Monthly Archives: June 2021

Latest updated blog: It won’t stop raining!!! So when will it? -Doug

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Good Tuesday morning!  I hope you had a great weekend and your Monday started off well.  Mine has been pretty good, just getting into the swing of things now that I won’t be going back and forth to Seattle anymore for my son’s treatments.  But man, it needs to stop raining.  Look at rainfall since Saturday.

On average, most of us have had 5-10″ of rain.  Some areas a little more.  So flash flooding will continue to be a concern the next few days.  Sadly, we still have 2-3 more days with this.  Scattered thunderstorms are going to continue.  On Tuesday, not as widespread as Monday.  Most of us got rain on Monday, but I think Tuesday it will be about 1/2 of us as it will be more scattered but definitely out there.

When we aren’t seeing rain, I think partly sunny and mid 80s with the humidity making it feel muggy.  By Wednesday, the rain becomes more widespread.  So about 70-80% of the area will see rain.

I don’t expect much severe weather with these the next few days.  Just good old storms.  Chances taper on Thursday and Friday, but I think we will easily see another 1-4″ on average of rain this week, ugh.  But we do have changes.  A system sweeps across the Great Lakes Friday and Saturday.  This pushes all this rain out of here and gives us great holiday weekend temperatures.

So right now the 4th looks great!  But we heat up again next week.  Long range forecast is below.

-Doug

Next Week:  The heat and humidity kick back in.  Pop up storms return as well Wednesday through Saturday.

July 11th- 17th:  A little cooler to start the week.  Rain chances on Sunday and Monday.  Heating up the second half of the week.  Rain chances sticking around.

July 18th-24th:  A warm start and hot finish once again.  Also rain chances each day again.

July 25th-31st:  Hot and mainly dry all week long.

 

Pittsburg’s Browne passing passion for Jiu-Jitsu to next generation

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PITTSBURG, Kan. – Andrew Browne didn’t get into martial arts until he was 22 years old.

ARISE BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU WEBSITE

“I wish I would have started when I was two,” Browne says.

Now, he’s on the other side of it as an instructor giving the next generation the chance to start a little earlier.

“It not only gives them a self defense aspect and structure, but every day they’re building confidence and also being humbled,” Browne says of teaching Jiu-Jitsu to the next generation, “It keeps them right in the middle, and helps them out in the long run, I feel.”

“As a parent, you know you’re not going to be able to keep them safe their entire life,” says Kimberly Wallace, whose 9-year-old son trains with Browne, “I think as parents we need to give them tools to do that themselves, and Jiu-Jitsu has been great for that.”

Browne is the owner and instructor at Arise Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Pittsburg – taking students as young as six years old.

“We got into Jiu-Jitsu and he loves it,” Wallace says of her son, “The smile on his face…he just lights up every time he’s here. He loves it.”

“I’ve had some kids come in with low confidence and they’re not flexible. Their parents say they’re bullied and this and that…seeing their confidence get built up just means the world to me,” Brown says.

“When he’s home and he stubs his toe, the world ends,” Wallace says of her son with a laugh, “When he’s here with his teammates he’s a total different kid.”

In addition to teaching kids and adults five days per week and coaching tournaments on some weekendsj, Browne competes himself and also has a part time job outside of Jiu-Jitsu.

“You don’t sleep much,” he says of how he keeps a busy schedule, “Passion and love. You gotta do what you love, and I’m doing what I love,” Browne adds of teaching kids, “I’d love to have hundreds of them. I’d have a lot more grey hair, but I’d love to have hundreds of kids. There wasn’t Jiu-Jitsu in Pittsburg before we got here. I want that to be available for them, and I want it to be available to them for as long as they want to do it.”

Browne has about 35 total students currently, including 10-15 kids.

Click HERE to check out Arise Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s website, including class schedule and contact information – and HERE to check out their Facebook page.

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Several projects underway in Joplin

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JOPLIN, Mo. – There’s a lot of construction taking place in Joplin from homes to businesses and things in between.

With each passing month it seems more projects are popping up across Joplin. There’s areas with obvious work in progress and others where most of what’s happening is hidden behind historic walls. Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter says there’s efforts in place for more projects. “There is ongoing efforts to attract additional retail opportunities that will add to the livability of Joplin, we’re working on some things including grocery stores, movie theaters, that really make this community a little more dynamic and have more things to do.”

On the commercial side the 32nd Street Place, which will be anchored by Menards, is underway. There’s additional retail work taking place, like the site work on the future Braum’s at 26th and Main. Teeter says “More and more other areas of the city are starting to take off and a lot of adaptive reuse of existing buildings, I think the next chapter is a lot of the historic buildings in downtown Joplin are going to take new lives.”

That next chapter is something that Lori Haun and the Downtown Joplin alliance are keeping a close eye on. “We definitely have reached a level of momentum with downtown projects and it’s becoming visible enough that even people who aren’t intimately involved in it can see it happening.”

With a new hotel coming soon and two buildings being revamped for apartments, Haun’s looking forward to what this could mean for downtown Joplin. Haun says “Rehabbing an old building is great and it’s exciting to see that happen but, brand new construction where there’s been nothing before is really noticeable just for the average passersby that way, so, I think both of those in hand are part of what’s making it so successful.”

But, there’s something in the way of more robust growth. “Really, our biggest prohibitors of growth right now is talent attraction and retention and affordable housing and we’re really focused on those now.”

Teeter says they’re continuing to look at ways to solve those problems to continue growth in the city.

Lori Haun tells us between 2017 and 2020 there was $55 million in downtown project investments. She’s estimating more than $100 million in downtown project investments over the next four years.

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Panda Cares Foundation donates $25,000 to Boys and Girls Club of SWMO

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JOPLIN, Mo. — The Panda Cares foundation, the philanthropic arm of Panda Express, donated $25,000 to The Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Missouri.

The club plans to use it to bring an academic support program.

COPYRIGHT 2021 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.