KANSAS CITY, Mo — KSHB 41 News and the Salvation Army held the 2024 Season of Hope toy drive Thursday.

It’s the fourth year of a partnership to help Kansas City area families during the holiday season.

With it being this close to the holidays, stores were probably packed with last-minute shoppers, but so was the Salvation Army for the drive, with families picking out the perfect gifts for their loved ones.

Mariah Nicholas is a mom of four — two girls and two boys.

Spending Christmas with them means a little more this year. She almost lost her life in a car accident right before Thanksgiving.

“I hydroplaned off the road and slammed into a tree line on my side,” Nicholas said. “So, I took the blunt of it but I’m hanging in there.”

She signed up for the Season of Hope toy drive to fill a void she couldn’t this Christmas. She says this will take off some of the financial burden.

“I lost my job right before Thanksgiving due to my wreck,” Nicholas said. “So, I’m waiting to go back, but without this help, I probably wouldn’t be able to do much.”

She’s one of 300 families that will benefit from the drive.

It was set up department style, allowing each family to get a personal shopping experience to pick out toys that their children would like.

“There are a lot of toys that my kids will actually enjoy,” said Nina Velazquez, a mom of two. “Usually, I’m very very stressed out because I’m at Walmart in line with 100,000 people and my pocket usually doesn’t have enough to cover everything.”

KSHB 41 News staff

In total, 11,250 toys were donated this year, and each family received gift cards to Aldi’s, helping to fill their table and tree.

“They get not just a single toy,” Salvation Army Pastor Dawn Windham said. “It’s a big toy and a small toy, and stocking stuffers, and books and family games and clothing — it’s just amazing.”

KSHB 41 News staff

This event giving more than just hope this holiday season.

“To watch them open, you know more than what I could give them on Christmas this year,” Nicholas said. “So, I’m super grateful to the Salvation Army and them helping us.”

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KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. Share your story idea with La’Nita.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The FBI distributed posters Thursday morning for two fugitives potentially in Kansas wanted in connection to multiple jewelry heists.

Arrest warrants through the U.S. District Court of Kansas have been issued for Vasile Sava and Onita Rostas.

The pair were indicted earlier this year by a federal grand jury in connection to two jewelry store burglaries across parts of Kansas:

• May 18, 2022 at Marks Jewelers in Lawrence, Kansas
• Aug. 20, 2022 at Calhoun’s Jewelers in Topeka, Kansas

Court documents indicate the pair stole nearly $60,000 worth of jewelry at the two locations.
The court document also allege the pair were part of a much larger Romanian-based conspiracy in which three other suspects are alleged to have stolen more than $37,000 from two additional jewelry stores in 2023 in McPherson, Kansas and Manhattan, Kansas.

The pair have been charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.

During these robberies, it’s alleged that groups of two or more entered jewelry stores and distracted employees, while the other individuals would remove and conceal displayed items in a sleight-of-hand theft.

Sava and Rostas are married, and investigators believe they may be using aliasas, and may be in various locations including Californni, Texas, Florida, Maryland and Virginia.

The FBI has issued wanted posters for the pair you can see on the FBI’s Website.

Anyone with info. on their whereabouts is encouraged to contact any law enforcement agency, or contact the FBI a www.tips.fbi.gov or via the National FBI Tip Line at 1-800-CALLFBI.

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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.

Kansas State is reeling after losing its top two receivers to the transfer portal.

Thankfully, help is on the way. The Wildcats signed former Purdue wide receiver Jaron Tibbs Wednesday. Tibbs had 25 receptions for 305 yards and two touchdowns last season. His best performance was against Michigan State, where racked up four receptions for 73 yards in the seven-point loss.

Hopefully, he gets more of an opportunity to shine with a team revamping its wide receiving core.

KANSAS STATE FORWARD COLEMAN HAWKINS TAKES ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MISTAKES IN LOSS TO DRAKE

There could be many fingers pointed for Kansas State falling to Drake Tuesday night.

However, Coleman Hawkins instead took accountability for his performance. Hawkins scored 16 points but went 3 of 8 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over twice.

“I take accountability,” Hawkins said. “I missed free throws, you gotta make free throws. I shot pretty well from the line last year, I don’t know what the difference is this year. I take accountability when CJ made an elite play on the ball when we did turn the ball over. I was expecting him to foul or the guy to make a layup, so I didn’t sprint back. So that’s 100 percent on me. Just plays like that.”

He says his selflessness was the catalyst to the team’s comeback.

“I felt like when I touched the ball and was able to drive gaps and pitch it, we were able to make shots,” Hawkins said. “So selfishly, I say I feel like good things were happening when I was touching the ball, but that’s because other people were making plays off of that.”

Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.