City stadium site might just be the best one
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The Royals’ lease with the Truman Sports Complex ends after the 2030 season, which means they have to start on construction relatively soon to be ready by the 2031 season. Missouri and Kansas have both passed state-level funding. And the Royals had planned on announcing their final plan earlier this year, which implies they are close to an answer themselves.
Lately, there has been a lot of smoke surrounding the North Kansas City option. The office of NKC mayor Jesse Smith put out a press release on October 16 stating that:
The City of North Kansas City continues to have conversations with the Kansas City Royals regarding the possibility of a stadium and related development in North Kansas City. These discussions are substantial and will ultimately involve collaboration among the State of Missouri, Clay County, and the City in any final framework.
Additionally, the Missouri legislature had previously passed a bill that allows Clay County to create a sports complex authority that would govern the stadium. And we can’t forget that North Kansas City was one of two initial proposed sites by the Royals back in August 2023.
Like many folks, my reaction to the proposed Clay County site was one of skepticism. What was the point? To just leave a suburban area to go to another suburban area? Why not just stay in Kauffman Stadium?
I have since come around, and not because I am being paid off by the Royals. I have no idea what they’re doing and they have declined to comment on media requests about the stadium for a while now. No; I genuinely think that the North Kansas City site is the best one outside the East Village site, which seems dead. Let’s dig into why.
The Royals’ new stadium goals
So much has happened that it’s worth re-visiting the first real piece of official communication the Royals put into the world: an open letter from Sherman about what the Royals wanted to accomplish.
There are two things that stand out as clear benchmarks for what the Royals wanted the stadium to be from the very start of this project. First, though downtown was the primary goal, the Royals were cognizant that there were other sites that could work. They were pursuing sites “both in downtown Kansas City and close to it.”
Second, and most importantly, the Royals wanted to build a ballpark district, with “residential, commercial, and community components.” As Sherman wrote, their version was to construct “a new ballpark district and all that comes with it – one that is woven into the fabric of our city, can host events and concerts, and boosts our local economy.”
Why North Kansas City works
Kauffman Stadium is a beautiful park that exists within an ugly car dystopia that sucks the life out of the entire area. It’s surrounded by acres and acres of useless concrete. It’s cut off from goods, services, housing, and lodging. It is an unwalkable island wasteland.
Contrast that with walkable areas, where you don’t have to drive a car to get to where you want to go. More importantly, there are people already there. People live in walkable areas in multiunit apartments and condos, and walkable areas have narrower streets, more public transit, and a significantly higher density of resources and services than car-centric areas.
Downtowns are usually the only areas in American cities that have walkability and density. But suburbs can be walkable, too. Consider the area around Johnson Drive and Lamar in Mission, Kansas, versus the area around 119th Street and Strang Line Road in Olathe. Both Kansas City suburbs, but one is significantly prettier, more lively, and livable than the other.
North Kansas City is one of the only areas in the metro that has the ingredients for significant walkability. Indeed, the Armour Road area is already walkable and bikeable.
The above screenshot of Google Maps shows roughly where the Royals have proposed their site: bordered by Armour Road on the north and 16th Avenue on the south, and from Erie Street on the west to Howell Street on the east. North of Armour Road, there are rows and rows of houses, a public library, North Kansas City High School, and multiple new apartment complexes.
Add the streetcar into the equation, and the area quickly becomes an opportunity to transform into the type of urban neighborhood that is a destination. RideKC has already created an extensive and recent study of what an extension would look like up to North Kansas City, and their plan is to extend the line over the Heart of America Bridge and then up Swift Street.
And though walkability is key, car access is still easy. I-35 is immediately to the east, and there’s access to I-29, I-635, and Highway 169—along with access to downtown and I-70 via Highway 9.
So why wasn’t NKC the first choice?
No site is perfect, which I’m sure the Royals have grappled with significantly.
At the same time, there are some pretty big reasons why downtown is a better option than North Kansas City. One is population; the downtown KC population is about 32,000 people, compared to under 5,000 people in NKC as of the 2020 census. Furthermore, Jackson County has over two and a half times as many residents as Clay County, which is a significant difference when it comes to tax revenue and the inevitable “public” part of the “public-private partnership” that the Royals want.
And, of course, that streetcar thing? It’s already downtown.
But at this point in the juncture, North Kansas City is also the only place that fulfills all of the Royals’ initial desires for the project. The Washington Square Park site downtown is tiny and there is not space for a “ballpark village.” No site in Johnson County or Wyandotte County makes much sense for that, either, and a Legends site would end up as Kauffman Stadium West (derogatory).
If the Royals aren’t going to pull the trigger on the East Village site—which has always been the best choice—for whatever reason, North Kansas City provides a way to catalyze some public transit investment and transform the area into something the Royals can be proud of.
At least, if the public isn’t on the hook for too much money. But that, as they say, is a whole different ball game.
Kansas
Additional Light Shed on Simmons Timeline, Past and Future
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs pulled away in the second half to secure an impressive Monday night win over the Commanders. But their prior Monday night game actually began the Josh Simmons timeline.
According to SI insider Albert Breer, the deeply personal family issues with which the rookie is currently navigating first surfaced just before the Oct. 6 Monday night loss in Jacksonville. Shortly before kickoff in that game and after pregame warmups, the Chiefs announced that Simmons had been added to the injury report as questionable with an illness.
A 6-5, 310-pound rookie, Simmons wound up starting and playing the full game, a 31-28 loss to the Jaguars. He didn’t appear on the team’s injury report the following week until five hours prior to kickoff in the Sunday night victory over Detroit on Oct. 12.
That’s when the Chiefs announced Simmons – the final choice in the first round of April’s draft — as questionable for personal reasons. Kansas City ruled him out before kickoff, and Jaylon Moore has started each of the last three games, all Chiefs wins.
Money well spent
“For now,” Breer wrote Tuesday, “the first thing to know is the two-year, $30 million deal the Chiefs gave Jaylon Moore in the offseason, even if he’s not the starting left tackle they paid him to be, is money well spent.
“The Chiefs have depth at those positions that they didn’t before. Last year, a black hole at left tackle forced the team to move Joe Thuney there, setting off a cascade that blew up in the team’s Super Bowl loss. They’ll likely have no such problem this year.”
Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt addressed the Simmons situation prior to Monday’s win over the Commanders.
“It’s not something I can go into but it is a private family matter,” Hunt said Monday, noting he has a high level of confidence Simmons will return. “And we’ve had good communication with him, and there’s an understanding by both parties where he is. And we’re hopeful to have him back with the team sometime in the future.”
A good sign
Breer also noted that if Brett Veach and Andy Reid expected a long-term absence, they had the option to place the rookie on a reserve list, shelving him for at least four games. But the team is not believed to be considering that choice.
While Moore played well his first two starts in place of Simmons, the veteran tackle struggled against the Commanders. Reid said after Monday’s game that Washington has an elite defensive front. Edge rusher Jacob Martin sacked Patrick Mahomes twice, one allowed by Moore.
“They’re better with the wildly talented Simmons in there,” Breer wrote. “What I know is that the issue first arose just before the Jaguars game. Simmons ended up playing in that matchup, then left right before the Lions game. The cited family aspect of his absence is real, and that was a part of the background that teams had to work through when he was coming out.”
The Chiefs (5-3) have to travel to Buffalo (5-2) on a short week, then get a midseason bye.
Chiefs Kingdom, keep that browser right here for your best in-depth news and info, totally free; the best way to get it is to follow @KCChiefsOnSI, @ZakSGilbert and @Domminchella on X (Twitter). And tell us your thoughts on the Chiefs’ offensive line by visiting our Facebook page (here).
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