Former Kansas City Royals Pitcher Marty Pattin was on hand to help teach kids from across the Kansas City metro area about pitching during the Kids’ Clinic at Rogers’s Dream Field event held at Strickland Farm outside of Weston on Saturday. The day included a pitch, hit and throw contest, workup games, a comedy show, charity auction and the Field of Dreams baseball game against Dyersville, Iowa that evening.
After trying to negotiate a felony charge down to a misdemeanor with the Platte County prosecutor, a Parkville police officer who was accused of making a woman remove her clothes to avoid a traffic ticket was found not guilty by a jury of his peers last week. Prosecutor Eric Zahnd alleged that former Parkville police officer, Richard D. Cullen, 37, of Kansas City, North, stopped a woman for speeding on Hwy 45 in the early morning of June 9, 2004. Prosecutors alleged Cullen then had her drive to a medical building near Hwy 45 and Hwy 9 in Platte County, where he was accused of coercing the woman, age 20, into removing her sweater and other clothes while she stood outside the car. Jurors were told that Cullen let the woman get dressed and drive home without writing her a ticket.
Fifteen months after the passing of the bond issue by the Platte County R-3 patrons, a new middle school has been erected and is weeks away from its opening day. The $17 million, 140,000 square foot facility was constructed by Manning Construction of Olathe, KS and will house 750 students.