An outdoor fitness court could be part of $3.8 million in improvements coming to Garrett Park in Shawnee this year. As part of a plan to build 5,000 courts in the the U.S. by 2030, the National Fitness Campaign awarded the City of Shawnee $40,000 to build an exercise area at the park off of West 47th Street near Monticello Road. The court would be incorporated into a $3.8 million redevelopment plan for Garrett Park, which also includes improvements to its playground, parking lot and sidewalks. The Shawnee City Council will consider whether to accept the grant at tonight’s meeting at 7 p.m. at Shawnee City Hall. The court’s equipment uses bodyweight exercises intended for adults of all ages, abilities and fitness levels. “The intent of it is to provide opportunities for free fitness areas for the public to use,” said Tonya Lecuru, Shawnee’s parks and recreation director. It features seven exercise zones: Core, Squat, Push, Lunge, Pull, Agility and Bend. It guides people through them via a downloadable app and QR codes they can scan. It will also incorporate art and social opportunities for people to gather and workout. “Monticello in itself is a really highly used area for walkers, bikers and runners,” Lecuru said. “It just kind of adds to the overall opportunities for people to have healthy choices within the parks.”
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

In recent public presentations to city leaders, Overland Park police officials have called shoplifting and retail crimes a “crisis.” The statement, made by Interim Police Chief Simon Happer during the Jan. 10 Overland Park City Council Public Safety Committee, followed two relatively high-profile incidents involving shoplifting that seriously endangered bystanders. “It’s been a big crisis,” Interim Chief Happer said. But a review of data the Post obtained through public records requests tells something of a different story. Those figures suggest that, in fact, the prevalence of reported retail thefts and arrests are not increasing but staying broadly static over the past decade. That being said, department officials say they aren’t so worried about run-of-the-mill shoplifting but what they call organized retail theft. Happer said the department and the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office are working together to “put an end to this crisis of these thefts.” “It’s run and grabs,” he said. “They walk in, they grab as much as they can, they walk out.” A review of data the Post obtained through public records requests suggests — despite a few headline-grabbing incidents — combined reports and arrests stemming from shoplifting and retail theft remain below their pre-pandemic peaks.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post