KANSAS CITY — A Missouri Supreme Court ruling may open the door for students in failing Kansas City schools to transfer into neighboring school districts. The state high court rejected claims that school transfers would impose an unfunded mandate on other school districts.

The case involves St. Louis schools, but it’s similar to a pending appeal involving districts around Kansas City that are also claiming school transfers are unconstitutional.

State law allows students to transfer out schools that aren’t accredited. Since the St. Louis case was filed, schools there have regained provisional accreditation. The Kansas City School District continues to work to regain provisional accreditation. That’s why many suspect the ruling may have more of an impact here.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Notable meteorologist and storm chaser Reed Timmer is in Kansas City Tuesday evening to talk about being eye-to-eye with twisters.

While Timmer will be speaking at Wednesday’s “School Day at the K,” he’s also speaking out about friends killed in the most recent tornado in Oklahoma — and how serious storm chasers need to take these storms.

“The big mystery of tornado science is what the wind speeds are right near the ground and that’s why we built these vehicles, so we can get close to the tornado.”

Those vehicles — what he dubs the “Dominator” — are 8,500 pounds of steel, built to get close enough to monster tornadoes.

The armored tank, and the team behind it with tornadovideos.net, are in Kansas City talking about an issue that’s generating a lot of debate in the chasing community.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After closing in 2009 Hale Cook Elementary School in Waldo will re-open this fall. But, the Kansas City Missouri School District is still trying to boost enrollment.

To date the district says 26 students have enrolled at Hale Cook. That’s only enough students to make up one kindergarten classroom. Still, the District says it’s enough for Hale Cook to open in the fall as a school within a school at Hartman Elementary.

Tuesday night interested parents with kindergarten and first graders in the Kansas City, Missouri School District can tour the building, ask questions and enroll their child.

The District says once enough students enroll to support two full kindergarten classrooms renovations will be able to begin at the elementary school. In recent months the building has been given an outside facelift. In May volunteers donated hundreds of man hours to clean up the campus through mulching, weeding, painting and other work.