Latest news with #BrianKirk
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kansas City's 'Heartland Men's Chorus' to perform in St. Joseph
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The Kansas City Heartland Men's Chorus will come to St. Joseph to celebrate its 40th Anniversary with regional performances. Its Do It With Heart" concert is at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 21 at First Christian Church, located at 9th and Faraon Streets. Both First Christian and First Lutheran Churches are concert sponsors. Tickers are $25 and can be purchased at the door. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Joseph-area organizations, including St. Joseph Pride, set for this fall on Friday, Sept. 12, and Saturday, Sept. 13, as well as PFLAG St. Joseph, which supports the local LGBTQ+ community with outreach and support. "We're blessed to have a performance of this caliber visiting St. Joseph," said Rev. Brian Kirk of First Christian Church in a press release. "We're thankful this concert supports our local community." The St. Joseph performance is one of six regional performances of its "Do It With Heart program, with songs of social justice, love and LGBTQ+ experience. Forty of the 150 Heartland Chorus members will perform in the June regional concerts, with Missouri stops in St. Joseph and Springfield and Kansas concerts in Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan and Wichita.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
10 years after her death, family remembers murdered woman and speaks out against law that could free her killer
NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – Monday marks 10 years since the brutal murder of Marie Belcastro, but her family continues to remember her for her sense of humor, patience and loving nature. 'When we remember my grandmother, it's happy memories,' said Brian Kirk, Belcastro's grandson. 'She was little; she was feisty and just had a heart full of love.' 'I think she was one of the sweetest people to ever live in Niles, and I think everybody loved her, and they were all huge fans of her,' said Angelina Kirk, Belcastro's great-granddaughter. 'She was an angel on Earth, I think.' Belcastro was 94 when she died on March 31, 2015, at the hands of Jacob LaRosa. The then-15-year-old beat and tried to rape her in her own home on Cherry Street. 'Some cases stick with you for… forever,' said Assistant Prosecutor Chris Becker. Becker said it was one of the most brutal murders that he has ever seen. 'It tells you a couple of things when you see that. First of all, you know you're dealing with a psychopath, just an absolute animal that needs to be locked up forever… No person, no matter what, treats another human being this way,' he said Becker added that it wasn't a random crime; LaRosa knew Belcastro and had been to the house previously. 'Jacob snuffed out that life basically for just a couple bottles of booze,' he said. LaRosa was prosecuted as an adult. In 2018, he pleaded no contest and was ultimately convicted of the charges. His sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years. 'That gave us a great sense of closure,' Brian Kirk recalled. For Belcastro's family, that feeling only lasted until 2021 when legislation signed into law gave most juvenile offenders, including LaRosa, a chance at parole after 25 years and if denied every five years after that. 'It feels like the whole situation really definitely ripped open old wounds,' Angelina Kirk said. 'I think it's unfair to families who have already been through enough,' Brian Kirk said. It is something that Becker also spoke out against. 'Our Ohio legislature then retroactively gave murderers like Jacob LaRosa really a break and a reduction in sentence. They retroactively reduced the sentence and threw out all the hard work of the law enforcement officers, the crime scene investigators, the people at BCI, the prosecutors, the judges — all the hard work that these people had done,' he said. Brian Kirk has been fighting this law. An amendment included in Senate Bill 288 two years later only slightly walked back the change by extending the time frame between parole hearings to every 10 years. 'It's not enough. It certainly, in my personal opinion, it's like putting your finger in a hole as big as a car trying to stop the dam leak,' Becker said. 'It still means that these families every 10 years are going to have to relive that crime and relive that tragedy.' 'If it's that loosey-goosey and flexible, I would like to shame these people in Columbus into doing their best to rescind it,' Brian Kirk said. As it stands now, LaRosa will be 40 years old at his first parole hearing in 2040. Brian Kirk said he plans to speak at that time. 'I forgive Jacob on a spiritual basis, and I hope God can use him where he is, but I think society needs to be protected from him and he needs to serve his time,' he said. 'I'm still working on forgiveness for the Ohio legislature.' As Belcastro's family pushes to right what they thought was justice, her memory lives on. 'I know she's in a better place,' Brian Kirk said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Candidate Forum held for open SJSD Board of Education seats
A few local political groups hosted an event Tuesday evening, to allow the public to witness policies given from those fighting for two open School Board seats. Five of the total six candidates will introduce themselves and answer the community's questions this evening as Former Buchanan County Auditor — Nancy Nash acts as Moderator. The BOE Candidate Forum was sponsored by several local groups who had created a list of questions to ask each candidate. Sponsors for the forum include: Buchanan County Democratic Central Committee Buchanan County Women's Democratic Club EM-PAC Persisterhood of St. Joseph United Democratic Club of Northwest Missouri Of the six BOE candidates, only three attended and participated in the forum. Brian Kirk, James Mrkvicka and Cassandra Veale were in attendance. Jennifer Kerns and Kim Miller had last-minute obligations to attend to. Ken Reeder was in attendance, however, did not fill out his candidate answer form in time, and was excluded from the forum. Five candidates have shared their responses to the questionnaire, however, only four are accessible: Kerns Kirk Miller Veale Responses provided by candidates originated from the questionnaire, and were related to the District's strength's, DEI initiatives, book bans, Proposition 2 and more. 'It might seem obvious to say that our students are a strength of our district,' said Brian Kirk, a local pastor and candidate. Mrkvicka, a local veterinarian and candidate, said the District's strength's lie in it's vocational schools, like Hillyard. A majority of the six candidates supported implementing DEI in schools. 'I think that it's important to create a fair and equitable work environment and learning environment for our students and staff,' said Veale, a nurse practitioner and candidate. 'If we want to live in strong, diverse communities, we need to find ways to make sure everybody is heard, everybody is respected, everybody is included,' said Kirk. Prioritizing positive academic outcomes were also up for discussion. 'Whatever we can do to increase the amount of staff that is available for these kids, the ones that aren't, you know, at the level they should be,' said Mrkvicka. 'I think one of the things that we can do to improve our parent engagement and learning is to help provide parents with some resource to educate their kids,' said Veale. The five candidates who filled out the questionnaire on time, agreed on the bond issue (Proposition 2) to support the construction of a new high school. The candidates also stated they do not support they elimination of the the Department of Education, as proposed in Project 2025. News-Press NOW will provide more in-depth reports on each candidate leading up tot he April 8 municipal election.
