Note and Information To and For All Kansans!

Kansans! Are you watching this? Are you watching and listening to these? Do you know what's taking place in Topeka on your behalf?


Thank you, Davis Hammet and Loud LIght! Thanks for all this great work and information and reporting.

Star Wins Big Award

Yes sir and ma'am, our own Kansas City Star won a terrific award this week for its report on Kansas government keeping information away from its own citizens.

The Star earns national Pulliam 

First Amendment Award

The award is for this series:

Kansas is ‘one of the most secretive, 

darkest states’

Fantastic.

With this thought, it's the perfect time to say the Star needs to do more hard-hitting articles like these. This is what newspapers are for. This is why we need newspapers generally and the Star, here, locally. If the Star doesn't do it, no one else will. Certainly not some local blogger.

We need them to do more hard-hitting articles like these on state and local governments in the area and on both sides of the state line. This and do more articles on local people in the metropolitan area. Both types of these articles will gain far better readership for them, too. 

Total wins for all of us.

What Is It With KCPT and White People?

(crackers.  far as the eye can see).

Okay, so I asked here 3 weeks ago about our local PBS station, KCPT and their local, weekly news program, "Ruckus" when they had a fully bleached-white guest panel.  I will note that, since then, for whatever reason, they've wisely and kindly had mixed-race guests. Hopefully, that will go into the future.

Now, this week, their local news program "Kansas City Week in Review" with the very British and wonderful Nick Haines discussed two issues this week--the upcoming Missouri tobacco tax and the Johnson County Public Safety tax.

On neither issue was their even one "person of color."

Just saying.

Now, we know there are no Black or Hispanic people in Johnson County, sure. (Right?). That's why everyone moved out there, all those years ago, of course. And still, to this day, we know there are no "people of color" in any positions of authority, in government offices out there. I'm just sure of it. (Is it even legal?).

But on that first question? The Missouri state tobacco tax?

Nothing but white people?

Over the entire state?

Just asking.

Link:  Kansas City Week in Review - KCPT

Now, dead birds in Overland Park

More natural weirdness.

Note the weekly, stupid article from The Star today

Here it is again from The Kansas City Star: DUI checkpoint planned for this weekend Kansas City police will operate a sobriety checkpoint this weekend. I mean, come on, don't we pretty much know the Kansas City Police and/or the Overland Park police are going to be out virtually every weekend, checking for drunk drivers? Isn't that pretty much common knowlege? And for whom is this article, anyway? Is it to tell the drunks or the sobers? Honestly, it's virtually the same article every time, too: "The time and location of the checkpoint was not disclosed, except that it will be conducted sometime Friday through Sunday at a location known for drunken-driving-related crashes or arrests." Notes to The Kansas City Star: 1) Do us a favor, you can stop printing this article. Forever. Really. We know. and 2) It's doing yourself a favor, too, hopefully. Maybe you could have an honest-to-goodness reporter go out, dig up a story and print it in this space, instead, and improve your readership. As stated earlier, the city of KCMO just let a $1m contract for IT work that went to a company down in Florida. Go snoop around there and see what you can find. If all else fails, go talk to Russ Ptacek before he leaves town. See if he'll give you any tips on how to do reporting. He's good at it and knows what to do and where to go. With all the cities around here, surely there's a scandal somewhere, in case you ever get interested in news. Link to original article: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/21/3441992/dui-checkpoint-planned-for-this.html

TKC reports: $1m "Emergency" IT Contract at City Hall

As Tony reports today on his blog (http://www.tonyskansascity.com/), the city of Kansas City, Missouri apparently just let a contract for one million dollars for an "emergency" IT contract. Three things come to me, right away: First, I hope it was competed, competed fairly and wisely and they can prove it. Second, seriously, as said in the comments section at Tony's blog---why couldn't/didn't they find someone local who would supply these services? I find it difficult to believe there aren't companies here in the area--in the city itself?--that can't and don't supply them. Third and finally, was this contract rushed through? And if it was, why and by whom? Let's hope it wasn't. Now we need a Russ Ptacek-type reporter SOMEWHERE in this town--the Star? KMBC? KSHB? KCTV? somehere--to go do some digging on this and find out at least that much about this contract. It's not so much to ask. Link: http://cityclerk.kcmo.org/liveweb/Documents/Document.aspx?q=FJdztn5pZS50Yvhu0FN92nVbLLjL49qzHW30zeQ6AjxFZ84X8ymz7wOiRYRgkDFa

KC and NW Missouri on NPR this weekend

So they covered our KCMO School District, Gates Barbecue and now this--farming and building a tractor and other items from scratch up in nearby Maysville. Heads up to The Kansas City Star: these people came in the area and rooted out fresh, relevant stories from our area. Maybe your reporters could do the same? It's a thought. I know you used to. Link: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/19/147110017/building-a-village-one-home-brewed-tool-at-a-time

Yet more proof of why we need newspapers

The Star on Sunday printed a front page article about a doctor locally who had been reprimanded many times about possible bad health care practices and may even have been responsible for patients dying but the hospitals he worked for and other health care givers around him didn't warn antyone. It's a great article, serves terrific purposes and is, as I said here in the past and above, why we need good reporters, journalists and newspapers. Yet, with newspapers dying, no good online source, at least locally, has yet stepped in to fill these huge and important shoes. I'm comfortable with newspapers dying if for no other reasons than that they are on paper and fell far too many trees and then must be distributed by truck and so, burning oil which keeps us addicted to the Middle East but some online site needs to, one day very soon, fill in this important role and that of reporting on local government and public agencies and institutions, etc. Until that happens, we are all weakened, mightily as a community. We know less so we're far less likely to have control of our lives. Here's hoping it happens soon and we get a local online media site with good reporters and journalists. Maybe that's the Star's online site but it doesn't seem that that's filling the need yet. Link to original post: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/03/3119465/bad-medicine-doctors-with-histories.html

KCMO and KCK Mayors come together for a pow-wow

Good for them. I'd have love to attended and asked some rather pointed questions. One of the things I'd like to ask them is if they couldn't work together on the crime and shootings aspects of the region. Both have that same problem though, admittedly, Mayor James has it much worse, it seems, on the East side. Here's another thing these two mayors should work on--in fact, all the mayors in the region should get together, discuss problems and solutions but also commit to each other that wee'll stop this stupid, repeated and incessant habit of trying to steal one another's workers and jobs and companies away from each other. Then, that should be followed by the two governors of the two states--Missouri and Kansas--and the legislators. When this happens, when we allow companies to negotiate tax deals between cities and counties and states, only the companies win. Everyone else, but particularly the taxpayers and state revenues lose. It's stupid, as I said, and we need to stop allowing this to happen. Here's hoping. Link: http://www.kctv5.com/story/15238850/mayors-come-together-to-discuss-google-and-unity

Someone told him there was a "worm hole" inside

This just out:

High-speed chase ends inside McDonald's

A 45-minute chase that went through areas of both sides of the state line ended Tuesday morning when the driver got out of the car and ran into a Kansas City McDonald’s.

Link:  

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/crime/driver-leads-police-on-chase-through-kansas-city

KCMO Police Dept: Credit where it's due

So many times, with so many things, if something is done badly, everyone screams bloody murder about it.  Right?

You bet.

But done right, done correctly?

Virtually no matter what it is, with too few exceptions, certainly, you don't hear a thing.

That seems especially true with any government office, in general, but police departments, perhaps, particularly.

So when I saw an article at the Star about how the KCMO Police Department apprehended and arrested 3 men for a "robbery attempt" ahead of the robbery---before it even happened, I had questions.

The biggest question was how did they do that?

How did they arrest 3 men for a robbery attempt BEFORE it happenend?

It sounded like something out of Tom Cruise's "Minority Report" movie, of course, with the police arresting people prior to an act.  Again, how could and did they do that?

So it was an interesting article to read (see link below) and I have to say, kudos, salutations and congratulations to these officers and the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department for a terrific job, extremely well done.

If you read the article--as everyone in KCMO should--you can see it took some homework and at least 3 mornings in a row of extremely early wakeup calls.  (Wanna' deride it?  YOU get yer butt outta' bed 3 days in a row at about 4 am to catch some would-be thieves, try to remain anonymous and be successful in catching the clowns.  See if you like it or it's easy.)

Just don't forget:  "Let's be careful out there."

Links:  http://www.kansascity.com/2010/12/20/2533968/robbery-attempt-allegedly-thwarted.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/

On opening the paper today

The Star today, this morning, continues to impress. Just seeing the front page of the paper today cofnirms this. If you only saw the 3 front page articles today, you'd know it was good writing, research and reporting, with great local color. One was about on the new minority look and shape of Garden City, Kansas and what it means for the people there and that town and so, of course, for America at large. Terrific. The second good and important one was on the Kansas City University of Biosciences and Medicine and their problems with former University President Karen Pletz. Finally, even the weakest article, the one on DNA testing of track dogs and associated, illegal dogfights, was still good reading and writing. You can see that this continual empasis on local stories, area residents and towns and cities makes for a great paper and is, as I've said before, the thing that will save local newspapers (for as long as they will exist in the transition to the internet and wireless news). So good on you, Kansas City Star and thanks very much for revitalizing the paper.