18-year-old Man Killed in shooting

Kansas City’s three-week homicide drought came to a violent end Tuesday afternoon when an 18-year-old Kansas City man was shot in the head in the parking lot of the Belmont Place Apartments near Belmont Boulevard and St. John Avenue.

Crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze as Police investigators combed the area inside the Belmont Court apartments Tuesday afternoon looking for clues as to who may have wanted the man dead.

Witnesses indicated hearing a loud boom near the scene at approximately 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. A female witness at the scene stated that a white male shot the victim. The suspect is described as a white male, 5'8", medium build, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt/jacket and blue jeans.

What exactly happened next is unclear, but the end result is the victim’s girlfriend’s car, (left) in which the victim was riding, crashed into the side of one of the buildings. The pair were allegedly “jumped,” by a group of individuals when they pulled in tothe parking lot. The group approached the victim's girlfriend, then walked toward the victim as he sat in the vehicle. Seeing the group approaching the car, the victim allegedly jumped in to the driver';s seat and attempted to flee the scene. As he did so, he was struck in the head by a bullet. . He was pronounced dead later. Witnesses indicated that the suspect(s) fled on foot, possibly to a house a few blocks away. 

The victim’s father, a lifelong Northeast resident, indicated the victim wasn’t a bad kid.

“He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd," the father said. “I tried on many occasions to tell him he was going down the wrong road, but he wouldn’t listen."

The father lamented how times in Northeast had changed.
“When I was a kid, we used to run these streets. If you didn’t like someone, you met them after school, went to the vacant lot and duked it out, with your fists, like men,” he said. “It's a lot different today. You look cross-eyed at some of these kids, and you risk getting shot. It's just crazy."

Residents indicate that lately, the small complex has become a hot-bed of gang activity. One resident who wished to remain anonymous indicated that gunshots were a regular occurrence at the complex, where a home invasion, robbery and assault occurred this past weekend. Police are reviewing evidence to see if the two incidents are related. 

“We call 911 on a regular basis,” the resident said. “It all seems to be coming from one apartment."

We're all idiots - just ask Clinton Adams

"This community has not been effective in electing effective school board members".

So says Freedom Inc. sock-puppet Clinton Adams in an article published in today's daily rag.
Adams went on to advocate that, given that 2/3 of the district's enrollment is black - that mobs, er, groups such as the NAAACP, the Urban League and the Black United Front need to be part of the process.
In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor man: "well blow me down".

This lil canine has long thought that the very broods advanced by Adams were a large part of the problem, not the solution, given their history of patronage, nepitism and advancement of issues that do nothing to help white urban kids - and that's taken liberties with the word "advancement".

Additionally, the very fact that Adams doesn't trust the public to elect compitent representatives does't go too far either. Especially since a majority of the black candidates running for the office are fronted by Freedom Inc. to begin with. Lets not forget this is the same bunch that incurred a hefty fine ($45,000) from the Federal Election Commission for failing to register as a political committee. the name James Tindall (convicted felon) ring a bell?

It should be no surprise that State representative Jonas Hughes has his fingers in the pie as well - especially given his ties to Freedom Inc. Hughes advocates the appointment of a board of "community leaders" seperate from the politics and free from the cronyism that has weighed the district down over the last five decades. The operative buzz words here are "community leaders".
Who's community?
Who does the appointing, and from what smoke filled Freedom Inc, Black United Front, Urban League back room will this alleged savior emerge?

Is it any wonder with these goons running the show for so long, we have what we have - or what's left of what we had. The Shawnee Mission District won't play ball with these morons. Independence won't. Blue Springs and Park Hill? HA! Get real!

And if you think these cronies are in it for the kids - you are sadly mistaken. This one is all about political favors, croneyism and contributions to the "right" candidates. If you don't agree, someone from Freedom Inc will be right over to take a look at those knee-caps you love so much.

In Train-Wreck Economy, Congress Gets a Raise.

In an article you definitely won't see in Kansas City's liberal daily rag, Congress will get a raise next year to the tune of $4700.

According to an article published in The Hill, members of Congress will get an extra $4700 tacked on to their salaries next year. All this in the face of their hypocratical grandstanding and demanding that Auto execs ride bicycles to work and oil execs should surrender profits, our ever so smart elected officials in Washington DC just got a hefty pay bump.

Ask your neighbor who just got laid off from Chrysler of GM what THEY could do with an extra $4700. Or maybe the lady next door who watches the neighborhood kids for $8.00 an hour how they feel about it.

This lil pooch knows that given all the perks Congress gets already, they need a raise like I need to be chased by a pit bull. Perkjs you ask?
Well lets start with free barbershop, free meals, travel per-diem, lodging per-diem, free health care (far superior to anything us lowly citizens would get) and more.

For the record, Average pay for a Congressman: $169,000. Leadership positions get spiffed a little more. Her Majesty Pelosi hauls in a little over $215,000. Senate leadership types make a little under$190,000. According tot he article in The Hill, in 1789, Congressional Representatives made $6.00 a day. That equates to roughly $75 a today by modern standards.

So much for the old premise of "citizen legislator", huh.
Change?
All together now.....Yes we can!!!
Hold on to your checkbooks!

Union Station to CEO Udris: Sayonara!

USKC Board members announced Thursday that CEO Andi Udris was essentially persona non grata and that former American Royal head wrangler George M.  Gaustello II was taking over the reins in 2009. 

Udris, as you may recall, came under fire from this lil news-pooch back in 2005-06 for some of the sweeping changes he undertook in the infancy of his reign as CEO. 

After spending a rain-soaked May afternoon with Andi and his PR gal Sara up at Shoal Creek, we came away with a whole new understanding of how hubs and spokes applied to Union Station as well as how to parse the word "at". 

Like him or not - he deserves a paw-bump for relocating the  local Fire History Museum to the Depot in 2007 and playing a pivotal role in the ongoing restoration and re-development of the Corinthian Hall facility here in good ol Historic Northeast.  

Given the pull quotes from the PR piece sent out this morning though, it sure looks to this nose for news pup that the whole thing was a "mutual decision" and that's all they're sayin about that. 

Gaustello: "Its an honor to be entrusted with the stewardship of these beloved regional treasures...". 

Udris: "I have enjoyed immensely my time working at Union Station..."

Time will tell however -  former Mayoral aide Joe Miller and former daily rag, chatter-box gossip monger Hearne Christopher (both with an emphasis on "former") are looking for work and this may have all the makings for a kiss & tell-all book. Stranger things have happend...one look at the fiasco that is the Mayor's office proves this pup's point! 

Be sure to check out next week's edition though for a more objective look at the transition taking place down at the big depot on Pershing Road. 

  

Truman Corridor Launches New Website

The Truman Road Corridor Association has just launched its new web site. The site is: www.freewebs.com/trca

The site is designed to link merchants, organizations and area residents in the ongoing advancement of business along the Truman Road Corridor. If that sounds like a mission statement - it is! (Lifted directly from their site, thank you very much) 

The new site profiles TRCA's advancement of their CID (Community Improvement District) as well as other initiatives and activities the association is involved in. 

  

ALDI applies for liquor license

ALDI grocery store at 721 Paseo Blvd. applied this past Thursday for a package liquor license.
Some neighbors in Independence Plaza, Columbus Park and Pendleton Heights neighborhoods are unhappy about the prospect of another liquor store in the area — and the characters liquor stores so often attract.
Others, however, including ALDI Vice President Mark Bersted, point out that ALDI would be a more responsible liquor vendor in the neighborhood, as the store only sells wine and beer.
One thing's for sure — since Queen's Grocery Store's liquor license went inactive recently, someone's going to try to get a license to fill that void.
See the Wednesday, Dec. 17 Northeast News for more on this story.

Kemper Arena Staff Sent Packing

In something you didn't see in the daily rag, (The Falling Star) on Monday, December 1st, the administration staff at Kemper Arena was quietly let go. Two employees remain and will work out of...the Sprint Center.

Thanks to the rosy picture painted by former Mayor Kay Barnes, if we built a taj mahal arena at taxpayer expense, professional teams would literally beat a path to our door. (Ahem) The reasoning was of course completley political. (Remember those anti-Sam Graves ads she ran back in October?) She had a nest to feather and a Congressional seat to steal.

Fact: Kansas City will never again have a professional NBA or NHL franchise. We've proved that with the Scouts (NHL) and the Kings. (NBA) Now, with two vacant arenas, neither with an anchor tenant in place, Kansas City will be nothing more than a bargaining chip for other cities, with big arenas and anchor pro-team tenants to negotiate a batter gig in their existing cities.

Can you say red-headed step-child?

Oh, did we mention that you, the Kansas City taxpayer is payin for this? Maybe we can go ask some of those fat-cat developers for a bail out.

Riiiight.