KC Mayor Joins Group Committed to Reparations Projects
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP/KPR) — Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joined with ten other U.S. mayors pledging to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities. Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity (MORE) have committed to form commissions to advise them on how to develop the programs. Once they can identify funding, the mayors say they will develop and implement programs to pay reparations to a “cohort of Black residents.” The mayors, who represent big cities and the tiny town of Tullahassee, Oklahoma, say their goal is to set an example for the federal government on how a nationwide program could operate. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock are leading the group.
===============
Kansans Celebrate Juneteenth This Weekend
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KPR) - Kansans are turning out to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend. Kansas City Juneteenth held a kick-off party at Union Station yesterday (SAT) and is holding a Juneteenth Festival today (SUN). Yesterday's Kansas City Royals game featured the song known as the Black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." A Juneteenth Virtual event is taking place today in Lawrence. Topeka held a Juneteenth parade last weekend, a celebration concert yesterday, and a celebration today. And the Emporia Gazette reports that that town celebrated its first known Juneteenth event yesterday.
===============
Abuse Claim Substantiated Against Previously Cleared KC Priest
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas has substantiated a sexual abuse claim against a priest nearly two decades after clearing him. The archdiocese announced in a statement published in Friday’s issue of its official newspaper, The Leaven, that it was with “deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse” that it was reversing what it described as an “inaccurate” determination that The Rev. William Haegelin did not sexually abuse a minor. Haegelin was placed on leave from St. Ann Church in the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, in 2002. A review board determined later that year that there was a sexual relationship but that the accuser was 18 when it began.
===============
Surveillance Video Captures Child Abuse at JoCo Day Care
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Newly released court records say surveillance video has captured a suburban Kansas City day care worker abusing babies more than 170 times, including by shaking and slapping them. 24-year-old Rachel Beth Schrader is on house arrest after she was charged earlier this month in Johnson County District Court with four counts of child abuse. The affidavit describes her kicking a child square in the chest in one instance, causing him to fall backward and smack his head. In a police interview, Schrader acknowledged “losing her patience” on March 26th, but said that was the only time. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press on Saturday seeking comment.
===============
Teenager Fatally Shot in KCK
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a victim in his late teens has been shot and killed in Kansas City, Kansas. Officers responded early yesterday (SAT) morning to a shooting call at a home. Police said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Police didn’t immediately release the teen’s name or a suspect description. The killing is the 15th homicide of 2021 in the city.