Kyle Palmer  - JoCo Notes

JoCo Notes: Aquinas football standout JuJu Marks commits to Mizzou

Juju Marks. Photo via Instagram.

It’s Thursday, Blue Valley!

🌤 Today’s forecast: Partly sunny, slight chance for rain after noon. High: 81. Low: 65.

🚨 One thing to know today

The top prep football prospect in the state of Kansas has committed to the University of Missouri.

St. Thomas Aquinas defensive line standout Julian “JuJu” Marks announced his verbal commitment to Mizzou earlier this week on social media.

Marks is only a high school junior, so won’t play for the Tigers until 2025 if he keeps his commitment, but he has already garnered intense interest from college programs as the state of Kansas’s #1 high school prospect, according to Rivals.com.

The highly touted prospect also reportedly had offers from a number of other schools, including Auburn, Kansas State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

🚀 Post’s top Wednesday stories

  1. New homes going up in southern Leawood — Here are the details
  2. This year’s Best of Johnson County Home Services & Supplies winners
  3. Residents displaced in south Overland Park apartment fire
  4. This Blue Valley para is one of the district’s ‘most distinguished’
  5. Plans for new Panera at former Metcalf South site move ahead

📰 Other local news

  • Shots fired during road rage incident on I-35 in Olathe. One driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries when he was shot in the arm driving southbound on I-35 near 119th Street Tuesday, and another driver was taken into custody. [Olathe Police]
  • Patrick Mahomes-owned Whataburger opening soon in Olathe. The star Chiefs quarterback is an investor in a group behind a major expansion of the Texas-based fast food chain in the KC region. [Kansas City Star]
  • Insurance tech firm with OP office sold. Illustrate Inc., which helps insurance companies produce and explain quotes, has been bought by a Canadian firm. The company currently maintains an office on College Boulevard. [Kansas City Business Journal]

📸 A thousand words

Dozens of families participated in an “Outdoor Explore” event put on by Blue Valley Parents as Teachers earlier this month. Photo via Twitter/@bluevalleypat.

Hi! I'm Kyle Palmer and I'm the editor of the Blue Valley Post and the Shawnee Mission Post.

I believe deeply in the power of local news and strive each day to make our readers feel informed, so they can get the most out of life in this great place we all call home.

Our work is only possible because more than 7,000 Johnson Countians subscribe. To those of you who already support us as subscribers, THANK YOU! If you aren't a subscriber yet, I hope you'll try it out today! Your first month of full access is just $1.

A bit about me and my background:

Prior to joining the Post in 2020, I served as News Director for KCUR. I got my start in journalism at the University of Missouri, where I worked for KBIA, mid-Missouri's NPR affiliate. After college, I spent 10 years as a teacher and went on to get a master's degree in education policy from Stanford University.