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by Bill Graham, Missouri Department of Conservation Dip a paddle on the water or watch a bobber float on top, enjoying nature will be celebrated at a Get Outdoors event from 10:00am—3:00pm on Saturday, April 24th at Lake Remembrance in Blue Springs.
This free event is offered in partnership by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Blue Springs Parks and Recreation, and Jackson County Parks and Recreation. Activities will be on the shores of Lake Remembrance at Gregory O. Grounds Park, off Interstate 70 and Adams Dairy Parkway. Visitors can learn an outdoor skill or simply celebrate springtime in Missouri. Connect with nature through outdoor skills taught at this event. Activities will include kayaking, fishing, target archery, atlatl, and outdoor yoga. Experts will also teach about wild edible plants. This event is open to all ages and families are welcome to attend. Registration is not required. MDC and partners will provide gear required for the activities, or participants can bring their own. COVID-19 protocols such as physical distancing and face masks will be observed. For more information, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zz8. National Picnic Day is celebrated on April 23. Whether it’s an outdoor family excursion or a romantic day in the park for two, picnics make being outdoors just a little more special. And if the weather isn’t ideal just have a picnic on your living room floor!
To plan a perfect picnic, you will want to choose foods you can make ahead of time that store well and are easy to eat. Tips for a perfect picnic Pick a good container. A good insulated cooler is the best option to keep foods cool enough to avoid food borne illness. Make sure to add ice or freezer packs. Keep hot foods hot by keeping them in an insulated thermos. Don’t let food set out for more than two hours or more than one hour if the temperature outdoors gets really hot. Keep it clean. Keep both your hands and the environment clean. Bring some napkins, wet wipes and some trash bags to keep things tidy. Don’t forget the beverage. Iced tea, fruit infused water or a bottle of wine are all good choices. Make it healthy. Sandwiches make an easy-to-pack picnic food. To keep your sandwich healthy, choose whole-grain bread and pack a healthy dip such as guacamole or hummus to dip some fresh cut veggies. Fresh fruit packs easily. Some good choices are grapes, strawberries and fresh cut melon. Don’t forget the treat. A cookie or other sweet treat can make your picnic complete without feeling deprived. Try this Vegetarian Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich at your next picnic. Add some grilled chicken if you want to add a non-vegetarian protein source. Tracey Shaffer is a registered dietitian and certified health coach and owner of KC Nutrition Coach in Eastern Jackson County. She can be reached at tracey@kcnutritioncoach.com. You can visit her website at kcnutritioncoach.com. For those of you expecting a column about deer from reading the title, sorry to disappoint. The closest I could come to writing about deer is the time someone tricked me into eating venison sausage. My intestines and bowels were not as easily fooled. Now moving along, pardon the pun.
The bucks I am referencing are the ones us shoppers get when we frequent some of our favorite retailers, and they attempt to entice us back in with the promise of a future discount. In my purse right now, I have no less than five awaiting offers. They are colorfully eye-catching and the size of real money. I like the feel of the slick, magazine quality paper, but I also have them on my app, through text, via a network of neighbors reminding me, pop up email alerts, and carrier pigeon. Part of the trick to unlocking all these fantastic bucks and cash deals is commandeering dates for their use. I haven’t reached the point of planning my work schedule around how I can get to all those places and get those bucks spent before they expire, but I am guilty of clipping them to my weekly to do list (and yes, by confessing to having a weekly to do list, I realize I am aging myself right before your eyes). When you get them, they are usually three to four weeks out before they can be used. Do you realize what can happen in three weeks? I could have changed purses, vacuumed my car, put away my winter coats! Maybe even slept?! I have forgotten a good friend’s birthday and two dentist appointments---and almost Easter, but due to a grocery store Peeps display, I was saved that embarrassment-- all in the last three months. No way I am remembering exactly when to start saving. But retailers have gotten smarter. They know we will forget. Now they remind me the week before, two days out, and at midnight on the day the cash savings start. Once in the storefront or online store, I now really test my smarts when I try to remember the sets of rules accompanying each discount. Do I apply it on top of other discounts? Do I need that total before I try to get free shipping? If I order from the kiosk and pick up in the store, will it save me even more? I get very confused, kind of like when I was in school and they talked about the Prime Meridian. All the other kids seemed to understand. Why couldn’t I? If I had time, I would petition the Retail Federation of America, which I hope is a thing, to regulate these extra cash options. Moms would lobby the decision-makers to come together. “Learn how to use them at one place, and it covers them all,” we would say, in impassioned speeches before the Federation. It would really help those slow on the uptake like yours truly. Besides the obvious savings, there are some other perks to being a financial wizard. Hardly anyone ever touts one of the benefits of mad money as vocabulary improvement, but I have learned you almost have to speak another language to use them. Should I stack the savings? Can my cash accrue? How do I multiply my earning? Is today the right day to redeem them? Have I accumulated points? And there is no way your math skills don’t improve as you apply the 20% department rebate, then calculate the cash reward, prior to applying the app discount to see if you still have enough for free shipping. Like with any really good thing, there are also some pitfalls to pursuing these paybacks. I inevitably get to the register or to the online checkout only to find I am about three dollars short of what I need to get my dividend. I own an inordinate amount of headbands, tiny mirrors, notepads, and socks, all of which cost about three dollars, items that helped me reach that next level of currency. In addition to the small things I invested in to reach exorbitant spending levels, I may have also made some advance purchases that didn’t quite work out, just to use those free dollars. Guessing jeans and tennis shoe sizes for a growing child is no game. I gambled on some 6x’s for my daughter back in the day and also some ‘desirable size’ clothes for me that never got worn. Bargain-seekers have a heyday with clothes that still have tags on them at our annual garage sale, evidence of my bad guessing attempts. Another time, I started a near Facebook riot when I offered my savings to friends. “I have some free bucks I can’t use, “ I posted, feeling generous. Within minutes, maybe seconds, three friends had spoken for them. I literally had to toss a coin because two of the time-stamped replies came in the same minute. The one who lost was a good friend. Note the past tense. People are serious about discounts. An additional pitfall is running the risk of being in line behind someone who is really, really good at this spending and saving game. Take a recent example from Bold Gravy, retailer’s name disguised to protect the innocent. Please read this next part using the voice of a Dateline correspondent like Keith Morrison or Lester Holt to create the intrigue it truly deserves. “How did Sara get the big discounts? It surprised even the savviest of retailers and many people around her, who knew nothing about this part of Sara’s life. Watch this store surveillance video of her clever, nearly criminal, operation on a recent Saturday morning.” I was behind said Sara recently, proud of myself for having just the right amount of items tabulated to use my accrued cash. She pulled her carts (plural) to the register and produced her impressive stack of mad money to show the cashier, who blinked nervously and called for backup. This was clearly gonna’ be big. Sara neatly piled her items onto the counter, seemingly already having sorted them into categories. She watched the tally on the register intently. She nodded occasionally with approval. At one point she tilted her head to the side as if to question the clerk’s entry. But the near crisis was averted when the register applied the anticipated discount and the next item was entered. At the end, the now heavily sweating clerk scanned and applied the multiple discounts, save one, which the register rejected. The supervisor stepped in and tried again to no avail, and the drama escalated. Sara’s total surfaced. By now she had drawn a crowd, and we were elbowing each other as we saw that she was just $1.58 short of being able to use her full stack of moola. She triumphantly grabbed a lip gloss from the teaser rack in front of the register, opened it, slicked it across her lips for effect, and tossed it on the counter to be applied to her total. We gasped. Sara took what looked like a small bow as the clerk announced her total after applying the discounts. She owed $8.37 cents for a pile of clothes that looked like it would easily have dressed a small country. “Can you break a $50?” she said, smiling. Smart aleck. Nothing like a Sara to make you feel bad about your own saving skills. Store staff escorted her to her car as the rest of us schlepped our own bags. If surveyed, I suppose most of us cash collectors would tell you that the benefits outweigh the problems of playing this game of big finance. The high of having bragging rights when we have finally reached the pinnacle of profit is a good one. Oh, these shoes? “Five bucks, “ I say, completely ignoring the other $100 I spent to get my cash, disregarding the five hours of work I spent attempting to use it, and hoping no one else has witnessed Sara’s recent triumph. Cathy is a retired public school English teacher and Public Information Officer. by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society Over the next few weeks I thought I might share some old photographs with you. Unfortunately, we do not have a great variety of people because most of the photographs have been shared by only a few individuals. Each week I will tell you about the person(s) who gifted the photo to the historical society and what I know about the people in the photo. If you know more about anyone in these photos PLEASE share it with us!
This week I am sharing a photo from Karen Carmack, the great-granddaughter of Edward Williams, the granddaughter of Laura (McQuerry) and Otis Williams, and the daughter of Peggy (Williams) & Dale Carmack. The photograph, taken in 1939, is believed to be the Glee Club. I was attracted to the picture because of the matching dresses, but mostly because of the shoes and socks. I learned that nylon stockings made their grand debut in a splashy display at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. They were not released for sale to the public until May 15, 1940. During this post-depression, pre-WWI period silk stocking were far too expensive and probably difficult to find! Thus, we have socks! While I do not recognize everyone in the photograph, I will point out those I do know. According to the 1939 yearbook, the music teacher is Mrs. Raymond Scott. Row one: Norma Jean Williams (aunt of Karen Carmack who gave the photo to the historical society) is the first student and next to her is Eugenia Williamson. The fifth girl in the front row is Benola Tate, followed by Sue (Caldwell) McBroom, Elouise (Stumpp) Shrout and Earlene (Tate) Mueller. In the second row, I believe the fourth girl is Dorothy Savage followed by Susie Reeder. As far as the men, the third row starts with Herbert Sebolt. The third boys is Norman McBroom, followed by Robert Wolfe. On the back row I recognize the second and third boys as Jack Mueller and Keith Shrout. Others appear in our copies of the 1940 and 1942 yearbooks but I hesitate to assign names, as I would be guessing. If you recognize anyone in the photo, we would love to have their name. If you wish to know more about any of the individuals I have named, drop by the Historical Society any Wednesday and I will be happy to tell you “the rest of the story!” Visit the Grain Valley Historical Society at 506 S. Main on Wednesdays from 10am—3pm and Saturdays from 11am—3pm, or online at www.grainvalleyhistory.com. The following information is derived from the Grain Valley Police Department daily calls for service log for the week of April 7-13, 2021.
After hours of fierce debate that spanned the course of two days, the Missouri House on Wednesday signed off on a prohibition on transgender students participating on the sports teams that match their gender identity. The provision, offered as an amendment by Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, to House Bill 1141 was adopted by a vote of 100 yes to 51 against, with one member voting present. Yet for the second time in two days, the underlying bill was tabled before it could be granted initial approval by the House. This time, debate stalled over an amendment that would have barred school districts from teaching curriculum on critical race theory or the 1619 Project by The New York Times, that detailed the United States’ legacy of slavery. Lawmakers in support of the measure insisted the move was not intended to discriminate against transgender youth, while those in opposition became emotional as they shared the experiences of their own transgender family members and warned the provision would cost lives. Rep. Ian Mackey, D-St. Louis, cited a 2015 study that found 40 percent of transgender people surveyed had attempted suicide. “Can we agree that people in our state deserve dignity and respect, especially under the color of law, and on a topic that is so unfamiliar to us,” Mackey said, noting there are no transgender lawmakers in the House. Basye has sponsored a version of the language as a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide the issue. House Joint Resolution 53 was passed out of the rules committee earlier this month, but has yet to be heard on the House floor. “I’m not a homophobe. I’m not a transphobe,” said Basye, who shared that his younger brother is gay. Basye argued it comes down to protecting the integrity of women’s sports and stressed that transgender students could still play in co-ed sports leagues. “I care about everybody. I love everybody,” Basye said. “This is not about ill feelings. This is about doing the right thing and protecting girls.” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said she had been assured the amendment would not resurface Wednesday afternoon after the House had voted to expel a Republican member who had been accused by his adult children of sexual and physical abuse. With less than a month left in the session and after conversations with the Senate, “we all know in this body this bill is not going to become law,” Quade said. Instead, she said, the conversation was spanning the course of two days for the sake of political futures and upcoming elections. “I ask that you think about the children who are listening, the same children that we voted to protect this morning who are deeply at risk,” Quade said. Transgender youth and their family who testified against the bill last month said it was a solution in search of a problem — noting that the Missouri State High School Activities Association already has a policy in place outlining requirements for transgender youths’ participation. The association requires an approved application and transgender girls must go through one year of “documented” hormone therapy before they may participate on girls’ teams. And once granted, transgender girls must document that “the appropriate hormone levels are being maintained,” according to the policy. Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, said he disagrees with Basye’s amendment and asked if Basye planned to still offer the language as a constitutional amendment, which would put the question on the statewide ballot for voters to decide. “I would like to do both,” Basye said. Dogan warned of the potential economic impacts, citing the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s threat that it may move to pull championship tournaments from states that pass such bans. A wave of anti-trans legislation has been filed in statehouses nationwide this year, with similar bills restricting transgender youths’ participation recently signed into law in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Dogan urged lawmakers to put themselves in others’ shoes, noting that for many of the lawmakers — who are straight, white males — they are in the majority. “I wonder how many of you have ever walked into a room and been the super minority among people who look like you? Certainly doesn’t happen in this chamber,” Dogan said. “Have you ever been a super minority in terms of the color of your skin, particularly in a room of powerful people? Have you ever been a super minority in terms of who you love? Have you been the only straight person in a room full of gay people? Have you ever been the only super minority in terms of how you express your gender?” At times amid the debate some Republican lawmakers alluded that allowing transgender youth to participate on teams that match their gender identity would lead to increased sexual assault or indecent exposure in locker rooms. “As a female, a God-given (gender) that was assigned to me at birth… I represent all the females in Missouri that want to compete and not be forced to be subjected to unpleasant views of male genitalia or anything like that,” said Rep. Suzie Pollock, R-Lebanon, who has sponsored a bill that would prohibit medical care for transgender youth for the purpose of gender confirmation. “Women’s rights are something that we have fought for for years and I think this is a regression on those women’s rights.” Lawmakers with transgender family members of their own urged their colleagues to consider how the legislation would affect them personally. “I will look at you. I’ll remember. This is about human rights. It’s about fair treatment. It’s simply being good policymakers. That’s all we’re asking here,” said Rep. Doug Clemens, D-St. Ann, whose brother’s child is transgender. “I get where you’re coming from. I just ask you to have an open mind and learn before jumping to writing something in the law books or changing our constitution for God’s sake.” This story has been updated since it was first published. Tessa Weinberg covers education, health care and the legislature. She previously covered the Missouri statehouse for The Kansas City Star and The Columbia Missourian, where her reporting into social media use by the governor prompted an investigation by the Attorney General’s office. She most recently covered state government in Texas for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. www.missouriindependent.com. by Phil Hanson, President and CEO, Truman Heartland Community Foundation Philanthropy is not innate. We are not born with it and children do not wake up one day and choose to be charitable any more than they wake up and decide to eat their green-leafy vegetables without complaint.
Philanthropy is learned by modeling the charitable behavior of the caring adults in their lives, learning why it’s important to give back. The concept of youth philanthropy has really taken hold in the nonprofit sector since the early discussions of the concept in the late 80’s. As children move into their teen years, they begin to develop a sense of society, social justice, and self-purpose. They recognize they have a role to play in their community and understand they can have meaningful participation and impact. And when young people get involved with community service and giving at an early age, they tend to continue those charitable behaviors into adulthood. (Agard 2002). The Truman Heartland Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) teaches local high school students how to engage in philanthropy. The program started in 1998 under the leadership of Henri Goettel who served as the Director of YAC until her retirement in in 2020. Hundreds of YAC students from a dozen area High Schools come together for various activities centered around volunteering, grantmaking, and leadership. Our “School of Philanthropy” as I often refer to YAC is unique. It’s the only program I know of where students from area high schools come together when the focus is not competition (e.g. sports, forensics, debate, science bowl). Instead, their focus is on how they can work together to build a better community. YAC students provide genuine insight into the problems impacting children and teens in Eastern Jackson County. Through reviewing grant requests, nonprofit site visits and impact discussions, students learn how to actively listen, respect other people’s opinions, and view their community through a leadership lens. The input these student leaders provide to our grants committee is truly valued and enables us to make better decisions on how to allocate our grant resources. And through their annual fundraiser, our YAC students have built up their own endowed fund which now has over $89,000. They solely make the decisions about grants to area nonprofits from the earnings of their fund. On April 10th, YAC students organized an eight-hour food drive to help local food pantries meet increasing demands. The goal was to fill four box trucks with non-perishable food and household items. And although the day was cold, rainy, and generally miserable, the weather did not dampen the student’s enthusiasm or the public’s charitable nature. At least 40,000 items were collected at participating area Hy-Vee locations and then distributed to THCF nonprofit partners: Community Services League, Raytown Emergency Assistance Program, and Lee’s Summit Social Services. Even in the pouring rain, the generous spirit of our YAC students shone. YAC students are active in their communities and are truly valued assets for our future, and tomorrow’s community leaders. Agard, Kathryn A. “Learning to Give: Teaching Philanthropy K-12.” New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, 2002. 36: 37-53. Phil Hanson is the president and CEO of Truman Heartland Community Foundation. Truman Heartland Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity committed to improving the communities in and around Eastern Jackson County through partnerships with donors and community members. For more information on charitable giving, visit www.thcf.org or call Truman Heartland at 816-836-8189. Missouri non-farm payroll employment recovered strongly in March 2021 after a loss in February, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point. Employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 15,400 jobs over the month.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in March 2021, down from 4.3 percent in February 2021. Job losses over the year, while still severe, decreased from 130,100 in February 2021 to 100,500 in March 2021. Further improvement is expected in the spring as weather conditions improve and as COVID-19 vaccinations become more widely available. Missouri’s smoothed seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by a tenth of a percentage point in March 2021, dropping to 4.2 percent from the February 2021 rate of 4.3 percent. Due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the March 2021 rate was 0.5 percentage points higher than the March 2020 rate. The rate had reached a low of 3.1 percent starting in July 2018, before gradually edging up to 3.5 percent by the end of 2019, and then to 3.7 percent in March 2020. The COVID-19 effect hit in April 2020, spiking the rate to 12.5 percent for that month. The state’s unemployment rate has declined or remained steady each month since April 2020 and was below the U.S. rate of 6.0 percent in March 2021. The estimated number of unemployed Missourians was 128,920 in March 2021, down by 3,618 from February’s 132,538. Improved weather helped to push the state’s not-seasonally-adjusted rate down to 4.4 percent in March 2021, eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than the February 2021 not-seasonally-adjusted rate of 5.2 percent. The corresponding not-seasonally-adjusted national rate for March 2021 was 6.2 percent. A year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.7 percent, and the not-adjusted rate was 4.4 percent. by John Unrein The Grain Valley Eagles baseball team saw an early lead vanish only to come storming back against the Raytown Blue Jays on April 19th. Strong spring winds led to the baseball carrying well at Clyde Thompson Field on the campus of Raytown High School. The Eagles offense took advantage at the plate in generating 20 hits, including home runs by Parker Bosserman and Kaden Jeffries. The potent bats fueled Grain Valley’s 16-7 victory over a Suburban Conference opponent. The abundance of Eagles baserunners left head coach Brian Driskell providing frequent reminders from the third base coaching box. “Hey, line drive here, what are we doing? With a ground ball, make sure it is through before advancing,” Driskell said. All the extra guidance is something that Driskell does not mind as it means contact is being made in the batter’s box. Something that was not easy for Grain Valley to attain initially against Raytown starter Jonathon Stanley. The right hander features a twisting delivery with occasional pauses, a la Johnny Cueto. The occasional hesitation in the pitch to home plate made the Eagles adjust to waiting on the baseball. Grain Valley matched pitching talent on the mound as Riley Bown was summoned by Driskell to provide five and two-thirds innings of well-pitched relief. Bown would strike out 7 and give up 3 runs. The senior mixed his fastball with a late moving breaking ball to secure a significant amount of ground ball outs. Bown’s specialty continues to be throwing strikes. “Riley (Bown) has been essential for us. I do not like having to bring him in that early in the game on a day when he is not slated to do that. Bown has the lowest ERA (earned run average) on the team, and he showed why again today. He has been a big gamer for us,” Driskell said. “Teammates like Bosserman, Jeffries, (Blake) Prewitt, and (Parker) Stone helped our pitching today. Jeffries first at bat today was a bad approach. We talked about it and he corrected it throughout the game. When Jeffries stays middle with his approach at the plate, he is a tough hitter.” Driskell continued, “Prewitt is a kid who I think grew up in Raytown. For him to come back and do what he did today was special for him. Prewitt does a good job handling our pitchers behind the plate as well. I also felt comfortable with him in the batter’s box today with the contact he made.” “Their (Raytown’s) pitcher did a good job of mixing up tempo early on. It was messing with our guys. They are a fast team that we had to contain. The primary leads we saw today were enormous. Raytown is lightning quick. They applied pressure in areas we have not been challenged in a lot yet.” The Eagles were able to find answers at the plate as the game progressed. Bosserman parked a 2-1 pitch with one out over the right field fence in the top of the 4th inning. The no doubt smash tied the game for Grain Valley at four apiece. Bosserman remains robust in the pulling the baseball for power. Jeffries would put his own home run trot on display in the top of the 7th inning. The sound made by Jeffries swing was distinct as the ball easily cleared the center field fence. Jeffries knock would drive in Cole Keller from first base and was the biggest of three hits on the day for the Eagles first baseman. It also drew a rare smile from Jeffries as Keller intentionally slowed down coming home from third base in an attempt to disrupt the running rhythm of Jeffries. Prewitt would add three hits and three runs batted in of his own. Right fielder Parker Stone complemented the offensive parade with three hits and five RBI’s. Bown would also provide four hits at the plate in supporting his own effort on the mound. The offensive outpouring witnessed an abundance of high fives in the Eagles dugout following the game. “I was trying to find a pitch I could hit. I knew I had to keep my weight back on what they were offering. It feels good to have the ball rolling as we begin to head down the stretch here,” Jeffries said. Bown added, “I got loose in a hurry. I came in and threw strikes. Blake (Prewitt) had a good game behind the plate in not letting anything by. My defense made plays behind me.” “I have also shortened up my approach at the plate lately and it has made a difference. Left-center to right-center is where the baseball is headed as a result. I am barreling everything.” Prewitt concluded, “I saw the ball well today. Shortening my swing has allowed me to stay through the ball more. Playing baseball with these guys continues to be a lot of fun.” Grain Valley improves to a record of 11-6 on the season. Several key conference matchups loom for the Eagles as the final month of the season approaches. Sophomore catcher Blake Prewitt smiles in celebrating an Eagles team victory. Photo credit: Valley News staff Senior Riley Bown warms up on the mound. Photo credit: Valley News staff Junior first baseman Kaden Jeffries looks to make contact at the plate.
Photo credit: Valley News staff The City of Blue Springs recently announced Amazon plans to open a delivery center in Blue Springs. The delivery center would be located at 2400 NE Coronado Drive, in the former Haldex facility.
“We are thrilled to announce that Amazon is coming to Blue Springs,” said Blue Springs Mayor Carson Ross. “This facility will not only bring jobs to Blue Springs but it also fills a vacant industrial building in our community. We are proud to see companies like Amazon investing in our community and creating more opportunities for our residents.” The existing facility is approximately 70,000 square-feet and is currently being remodeled to accommodate Amazon’s process of receiving and sorting product for final delivery to customers. A 30,000 square-foot overhead canopy will be constructed to the rear of the building for loading. An additional 357 parking spaces will also be added to the rear and side of the building for van parking. “We look forward to becoming part of the fabric of the Blue Springs community and are thrilled to be able to expand our operations in Missouri,” said Nikki Wheeler at Amazon. “Amazon is a great place to work and grow professionally. We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from local and state leaders and look forward to creating new, full-time jobs for the local community.” With its location just outside Grain Valley city limits, traffic impacts on nearby residential areas and wear on Grain Valley roads are a concern. Reached for comment on the development and projected traffic impacts, Grain Valley Community Development Director Mark Trosen stated the City “did not have any conversations with Blue Springs or have we been a part of any discussions/planning of the Amazon facility.” Grain Valley Mayor Chuck Johnston commented on the development at the April 12th Board of Aldermen meeting. “There’s already a lot of people with concerns about traffic. I addressed that with Mr. Murphy (City Administrator Ken Murphy) tonight, and we are going to try to make contact with Amazon to see what we can get them to do, because I’m real concerned (about delivery trucks on R.D. Mize).” Valley News reached out to the City of Blue Springs for details on projected traffic impacts. Per a study done for project, the following is expected at the site: 34 AM peak hour trips (one truck, 33 passenger) and 36 PM peak hour trips(two trucks, 34 passenger) are projected; 157 total vehicles are projected for the Weekday Average Daily Traffic (46 trucks, 111 passenger); Line haul truck deliveries are anticipated daily, primarily between the hours of 10:00pm and 8:00am. Trip distribution is anticipated as follows: 35% to/from the west along I-70; 5% to/from the east along I-70; 10% to/from north along Adams Dairy Parkway; 35% to/from south along Adams Dairy Parkway; 5% to/from west along Coronado; 10% to/from east along Coronado. The facility will operate 24/7 to support delivery of packages to customer locations between 11:00am and 9:00pm. Amazon plans to be fully operational by the end of 2021. The company expects to start hiring about two months before the facility opens. Those interested in jobs should visit https://buff.ly/2PIwliY. |
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