Kearney Receives Grant for Hall Park

The City of Kearney announced that it is one step closer to building another park. Hall Park, a park designed for Kearney’s senior community, will become a long-awaited reality.

Kearney’s Hall Park project was selected as one of the Land and Water Conservation grant recipients for 2023. 51 agencies applied for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants through the Missouri State Parks, a division of the Department of Natural Resources.

The future Hall park site is located at the NE corner of 92 and Prospect Street

“This project has been in the works since 2012, when Gary Hall donated the property of his parents to the city for a park, specifically geared towards our senior population,” reads a post on the city’s Facebook page. “The city applied for the $500,000 grant in 2022, which required a $500,000 match. Thanks to the citizens approving the use tax for police, pets, parks and pathways, we were able to fund the $500,000 match.”

The city thanked the Hall family for such a generous donation that will benefit residents and the Parks and Recreation Department for their work in securing the grant.

The future park site is located at the NE corner of 92 and Prospect Street. Construction is anticipated to begin in spring of 2025.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Deputies Nab Alleged Shoplifter and Car Thief

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office announced that deputies were able to arrest an alleged shoplifter and car thief on Tuesday, July 23 in Liberty, MO.

The Sheriff’s Office reports that deputies found a stolen SUV in the parking lot of a grocery store in Liberty. Deputies were able to work with Liberty police officers and store employees and located the driver on store cameras. Officers observed her shoplifting items inside the store.

When she exited the store, deputies were waiting and took her into custody. The woman had the keys to the stolen SUV in her possession. Bank cards, a check book and ID cards belonging to at least five other people were also in her possession.

Deputies found items that appeared consistent with retail theft, as well as drug paraphernalia in the stolen SUV.

The woman was arrested and the case has been forwarded to the Clay County Prosecutor's Office for review.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

MoDOT to Repair Pavement on I-35

The Missouri Department of Transportation will be conducting pavement repair work on I-35 near Kearney resulting in various lane closures. See below for dates and times. All work is weather permitting.

Thursday, July 25 at 7 p.m. to Friday, 26 at 6 a.m.

- I-35 southbound between mm 30.2 and 28.4, 2 miles north of Kearney

Saturday, 27 at 7 p.m. to Sunday, 28 at 6 a.m.

- I-35 southbound at mm 30.2, 2 miles north of Kearney

- I-35 northbound at mm 30.2/Muddy Fork River

Monday, July 29 at 7 p.m. to Tuesday, July 30 at 6 a.m.

- I-35 southbound from north of 19th St in Kearney to south of Fishing River Bridge

- I-35 northbound at mm 30.2, 2 miles north of Kearney

Motorists are reminded to slow down and pay attention while driving in work zones. Not all work zones look alike. Work zones can be moving operations, such as striping, patching or mowing. They can also be short term, temporary lane closures to make quick repairs or remove debris from the roadway.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

No Excuse Absentee Voting Now Open

No Excuse, absentee in-person ballots are now available to Missouri Voters at their local election office. Residents must show an official, government-issued photo to cast an absentee in-person ballot.

On the ballot this August include races for governor, state treasurer, attorney general, secretary of state, U.S. Congressional seats, and U.S. Senator. Seats will also be decided in the Missouri House and Senate.

There are also two proposed constitutional amendments up to voters next month. One would create a property tax exemption for childcare centers and the other would increase minimum funding for the Kansas City Police Department, which is run by the state.

Locally, The Kearney Fire and Rescue Protection District has two questions in the August election for district voters to consider. If approved the initiatives will fund much-needed equipment, additional staff and a second location.

Residents of the Kearney Fire District will be voting on Question 1 and Question 2 in the August ballot. Question 1 asks for an extension of the current bond that passed in 2010.

Question 2 asks for a half-cent sales tax increase. Funding from the sales tax will be used for funding new staff positions at the second station, funding the increased operating costs of the second station including utilities, personal protective gear, and building maintenance.

No excuse absentee voting is allowed until the day before the election. The primary election is on August 6. The Clay County election office is located at 100 W. Mississippi St. in Liberty.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Sales Tax Holiday Helps Shoppers Save

Missouri’s annual back-to-school sales tax holiday begins at 12:01 am on Friday, August 2, and runs through midnight on Sunday, August 4. During this time, certain back-to-school purchases such as school supplies, computers, clothing and other qualifying items as defined by statute are exempt from state sales tax.

During the sales tax holiday, state sales tax will not be charged on the following items:

Clothing that does not have a taxable value of more than $100. Eligible clothing items include any article of apparel intended to be worn on or about the body, including footwear and disposable diapers for infants or adults. Cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing are also included. Not included are watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles.

School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase, that are used in a standard classroom for educational purposes. School supplies include, but are not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, chalk, maps, globes, handheld calculators, graphing calculators that do not have a taxable value of more than $150, and computer software that does not have a taxable value of more than $350. Not included are watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures; and

Personal computers that do not cost more than $1,500 and computer peripheral devices that do not cost more than $1,500. A personal computer can be a laptop, desktop, or tower computer system which consists of a central processing unit, random access memory, a storage drive, a display monitor, and a keyboard. Peripheral devices include items such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughterboard, digitizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card.

Anyone who makes a qualified purchase may participate in the holiday. You do not have to be a Missouri resident or student to participate and save.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story.