Rebecca Gannon

Recent Articles

  • Metro mom honors lost newborn’s legacy by donating thousands of ounces of breast milk

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most health experts agree when it comes to feeding babies, breast milk is best. That`s why St. Luke`s has its own bank for donations of breast milk and provides milk for thousands of babies across the United States. Roughly 5 percent of those donations come from mothers who lost their newborns, including one metro mom who found a way to keep her newborn’s legacy alive. This is a story about a letter and leis, but mostly it`s […]

  • Special harness at metro hospital giving kids with disabilities more independence

    MERRIAM, Kan. — Watching your child take their first steps is a milestone, but for young children with disabilities, that milestone takes many years to reach. However, there’s a tool in the metro that can help, and there’s about to be a lot more of them. Two-year-old Skylar Spratley is a special kind of kid. When his mother looks at her blonde toddler with sky blue glasses, she smiles. “He can be bribed with just about anything with bubbles,” Wendy […]

  • Northland neighbors blame Claycomo Ford plant for ‘overwhelming’ odor

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — You know the smell of fresh cut lawns? That’s what it smells like in the Gracemor neighborhood right now. The Northland neighborhood is the kind of place where people still hang their laundry out to dry in the breeze, but it’s that breeze that’s creating problems. “This is the smelly neighborhood,” Gracemor resident Sarah Dobson said. Depending on who you talk to, you get different descriptions. “You can’t keep your windows open at night,” Dobson said. […]

  • Local group travels around Kansas City, praying at homicide scenes for end to voilence

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A local group spent Saturday morning trying to curb Kansas City’s recent violence with prayer. Bishop John Birmingham Jr. organized Violence Free KC’s Prayer Caravan. “This is an outward expresssion,” he explained, “of an inward rage against all the killings and murders in this city.” For 20 people, Saturday was a day of reckoning. “I got the idea of a prayer caravan going straight to these spots where the murders took place,” Birmingham said. So that’s […]

  • Kansas City nonprofit uses basketball, mentoring to turn metro boys into men

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Statistics from MENTOR show 1 in 4 public school children drop out of school before they finish high school, but mentoring can change that. For African-American and Hispanic students, roughly 3 out of 5 graduate from high school. One group in the metro is taking the challenge personally. The Society of Gentlemen has guided nearly 100 of young men from the Kansas City area over the last 10 years. But they aren’t done yet. In the Turnberry Boys […]

  • With no cap and gown, Independence prankster banned from graduation celebrates with family

    INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An Independence teen who was banned from graduation celebrated with friends and family Saturday, but it would have been nice, he says, if he could’ve had a photo of himself in a cap and gown, too. On Saturday morning, Truman High School’s class of 2018 graduated in Independence. At the same time, senior Kylan Scheele and his mother met with FOX4 in their front yard. “Today, I would be walking if all the events didn’t lead up […]

  • Paralyzing injury can’t keep Excelsior Springs graduate from walking to receive diploma

    EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — It’s a rite of passage for many in the metro right now — walking across that stage at graduation. For one young man in Excelsior Springs, it took a lot more than just making the grades to get there. FOX4 told you about Greg Murphy before.  In 2016, an ATV accident paralyzed him from the chest down. Yet this weekend, he managed to walk across the stage. At Excelsior Springs High School Friday night, as Greg […]

  • Mental Health Day at the K aims to strikeout the stigma

    Suicide is the second leading killer of Kansans ages 10 – 25, according to National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Kansas. And it says it is the third leading killer of people in the same age range in Missouri. The organization says suicide is almost always preceded by mental illness. Sunday at the K, more than 500 people came out to raise awareness of mental health, including Kelly Specht. The Specht certainly know how to throw a party. Hot dogs, […]

  • Activists hope St. Joseph dog who survived two bullets to the head will prompt stricter laws against animal abuse

    OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Animal advocates congregated in Overland Park Saturday to meet and crown their new poster dog. Laggie is a pit bull, shot and left for dead near St. Joseph, Mo. in late April. She spent 10 days at Blue Pearl Veterinary Hospital, recovering from two bullets to the head. Her foster family wants her to become the face of change in animal abuse law in Kansas and Missouri. In a big home on the edge of Lee’s […]

  • Lawrence community rallies behind baby Grit in his battle with rare form of cancer

    LAWRENCE, Kan. — Grit. It’s the perfect name for a Lawrence baby about to undergo his sixth surgery, and his fourth at St. Jude. It’s a scene many of us take for granted: a family together, playing in their family room. As father Nolan Henderson said with a smile, “this is the most time we’ve spent together in this house since January 8th.” Nine-year-old Ella Avant played near the fireplace. “We’ve been home, and I like it a lot, because […]

  • Flightless Honor Flight pays tribute to veterans unable to fly

    Almost 400 WWII veterans die a day, according to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. That’s why the Honor Flight exists; the organization flies veterans to the national memorials in Washington, DC for a day. But what about those veterans who are unable to fly? Kansas City has a solution; the Flightless Honor Flight. “A flightless honor flight,” explained organizer Scott W. Sheridan, “is for those who are not able to take the trip to DC.” Saturday marked the third […]

  • Kansas considers relaxing morning alcohol sales

    A bill making its way through the Kansas legislature could redefine what a day is; at least, when it comes to alcohol.  Right now, in the state of Kansas, you can only order alcohol between 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. But with this new bill, day drinking could start sooner. Just like every other morning at Eggtc in Shawnee, the business has a busy brunch crowd. Some people take their brunch seriously.  Danny Sands is one of them, who ordered […]