LS Lowdown: 🎾 Pickleball Pointers, BBQ News, and Big Wins for LSR7

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

Hey Lee’s Summit! Here’s what’s happening this week!

Welcome back to the Lee’s Summit Lowdown! I’m so glad you’re here.

It’s been a week of major headlines and even bigger community heart. We’re talking school victories, pickleball pointers, and a very special reason to raise a glass at the Goat Brewing Co.

I’ve rounded up the latest shifts, starts, and stops around town to keep you ahead of the curve. Let’s jump into the Lowdown!

🐐 Jeremy Kneeland is the heart and soul of The Goat Brewing Co., but he’s currently facing a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis. The Lee’s Summit community has already raised over $26,000 on GoFundMe to help him with medical bills. It’s a powerful reminder that our local business owners are loved by our community.

🍎 LSR7 staff got a major win on April 7th. Voters approved the Prop C Full Waiver, keeping about $4 million in the district for staff raises and benefits.

🤖 🎺 The Lee’s Summit North Broncobots took first in the Greater Kansas City Regional and the Lee’s Summit North and Lee’s Summit West band performed in 2026 National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington, DC.

🍯 The Downtown Lee’s Summit Farmers Market is officially open for the 2026 season at the Green Street Market building. Stop by Wednesdays or Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Get there early if you want the good honey!

🎾 If you’ve been itching to play, the Longview Pickleball Complex is finally the standard for local courts. They have 12 courts open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., and you can check the live feed on the city website to see if it’s crowded before you drive over.

When the Longview courts are packed, don’t be that person – use the Paddle Rack Rotation. Limit games to one set to 11 or 20 minutes so everyone gets a turn. 😉

🍔 Oldham Village is about to get a lot tastier. Q39 BBQ is under construction and aiming for a mid-2026 opening. Smalls Sliders has already dropped their shipping-container building on-site, and Dutch Bros. Coffee is moving through approvals. We’re also hearing Tiki Taco is eyeing a spot on Douglas Street later next year.

🚧 Spring construction is officially here, which means orange barrels are everywhere. The Pryor Road project is the biggest headache: intersections at Eagle Creek and Eagle View are closed until June, and Longview Road at Pryor shuts down this Monday (April 13) for a month. Use Ward Road or Hook Road to get around the mess.

Other spots to watch: SW Robin Road has gas main work through April 16, and NW Lake Drive starts speed hump installation on April 23. Leave ten minutes earlier than you think you need to!

⏪ The LS Loop

What happened while you were living your life last week

On Thursday, The Lee’s Summit R-7 Board of Education voted 6-1 to approve a revised compensation package for the 2026-2027 school year, following a successful 60.14% vote for Prop C. The proposal aims to fix the starting salary schedule for first year educators to be more competitive. While Board Member Haley argued that percentage-based raises unfairly favor high-paid administrators over teachers – pointing out that an admin might get $3,000 while a teacher gets $975 – the majority decided a district-wide increase was the only way to stay competitive.

Superintendent Dr. Buck and Board Member Nickens defended the plan, noting that excluding leadership leads to salary compression and makes it hard to convince anyone to take on the heavy responsibility of being an administrator. They also mentioned that neighboring districts are already poaching staff with higher pay.

Even Board Member Garrett, who had some doubts due to the increases not being focused towards teachers, ended up voting yes. She didn’t want to be the reason teachers missed out on a payday. It’s a tough balance to strike, but for now, the district is choosing to keep its leadership pipeline intact while giving everyone a bump to combat those rising costs.

TL;DR: Pay is going up across the board to stay competitive with neighboring districts.

🎸 Live & Local

Where to find the best tunes this week.

Sunday, April 12

Tuesday, April 14

  • Karaoke: 8:00 PM @ The Pink Elephant (Featuring the LS Lowdown “Misty Dawn” cocktail!)

Wednesday, April 15

Thursday, April 16

Friday, April 17

Saturday, April 18

Know a local musician I missed? Hit reply and let me know who’s playing next weekend!

📝 The Weekly Lineup

Put these on your radar so you don’t miss out.

Monday, April 13

Tuesday, April 14

Wednesday, April 15

  • Downtown LS Farmers Market: 8:00 AM @ Green St

Thursday, April 16

Friday, April 17

Saturday, April 18

Sunday, April 19

✍️ Help Me Shape the Lowdown

That’s the Lowdown for this week! Thanks for spending a few minutes of your Sunday with me. If you have a local story I should know about or just want to say hi, hit reply and let me know.

See you around town!

Thanks for being part of the Lowdown crew!

– Jen

 Editor, Lee’s Summit Lowdown

P.S. I’ll be at The Pink Elephant this Tuesday for Karaoke night! I’m planning on sipping the LS Lowdown cocktail of the month, the Misty Dawn. If you’re there, please come say hi – I’d love to meet some of you in person (and I promise not to judge your song choice)!

How did we do in this edition?

Was this email forwarded to you? We’re glad you’re here! If you want to get these local events delivered straight to your own inbox every week, you can click here to subscribe.


Powered by beehiiv

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *