Writing
Tornado hits Piedmont, hundreds left homeless
Piedmont-Surrey Gazette, May 25, 2011
Piedmont stood in the path of a nearly 50 mile long tornado that destroyed hundreds of homes Tuesday evening, causing several injuries and leaving many residents homeless.
As of press time on Wednesday morning there had been no confirmed reports of fatalities in Piedmont, but the same storm had already claimed the lives of at least four in other parts of Canadian County.
Once the tornado had cleared Piedmont early Tuesday evening, rescue crews from surrounding communities descended on the town to help in search and rescue efforts. Many residents in northern Piedmont, where the storm caused the worst damage, had sought safety in a storm shelter. Mike Brown and his wife went to their storm as the tornado crossed overhead and wiped out their home.
“The wind was so strong that it unlatched our (storm shelter) door,” Brown said. “I was just able to, praise God, get my hand on it and pull it back and latch it again. It was hurting my hand because it was pulling so hard.”
Mike’s wife, Jeannie, said the sound of the tornado was indescribable.
Once the storm had passed, she sifted through the rubble of what was once her home. Finding her bible, which was caked in mud and shrapnel, she held it to her side as she just looked out over the damage.
A few hundred feet away stood Susan Michael who was clutching one of her two cats that had been inside her now destroyed home. Michael had made it to a neighbor’s storm shelter but her two cats were left inside the house. One cat was found alive in the rubble but the other was still missing right after the storm.
“Seven of us were in the storm shelter,” Michael said. “My husband and son decided to stick their head out…but as soon as they stuck their head out they saw the tornado and came back in. Within a minute it was over.”
Subdivisions, such as Falcon Lake, North Ridge and Shafenberg Acres, lay in ruins following the tornado that had entered Piedmont near Northwest Expressway and 164th St. and carved a path northeast towards the edge of Canadian County. The storm had not caused any known fatalities at the time but there were several reports of severe injuries. Three children were taken to an area hospital with critical injuries, according to Boyd Mase, emergency management director for the city. Another child, a four-year-old boy, was also reported missing as of late Tuesday night. A Piedmont firefighter reported that he had seen several people with deep cuts and shrapnel wounds but many city officials felt it could have been a lot worse.
City Manager Clark Williams toured the tornado’s path of destruction via helicopter and said it appeared in some places to be a mile wide.
“Whole neighborhoods were wiped out,” Williams said. “Many (house) slabs were completely cleaned off. Cars were in ponds, dump trucks were chewed up…we saw tractors just twisted.”
As emergency workers assisted victims, Piedmont city hall became the area’s emergency command center. City officials worked throughout the night in an effort to provide rescue workers with data, such as the names of residents in now destroyed homes. The Red Cross had also set up a hospitality area for fatigued workers and an area was cleared in a field between city hall and Stout Field for a medical helicopter to land. Integris Hospital also provided a mobile medical facility.
Mayor Valerie Thomerson also toured several affected neighborhoods and said the damage was unbelievable.
“We are receiving word (from the fire department) that at least 100 homes have been destroyed, probably more,” Thomerson said. “Right now people are just in shock.”
One family had escaped the tornado to a storm shelter but the grandfather could not get out of the house in time. He jumped into a bathtub and pulled a mattress on top of himself for protection. The man survived with no apparent injuries and the bathtub lay intact amidst a completely destroyed house.
Tornados are unpredictable and can sometimes leave some wondering how it chooses its path. Kelly Davis lives up the road from one decimated subdivision but said her house was untouched.
“We were very fortunate,” she said. “We are just up the road but it didn’t touch us.”
Some residents tried to grab a few items, such as clothes and other personal belongings. Others had nothing left to pick through. The Red Cross opened a shelter for storm victims at the First Baptist Church of Piedmont where those left homeless could find a place to eat and sleep for the night.
While the destruction was great in Piedmont, it was only part of the larger story from Tuesday night that featured multiple tornados that had cut a path of destruction for nearly 50 miles. As of Wednesday morning there were four confirmed fatalities in Canadian County, according to the state medical examiner. On Wednesday morning Gov. Mary Fallin was scheduled to visit several damaged sites, including Piedmont.
While the road to recovery might be a long one, Thomerson said in just a few hours following the storm it was obvious that the community of Piedmont was coming together and that people would do whatever they could to help each other rebuild.
“People are helping each other, they are doing what they need to do,” Thomerson said. “My heart goes out to them and we will rebuild.”
Arrest is finally made in homicide case
The Raytown Post, July 23, 2009
After nearly four months of investigation into one of the worst homicide cases in Raytown history, Jackson County prosecutors have charged Gevante Anderson, 24, with four counts of first degree murder.
On March 16, the bodies of Andre Jones, 33, Precious Triplett, 21, and Triplett’s nephews Amir Clemons, 10, and Gerard Clemons, 7, were found dead in the Amber Glenn Apartments in downtown Raytown.
Investigators have released little information about Anderson, but have said they believe he at one time had a relationship with Triplett and relatives have called him a former boyfriend. Police searched Anderson’s Kansas City home in the week following the murders but at the time were not calling him a suspect. Last week Raytown and Kansas City police arrested Anderson at his home.
The case was one that shocked the region and was especially unsettling for the Raytown community and the neighborhood surrounding the Amber Glenn Apartments. With few details being released during the initial investigation and almost no new information being made public over the past few months, some area residents had grown discouraged but now say last week’s arrest brings some closure.
“It was such a horrible thing to happen that even though you may not know (the victims) personally you felt scared,” said Jackie Long, a resident of a nearby apartment complex. “Just to think that the killer was still out there was very unsettling. Now at least you can know they got the man who did this.”
In a press conference last week announcing the charges against Anderson, Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar spoke about the difficulty of the case and the patience that was required.
“As the days and months went by without an arrest in this case much fear and anxiety riddled through the Jackson County community,” Kanatzar said. “No good ever comes from a case like this, but it is good to finally make an arrest.”
Kanatzar did not give any details into the evidence that was presented to the Grand Jury last week but he did say it was a combination of forensic evidence and witness accounts. Kanatzar also said that investigators had reason to believe that more witnesses were out there with additional information about the case. Kanatzar encouraged anyone with information about the murders to contact police and said his office hopes that with a suspect in custody it may cause more witnesses to come forward.
When the bodies were found on March 16 an 18-month-old boy was also found at the scene unharmed. It was not confirmed if Anderson was the boy’s father but it was said that a relationship exists and that Anderson believes he is the father.
In the indictment Anderson is being charged with a Class A felony murder in the first degree by the Grand Jurors of Jackson County. Anderson is alleged to have shot Jones, Triplett and Amir Clemons. He also allegedly stabbed Gerard Clemons Jr. Anderson is also being charged with five counts of armed criminal action and one count of burglary in the first degree.
No motive has been announced in the case and Anderson is being held without bond.
Student newspapers go online only
The Kansas City Star, March 17, 2010
For students studying journalism in Independence and Belton, ink on newsprint has become a
thing of the past.
Both William Chrisman and Belton high schools have abandoned the printed edition of their
school newspapers and developed exclusively on-line publications.
“I was against it originally,” said Dillon Lashley, editor-in-chief of The Cutlass, Belton’s high school newspaper. “It just didn’t seem like a newspaper to me, but I think it was for the better.”
The challenge of juggling printed editions and a Web presence has faced nearly every newspaper in America, and Lashley says that after Belton embraced the Internet as its only platform, the production of the paper has become easier. And it’s reaching a wider audience.
“The pros really outweighed the cons,” Lashley said. “It’s quicker and easier to publish a newspaper now.”
But at William Chrisman, which has been exclusively online since November, reporters and photographers are feeling added pressure. The paper used to come out once a month, but now stories are posted the day they happen.
Chrisman sophomore Eva Deel experienced the stress earlier this month while covering the FIRST Robotics Kansas City Regional Tournament. She needed to publish results as they happened in The Envoy, but found that her computer wasn’t working.
“I freaked out for a second, but I didn’t have long to come up with a backup plan,” Deel said. “It wasn’t ideal, but I made it work.” Deel called Jason Stacy, her newspaper adviser, and arranged to text him the information, which would then be immediately updated on the newspaper’s Web site, which features instant updates and live streaming from events.
It’s not uncommon for high schools in the Kansas City area to publish both online and printed papers, but Stacy thinks student journalists are just beginning the shift to on-line only. Chrisman made the choice for a variety of reasons: to save money, increase readership, improve student skills and allow students to experience technology advancements firsthand.
“I didn’t feel students were making the most of the opportunity they had,” Stacy said. “I wanted them to get the experience of writing on a daily basis and learn the importance of deadlines. It’s an opportunity for them to get a hands-on look at journalism. They can see where the field is
going.”
The staff has only five students – most of whom are new to the newspaper. Each student has a beat to cover. Some write stories every two to three days, while others write one per week.
Sophomore Megan Ross began the year expecting to write only for print at The Envoy.
“It’s much different,” Ross said. “Everything is going a lot faster. The second something happens, it goes online. We’ve all had to work a lot harder. We’ve got it all down.”
Junior Adam Woods loves what the online experience has taught him.
“I’ve learned a great deal more, because I have so many opportunities to write stories,” he said. “Like with sports, the more I practice, the better I become.”
The reasons for the switch were similar in Belton.
The Cutlass, too, has been published monthly – usually after late-night layout sessions. This year, The Cutlass is updated nearly every day with fresh stories and photos being uploaded to the site without any layout or graphic design work needed.
Another benefit is cost. Jim Carter, the newspaper adviser at Belton, said the budget for producing the newspaper has fallen by $2,300. The printed edition was always supported by advertising, but with the online cost so low, The Cutlass could theoretically survive with the
support of just one advertiser.
“I think it lets us focus on the reporting aspect a lot more,” Carter said. “I worry about the lack of layout experience, but they can quickly catch up on that in college.”
Given current trends in the journalism industry, layout skills may not be as important for students looking to work for their college newspapers.
“I think in some ways we will be further along than other students when we get to college,” said Zac Sweets, the student life editor. “This gives us a new experience in publishing a newspaper.”
The heart of that experience is instant publishing.
“For example, coverage from homecoming this year could have been two or three weeks in the making, and in the past you would just get some late information in print,” Sweets said. “But we had stuff from (homecoming) online the same day it happened.”
Both papers reach a wider audience, too. Belton students said more parents and teachers are reading The Cutlass, and it has attracted readers from countries like Germany where exchange student and Cutlass writer Ina Mutscher is from.
“You get readers from around the world,” said Elizabeth Hughey, the arts and entertainment editor. “But we also reach freshman easier who we struggled to get papers to in the freshman center last year.”
At Chrisman, the paper has been read in 29 states and five countries.
“We get more readers every day,” Stacy said.
At both schools, students are looking at ways to improve their product. Videos, Twitter feeds and expanded message boards could be next. At Chrisman, one plan is for the print and broadcast classes to share stories and video.
“I think there were some people who thought is was a stupid idea at first,” said Sweets, the Belton student. “But now I am hearing from people that they think it’s pretty cool, and I think it’s only going to get better the longer we do this.”
