Latest news with #NathanWillett
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KCMO councilmember ‘neutral' on 2 Missouri Royals sites
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Monday, a councilman in the city made it clear he wants the Royals to stay in Missouri. FOX4 talked to Councilman Nathan Willett and Wes Rogers that afternoon. In late March, Royals CEO John Sherman told reporters he wanted to talk more about the stadium in June or July. In a nearly 15-minute interview with FOX4 Monday, Willett said he was 'Team Missouri' a number of times. He added that he wants whatever works for the Royals. Kansas City man arrested, charged after high-speed boat chase at Lake of the Ozarks Willett said he believes Washington Square Park, just east of Union Station, is an option for the team. FOX4 asked him if he wanted the ballpark in Washington Square Park over a once proposed ballpark for the Royals in North Kansas City at 18th and Fayette. North Kansas City is a separate city from Kansas City, Mo. 'I think it's fair to say I want it in Missouri,' Willett said in response. 'I am neutral between the two sites. I think it's whatever works for the Royals and works for the taxpayers who are going to be asked to help out.' Willett is running for Republican State Senator Tony Luetkemeyer's seat in the Missouri state legislature, so right now, he's not running for re-election on KCMO's city council. FOX4 asked Willett if he's concerned that being 'neutral' to two Missouri stadium locations would make Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas or other Kansas City council members upset with him. 'I think it's Team Missouri,' he responded. 'You don't know what's a legit option or not a legit option. Right now, you have two Missouri options, and I think you have one or two Kansas options. 'At the end of the day, the deal has to make sense for both the taxpayers. You have to have that benefit to it, but we cannot let Kansas continue to grow and Missouri just to sit back. You're seeing a lot of growth happening, more and more south on the other side of state line. I think if a stadium went down there versus whether it be downtown or north of the river, you're going to see the continued concentration of economic development around there.' Late in June, fellow KCMO Councilman Kevin O'Neill told FOX4 that Kansas City's parks department board needed to quickly approve moving rights over to Port KC or the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC). Three weeks later, that special meeting hasn't happened yet. New Port KC Board of Commissioner and fellow KCMO Councilman Wes Rogers was with Willett Monday at Northland Neighborhoods Inc. 'This is a years long project,' Rogers said when asked if he was concerned that that the parks department special meeting hasn't happened yet. 'There's no doubt in my mind that the city will figure out how to do this.' Willett added that if the Royals chose to play in KCMO's city limits, the taxpayers should be able to weigh in on it. Jackson County Executive Frank White pitches Gov. Kehoe adjusted approach to sales tax extension Mayor Quinton Lucas has said the opposite though, that if the Royals built at Washington Square Park, the city's taxpayers may not have to weigh in on it. If the Royals chose Clay County and North Kansas City, that would require a vote of the people of that county to tax themselves via a sales tax. A Kansas ballpark for the Royals would take advantage of Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bonds. That would not require a vote of taxpayers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Drop babies off for adoption at KC firehouses? Council will consider drop-box proposal
Rather than seek an abortion, parents who want or need to give their newborns up for adoption anonymously could surrender their babies at climate-controlled boxes installed at Kansas City fire stations under a proposal introduced Thursday by 1st District Councilman Nathan Willett. Willett's resolution would instruct the city manager to study what it would take to begin a 'Safe Haven Baby Boxes' program. Mayor Quinton Lucas referred it to a council committee for further study, which is typical procedure. After study, that committee could refer the resolution to the full council for a vote. But there's no guarantee of that. Some proposals are held off docket indefinitely. Since 1999, all 50 states have enacted laws that allow parents to give their babies up for adoption anonymously. These safe haven laws allow parents to relinquish their parental rights within a time limit — up to a year after birth in some cases — that differs state to state, according to the National Safe Haven Alliance. Safe haven laws have been tweaked in many states, including Missouri and Kansas, allowing parents to surrender their babies by placing them in climate-controlled bassinets at police and fire stations as well as health care facilities and other designated places. The boxes have automatic alert functions that contact emergency responders when a child is left inside so they can be retrieved quickly. Many baby boxes are marketed by a nonprofit company called Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc., which has more than 300 boxes deployed across the country. Six of those boxes are in Missouri: One each in Carthage, Joplin and Savannah and three in the St. Louis metro area. Kansas has two, in Salina and Hutchinson. Last year, a baby was surrendered in the box at the Mehlville Fire Protection District station in south St. Louis. No babies have been surrendered at those seven other boxes in Missouri and Kansas. Nationwide, 58 babies have been surrendered since the first box was installed in April 2016, according to a spokesperson for Safe Haven Baby Boxes. According to the company, babies left in the boxes are never in danger because the boxes have multiple alarms that alert first responders as soon as a baby is placed inside. There are no cameras to record who left the child. 'The boxes' alarms are tested weekly to ensure there will be no failures. None of these alarm systems have ever failed,' the company's website said. Each box costs $15,000 to $20,000 to lease and install. That is typically underwritten entirely by private donations, the company spokesperson said. Willett's proposed resolution would direct the city manager to identify which fire stations would be able to support a Safe Haven Baby Box, how many would be appropriate to install and how much it would cost.
