Hot Chicks with Douchebags: Kansas City!!!

Something horrific and devastating happened to our nation in the Fall of 2001. It was a tragic moment that has caused a great deal of suffering for millions across the globe and not just the people directly impacted by the immediate destruction: A mediocre Kansas City band released a crappy album that met with success on the pop radio charts. Nothing has been the same since the catastrophe.

Puddle of Mudd, the shitty band of which I referenced in the previous passage, is led by Wes Scantlin and some guys a few record executives tossed behind him (no homo?) after he dumped everyone he ever knew in Kansas City.

Surprisingly, after one song that corporate radio was paid to play ad infinitum, the band is still making music and Marisa Miller will be featured in one of their upcoming videos which will only to be played on VH1 at 2:30 in the morning.

Now this isn't really news that affects Kansas City but it is proof that achieving excellence, having skill or even being blessed with talent aren't prerequisites for success . . . Merely being a poster boy for douchebags everywhere is enough to put a person in close proximity to a hot piece of tail like Marisa Miller.

For more on this phenomenon, check out a wonderful website entitled Hot Chicks with Douchebags or just take a trip to the P&L District on a Saturday Night (if you're not a minority, of course).

And, to use the vernacular of a d-bag like Wes, for some scary reason bra, I find a lot of the conclusions I've come to comforting, bra!!! That's right bra, the odds are looking good for me once again Broseph!!!

Calm down, they'll never come here

Bombardier COO tours site near KCI . . . In order to better use Kansas City as a bargaining chip.

LJ in the off season living the high life

Just a couple of photos of LJ drinking and jetting off to Miami in a private plane with one of his very hot looking girlfriends . . . Probably so they can make s'mores and practice kissing their pillows given that LJ is most likely not down for anything serious and has always had a problem scoring in the clutch. He's not even a good come from behind player (ew), more of a guy who likes to take it up the middle and watch other guys pound away at each other while he slides in between. Sports are ghey.

Kansas City rejects hate radio!!!

Despite the success of Lou Dobbs . . . Randomly spewing out vitriol against brown people actually isn't good for business especially in a pretty progressive town like Kansas City proper. And that might explain why Stigall and KCMO-710 still remain in the radio gutter at least according to the latest ratings.

Still, you might notice a little bit of improvement and that's great . . . A lot of that might be due to a less hostile tone and the lack of a current racial controversy for Stigall to howl about . . . He's actually been forced to come up with interesting stuff and has been borrowing a great deal from blogger content across the country. It's a good tactic and people would think the opposite is true but there are more people tuning in when things actually aren't so tense - Controversies usually just end up attracting the same old, angry callers. I guess folks can only take so much hate . . . At least folks other than the d-bags who keep reading this blog.

Nearly naked man beaten half to death and dumped on the Eastside should remind you that your day wasn't that bad

From The Star: A passerby found a severely beaten man dumped in the middle of 23rd Street near Vine Street about 11 a.m. today.

An ambulance took the victim to a hospital, where police said his chances of survival were about 50 percent. The victim was wearing only socks, jeans and underwear.

PIT BULL ATTACKS PONY AT DAYCARE!!! STUDENTS GET FIRST GLIMPSE AT CRUEL REALITY IN KANSAS CITY!!!

KSHB reports: "A worker at the daycare says the children had just finished riding the pony and were inside the daycare when the attack occurred. The pony was grazing in the back yard of the facility when the dog jumped a fence and attacked."

Stop laughing you cruel bastard!!!

TKC's come from behind links!!!

It's strange, I've been busy and I've been blogging . . . I'm also working on 3 hours sleep. Thank you Dr. Pepper.

Here's some links that should have been on the page this morning but are too important to skip over nonetheless:

Science City gets 200k for an exhibit almost no one will see.

It may seem funny now but I actually feel really sorry for a guy accused of robbing a Kansas City autoparts store with a toy gun should he go to prison.

Indy Schools vs. KC School District over dollar amount for buildings. Now white separatists (hehe) want a discount and may go to court to get it.

More dead bodies turning up all over town.

HOME FORECLOSURES ARE UP DRAMATICALLY IN KANSAS CITY!!!

Hard luck in Kansas City . . . $20 bucks a guy stole was key in his capture.

Wack double shooting yesterday outside the Wax Factory record store in KCK.

For some crazy reason a dude bummed about his dog's death was all that was on the news last night.

Trial for tragic Dollar General killing started today.

Lots of activities for the first nice weekend in Kansas City this year, expect every dumbass to be outside. I'll be in the basement.

Kansas City Blogger Book Club Kickoff!!!

Here I was thinking that Bookpusher was just B.S.ing but it turns out he's serious about getting the locals to pick up a book.

The choice for the first annual KC Blogger book club is Crossing California by Adam Langer. Here's the description from Gregg:

A Chicago tale that takes place in the waning days of the 1970s, this looks to be a coming of age novel featuring several families in a Jewish neighborhood. It’s a first-time author, which I figure is appropriate, and landed on several year-end best-of lists.

It doesn't sound bad and if any of you designer folks would like to make a KC Blogger Book Club logo . . . I'm down to put it in the sidebar, I'm working on one as well. For those bloggers who want to meet and discuss it, you have until May 20th to check it out. Need inspiration to tear yourself away from the computer and read? Check out a golden oldie from the Net . . . "Read a book" from last year.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's condo!!!

Kansas City Urban Tour This Weekend . . . Thanks to the crappy economy and a bunch of other stuff happening in town this weekend; I think condo sellers will be exceptionally motivated and this might be just the start of bargain hunting season from affluent hipsters that just couldn't cash out during the boom years.

Kansas City Blogger Coverage: Behind the scenes at the Jim Slattery Senate Kickoff

Local blogger Tevis does some outstanding on-site reporting of a local long shot candidate with a nice pic to boot.

3AM Exclusive: It's nice outside

I guess that means I have to mow my (mom's) lawn. Damnit, let's hope this blogger is as inaccurate as most local weather people. Excluding your favorite, of course.

Let's not study too hard Kansas City!!!

It seems as if Kansas City isn't too anxious to look into its distribution of tax abatements.

Looks like the politicos representing the Northland are fighting hard for their share of (mostly) white (middle-class) welfare:

The Finance and Audit Committee today told Auditor Gary White they weren’t too keen on his proposal to answer “to what extent is Kansas City’s economic incentive investment distributed in blighted areas?” The auditor’s proposal said, “Some policy makers and other stakeholders have raised concerns that the city’s EDI programs (economic development incentives) do not adequately address some severely blighted areas of the city.” It added that comparing locations and investment could help identify areas where current efforts are not addressing needs.

But Finance Committee Chairman Deb Hermann, a Northlander, noted that the Shoal Creek TIF in the Northland generates millions of dollars for the general fund, which can then be used for blight removal in neglected parts of the city. So even though it was built in an undeveloped area, it should get credit for blight remediation. And Councilman Russ Johnson, another Northlander, argued that the KCI TIF built roads for the Northland that the city would have had to build anyway.

The first comment completely nails the issue: "white politicos from the 'Northland' and 'Plaza' districts don't want city auditors releasing a report on how funds are (not) used to address blighted (i.e - "the black part of town") districts."

Sadly, that seems like an accurate take on the situation from the vantage point of many people who are justifiably skeptical of politicos. Personally, I think the Mayor's Northland contingent comes off looking the worst.

The KC Post offers another perspective on the Cordish Contract and drinking outdoors

Forsythe goes into the details and brings up a lot of great points in his latest post.

But in the final analysis I have to say I think it is counterproductive that our City government is pursuing legislation that could possibly (and I'm only conceding could) have a detrimental effect on a project in which we are all so deeply invested. That MDA may have been signed by a previous administration, but we the taxpayers are left to pay for it.

And yes, the KC Post acknowledges that Cordish should have lived up to their part of the bargain and had the place finished in time.

Personally, I'm in favor of as many places to drink in open air in Kansas City as possible and I never had much faith in the P&L District in the first place . . . Still, I doubt we can booze our way back to prosperity but in all likelihood a lot of liquor will make the current recession (leading into a depression) a lot easer to cope with . . . I guess.

I guess we're still supersizing: One more thing bigger than yours in Overland Park!!!

Overland Park Boasts Largest Barometer in US . . . Strangely, it's not a barometer of douchery or one that would indicate the end of cheap fuel and food. I guess some suburbanites aren't yet aware that this kind of lifestyle, their kind of lifestyle is coming to an end.

AWESOME!!! Sarah Steelman proves she doesn't know anything about Kansas City's finances and basically concedes votes from this town!!!

Sarah Steelman is one of the lesser known Republican candidates for Governor . . . To start off her campaign she recently said that she wants to eliminate Kansas City's Earning's Tax . . . Sounds great right? Until anyone with a modicum of knowledge about the budget (that would be me) realizes that would basically mean closing down this town. So, I wonder if this is just a manifestation of her ignorance regarding Kansas City's finances OR does she really want this city to close up shop? Either way, anyone with a calculator can figure out that she doesn't know what she's saying.

"How To Go Green Without Really Trying"

May's Machete has some helpful tips for lazy environmentalism (the only kind I could ever contemplate). . . At first I thought she was offering local Indian food recommendations. (Badump-bump-bump)

Darla takes aim at The Star and Cordish!!!

Damn. I don't know if I'm slowly skewing to the right because there's no way in Hell I'm voting for Hillary, but I find myself agreeing with KMBZ's Queen of talk radio Darla Jaye more often lately.

Today she completely took apart The Star and Cordish in regard to the proposed Festival District Bill and The Star's tepid coverage of the fact that nobody can get a drink outside without permission from the East Coast company.

She made the connection that The Star doesn't like dealing with this stuff because they've received millions in TIF money tax abatements as well. That thought seems to capture the zeitgeist of what so many people following KC Development are saying under their breath.

Even better, she gave a brief mention to TKC and KC Rag Forum when noting how late The Star was with the story and a week after she dedicated coverage to it herself.

Here's a link to Darla's show notes, and I think if you hunt around the KMBZ site you can get free text updates as well as some audio podcasts.

New Favorite: Bottomline Communications

Landsberg knows everybody . . . That much is Kansas City fact. The guy is a former KC reporter reporter from Cleveland who now runs a local media outlet for folks wanting to know the inside scoop on all things media related in this town . . . His website is a must read, which is why I check out his site every morning and then "funny it up" with my stupidity and meager photoshop skillz. Favorites come and go but Landsberg has a long history of finding a story first in KC.

New blogger once again: Damnitkage!!!

I wondered what happened to KJ from the Big Dumb Fun Show . . . Turns out he's still kicking it on his blog which I just found courtesy of Twitter. Ah, Internet reunions are lovely. Sadly, Kage and I won't be hooking up even though he's one of the coolest guys on the local Internets.

New (to me) blog: Spewing worthless information since 1979

Just found this one in my comments . . . The talented lady blogger has been around since 2006 but I notice a flurry of posting lately. Love the graphic and I've been rocking out to her music selection for the past 10 minutes. Good stuff.

KC Morning News Blog Talk on KMBZ!!!

Just in case you forgot, I'll be on KC's Morning News this morning at 8:30 in the AM on KMBZ News Radio 980.

There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in the local blogosphere and tons to talk about . . . So tune in so you can hear me roundup the late breaking local trends in the blogosphere and also I'll be trying to do my best imitation of Obama disavowing Rev. Wright in much the same way I've rarely had anyone admit that they read my blog regularly.

The contentious relationship between the local Internets and mainstream media in Kansas City continues!!!

Welcome to the club KC Talk . . . Once again a local website claims that it's getting screwed out of credit for an upcoming story - This is beginning to be a theme when it comes to the Kansas City Internets.

Here's KC Talk's side of the story from a fantastic post by Frank:

On Wednesday night at 10pm, NBC Action News in Kansas City will run an investigative story on a topic hot here at KCTalk for almost a year. After broken promises documented here on the forums DIRECTLY from the dealership to customers, and many unreturned phone calls, FINALLY victims are getting action.

With over 50,000 views, and 2,000 posts between two threads, Chad Franklin Automotive AKA Legend Suzuki finally will be exposed . . . I am also giving 20:1 odds that KCTalk get NO MENTION whatsoever from NBC even though they will take information from this site...

Seems to me that KC Talk deserves some credit since they hosted an awesome conversation on the topic for nearly a year. What do you d-bags think?

TKC NOTE: I just wanna add that when it comes to giving blogger or Internet credit, KSHB is way ahead of the pack when it comes to the rest of the media in town, so maybe the KC Talk crew might get a surprise . . . Other than the unnatural love between Frank and Venkman, of course.

KANSAS CITY'S DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE (OR LACK THEREOF) FINALLY KILLED THE MANGO ROOM!!!

Buried in an article regarding an upcoming bar that I read courtesy of KC Beer blog is sad news that a great local business, with a lot more personality than the chain restaurants downtown, just went bust and is moving "out south." Yep, they gave it their best shot but the Mango room is gone and slow, often delayed P&L District Construction is to blame. Of course, there might be talk that we "just need to wait" for all of the great promises from Cordish to be fulfilled . . . I just wouldn't hold my breath. Also, the fact that the economic impact of the so-called Downtown renaissance is unfounded is now becoming apparent.

Walking where the Natives were

Local blogger ScooterJ recently filed an excellent post regarding an upcoming walk on behalf of the last remaining Natives and their rights (surprisingly unrelated to casinos):

Longest Walk 2 is a 30th-anniversary commemorative walk from San Francisco to Washington, DC to raise awareness of environmental and human rights issues of concern to Native Americans.

I gotta admit, it's interesting stuff and I can't really find anything to complain about concerning the event to ease white guilt in the aftermath of the genocide perpetrated on the Natives . . . This actually sounds like a good cause and somewhat interesting . . . Don't forget to check out Scooter's blog for the details if you haven't already . . . Still, I'm not sure about the name. I always thought the "longest walk" was trying to sneak out of a woman's house after a random Westport/P&L District/Dank bar hookup, but I guess it'll work for this event as well.

Review: The Raconteurs at the Uptown

Local blogger Brad brings yet another comprehensive review of a band I've never heard of . . . On the bright side, they don't seem too bad.

"Laura and Jenna Bush in Kansas City!"

Kansas City conservative blogger Dee writes an enthusiastic roundup of the event.

Awesome, the threatening Cordish memo was only news a week ago!!!

I don't mind saying that TKC broke news of a memo leaked to the press regarding a threatened lawsuit from Cordish last week . . . To be fair, the folks at the KC Rag forum had been talking about the possibility of a lawsuit for months . . . Everybody knew it was coming. KMBC and most of the local news stations picked it up later in the afternoon. Well, today The Star has the news, I'm sure most of the seniors who still take the paper are grateful.

Kansas City bloggers know how to party

Eh, the warm weather always encourages otherwise reclusive bloggers to get outdoors. While I would rather stay inside than deal with any of you bags, thankfully local bloggers are a lot more adventurous and they also have good info on upcoming entertainment.

To wit,

My favorite blogger Mary-Anne already has a gullly list of this year's Cinco De Mayo events in the KC Area that she has published.

And Jay Bird reminds us that the Brookside Art Fair Annual is this weekend.

And yes, this week has been so lame that I'm already looking forward to its end.

Historical fiction dedicated to TKC

A recent post I found is good for a laugh. Some d-bag is soooooooo disenchanted with TKC he (probably she) dedicated an essay to this blog full of hackneyed tricks he learned form his English lit. professor . . . It features the author carrying on a pithy conversation with his dog and all of the irony and wit that you'd expect from the kind of anony d-bag who would dedicate a lengthy post to yours truly.

Sadly, there was a bit of a logical inconsistency . . . He chides other bloggers for not confronting me, but I don't remember this douche at all (unless he was the tall Viking) but for the most part there wasn't a peep from a blogger who really had a problem with me . . . Still, I'm flattered and I see vague hints of promise from an otherwise forgettable endeavor from a d-bag so scared of the real world that they're keeping their identity top secret and refuse to take comments.

Not that I'm one to give advice, considering that I live in my mom's basement, BUT the real world isn't nearly as scary once it's understood that bloggers are essentially harmless and are way tougher behind a keyboard than in real life.

Also, the author's post was about a half a week late and contains a vague threat of violence against your favorite blogger . . . But I guess any press is good press and I certainly think the dude deserves a link.

Speaking of KC Blogger D-bags . . .

CHECK OUT A NEW KANSAS CITY BLOGGERS SITE!!!

I'm actually curious to see what they'll do with it.

Will it be an open forum for ideas, discussion and debate?

OR, far more likely, will it be yet another social club for local white people who like to hang out at bars and agree with each other?

Where do I go for a link? Because I'm totally linking them (on my much better blogroll) and I'm actually curious as to how it'll turn out.

STUBBORN MAYOR FUNKY SPOTLIGHTS A CON IN HIS STATE OF THE CITY SPEECH AND HAS NO REGRETS!!!

So bitches, once again your man in the media (no homo) was proven correct.

In a wonderful, fantastic and welcomed article DeAnn Smith provides the details regarding the couple indicted in New Jersey and then held up as an example of new business and people moving to Kansas City.

Smith credits KCUR with discovering the story which is her prerogative but talk was already swirling around City Hall by Friday afternoon from everybody who had access to a computer.

I'd like to note that KCUR didn't provide a link to any documents that proved the assertion, KCUR didn't provide an open forum for people to discuss the news and KCUR let that Jerkoff Joe Miller weasel out of any direct questions with the landmark statement of his career.

"I didn't do a Google search."

TKC did, with the help of awesome tipsters who told me to . . . And then TKC readers talked about it and shared some funny personal insults. You're welcome.

Still, Smith works with real facts and real-live people not just rumors, Google and web pages like TKC and she clearly got all of the hard to find details into line with her report.

Here are the juicy bits:

Dan Engravalle was convicted and paid a $5,000 fine, court officials and records show. He said in an interview that he successfully completed probation . . .

Funkhouser said he hopes he would have "the guts" to still include them in his speech if he had known in advance. He said he doesn't regret not "Googling" them.

"I like the Engravalles. They are decent people. I enjoyed them when I met them," Funkhouser said in an interview. "I wish them well with their business."

That's right, Kansas City's Mayor doesn't think it's wrong to hold up a former con as and example of this town's future.

Personally, I know a lot of former cons and they're cool but I wouldn't want them associated with me professionally . . . Speaking of, today a client politely asked for links and jpegs to the last 3 of 5 big booby broads I posted on this blog - The Internets is so awesome when it comes to sharing interests.

Anyhoo, this major flub by the mayor and yet another stubborn response indicates the following:

The Mayor's plans, challenges and initiatives are probably just as poorly researched as his State of the City speech.

For somebody who claims that he's not a politician, he's certainly really good at never admitting a mistake (a classic political trick) . . . If only he could get better at avoiding making all of these errors in the first place.

When the question of associations comes up during the next election, and it will, Mayor Funky has absolutely no credibility on yet another matter. Really, Kansas City's Mayor has worse luck than Obama in being connected to unsavory characters.

For my part, I sympathize with the Engravalles - It's unfortunate that their past, which they've paid for, had to be drudged up by everybody with Internet access in the Kansas City area. We all know former cons, some of us are former cons and some of will be future former cons. It shouldn't be a scarlet letter but it's not the best advertising for the future of this town either . . . Just think that a mere second or two of research would have prevented the entire embarrassment for the seemingly good hearted couple and the Mayor . . . And then realize that kind of incompetence is running Kansas City.

A TKC EXCLUSIVE ONCE AGAIN: MAYOR FUNKY'S PLAN TO PUT LIGHT RAIL ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER SHUT DOWN BY JACKSON COUNTY!!!

Here we are once again . . . Mayor Funky has failed in the task of creating a consensus . . . This time with officials in Jackson County regarding his current light rail scheme.

The Mayor wants to put HIS light rail initiative on the ballot in November.

However, according to awesome, cool, well-connected, gracious and good looking sources (that TKC will keep secret forever) the Mayor's plan to put the issue before voters by November was recently shut down by officals in Jackson County during a recent meeting. There's just not enough money for it. Word is that County Exec Mike Sanders just doesn't see it happening.

Now let's put this simply:

THERE'S NO WAY MAYOR FUNKY IS GOING TO BUILD REGIONAL LIGHT RAIL IF HE CAN'T EVEN GET COOPERATION FROM THE GUY ACROSS THE STREET!!!

Once again, I think County Exec Sanders stays winning with this move because there's no reason he should go out on a limb for Mayor Funky's ego-trip that has yet to get a meaningful endorsement from any municipality. Also, there just hasn't been any plan to look at . . . Mayor Funky is waiting until the last minute to present any type of plan. His naiveté and inexperience have mislead him to believe that pushing this kind of thing will be easy and won't take a lot of planning. It's a common tactic of the inexperienced, cruel and manipulative to wait till the last minute and then demand obedience . . . I should know because that's how I treat the ladies. But I digress . . .

Without a lot of support from Jackson County . . . There's not going to be any regional light rail by the November election deadline. And just to be perfectly clear:

Mayor Funkhouser killed light rail in Kansas City!!!

So, what does all this mean?

As so many other people have noted before . . . Money is tight, the County is just recovering from layoffs, chasing a light rail scheme would be unwise . . . Again, it's a good move.

Like it or not (I don't), Clay Chastain's petition drive was the closest this town has come to a consensus on light rail. Every loser in this city has their own proposal for light rail (including me) but so far there is no definitive mandate from the public for a specific plan . . . That's really the fallout from the Mayor's decision (Mr. Peanut's actually) to veto what the voters had already approved . . . Who knew that Chastain could provide more leadership than Mayor Funky? Ugh.

Finally, this is yet another sign that Mayor Funkhouser has almost zero political capital in this town. He's uninterested in cooperation and still seems to be acting like king or a dictator whenever his mandates are challenged or ignored.

Once again, Mayor Funky's inability to form a consensus or engender cooperation has cost the people of Kansas City.

Blue Link Comeback

Just a few odds and ends I found that I'd like to post before I started doing something productive . . .

Even more people looking at your blog. Hooray!!!: Researchers Discover Massive Asshole In Blogosphere

There's some anti-Bombardier video on Youtube with a grand total of 50 views . . . Apparently, Missouri politicos are mad about a deal that has no chance of happening.

Crime Scene KC has the latest details on a love spat that ended up with a guy getting shot 4 times.

The broad in the photo featured above, Lisa Snowdon, is 37!!!

Married to the mob (ties)? The latest mistake by the Mayor makes me feel old.

Kansas City has always been connected to the mob . . . But I'm surprised this latest embarrassment for the Mayor isn't the first time talk of the mob has come up regarding the Funkhouser Administration.

It should be noted that I'd never suggest the Mayor has any real mob ties because he's far too boring and dim for that kind of thing . . . But the talk of the mob has surrounded Mayor Funky since he first took office.

A special thanks to the folks in the comments who reminded me that Mayor Funky's wife Gloria had a few choice quotes regarding the mob from her interview last year in KC Magazine. Sadly, the print rag doesn't provide an online version but luckily I documented the interview . . . Here's the money quote from me:

(There was) a lot of mention of her Italian roots, they article even uses the word Mafia and she claims that "Funk would have been rich if he would have just taken some of the bribes he was offered." Classy!

Still, this is a bit of a downer for me, until the mainstream media reports come out, because the first thing I thought of was the old movie "Married to the Mob" which I always thought was kinda cool . . .

Turns out, nowadays when you say "Married to the Mob" folks are more likely to think of a hip(ster), urban fashion line where people pay $50 bucks for t-shirts.



Still, officially this is Day 2 of a needless controversy stirred by the fact that media people in the Mayor's office are so incompetent they are responsible for:

MAYOR FUNKY HONORING A COUPLE THAT WAS INDICTED AND ALLEGEDLY HAD "SELF-PROFESSED" MOB TIES!!!



Apparently, we're a City that works . . . But not on Google . . . Oh, and when are they gonna fire Joe Miller for missing this one?

The Star fails to realize that animals can't predict the future or else they wouldn't end up as food

Awesome . . . Here's another example of media giving into the many attempts of middle-class white people to anthropomorphize their pets.

If you have to eat out in Kansas City, it might as well be fresh (ugh)

From the Kansas City Food Circle Blog: Featured Farmers Markets in K.C

Benito says: "Gimme back my Benz!!!"

From the Star: A former Kansas City Royals catcher has filed paperwork in federal court claiming that a luxury car seized from an upscale drug dealer is his and should be returned.

Last month, The Kansas City Star reported that the 2003 Mercedes-Benz CL55 two-door coupe with an original sticker price of more than $115,000 was registered to Benito Santiago about the time he signed with the Royals in late 2003.

Featured above, Ukrainian born porn star Nikki Benz . . . Just because.

One more crackpot in Kansas City

Ward Connerly spoke outside City Hall yesterday . . . Nothing special and not a single reference to (or about) his recruitment of hate groups in his petition drive.

Interesting legal stuff I don't quite understand (nor do I care to). However it does involve a member of the Graves clan.

The Kansas City Lawyers respond to State Farm’s disqualification motion in the Rigsby qui tam suit . . . Fired Up! Missouri has even more background.

TKC come from behind links

I have a lot of catching up to do as far as local links go . . . Here's some of the better ones that I wasn't ready to forget about:

Racially motivated killing in Kansas City is far more common than people think.

IN MEMORIAM OF A RARE MOMENT WHEN KANSAS CITY CARED ABOUT METRO VIOLENCE: Anniversary Of Mall Shooting Nears

Here's where the School District pretends to care what people think: Massive KC School Review Underway.

Another good move for the AG while Republicans are pretty clueless about every issue in Missouri except for making life harder for Mexicans: Attorney General Jay Nixon on Monday announced a higher education plan that he says would provide a way for middle-class Missouri students to earn a four-year degree tuition-free.

5-Year-Old Girl Shot In Head Returns Home

Apparently, someone can stop Kline's snooping: Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline is not entitled to state abortion records he was seeking in his criminal case against Planned Parenthood, a judge ruled Monday.

Not that you'll notice but there's one less taco place on the Boulevard

Lamentable Local Luge Loss: Police Identify Man Killed While Street Luging

KC Confession: Man pleads guilty to 1985 murder

One of their rare crappy cards worth opening: The Hall Family Foundation pledges $6.5 million to William Jewell College.

Coming soon to the Sprint Center: An act that nobody can beat (anymore)!!!

Tina Turner coming to the Sprint Center

No Free Speech in Kansas City: Police cuff Catholics over immigration protest

There wasn't much reason offered for police arresting local Catholic workers protesting anti-immigration efforts yesterday and they were only held for an hour and not charged with anything. Think what you want about immigration (you're probably wrong), the point is that yesterday it was proven that there's very little protection at the ground level for free speech in Kansas City . . . And then on the other hand, when a cop tells you to move to the sidewalk, it's probably a good idea to do what he said - I've heard that you can protest pretty much till your heart's content on local sidewalks, which explains why "Cheeseburger Jerry" is untouchable. Natch.

There's more than one way to look at a so-called "thrill kill" in Kansas City, Kansas

Over the weekend there was a lot of clamoring regarding a recent, alleged murder by 13 year-old and its labeling as "thrill kill" in KCK.

The victim's family are calling for the teenager to be tried as an adult but I'm reminded of a recent video tapped beating case in Gardner that resulted in death as a 16 year-old got away with only juvenile charges . Of course, you can probably guess that the difference is the race of the folks involved and it should be noted that folks in Gardner weren't happy with the judge's decision either . . . We'll have to wait and see what happens with the case . . . But I have my suspicions and I would remiss if I didn't point out not only the obvious racial disparities in the justice system but also statistical info which shows that juveniles (of all races) forced into grown up jail actually have a higher rate of recidivism.

Oh, and that photo above doesn't really have anything to do with this story other than the fact that April Scott had a very successful career as a young model and beauty pageant contestant here in Missouri (Popular Bluff) and then went on to have quite an impressive grown up career as well.

Luxury items for local animals stay winning!

Brookside Barkery & Bath a puppy spa of sorts and purveyor of "all-natural and raw pet foods" announced a recent grand opening for its third full-service location at 817 NE Woods Chapel Road in Lee's Summit.