David Cook, Blue Springs resident and winner of season seven of American Idol, flipped the switch to turn on thousands of Christmas lights at the KCP&L Plaza Lights 2008 ceremony last Thursday.

Lee’s Summit Medical Center will close the emergency department at the Summit Ridge campus and the OB unit at the main campus, effective Jan. 31, according to Damond Boatwright, CEO and president of Lee’s Summit Medical Center.

All it took was one look at a candid photograph that slipped from Belinda Bardo’s wallet.

With Christmas music playing softly in the background, volunteers are scattered around the warehouse, unpacking and arranging toys on tables. There’s some debate about if another table is needed, as overflowing boxes sit on the floors and games are stacked six or eight high. Barbies, stuffed animals, dolls, toy cars, Legos, bikes, dollhouses and other toys of all sizes and shapes cover every available surface.

A Blue Springs resident has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action following a homicide investigation Monday.

For the Loss family of Lee’s Summit, ballet is the family business. This year, third-generation ballerina, Isabella, 10, will follow in her grandmother’s and mother’s footsteps as she takes the stage as a toy solider in Kansas City Ballet’s production of the “The Nutcracker.”

The annual ReDiscover the Holidays Homes Tour raises funds and awareness for ReDiscover, a nonprofit agency that serves over 33,000 local children, adults and families in Jackson County.

Little Caesars Pizza is celebrating the grand opening of its newest location, 303 N.E. Todd George Rd.

Jarrod Carroll had a big heart.

Thanksgiving conjures up images of friends and family gathering together, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, cheering a favorite football team to victory and, of course, writing up Christmas lists and making a game plan for black Friday shopping.