UniverSoul Circus 22nd-26th @ Kemper Area

The UniverSoul Circus at Kemper Arena, which began Wednesday and goes through the weekend, has some pretty amazing acts on the bill. Among them: contortionists, Chinese foot dancers and aerialists on the Wheel of Death. Check out photos of people and performers. Click here to learn more >>

Health Fair July 25th.

Take advantage of free health services this Saturaday.

Saturday, July 25th, 2009 Health Fair

9:00-3:00
Manual Career Technical Center
1215 East Truman Road
Kansas City, Mo. 64106

The following will be provided at no-cost:
- Dental Screen
- Vision screening
- Hearing screening
- Health Physicals
- Immunization


For more information please Call: 418-8672

Back to School Tax Holiday: August 7th - 9th

Sales Tax Holiday Information

The Sales Tax Holiday will be available Friday, August 7, through Sunday, August 9, in select cities and counties across Missouri. Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items are exempt from sales tax for this time period only.

Learn More Here >>

Qualifying Items

The sales tax exemption is limited to:

* Clothing – any article having a taxable value of $100 or less
* School supplies – not to exceed $50 per purchase
* Computer software – taxable value of $350 or less per purchase
* Personal computers – not to exceed $3,500
* Computer peripheral devices – not to exceed $3,500

“Clothing” - any article of wearing apparel, including footwear, intended to be worn on or about the human body. The term shall include but not be limited to cloth and other material used to make school uniforms or other school clothing. Items normally sold in pairs shall not be separated to qualify for the exemption. The term shall not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas, scarves, ties, headbands, or belt buckles.

“School supplies” - any item normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes, including but not limited to, textbooks, notebooks, paper, writing instruments, crayons, art supplies, rulers, book bags, backpacks, handheld calculators, chalk, maps, and globes. The term shall not include watches, radios, CD players, headphones, sporting equipment, portable or desktop telephones, copiers or other office equipment, furniture, or fixtures. School supplies shall also include computer software having a taxable value of three hundred fifty dollars or less.

“Personal computers” - 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 and devices designed for use in conjunction with a personal computer, such as a disk drive, memory module, compact disk drive, daughter board, digitalizer, microphone, modem, motherboard, mouse, multimedia speaker, printer, scanner, single-user hardware, single-user operating system, soundcard, or video card.

Ethnic Festival

Click Here to learn more >

Experience the heritage and traditions of more than 50 countries at Kansas City's longest running festival. Celebrate the world through food, crafts, dance and drink during this three-day cultural extravaganza. Feel the World beat in the heart of America.

Admission: $3 adults, children 12 and under are free.
Where:

Region: Southeast
Address: Swope Park, 6600 Swope Pkwy., Kansas City, Mo.
Phone: 816-842-7530
Dates: 08/21/2009 - 08/23/2009
Time: 6-10pm, Fri.; Noon-10pm, Sat.; Noon-6pm, Sun.

Do you like to voulenteer?

Volunteer Opportunities
The Kansas City, Missouri School District welcomes educational involvement from parents as well as members of the community. The District strongly encourages adults to join individual school’s School Advisory Committees (SACs) or Parent Teacher Association (PTAs). Click here to learn how you can become a voulenteer.

Bulky Item pick up goes ONLINE

Click here to learn more >>

July 19-26th The Fringe Festival

Over 70 artists from around the world are in Kansas City this week. The Fringe team has taken steps to make this year's festival more accessible than ever. With new venues, entertainment for the whole family, and more shows, Fringe is more vibrant than ever. Check out our website to see what it's all about.

Tickets to Life Changers Conference

All,

I have about 25 tickets to the Life Changers Conference on July 15-19th at Bartle Hall. The tickets are available on a first come, first served basis. Please email me if you are interested in the tickets.

Thank you,
Schylon Clayton
Aide to Councilman Terry Riley
816-513-1629 office
816-513-1612 fax
Schylon_Clayton@kcmo.org

KC savings

Click here to learn more.

KC is candidate to store nation’s waste mercury

Read the KC Star Atricle by clicking HERE >
"....Mercury has long been considered highly toxic to humans, plants and animals.

It is still used in chlorine and caustic soda manufacturing, but Congress is trying to eliminate that, Levenstein said. Mercury also is recouped through recycling and waste recovery, and it is generated as a by-product of gold mining.

Mercury is heavy. A single gallon weighs about 113 pounds, so it requires sturdy containers and sturdy floors.

That makes the Kansas City Plant an ideal candidate, said Gale Carlson, environmental public health epidemiologist for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services....."



KC MEETING SET
The federal government will hold a public meeting July 23 to discuss the proposed mercury storage facility at the Kansas City Plant. The meeting will be from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites, 220 W. 43rd St.

Hand of Hope, Kansas City Schools Extreme Makeover

Saturday, July 18th from 8am to 4pm

Satchel Paige School, located on Prospect and 75th

3301 East 75th street (Prospect bus will drop you off right in front of the school)

Ladd School, location, 3640 Benton

Longfellow, location, 2830 Holmes

We are looking for staff that would like to volunteer and support our new school sites in remodeling

Please talk this over with your supervisors before replying. I will need all names by Friday July 10th.



Thanks





_________________________________________

Candace Cheatem | Deputy Director
Local Investment Commission | LINC
3100 Broadway, Suite 1100 * Kansas City, MO 64111
phone: 816.889.5050 * fax: 816.410.8362 * mobile: 816.914.8537
email: ccheatem@kclinc.org

Sidewalk sale

From David Park Acting Director Neighborhood and Community Services

This is to provide an update on our effort to mow weeds on vacant, privately-owned property this summer.

On May 1, 2009, Neighborhood and Community Services assumed responsibility for mowing weeds on vacant, privately-owned property when the property owners fail to do so. Weed mowing contracts this year also included for the first time removal of accumulations of trash that invariably collect on these properties.

I publicly announced a goal of having all of these lots mowed for the first time by the end of June. Unfortunately, we were not able to achieve the goal. It is July and there are many vacant, privately-owned lots that have not yet been mowed.

Factors such as above average rainfall and contractors unable to keep up with the pace of assigned work are among the reasons for properties remaining un-mowed. We used a new bidding process to assign work. The process was intended to increase competition and encourage participation by smaller, neighborhood-based contractors; but, it lengthened the time required to get a property mowed. Also, some contractors were not accustomed to being required to remove cut weeds and trash as they mowed and numerous repeat visits to finish the job have been required of them by inspectors. Finally, the volume of properties to be mowed was much higher than in past years due to the increase in the number of vacant houses in our community.

We have not given up, however. New contracts based upon units of work to be done are being prepared. This will eliminate the time required to bid out work and allow for a faster response by contractors. The city council is being asked to appropriate additional funding so we may continue the effort. And, inspectors are working overtime to get work assigned to contractors and to inspect work after it is reported as completed by the contractors.

I believe all of the properties that need to be mowed have been identified and are in the process. If you are not sure about a property in your neighborhood, please check the Request for Service System at KIVAnet: http://kivaweb.kcmo.org/kivanet/2/index.cfm to verify an open case exists for it. You may also call 311 to check on a property or to report one that you do not find an active KIVAnet case for. We do not want to miss any.

We are well ahead of last year’s pace despite a reduction in administrative staff and no additional inspectors, but we are not at the pace you expect or that we expect of ourselves. I want to reassure you that the level of service you are seeing now is not the end product of our effort. I and my staff will continue to push until the level of service is at an appropriate level – which will be measured by your satisfaction with it.

I will strive to keep you informed of developments.


David Park
Acting Director
Neighborhood and Community Services
816-513-3231

Nothing Can Stop Dedication

2009 MLBCF Midwestern Conference

PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM GOLF REGISTRATION
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM GOLF TOURNAMENT
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM AWARD CEREMONY/DINNER
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM VENDOR SET-UP
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM MINORITY BUSINESS GROUP
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM RECEPTION – YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM WELCOME TO KANSAS CITY EVENT

POWER AND LIGHT DISTRICT
7:00 PM – 12:00 AM AROUND KANSAS CITY…..

Please visit the Black Caucus website for further details