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This Kansas City bagpiper is about to test his sound in Scotland

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This Kansas City bagpiper is about to test his sound in Scotland


The first time Griffin Hall heard the sound of bagpipes was in a movie theater with his father watching “How to Train Your Dragon.” He still remembers the way the music swelled with emotion, and he was transfixed by the sound of the unfamiliar instrument.

“I asked my dad, ‘What is that sound? I have to have a bit more of a slice of that,’” Hall remembers. “They had bagpipes in the soundtrack and the whole orchestra playing around them was just very dramatic.”

Hall says it was a pivotal moment — like the bagpipes were calling to him.

“That was kind of the hook, and then I became obsessed with bagpipe music,” Hall says.

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His passion for the instrument hasn’t waned. Now, Hall is the pipe sergeant for Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes and Drums, a band that’s been around for six decades.

Lately, his reputation has spread beyond his hometown. In mid-August, Hall will travel to Glasgow, Scotland, with one of the best pipe bands in the country. They’ll perform in the World Pipe Band Championships, where 190 bands from 15 countries will compete.

Hall says it’s like the Super Bowl for bagpipers.

“It’s like a marching band competition,” he explains. “You have a mass of people walking in, doing a formation and doing different instruments, but it’s all with pipes and drums.”

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Hall, front row, third from right, rehearsing in July with the City of Dunedin Pipe Band, one of the top bagpipe bands in the country.

City of Dunedin Pipe Band in rehearsal

Earlier this year, Hall was invited to join the City of Dunedin Pipe Band, based in Florida. It’s one of the top bagpipe bands in the country, and Hall makes a monthly trip to rehearse with them. He says it’s intense.

“It is not, ‘Let’s all learn how to do this together,’” he says. “You’re coming as a self-sufficient unit, and you need to be ready to play. The two rules are that you show up and you shut up — you just stand and you play.”

An early passion for the pipes

Griffin Hall started taking bagpipe lessons when he was around 12 years old.

“YouTube was a great resource for me as a kid, and I would just listen all the time,” he says. “Come to find out that there is a band here in town that gave free lessons every Tuesday night, so I bought all of the stuff that I needed to start learning, and I started taking lessons.”

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Once he got the hang of the instrument, Hall says he wanted to play all the time.

“I was a homeschool kid and I was able to play for six hours a day,” Hall remembers. “So that was really good for me to hardcore nerd out on piping.”

Hall leads lessons on practice chanters, an instrument that helps students learn to play the different notes of bagpipe music.

Julie Denesha

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KCUR 89.3

Hall leads lessons on practice chanters, an instrument that helps students learn to play the different notes of bagpipe music. The group meets in the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Brookside.

Fourteen years after Hall discovered the bagpipes, he’s making a big impact for the instrument in Kansas City. He’s a popular solo performer around town, he composes his own music and has released three solo albums. On Tuesday nights at St. Andrew’s, Hall now teaches free lessons to a dozen or so players who show up before band practice.

And the sound of the bagpipes still gives him chills.

“People have never been able to put that stamp on what that quality is of piping that makes the hairs come up on their arms,” Hall says. “I think it’s something within your blood. I think it really is ancient and ancestral, and it calls back to all of your people who’ve come before you.”

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Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes and Drums rehearses for their next performance.

Julie Denesha

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KCUR 89.3

Kansas City St. Andrew Pipes and Drums rehearses to prepare for their next performance. The group meets in the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Brookside.

The Dunedin Pipe Band’s trip will be Hall’s first time in Scotland. He says his ancestors came from Scotland and Ireland, and he’s always wanted to play there.

“Scotland is one of those quintessential places where, I’m playing the national instrument of this country,” Hall says. “So to compete on the world’s biggest stage for highland piping is pretty, pretty special.”

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Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

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Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

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On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.



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Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City

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Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.

Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.

When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.

Police are investigating how the crash happened.

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Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City

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Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City


LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.

Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.

“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.

“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.

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The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.

First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.

“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.

Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.

“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.

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Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.

But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.

“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”

“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.

Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.

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“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.

“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”

It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.

“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.

After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.

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The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.(KCTV5)

“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”

Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.

“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.

“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.

Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.

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But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.

“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.

“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.

“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.

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The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.



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