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Kansas City News Today Kansas City Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in Kansas City. |
KANSAS CITY NEWS TODAY - Sunday, September 20, 2009 
KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), September 20, 2009 - TigerTurf, manufacturer of advanced synthetic turf products for sports fields and landscaping applications, kicked it up a notch in a partnership with the city of Overland Park, Kansas and Shawnee, Kansas-based McAnany Construction to build the brand-new Overland Park Soccer Complex. The state-of-the-art athletic complex, which opened to the public September 1, includes 12 top-tier soccer fields with TigerTurf's advanced monofilament technology. Developed by global synthetic turf manufacturer TigerTurf, the product features superior yarns engineered for heightened performance, better longevity and recovery. Mike Laplante, manager of soccer complex operations, says city planners visited several facilities around the country to look at installed turf and to evaluate manufacturers so they could put together bid specifications for the overall construction project. McAnany Construction won the bid, bringing in TigerTurf to manufacture the soccer fields. "Everyone has been very pleased with the products and the work done, and McAnany and TigerTurf have done a good job in putting something together that will be top-notch," says Laplante. "The development of turf products has come a long way, and with these fields being 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches high and with 11/2 inches of rubber infill, it's the nicest surface you'll find. The roll of the ball will be consistent, and the speed of the game will be much faster." The Overland Park City Council approved a $36 million bond package in 2007 (funded by hotel taxes) that included repurposing and expanding the existing Community Park and St. Andrews golf course into the new soccer complex. Besides installing the 12 new soccer fields, work involved tearing down - and then moving and rebuilding - two baseball fields, a skateboard park, and six holes on the St. Andrews golf course. The end result is a first-class sports complex, adjacent to St. Andrews golf course that is a community gathering place and elite playing field for local, regional and national soccer tournaments, as well as recreational youth and adult leagues. Though it has just opened, the Overland Park Soccer Complex is already recognized as a premier sports facility - and the city has booked tournaments and other events at the complex through 2010. "It was a good bid that fit the city's budget, but also had the quality of TigerTurf," says Ed Huggins, McAnany Construction and the project manager for the soccer complex project. "The city was very comfortable with TigerTurf and has been very pleased with the huge demand they've seen for the complex." Student Loan Default Rates Go Up On Down Economy KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), September 20, 2009 - Student loan personnel of the Missouri Department of Higher Education (MDHE) say the increase in default rates announced yesterday could be effectively addressed by teaching students how to better manage their money. The student loan default rate in Missouri this year rose from 4.3 percent to 6 percent. More than 4,600 borrowers are in default, but 71,308 are repaying their loans on time, notes Marilyn Landrum, student assistance associate who presents programs to hundreds of high school and college students, counselors and financial aid officers each year. "There are lots of reasons why students go into default, but one of the most prevalent is that they didn't finish their academic program," Landrum says. "As a result, they may be making minimum wage or not working at all. Their priorities are going to be house payments and putting food on the table, but they still have student debt." In addition to school programs, MDHE provides tools for student borrowers that help them understand their loan obligations, organize their finances and make good decisions about money. "The best advice we give students is not to borrow more money than they need," Landrum says. "We occasionally find that students borrow the maximum amount available and then use the excess to pay for expenses unrelated to college." Credit cards make it easy for students to overspend, says Landrum, and many parents neglect to talk about money management with their children. To address the financial literacy challenge, several programs and groups in addition to MDHE offer tools geared to students and their families: www.mappingyourfuture.org/ and www.practicalmoneyskills.com/ provide games, tutorials and practical advice on financial success. There are also many resources available for borrowers who are having difficulty repaying student loans. They may change payment plans or obtain deferments or forbearances to adjust to new circumstances, such as being on active military duty, suffering economic hardship or going to graduate school. Kansas City Food Banks Struggle in Tough Economic Times KANSAS CITY, MO, (kansascityfrontpage.com), September 20, 2009 - Food banks across the nation report that the current recession and the continuing rise in unemployment are having a profound effect on their ability to feed millions of Americans living at risk of hunger, according to a new survey released today by Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger relief charity. The increase is nearly universal -- 99 percent of all participating food banks reported a significant surge in demand for emergency food assistance over the past year. The hardest hit areas include Asheville, North Carolina; Fort Myers, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis; and food banks in South Carolina, Mississippi and Colorado. Food banks report that the increase is particularly driven by first-time users of the food assistance system (98 percent of food banks) and more people who have recently lost their jobs (92 percent). More than half (56 percent) of food banks reported that they are seeing more children as clients. "It's becoming increasingly difficult for many food banks and their agencies to meet the needs of their clients, especially when new clients arrive all the time," said Vicki Escarra, president and C.E.O. of Feeding America. "This is especially sobering when you consider that our network of 205 food banks delivered a record-breaking amount of food and groceries this past year -- more than 2.6 billion pounds between July 2008 and June 2009 -- which was an increase of 21.4 percent over the previous year." "More and more families are waiting in lines overnight, coming out in high heat, or traveling long distances in rural America just to get a meal or a box of food. The humbling reality for many of these Americans is that they have never had to rely on emergency food assistance before, and they never dreamed they would find themselves in this situation," Escarra said. More than half (55%) of food banks reported that they or the agencies who help distribute the food they provide have had to turn people away in the last year. The survey showed an average increase of 30 percent in requests for emergency food assistance since July 2008, with increases ranging from 5 percent to more than 100 percent. More than 175 Feeding America food banks responded to the survey, which collected information about the economic challenges faced by the nation's food assistance network, and the ability of food banks, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and other providers to respond to the need. "While local economic circumstances, like plant closings, can have a significant impact on food banks, the most critical change we've seen over the past year in the ability of low-income families to put food on the table is a shift from the challenges of increasing food and fuel costs to unemployment and underemployment," said Escarra. "We frequently hear stories from around the country that people who once donated to food banks are now waiting in lines as clients." "Even in areas where food banks have reported more support in food and funds, they almost universally report that the need is outpacing the availability of resources," said Escarra. "Most economists project that unemployment lags the return of economic stability following a recession by one to two years. This means that the incredible strain on the nation's charitable food assistance network is not likely to dissipate any time in the foreseeable future." Additionally, participation in the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP formerly the Food Stamp Program), the largest of the nation's federal nutrition programs, reached an all-time record of 35 million recipients in June 2008 -- a 22 percent increase over a year prior. Child nutrition programs are currently set to expire on Sept. 30, 2009, and Congress will be considering whether to extend current levels of funding or increase funding in the coming weeks. "This survey underscores the importance of Congress providing more funding for Child Nutrition programs this fall and supporting President Obama's pledge to end child hunger by 2015," said Escarra. "It is both tragic and unacceptable for anyone in this nation to go hungry, but we are especially concerned for the 12 million children living in food insecure households and suffering long term consequences as a result. Recent research has shown that children in food insecure households have difficulty learning and are less likely to become healthy, productive members of our society."   The Kansas City Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 2007 - 2009 Moore Design Group. |
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