Two Dead in Excelsior Springs House Explosion

***UPDATE 08/26/24***

The deceased victims in this incident have been identified as 70-year-old Oliver W. Campbell and 65-year-old Katherine A. Campbell. Both lived at the house at 14406 Kimberly Dr.

The Sheriff’s Office recieved notification from the Missouri State Fire Marshall about the explosion that stated, “Because of the force of the explosion and extent of structural damage, no cause could be identified as to the source of the gas leak or the ignition source. The Missouri Division of Fire Safety classified the explosion as undetermined.”

***

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office located two bodies in the rubble of a home that exploded in the early morning hours of Friday, August 23, in rural Excelsior Springs. Investigators believe they have recovered the bodies of the residents of the home.

The blast could be felt and seen for many miles and blew open the doors of neighbors’ houses.

The Sheriff’s Office started receiving calls at 4:42 am, about a house that exploded in the 14400 block of Kimberly Drive. When deputies arrived on scene, they found the house was completely destroyed, and a fire was burning. The blast could be felt and seen for many miles and blew open the doors of neighbors’ houses.

Investigators have found no evidence of foul play. The Missouri State Fire Marshall’s Office is working to determine the cause of the explosion. Representatives from the Missouri Propane Safety Commission were also on scene.

No neighbors were hurt, though some reported damage to their homes.

The Medical Examiner responded to the scene, and the Sheriff’s Office will share the names of the deceased once their identities have been confirmed and next-of-kin notification is complete.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

School District Prioritizes Security with Personnel Changes

During its Aug. 21 business meeting, the school board signed off on two items designed to help meet the safety and security objectives in Kearney School District’s five-year strategic plan.

The Board approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Kearney to provide a School Resource Officer (SRO) for the district. District and city officials collaborated over several months to update the MOU, which dates back to 2014.

District Superintendent Emily Miller

The most important change to the MOU is that the District’s SRO will now be an employee of the city and report directly to the Kearney Police Department. District administration will have input on the selection process and work collaboratively with the Chief of Police and City Administrator regarding the SRO’s duties. Kearney School District will reimburse the city for the SRO’s time spent within the school district.

In addition, a motion to designate a district employee as a School Protection Officer (SPO), which is allowed under state law, was also approved by the board.

“It just gives the school district some flexibility to add additional safety and security personnel,” Superintendent Emily Miller said.

The SPO can perform functions similar to those of an SRO in schools. The only exception is the ability to make an arrest, which is reserved for law enforcement officers.

current KSD SRO Adam Kirkland

The plan is to have current KSD SRO Adam Kirkland become the district’s SPO, according to Director of Operations Erek Noland. KPD Ofc. Cameron Philip has been selected for the SRO position. It’s anticipated that he will start his new role in September.

Stakeholders identified increasing safety and security as a top priority in the district’s strategic plan. The administration made difficult budget decisions in order to find the resources to expand KSD’s safety and security team.

Dr. Miller assured the board that staff members, students and families won’t see a decrease in the level of service from the new SRO. In fact, the revised MOU combined with the addition of an SPO means that KSD will now have two trained safety and security professionals on-site.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

School District Celebrates Southview Upgrades

Principal Rebecca Parks and Director of Operations Erek Noland gave Kearney School District’s Board of Education members a tour on Wednesday, Aug. 21 of the Proposition B bond projects that were completed recently as promised at Southview Elementary.

The Southview upgrades included a new secure entry and front office area, additional rooms designed to serve students with special needs, collaborative learning spaces and furnishings in every grade-level pod, improved HVAC systems, and other significant work. The project began in the spring with architectural designs by DLR Group and was managed by Newkirk Novak Construction Partners.

Dr. Parks expressed her gratitude to Southview staff members, parents, guardians and students for adapting to the disruptions caused by the project. She was also grateful to the community for supporting the zero-tax-rate-increase Prop B capital improvement bond when it went to voters in April of 2022.

“I just want to thank our entire team, our students and our families for their patience and good spirits throughout this process,” Parks said. “I know our teachers are thrilled by the new collaborative learning spaces and I’ve heard so many positive comments from everyone.”

In addition to the work at Southview, Newkirk Novak also completed important upgrades to the HVAC system at Kearney Middle School this summer, according to Operations Manager Ben Vanderau.

During the school board’s regular business meeting Wednesday evening, Mr. Vanderau and DLR Group representative Kevin Greischar shared some plans for the next round of Prop B projects. That work will include upgrades and expansions at Hawthorne Elementary, Kearney Elementary and Dogwood Elementary. Those projects should be completed by the time classes begin for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The school board also learned from Mr. Vanderau that the total cost estimate for the renovations at the remaining elementary schools has come in significantly lower than expected. This will potentially free up funds for more capital improvements. Mr. Noland will work with the district’s long-range facilities planning committee, which includes key stakeholders, to identify high-priority projects for the additional funds.

Ray Weikal contributed to this story.

Kearney Radio Announces Online Country Radio Station

On National Radio Day, August 20, Kearney Radio Station 102.7FM KPGZ announced a fitting addition to its classic hits format. Country music channel KearneyCountry.com is now broadcast through the KPGZ Mobile App.

Local news and events as well as Classic Hits or Country Hits can be found on the KPGZ Mobile App

The idea for a second station came from a community survey KPGZ conducted in 2023, with Northland CAPS students.

“The survey found that 48% of people who responded listen to country music some or all of the time,” said General Manager Brian Watts. “Nearly 50% of our residents were listening to another genre of music, so we thought by adding an additional format we could capture another audience.”

Most of the on-air time may be spent playing 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s era country music, but like the 102.7FM side, the focus of the station is Kearney.

“This station, like 102.7FM, gives individuals, businesses, and religious and civic organizations a voice in the community,” said Watts. “We cultivate our own local news, announce local weather and events, and broadcast Kearney Bulldog Sports.”

The station plays country music 24 hours a day on a player on KearneyCountry.com as well as the KPGZ mobile app which listeners can download free to their Apple or Android mobile devices. To switch to the country stream in the app, users can tap the menu icon in the upper left corner, then tap on “Change Station”.

The mobile app also features sections for news, weather, sports and past Kearney sports broadcast replays.

Sheriff’s Office Seizes Large Amount of Fentanyl

Clay County Sheriff’s deputies seized enough fentanyl during an arrest last week to kill 327,000 people.

Josiah J. Langston - Clay County Sheriff’s office photo

They located and arrested 21-year-old Josiah J. Langston the afternoon of Aug. 15 in the 3900 block of N. Skiles Avenue. They were looking for Langston due to a prior warrant he had for drug trafficking. When deputies approached him, he rammed a patrol car, but he was unable to flee. No one was hurt, and deputies took him into custody.

Inside Langston’s vehicle, investigators located 1.5 pounds of powdered fentanyl, and 0.4 pounds of methamphetamine. They also found $2,000 in cash. Just two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, meaning the amount of fentanyl seized could have killed nearly two-thirds of the population of Kansas City, Mo.

Langston has been charged with two counts of first-degree drug trafficking and one count of resisting arrest. This is in addition to his prior drug trafficking charge. He is now in the Clay County Detention Center on a $450,000 bond. Investigation is continuing, and more charges – including federal charges – are possible.

This arrest and seizure were a joint operation conducted by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Task Force and Special Operations Squad.  

Brian Watts contributed to this story.