Claire McCaskill Asks a Great Question This Morning

Yes, now former Senator Claire McCaskill asks an excellent question and makes a great challenge to local, regional and state media.

Claire McCaskill @clairecmc "Let me say it again. 24 MASS VACCINATION SITES OVER THE NEXT WEEK. ONLY 1!!!! in Jackson County, St Louis County, St Louis City and Boone County. COMBINED! This is a scandal. Where are our journalists? Where are our elected officials? @GovParsonMO" This was her response to this post on Twitter. Mo Health & Sr Srvcs @HealthyLivingMo · Feb 23 Mass vaccination events for this week have been announced. Find more at: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/ #MOStopsCOVID | #ShowMeStrong Again, excellent question. We, here in Jackson County, Kansas City, only just came off Phase 1B, tier 1 in the last few days for these vaccinations which are for 1st responders, emergency services and public heath infastructure citizens only. Now, we're finally but only on high risk individuals 18-64 and individuals, citizens 65 and over. We only just got there very recently, in the last few days. So... Local news stations? KCPT? KCUR? KCTV5? KMBC? WDAF? Fox 4? We have a story for you. And we need to hear about this and badly.For that matter, Governor Parson? Do you have answers for us? Information? Solutions? Any good news? Anything encouraging?

Star Op/ed Piece Says Andrew Jackson Sculpture Should Stay

The Kansas City Star had an op/ed piece in the paper Sunday by a woman who is "...of Olathe ..." and "...works in art conservation with a professional background in analytical chemistry, studio art and art history", wrote that we should keep the statue of Andrew Jackson downtown at the courthouse.

 

Don’t ditch artistic Andrew Jackson 

courthouse statue

Which would be fine, sure, if our only emphasis or guide on this issue were art, sure. If it were only about sculpture, it would be great. Leave the statue there.

But it's not, no way, only about that. This is not about art.

It's also very much about history. It's about history and justice and fairness and racial equality and it's about not honoring, no longer honoring someone who was directly responsible for torturing and killing, yes killing, our own American citizens.  And that is Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson was a slaver, 

ethnic cleanser, and tyrant

Andrew Jackson: 

America’s Most Violent President

The Slave-Owning, 

Indian-Killing History Of The Man

These statues famously, famously went up in the early 1900s because African-Americans had been freed, had been no longer slaves in our nation. Our white citizens, we now know, wanted to "honor" these men of the South. They wanted to make sure they kept these African-American citizens "down" and "in their place." We know this. It's extremely well known. This, this is why these statues were made and installed.

How the US Got So Many Confederate Monuments

Confederate Statues Were Built To Further A 'White Supremacist Future'

Most Confederate Monuments Weren't Built Until the Rise of Jim Crow

Worse, Andrew Jackson not only owned fellow Americans, not only did he own slaves and support slavery of African-American in our nation, but he was also responsible for the torture and killing of an entirely additional race of Americans and that would be Native Americans, of course.

Andrew Jackson, Indian Removal, 

and the Trail of Tears

The author of this opinion piece clearly hasn't studied our national history. They clearly need to study Reconstruction after the Civil War, the Black Code laws, Jim Crow laws and even segregation from its inception to today.  This author seems to have clearly never seen but needs to see this piece from PBS.

Reconstruction: America After the Civil War

So sure, let's enjoy art. Let's enjoy artworks. Let's go to the Nelson and the Bloch Center for Contemporary Art and all the other places. Heck, the Country Club Plaza, wherever.

But let's make it clear.

This Andrew Jackson sculpture, which was put there to honor him, should come down.

Let there be no doubt.

And then, when we're done there, let's rename the county.

Truman County sounds good.

That Noise You Just Heard Was the Death Knell of the Kansas City Star

Yes, sadly, I'm afraid we just saw the precursor of our only local newspaper dying.

Hedge fund wins auction for 

Kansas City Star publisher

What this means, of course, is that this hedge fund, capitalistic, money grubbing, profit only ghouls that they are, will, one by one, cut costs and cut costs and possibly raise the pricing and sell things off left and right until there is nothing there.

I give them a year.

In one year or less, the Kansas City Star will be no more.

And though it is a shadow of its former self, the role a newspaper has to play is an important one.

A very important one. An extremely important role.

• Without a newspaper and their reporters, there will be no one to report on City Hall.
• No one to report on the Mayor.
• The City Council.
• County offices and what they do.
• County representatives.
• State offices and how they effect the area, the region and all of us.
• State representatives and their actions and intentions.
• Trends in the area.
• Highway construction and all its impacts and effect on all of us.

And so much more.

There will be, there is, no organization left to pick up this news and information slack.

The local TV news stations and their reporting, such as it is, if you can call it reporting, touch--and I mean touch--once in a while, on one or some of the biggest, fleeting stories, at best, at most. They'll show some big car wreck or police stakeout but for big, day to day coverage?  We've seen how they go from those, again, big "blow up", brief stories right to some cute little duck YouTube video showing it cross a road because a child helped it out. Or some other pointless, inane 10 second video.

Hard hitting, important news? From a 22 minute, local nightly TV show?

Fuggedaboudit.

And then there's local bloggers. Yes, I know. The irony and maybe even hypocrisy isn't lost on me, reporting about bloggers.

But here's the deal, I don't remotely try to touch on local reporting. It's not my goal nor ever has been.  Just don't say or think some local blogger can or will take up this news gathering slack. It isn't going to happen. They have no reporters, nothing.

Finally, there is the community that is built by having a newspaper. There is the foundation that is--was, used to be--set by having us all read the same source and get good, solid information about our area, our region, our state, our city and county. We were all "on the same page" literally and figuratively. It gave us all a place to start and naturally we wouldn't then all agree on everything but we had that shared base. It did bring us together.

No, it's not just a sad day for Kansas City and the metropolitan area.

It's a tragic day.

We will all be less informed, even less informed, far less informed if not, dare I say it,  even dumber yet.

Honestly.

I'd love to be wrong about this. I'd love to be mistaken. I'd nearly put money on it I'm not.

Links:

Why We Need Newspapers

Why Newspapers Are Still Important to Journalism?

Why We Need Local Newspapers to Protect the Common Good 

This is why we need newspapers

Very Sobering Headline and Article Today on America and this Pandemic--and KCMO is here, too

I thought this important to share from The Hill today.

COVID-19 surge pushes US toward deadly cliff

The coronavirus is spreading at ever-faster rates in a broad array of states, putting the U.S. on the precipice of an explosion of illness that threatens to overwhelm the nation's health care system.

The painful economic lockdowns imposed in March gave the country time to flatten the epidemiological curve and contain the virus. But that window of opportunity, which came at great economic cost, is quickly slamming shut. Health experts say all signs point to a deadly summer and fall unless government leaders implement a much more robust national strategy.

The breadth of the spread is staggering. Forty-three states have seen the number of cases confirmed on an average day increase in the last two weeks. The number of patients in hospitals has risen over the same period in 29 states. More than 80 percent of intensive care beds are occupied in Alabama, Arizona and Georgia.

The same models that predicted surges in Phoenix, Houston and Miami now show a new and broader round of cities as the likely next epicenters. The number of confirmed cases is likely to rise substantially in places like Atlanta, Kansas City, Mo., Tulsa, Okla., and Greenville, S.C.

The virus also appears to be traveling north along the I-95 corridor. Cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore, which struggled through earlier peaks of viral transmission, are now seeing early signs of a second wave. Transmissions even appear to be rising in New York City.

On the other side of the country, outbreaks in California have grown to unprecedented proportions. The Golden State is now averaging more than 7,900 new cases a day, substantially more than its seven-day average just two weeks ago.

Public health experts warn that the U.S. has only a fleeting window in which to wrestle the virus back under some form of control. Without a stronger national response, including restrictions on large gatherings and requirements that people wear masks in public, the risk of a second peak could bring new lockdowns and more economic harm, derail the beginning of the new school year and even overwhelm local health systems.

"Our projections show that without immediate actions to significantly reduce travel and social distancing nationwide, this virus will not only threaten our ability to reopen schools in the coming weeks, but our capacity to care for the sickest individuals," said David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia whose models forecast higher case counts.

More than 3.1 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as 25 million people in the U.S. may have contracted it. More than 133,000 people have died, almost twice as many victims as in Brazil, the second-hardest hit country.

Cities that successfully avoided early explosions of cases are now in the crosshairs after the loosening of restrictions in some states and regions that helped avoid what studies have suggested would have been tens of millions of infections.

"I would be lying if I didn't say I was concerned," Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Quinton Lucas said in an interview. "We have looked at the trends out of Texas, Arizona and Florida. Those states kind of reflect the political choices that were made statewide in Missouri, and that does give us concern."

The Kansas City metropolitan area has confirmed more than 10,000 coronavirus cases. The PolicyLab model shows Jackson County, Mo., is likely to experience more than 200 new cases every day by the beginning of August.

Rubin warned that smaller cities are likely to experience significant outbreaks in the coming weeks, potentially straining health systems that are not as prepared to handle a high volume of patients in need of intensive care. College towns like South Bend, Ind., and Tuscaloosa, Ala., are beginning to see case counts rise even with most students gone.

"We're starting to see a mild uptick," said James Mueller, South Bend's mayor. "We're in a much better position now than we were for the first increase or the first peak."

At other levels of government, some who have sought to downplay the severity of the American outbreak have pointed to an increasing number of tests being conducted across the country, which they say will naturally lead to identification of those who have only minor symptoms or asymptomatic cases. But the number of cases is rising faster than would be accounted for by the increase in testing; the share of tests coming back positive is rising in 38 states.

More than a quarter of tests conducted in Arizona are coming back positive, according to state data. More than 15 percent of tests are coming back positive in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

Governors in 23 states have ordered residents to wear masks in public, though President Trump has refused to order a nationwide mask mandate. Trump has instead focused on reopening the economy, insisting that schools operate as normal in the months before he faces voters in November.

__________________________________

We have GOT to pull together, people, America, Americans. All of us.

Link:

Florida records more than 15,000 new COVID-19 cases in one day, the highest single-day increase in any state

Surgeon general says U.S. can reverse coronavirus surge in a few weeks 'if everyone does their part'

Leaving World Health Organization marks major foreign policy blunder

On Institutionalized Racism: Now, Two Things Kansas City Can and Should Do

Given the killing of George Floyd and the consequent race protests across the nation and world, now would be an excellent time for Kansas City to make a couple more changes. Sure, it's been announced the local police are finally going to have and wear cameras on them all the time and that's a great change but here are two more we should make.

First, as Steve Kraske so well and rightly said some time ago, we need to rename the JC Nichols Fountain.

Steve Kraske: Kansas City should confront racist past and rename J.C. Nichols fountain

JC Nichols was a publicly known racist. He's one of the biggest reasons the city was and still is, to this day, so racially segregated and separated. Mr. Kraske did a great job of calling it out at the time, thankfully. Unfortunately, that was 3 years ago and nothing has yet been done. It's incredibly ironic that these racial protests are taking place around the fountain named after him and at the shopping center he created.

Then, next, the second thing we should do, as a city, is to finally, at long last, take down the Andrew Jackson statue downtown. There is no bigger or worst, known racist than Andrew Jackson, former President or no.

Andrew Jackson, President, Patriot, War Hero, Racist

Andrew Jackson was a slaver, 

ethnic cleanser, and tyrant

The 11 Most Racist U.S. Presidents

Andrew Jackson Racist Quotes

The state and Governor of Virginia are doing it, so should we.

Virginia governor announces removal of 

Robert E. Lee statue

Philadelphia, too, removed a statue of racist former Mayor Frank Rizzo.

Philadelphia removes statue 

of controversial former mayor

Birmingham, too, did the right thing and removed a statue. This was 2 days ago.

Birmingham Mayor Orders Removal 

of Confederate Monument

This was announced late today.

Kentucky governor: Jefferson Davis statue should be moved

To be clear and complete, too, we should take down this Andrew Jackson statue downtown and melt it down, not put it anywhere else.

It's time, Kansas City. It's time.   In fact, it's long, long past time.

Let's do this.

Let's change both.

Additinal links:

Steve Kraske: I’m still talking about J.C. Nichols, racism and renaming the fountain

Kraske: Rename Plaza Fountain Because Racism

Fantastic Irony and Coincidence

I just saw this on the Kansas City Public Library's website, earlier today.

On this day...

Plane Speaking | KC HISTORY

On November 11, 1972, the Kansas City International Airport officially opened for commercial service. The airport replaced the existing Mid-Continent Airport at the same location. Twenty years before, the 1951 flood destroyed many Fairfax Airport facilities on the west side of the Missouri River and compromised operations at the downtown Municipal Airport. With the area’s two main airports shut down, Kansas City began planning a new airport 20 miles north of the flooded city.

In the same week we voted to bulldoze our very convenient, very workable airport.

Pretty bizarre.

Have a great weekend, y'all, regardless.

Happy Birthday, Roy Inman!

Yes, indeed, wishing a very happy, happy birthday to Kansas City's own professional photographer and area history recorder, Roy Inman.

Roy Inman

Roy Inman Photographs | Facebook

Royals Rally Poster | Union Station

Photo gallery - | The Kansas City Star

Roy Inman Archives - Boelte-Hall

Roy Inman | Missouri Photojournalism 

Hall of Fame

Roy Inman - Artwork for Sale - Lenexa, KS

And then there's his blog:

Fire-Eating Press Photographer

No one has documented this city or area or region and people any more or better than you, sir. Thank you and kudos to you for your work, all these years. Terrific stuff.

For, I believe, all his working life, Roy has been photographing and documenting Kansas City, the metropolitan area and region, at least. Some of the best photos of and in the area were captured by him. It was only last Fall, Roy got on top of Union Station, for just a moment, just a shot and got what I believe most everyone in the area thinks is the best photo of the celebration there for our world champion Kansas City Royals. (Go to his Facebook page to see it, at least. It's also available for sale).

If you follow him on Facebook, you will frequently get some terrific Kansas City and local history as well as information on past trains and planes from the nation and world. It's interesting and fun, frequently.

So, again, happy birthday, Roy Inman and thank you for all the years you captured us and our city. We appreciate all you've done and all you've captured for us.

As an extra, added bonus this year, I know you are aware the President and Royals are giving you an extra special gift, too.

Champion Kansas City Royals to visit 

White House July 21

Enjoy!

Kansas City Takes 2 Hits

Yes sir, it seems our Kansas City area takes two hits today, in the media, with an article just out.

The 30 places in the U.S. where 

you're most likely to be murdered

This really surprised me and for a couple reasons. 

Naturally, I hoped Kansas City wouldn't even be on the list, in any way. After that, if we were on it, as I thought we might be, I figured it would only be one city or area, not two.

It wasn't to be.

At number 26 of the 30 is our own Jackson County, Missouri.

I thought sure this would be the only area on the list, first, and frankly, I am pleased we're all the way down to 26, at the end of the list.

Here's the shocker:

Kansas' Wyandotte County was in the (rather high) number 12 spot.  They just missed the top 10.

That's depressing.

But for Missouri, there's really bad news. 

I figured Detroit was maybe in the number one spot, right?

No.

Who was it? Who is it?

Our very own St. Louis.

Scary.

Great Kansas City News Coverage

Purely to make sure more Kansas Citians saw this coverage of our city, Kansas City, and Jackson County on our well-known "Secret Santa" from the CBS Evening News. It is from last year, 2014, but I thought it bears repeating.


Happy holidays, y'all.

Thank you, Ewing and Muriel Kauffman

Thank you, Ewing. Thank you, Muriel. Thank you so much. We'll never forget.

We'll never forget you. We're forever grateful.

Former Kansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman and his wife, Muriel, before the start of a 1985, October World Series game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals at Royals Stadium.

ROYALS WIN THE 2015 WORLD SERIES!!!

To any and all Kansas City bloggers--and anyone else--who didn't believe and who thought we couldn't and/or wouldn't take it all.

In Which We Give David Glass His Due

A few years ago, when the Kansas City Royals were continually losing at baseball and the owner, David Glass, was spending very little on the team and being ranked one of the 3 worst Major League Baseball owners, I and a lot of others spoke ill of Mr. Glass and his ownership and managerial skills.

That was then.

Since that time, Mr. Glass has begun spending more on the the team and putting the right people in place to make things happen, in positive ways, for those same Royals, our own Kansas City Royals.

So here we are, the 2nd time the team is in the playoffs for the World Series--and won. So Tuesday, as the entire city and state and region and heck, the nation, knows, the Kansas City Royals are World Series bound.

So here's to you, Mr. Glass. We disparaged both your spending and managerial work. It's only fitting that we now, when they're winning, honestly praise him for getting the team where they are now.

Kudos to you, Mr. Glass.

And thank you.

Now, please keep it going, long as possible.

To Any and All Kansas City Sports Naysayers!

Suck it, haters!

Royals clinch second straight AL pennant, beat Blue Jays 4-3 to advance to World Series

Fantastic, Thoughtful, Generous Idea From Terrific Local Artist

Check out what Kansas City's own Michael Savage is doing. He posted this today on his Facebook page.

Took a day off…don’t know what to do?!

So I was thinking….always a dangerous thing, I know. And I thought, it’s time for a new “contest” for art! (don’t mind all the commas, not a wordsmith like someone I know)

Here it is! Every month I am going to give a piece of art work, of my choice, away, duh, to one lucky (presumptuous?) and creative person.

Now the the deal. In the wake of so much sadness and craziness these days, and I’ll leave it at that, all I ask is for you, to enter, is to take a pic or record one random act of kindness ( or more) that you yourself instigate. Don’t plan on it, let it happen naturally. I know you have to have your camera ready, but isn’t it always!? Ha! And keep it simple. Example. Help the little old lady across the street. Help change someone’s tire. Buy someone a coke or coffee, hug a sad person, put a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser when you empty it, cook some food for a needy family, pick a worm up after a heavy rain and set him in the grass, help someone move (well maybe not go that far). Make it fun, charitable, difficult, easy….it doesn’t matter. The point is to be kindand do it with a happy face. No smile, no win. I know most of us do this already, but I think it would be cool at the end of the month to see all the great heartfelt examples captured.

I believe we can have fun and share with our friends on this site. Because you wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could be friends. Goofy? Yes I am, but I want to show that we as humans are good and fun and happy. Please don’t feel obliged, but do feel free at the end of each month to participate in looking at the entries, commenting and going away happier.

So….start thinking or preferably not, and just remember to keep that camera ready! And don’t try too hard….it’ll just happen. Thanks and I hope you like the idea. I’ll throw some in there too!

Oh, and if you prefer not to post on this thread (I’ll keep reminding us throughout each month). Feel free to message me. And If you win, I’ll ask you first if you want to be known. And if you don’t I’ll just describe it. Cool? Good luck MY friends. We can change the world.

Especially for free art? Sav

What a cool thing, right?

Virtually any Kansas Citian knows his work, I think, either because of him or because of his fantastic style. For instance, here's one of his takes on our own Country Club Plaza.

Kansas City is so very fortunate to have artists--and people--like Michael living and creating right here in the city. (Charlie Podrebarac, too, I think and all the others, far too many to mention).

So there you are, Kansas City! Go out there and keep doing those nice things for others. For at least a while here, once a month, you'll get a huge reward for it, too! And thank you very much, Michael!

Fantastic KC Video

Fantastic.   From local videographer Dan Wood. 

Happy Birthday, Harry Truman

Kansas City? Weird?

Yes, Kansas City is on a list recently of the top 10 weirdest cities in the nation:

They're Weird and Proud: America’s Quirkiest Cities

Kansas City? Weird? Number 8 of 10?

What they had to say about us:

These Midwesterners may have struck readers as thrifty and no-nonsense, but that doesn’t make them dull. The city ranked highly for both its museums and its sense of history—though some of that history is distinctly outside the box. TakeThe 1950s All-Electric House, which was originally built to be a glimpse of the future (when everyone, for instance, would have electric curtain openers). Or you can explore the Arabia Steamboat Museum, where you can see a fascinating array of pre-Civil War artifacts, recovered 132 years after the boat sank in the Missouri River. The city also ranked in the top 10 for its coffee, exemplified nicely at Oddly Correct, where cream and sugar are verboten.

I ask again, weird? Kansas City?  It's Independence that has the Hair Museum.

Entertainment Overnight -- The Beautiful City

Kansas City Lights from Dan Wood on Vimeo.

Entertainment Overnight -- Kansas City

Paris of the Plains from Tim Lair on Vimeo.

The Best Burger in Missouri?

There's an article out today from Yahoo ranking the best burger in each of the 50 states:

Are These the Best Burgers in All 50 States?

And their pick for the number one burger in Missouri knocked me out:

Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill
Kansas City
The burger: Patty melt
The burger at Five Bistro in St. Louis was hard to beat. But Westport Flea Market, which is really less a flea market (check out the wacky cages in the front!) and more of a bar, just managed to take the top spot with their McGonigle’s Market beef burger. I like the patty melt here because it takes 5.5oz of that McGonigle beef and throws it on toasted rye with Swiss and grilled onions. But if you want a challenge, the Super Flea is five 10oz burgers topped with bacon, cheese, and 2lbs of fries. Eat it in 30 minutes and you’ll get a T-shirt, your picture on the wall, AND ALSO MAYBE DIE. Which is maybe why, as I said, we’re fans of the patty melt.

Pretty cool. Doubly great since McGonigle's Market also got a mention.
So now you know. Want the best burger in town? In the state? Here's your place. To Yahoo, anyway.