Kansas
VIDEO | Patrick Mahomes says effort to bring WNBA to Kansas City 'a no-brainer'
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes described efforts to bring a WNBA team to Kansas City as a “no-brainer” to reporters Thursday.
Mahomes took questions about his and his wife Brittany’s role in attempting to land a WNBA team during his regular weekly news conference with reporters.
“Obviously, we want to get basketball to Kansas City in general,” Mahomes said. “The WNBA and the success they had this last season and the last few seasons, it’s kind of a no-brainer to get a WNBA team to Kansas City.”
RELATED | ‘We’re the city for this’: Officials push for Kansas City to be considered for WNBA expansion team
The Mahomes’ are co-owners of the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League along with Chris and Angie Long. Mahomes spoke of the effort to bring the Current to Kansas City and hopes to use that as a foundation for a potential WNBA team.
Mahomes, who is also a co-owner of the Kansas City Royals and Sporting KC, said his business involvement with the clubs is “for life after football.”
Chiefs QB Patrick MAhomes says he wants to do as much as he can to help bring a WNBA team to Kansas City
“I love sports and I know how much this city loves sports,” Mahomes said. “Let’s bring as many sports in here and showcase how great Kansas City is not only as a city but the people as well.”
His involvement specifically in women’s sports is just as personal.
Reed Hoffmann/AP
“I want to show (my daughter) she can follow her dreams and make an impact in this world in whatever that dream is,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes says Kansas City is a great place for the WNBA to continue its recent growth, but acknowledged that they’ll have to battle with other cities also vying for a WNBA expansion team.
The WNBA is expanding from its current 12-team league to 15 teams over the next few seasons. The Golden State Valkyries will join the league starting with the 2025 regular season. In 2026, the league is set to add teams from Portland, Oregon, and Toronto.
The league appears poised to add a 16th team, which is where Kansas City could come into play. CBS Sports reported Wednesday that Philadelphia, Miami, Denver and Nashville are also in the running for the 16th team.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Bates County Circuit Court judge Friday sentenced a Linn County, Kansas, man in connection with the December 2025 death of Airen Andula, 13.
Damon Leonard, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison for abandonment of a corpse, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of abandoning a corpse on May 22.
Andula disappeared from his Pleasanton, Kansas, home on Dec. 21, 2025. A day later, law enforcement found the boy’s body in a ravine in Bates County, Missouri. He had died from multiple dog bite injuries.
Police were led to the boy’s body after a phone call from Leonard.
Court documents said Leonard “admitted that he transported the deceased child from Kansas to Missouri and left the body in the bottom of the creek” before he returned home.
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva spoke with Andula’s family earlier this week — after the guilty plea and ahead of Friday’s sentencing.
His family shared that the guilty plea brought a small sense of justice, but it didn’t do much to ease the pain of their loss.
READ MORE | Family of Airen Andula speaks out ahead of sentencing
“We’re missing our kid every day of our lives,” the boy’s father Charles Andula told Silva.
Leonard received credit for time served of 158 days in his sentence, per court records.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – It may not seem like a lot of relief, but gas and diesel prices have declined over the past week.
Friday morning’s national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.39, according to the Automobile Association of America.
That’s down three cents from $4.42 on Thursday; down 16 cents from a week ago; but was up 17 cents from $4.22 a month ago and up $.23 from $3.16 a year ago.
In Kansas, AAA says, unleaded gas on Friday was averaging $3.96 a gallon — down four cents from $4.00 on Thursday; down 13 cents from $3.96 a week ago; but up 26 cents from $3.70 a month ago; and up $1.07 over $2.89 a year ago.
Diesel fuel also was dropping in price. AAA says Friday’s national average for a gallon of diesel was $5.52 a gallon — down three cents from $5.55 on Thursday; down 12 cents from $5.64 a week a go; but up six cents from $5.46 a month ago and up $1.98 from $3.54 a year ago.
Kansas diesel fuel prices, according to AAA, checked in at an average of $4.98 on Friday. That’s five cents below $5.03 on Thursday; down 16 cents from $5.14 a week ago; but up 24 cents over $4.74 a month ago; and up $1.72 from $3.26 a year ago.
In Topeka, GasBuddy.com on Friday morning showed unleaded gas prices ranging between $3.77 and $4.09 in Topeka, with diesel fuel going for between $4.94 and $5.29 a gallon.
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