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Archives for November, 2012
Tweet “There is a fiscal cliff coming in Shawnee Mission, too,” according to Shawnee Mission Superintendent Gene Johnson, not just for the federal government. Fund balances have dropped precipitously over the last few years and there is little prospect of state support coming soon in the face of the tax reduction plan that kicks in [...]
Tweet Mission’s annual Holiday Lights and Festive Sights will kickoff tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the corner of Woodson and Johnson Drive and culminate with musical fireworks at 8:15 p.m. The celebration includes Christmas movies at Mission theater, a holiday shop, music and kid’s activities. The Rushton PTA will sponsor cookie decorating and a holiday [...]
Tweet If you’re curious about what the earliest Christmases celebrated in northeast Johnson County looked like, Shawnee Indian Mission’s Holiday Open House this weekend should be of interest. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the mission will be open to the public and decorated in the style of the 1850s. The Johnson County Young [...]
Tweet By Julia Westhoff My grandmother, Doris Sanchez, is a Romanian Jew who married a Mexican Catholic and raised an American son who was at various points a Southern Baptist and a Midwestern Congregationalist. Did you catch all that? Me neither. The point is that holidays at our house were always a bit of a [...]
Tweet The congregation of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village on Thursday put the final touches on this year’s presentation of “Journey to Bethlehem,” its annual interactive telling of the Christmas story. Churchmembers practiced their roles as key characters in the story, from King Herrod to the innkeeper to Mary and Joseph. The popular annual [...]
Tweet Pleasant temperatures and a shiny new “pocket park” drew a sizable Santa-hungry crowd to Corinth Square Thursday for the 27th annual lighting of the Mayor’s Holiday Tree. Mayor Ron Shaffer performed his traditional emcee duties, welcoming performers from Dancerz Unlimted and the SM East choir to the stage before Kris Kringle himself came up [...]
Tweet Former classmates of Tyler Rathbun continue to create tributes to the SM East senior who died in an ATV accident early Sunday. On Wednesday, six of Rathbun’s former teammates on the SM East soccer team created a photo with each holding up a letter of the #RIPTR hashtag that has been at the center [...]
Tweet ‘Tis the season of decorating trees. But can you tell me where these year-round artistic arbors can be found?
Tweet Usually around this time of year, the house at 7611 Falmouth is hard to miss. Even during the day, the dozens of figurines and lights that make up Mike Babick’s nationally known Christmas display stick out from his house with bright colors. But this year is different. Permanent floodlights installed to illuminate the animated [...]
Tweet Demolition of the interior of the old Macy’s Home Store space and the Einstein Bros. restaurant in the Village Shops will start next week to make way for STANDEES, the new restaurant and theater combination that is expected to open in May 2013. Einstein Bros. closed last weekend. The restaurant will have seating at [...]
Tweet Trailwood Elementary mom Alexis Burdick sent us this note about the school’s upcoming Holiday Boutique this weekend: Trailwood Elementary located on 95th street between Nall and Roe will hold it’s 6th annual Holiday Boutique this weekend. Friday times are from 2 to 6 pm and Saturday shopping hours are from 9 am to 1 [...]
Tweet Walmart has agreed to participate in the sales tax assessment at the Mission Gateway, apparently eliminating one of the concerns about support for the project. The retailer has agreed to be included in a one-half cent sales tax that will support Community Improvement District bonds used to fund construction. The first plan proposed an [...]
Tweet Public displays of solidarity as the SM East community came to terms with the loss of Tyler Rathbun continued Tuesday as recent SM East grads gathered on the campuses of colleges near and far to honor the senior who died Sunday. On the campuses of the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri, [...]
Tweet Prairie Village’s 27th annual Mayor’s Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony on Thursday will have a spanking new centerpiece. As part of the extensive redesign of Corinth Square this year, developers planted a 15 foot Norway pine that is a permanent fixture in the “pocket park” at the center’s southwest corner. This year’s ceremony, which kicks [...]
Tweet Visionary, charismatic, an effective communicator, passionate, up to facing a challenge: Those are some of the characteristics that the next superintendent of the Shawnee Mission School District should possess according to more than dozen people who offered input at a public session at SM East Monday evening. Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, IA, [...]
Tweet Claridge Court isn’t the only Prairie Village senior living community to have scored high marks with state and federal regulators this year. Brighton Gardens also received a deficiency-free survey rating from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Additionally, it has received a 5-star designation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [...]
Tweet Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe on Monday confirmed his office has received the formal request letter for the ouster of Prairie Village City Councilor David Morrison, and said he was in the process of determining next steps. “It’s our job to review the grounds for ouster and see if the facts of the [...]
Tweet More than a hundred students huddled together in the southwest corner of SM East’s senior lot at noon Monday facing a pickup and an SUV parked next to each other. The strains of a country song came through the SUV’s open window. Otherwise there wasn’t much noise. Some students turned to each other and hugged. [...]
Tweet Every now and again we encounter li’l scenes that, while not “newsworthy” exactly, are striking enough to pass along to you, our dear readers. Well, friends, precisely such a scene occurred Saturday night at the nuptials of 1999 SM East grad Kyle Hopkins and his beautiful bride, MidtownKCPost.com founder Emily Farris. And it makes [...]
Tweet Shawnee Mission students who want to transfer to a different school in the district have until January 5 to file their request. While quite a few students requested transfers last year, especially at SM East, the district has not determined which schools will be open to transfers for the 2013-2014 school year. That decision [...]
Tweet Purveyors of another Prairie Village holiday tradition flipped the on switch over the Thanksgiving break. The Outlook Lane cul-de-sac off 79th Street made its typical transformation into Candy Cane Lane Friday, with homeowners passing out candy canes to visitors on opening night. Every house on the street participates, with decorations including typical lights on [...]
Tweet A longtime Village Shops fixture has closed its doors in preparations for a construction project that will bring a first-in-the-nation eatery/entertainment concept to the center. Einstein Bros. Bagels ceased operations at its Village Shops location over the holiday weekend, but representatives of the property owner say talks are still under way to try to [...]
Tweet SM East students, teachers and parents today are mourning the loss of senior Tyler Rathbun, who died early Sunday morning in an ATV accident on a classmate’s family farm. Medical crews were called to the south Miami County property around 3 a.m. Sunday where they found a Polaris off-road vehicle carrying four teens had [...]
Tweet Tim Dorr’s choreographed Christmas lights and music display had its opening night on the Prairie Village Municipal Grounds Thursday, marking the second season Dorr and the city of have teamed up to bring the popular display onto public property. (Dorr decided to move the display from his home in after a neighbor expressed concerns [...]
Tweet By Julia Westhoff Today marks one of my favorite food days of the whole year. As much as I love Thanksgiving dinner, the leftovers are what really do it for me. Forget the formality of tablecloths and silver and give me a pyrex container of cold leftovers. Even better, grab a couple slices of [...]
