Photojournalist Jon Haiduk

Photojournalist

Recent Articles

  • 81-year-old veteran gets new tiny home through local nonprofit after losing home to arson

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A heinous act left an 81-year-old veteran without a place to live, but fortunately, someone who thought that wasn’t right did something about it. Leonard Morris’ home was destroyed by firebombing, and he was forced to stay in a shelter. That is, until the Veterans Community Project stepped in. The nonprofit was started by fellow veterans focused on helping homeless veterans get housing and services to help them be self-sufficient. They built a community made up […]

  • Moving moment captured at KC’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Fountain

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the heart of Kansas City a memorial pays tribute to Vietnam veterans. David Baker designed the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Fountain that sits at Broadway and West 42nd Street, and crews installed it in 1985. The wall of the memorial contain the names of 336 KC-area Vietnam veterans who were killed or missing action. The fountains in front of the semi-circular wall represent the county’s growing involvement in the war culminating in two pools symbolic of […]

  • Abandoned Army ammunition plant in Johnson County won’t be fully cleaned until 2028

    JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — A sprawling tract of land just outside the metro won’t be ready for homes, shops or offices anytime soon. Cleaning up the old Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant is taking longer than local leaders would like. The facility stretches across 15 square miles of land just south of K-10, near De Soto, Kansas. For 50 years, Sunflower supplied the Army with chemical propellants used the shoot shells and rockets. The facility was big enough to need it’s […]

  • Take a trip inside the classroom of this year’s Christa Mcauliffe Pioneer in Education Award winner

    NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  For fifteen years, Lindsey Hatcher has been helping second graders shine at Chapel Hill Elementary in the North KC School District. This year the district honored her with the “Christa Mcauliffe Pioneer in Education Award.” Only one Northland teacher per year gets the award named after the pioneering teacher who died the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. Photojournalist Jon Haiduk spent some time with her. See a day in her life in the video player above.

  • London’s calling: North KC High School band preparing for exchange concert across the pond

    NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In less than two weeks, the North Kansas City High School band is heading across the pond for a once-in-a-lifetime performance. On March 18, Hornet band members will leave for London where they’ll get to perform with another high school band and have some fun, too. “I can’t imagine doing the things I’ve done without music, and i’m hoping that I’m giving them the same experiences,” NKC band director Carrie Epperson said. Epperson said it’s […]

  • Good Samaritan recognized for saving Shawnee family from house fire on Christmas Eve

    SHAWNEE, Kan. — A good Samaritan was honored Monday night after saving a Shawnee family when their home caught fire on Christmas Eve. Craig Christopher was driving down Shawnee Mission Parkway around 3 a.m. when he smelled smoke and knew something was wrong. He eventually got to a point where he could see flames coming from a nearby home where the Pennington family lived. Christopher called 911, but he didn’t stop there. He went to the home, woke up the […]

  • After weeks below freezing, people throughout the metro don’t let beautiful weather go to waste

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was long overdue. After weeks of below freezing temperatures, Kansas City finally got some pretty nice weather — at least for January. Fox 4 photojournalist Jon Haiduk caught up with some people in the metro who weren’t going to let Monday’s beautiful weather go to waste. See what Kansas Citians were up to in the video above.

  • ‘The Toy Man’ delivers thousands of toys to Kansas City metro kids this holiday season

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — He’s known as “the Toy Man.” Each year, Exide Technologies lets Michael Bergen take some time off to collect and hand out thousands of toys for metro children. “It’s Christmas, man. Getting together, putting smiles on little kids’ faces, children is what it’s about,” Bergen said. In November and December, he and his wife have handed out toys to about 6,000 kids. There are times when he’s tired, but the smiles are worth it, Bergen said. […]

  • KC area’s last living Pearl Harbor survivor recognized at ceremony in Mission

    MISSION, Kan. — Each year a Pearl Harbor ceremony takes place in Mission, Kansas. Several Pearl Harbor attack survivors  used to attend. Now there’s only one left in the metro. Dorwin Lamkin, a 95-year-old Navy veteran who served on the USS Nevada, is the last living survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack in the Kansas City area. “I knew there was trouble,” Lamkin said Thursday of that day 76 years ago. “It was hectic. I’m at a loss to describe.” On Thursday, Lamkin […]

  • An evening of decorating evil gingerbread cookies

    NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Those who love an untraditional twist to their holidays enjoyed their night in North Kansas City on Tuesday. It all seemed typical enough with the cookie decorating and watching a Christmas movie. These weren’t your typical gingerbread cookies, though. These were EVIL gingerbread men or women. The most evil bakers/decorators received prizes. After that, the group watched Krampus about a disillusioned boy who turns his back on Christmas. His lack of festive spirit unleashes the […]

  • Kansas City floral artist helps First Lady Melania Trump decorate the White House for the holidays

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Earlier this week First Lady Melania Trump unveiled the Christmas decorations at the White House — and one metro woman was part of that decorating process. KC floral artist Andrea Grist spent eight days at the White House, helping to prepare “the people’s house” for the holidays. “I’ve seen the White House from the outside, but this was an amazing experience to be inside,” she said. See the White House’s holiday decor and some of Grist’s special […]

  • Christmas tree shortage, trucking problems cause scare for local Boy Scout troop that sells trees for fundraiser

    MISSION, Kan. — Boy Scout Troop 199 has been selling Christmas trees for more than 50 years. But when a Christmas tree shortage crossed with a trucking snafu, the scouts wondered if they would have to close up shop early this year. “We were pretty nervous about it. I mean, it kind of scares all of us when we’re running low on trees,” Troop 99’s Camden Blake said. Luckily, their second truck of trees finally arrived Monday. “This is our […]