TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! SMART MONEY SEYZ KANSAS CITY, KANSAS SCHLITTERBAHN MUST INEVITABLY SHUT DOWN AFTER HORRIFIC CALEB SCHWAB DECAPITATION!!!
The death of an innocent is a tragic event that merits attention form all those who hold justice and peace dear in their hearts. Moreover, since time immemorial, an innocent son of a prominent politician slain by accident or otherwise is an infamia from which no business can fully recover.
To wit . . .
LIKE IT OR NOT, AMID THE CURRENT LEGAL HOT MESS, THE SMART MONEY SEYZ SCHLITTERBAHN IS GONNA SHUT DOWN EVENTUALLY!!!
Follow the logic and our TKC journalistic reporting saga on this tragic topic that's now the subject of news across the globe.
TKC TOLD YOU FIRST that the poor youngster was decapitated. Some doubted and now it's part of the public record despite the provincialism and false modesty of so many local news outlets that now seems silly in retrospect.
TKC TOLD YOU FIRST that Verrückt would be torn down. A few months later the company submitted to public pressure and announced the ride would eventually be destroyed.
And now . . .
The smart money seyz that things can't ever go back to normal for this water park given the all out frontal assault by Kansas authorities against this biz.
Court cases are mostly settled behind closed doors and some of the most disturbing deets will NEVER become common knowledge. But among legal experts, insiders, friends and newsies - Most people who can think objectively and critically about this subject seem to understand that eventually closing the park is the only realistic outcome of this drama.
Accordingly, as we move forward, Caleb's sad story expands into a scarier drama about public safety . . .
"Thirteen people, including four children, were wounded on the 17-story Verrückt slide during just 182 days of operation before a 10-year-old boy flew off it and died."
Sure, clueless people hungry for a dose of life/death might still flock to the location right up until the gates are padlocked but the charges and political pressure coming from the highest levels of Kansas government reveals the real story.
In the end, the closing of the park and severe penalties for the designers, operators and biz will be the only way for the Kansas political establishment to uphold the status quo and reaffirm their rule even over the corporate class.
In the meantime, newsies run this risk of getting lost in the minutia of a case that, like all things, is about nothing more than money, mortality and power.
Check the links:
Daily Beast: Schlitterbahn ‘Covered Up’ Concussions, Broken Bones on Waterslide Before Boy Was Decapitated, Indictment Claims
KCUR: Kansas To Audit Schlitterbahn Before Troubled Park Opens In May
KCTV5: Kansas governor: Caleb Schwab's death "should not have happened"
Dana & Parks: Water Park INDICTMENT part 1: The massacre of Caleb Schwab.
CJ Online: Charges in Kansas’ Schiltterbahn water park death carry prison time, fines
Yahoo: After 10-Year-Old Boy's Decapitation on Waterslide, Park Designers Are Charged With Murder
Western Journal: Architects Facing Murder Charges After Waterslide Decapitates 10-Year-Old Boy
Independent UK: Three charged over death of 10-year-old boy decapitated on world's biggest waterslide
Fox4KC Metro-based water park group named Schlitterbahn executive to Hall of Fame after water slide death
CNN: Before you go to an amusement park, read this
Boston Globe: Under-regulated amusement park rides are tragedies waiting to happen
Daily Mail: Brakes failed 29 TIMES on 'world's tallest water slide' that decapitated 10-year-old boy as opening day footage emerges of amusement park owner who knew ride was deadly say it's the 'safest ever built'
Developing . . .
Don't know how people could take their kids to that park after the news that has come out. Seems like they don't have a really great regard for safety. To each his own, but to a young person who read the news, going to the park might seem like a punishment.
ReplyDeleteIf I was the lawyer for the company, I would ask to have the trial moved. They are not going to get a fair hearing in Wyandotte County.
DeleteSHUT
DeleteIT
Down!
^^ Not going to happen, the unified government has given them hundreds of millions and losing that money would destroy the KCK economy. Not that Topeka has ever cared much about our county but if they did that they might has well just declare war on the state's budget.
DeleteSome things are more important than money. I'm sure that part of the fines that will be levied will help make up for the money lost in KCK.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason it’s still standing is because of the money grabbing parents, it can’t be removed until the court case is over
ReplyDeleteGreat compendium, Tony.
ReplyDeleteAnd gobsmackingly fine reporting by Tony DiMarko at Fox 4, about the LOCAL tie-in, the national Water Park Assn. in OP, giving awards to Schlitterbahn AFTER Caleb's death.
Fox4 is really taking the lead on this story.
RIDING DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE
ReplyDeleteThe park will permanently close? I think not. Perhaps a sale to a new ownership group? Yes, that's possible, but more than likely nothing significant changes.
If you recall, mere months ago, there was an incident in Las Vegas. It was reported that dozens of people were shot to death or wounded. The purported shooter was said to have committed the atrocity from the Mandalay Bay resort.
Has the building been torn down? No
Has the building been permanently closed? No
Has the ownership group changed? No, although Steve Wynn has reportedly been paring back his stake and public profile following some controversial comments.
9:23, well that's just a stupid non-analogy. Nobody ever claimed the Mandalay Bay CAUSED the shooter to shoot. Or that the design of the hotel was a death trap. Jeez. If you want to be a cynical know-it-all, at least come up with something that relates.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Jeff Henry is the Fredo of the Henry family. Now THAT is a Vegas connection.
Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun are still in business I noticed Tracy isn't screaming for them to close. A lady was killed and left in the back of a U-Haul and is Tracy screaming for U-Haul to close?
ReplyDeleteIt won't shut down and the slide could open tomorrow with a long line of people willing and be wanting to go down the slide.
oh look, 9:33--aka Winter Prosapio, the shameless PR whore Communications Chief of Schlitterbahn--hoping to sell season family passes! Pay no attention to the death slide! Pay no attention to the rust on other rides...we're having a bonfirre and making somemores, burning the 47 page indictments of our boss!
ReplyDeleteSchlitterbahn = Action Park, NJ. Look it up on the Youtube.
ReplyDeleteThis is really played out. It has been done to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
ReplyDelete9:33 stop making yourself look stupid.
ReplyDelete^Tracy @9:52, what about all the FUBAR auto manufacturing failures?! Yeah, some were fatal flaws HIDDEN from the regulator agencies and concealed from the consumers. And, J. D. Power gave awards to all those companies, repeatedly, for many years!
ReplyDeleteGoogle "car companies who hid fatal flaws", and "recalls of deadly devices on cars". Uh, no CEOs at GM, Ford, Chrysler got charged with deaths! Their firms weren't shut down because of the MILLIONS of injuries and THOUSANDS of deaths since their inception as manufacturers.
They were stupid to build here n the first place. Same problem that killed Oceans of Fun, too short of a season.
ReplyDeleteWe raised five kids and a couple times they wanted to do something that was obviously stupid-risky or downright dangerous. We told them NO. If they persisted we told them Bell No. They weren't happy with us. That's okay. They all survived to bury us in grandchildren, we also tell no on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this poor unfortunate kid was there with his parents, on a field trip or if he been dropped off there. Regardless, I am certain everyone involved in this wishes they had done something different in the days and weeks leading up to his death.
"...THE SMART MONEY SEYZ SCHLITTERBAHN IS GONNA SHUT DOWN EVENTUALLY!!!"
ReplyDeleteThe even smarter money says our sun will eventually go supernova and incinerate the Earth, necessarily taking Schlitterbahn (if it still exists) with it.
So that's a really safe bet. But it will be darn hard to collect on it.
Hey Gus, that's pretty fucking low to imply blame to the parents of a dead kid. You worthless mother fucker. Who gives a fuck about your worthless family. How about you GO THE FUCK AWAY! Fucking scumbag!!!
ReplyDeleteOnce the slide's torn down it's just an everyday overpriced waterpark. Right now because of all the media coverage the death slide is just becoming a morbid attraction. In five years they'll be in bankruptcy court and within seven they'll be gone and I'd almost bet the slide will still be standing.
ReplyDeleteSo now white folks will have to go to the 18th & Vine district. Man that is a fate worse than death.
ReplyDeleteGood job Tony! Scoring clicks and getting ad revenue from a child's death! Yeah!!! Rock on buddy!!!
ReplyDeleteYour stupidity boggles the mind. No one can report on any tragedy, especially one that the KC Star completely dropped the ball with! It might result in clicks!!!
DeleteI wasn't implying blame or anything else 10:55. I feel bad for the parents. They didn't do anything a million other parents haven't done and they lost a child to a horrible accident.
ReplyDeleteIs it OK to look back on unpopular parenting decisions and in retrospect, be glad you made them? If not, then fuck you too.
This reminds me of the Missing White Woman phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteIf this child were black would CrazyTracy be obsessed about it?
NO
justice for caleb!
ReplyDeleteThanks to TKC and Tracy for shining a disinfecting light on this.
ReplyDeleteThe local newspaper was way behind the curve.
Can't the Attorney General of Kansas get a restraining order to keep it closed until the issues are all sorted out?
ReplyDeleteHere's another parable for our sick times: People are taking selfies and having their pictures taken in front of Verruckt, especially last summer, after Caleb Schwab's death. Since this thing evidently "couldn't" be torn down as a potential hazard to the community (as a burned-out structure still standing might be considered), I guess someone sees its value as a photo backdrop for tragedy tourism.
ReplyDeleteMan, where to start.
ReplyDelete10:05, Played out? If you are Schlitterbahn staff, you wish.
10:17/Fair & Square: You claim 9:52 was me. It was not. I was at the doctor's all morning, with no phone access. And I sign my work. Glad you at least used a pen name. Everyone should. You write like a lawyer. Just because other corps have not been jailed, doesn't mean it's OK. Some have. That toy guy??
12:28--of course I'd be as upset if the child had been black. You don't know me, coward who won't sign your name. I joined a black church in 1968, (that's what the term was back then) marched down Keosauqua Way in Des Moines for civil rights and went door to door in a tense ghetto environment, with my father, a Marine vet who served on Iwo Jima, registering African Americans to vote. Once in KCMO, I served on the board of the Urban League. More recently in Joco, as a respite foster aunt, I hosted many African American foster teens on weekends in my home. Taught some with low skills how to count change, before I drove them to my city pool and as a member of the City Council, endorsed their applications for jobs. Helped one gal get her job at a bridal store. How about YOU? What have YOU done for justice?
1:04 re restraining order. Wow--now that would be interesting. Does AG Derek Schmidt have the power or more importantly, the courage to do that?? Considering that these charges may potentially be plea-bargained to a lower crime, hitting Schlitterbahn in the pocketbook and shaming them while alerting the public might be the best and most fitting outcome.
Clueless parents and grandparents need to wake up.
If the stuff in the articles is true, it should be closed because there may be other dangers lurking, imho.
ReplyDeleteTracy is pretty darn good with her response's. I don't often agree with her but I don't have to to have a healthy discourse with another person.
ReplyDeleteJust a fact from Dave Demarco's report on channel 4 last night. 2017 was the best year yet for Schlitterbahn in KCK. It's not going away anytime soon.
I have known Jeff Henry and he is the weakest link in this mess as he thinks he is a genius designer of waterparks but he doesn't come off as being smart enough to do it.
Tracy is an old lady. Bitch,bitch ,bitch.
ReplyDeleteSwimming in human skin flakes, hair, snot, piss and what the paper misses between the over weight ass cheeks of your average Kansas Citian does not sound like a good time to me.
ReplyDeleteI would think that for the AG to shut down the park, he would have to come up with actual facts demonstrating that even absent the Schlitterbahn it is dangerous to the public. Not just that ride was dangerous, so maybe the other rides are dangerous too. Facts, not guesses. My guess is he doesn't have any facts to support that.
ReplyDelete2:00 - You're a dumbass! Whine, whine, whine.
ReplyDeleteBe nice to Tracy she can't help herself she didn't ask to be born a female.
ReplyDelete2:26, yeah, well, we can be rolling the dice with potential pathogens and such, if pools and waterparks aren't chlorinated properly. I'm a bit of a germophobe, so I prefer to eat at home, garden, and try to selectively source foods for my family and dog. Food growers, processors, and transporters do an okay job, it seems. Some restaurants and grocers have freaked me out. Cleanliness of environs and the health and skills of food handlers is where I've been disappointed and have concerns, still. Smoker hacking hawgs, sloppy sneezers, and nose pickers are bad enough. Dirty fingernails and messy hair on a server...Bye!
ReplyDeleteOops...2:16^...tired. Hungry, too.
DeleteI'm shocked Caleb's family left Schlitterbahn any money the 1st time around.
ReplyDeleteAmusement parks do offer dangers with an average of 12,782 injuries per year. Tens of thousands of people went down the Schlitterbahn ride and there were only 11 injury reports? This would seem to indicate that this extreme thrill ride had an excellent safety record. To charge an individual employee with manslaughter is outrageous and the members of the grand jury should be ashamed of themselves.
ReplyDelete"The commission said it's aware of 22 deaths nationwide associated with amusement attractions since 2010." Too bad one happened at Schlitterbahn. The all-out assault by Wyandotte Count is puzzling. Could it be political pressure coming from the highest levels of Kansas government?
ReplyDeleteFormer Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison says it's wise not to put too much weight into what a grand jury has to say from a proceeding that has no defense presence. “A grand jury indictment generally speaking is meaningless because they are so easily manipulated by the prosecutor," he said.
ReplyDeleteAnother person has been killed by an exploding Takata air bag inflator, bringing the total fatalities linked to the defect to 20. I guess the whole board of directors is serving hard time!
ReplyDeleteWyandotte County is going to chase this company out of Kansas. Then what will they have? Empty land and no sales tax dollars coming in. Wyandotte County needs to think about the people they represent and forget about taking orders from Topeka.
ReplyDelete3:58 She is an old lady and bitches non stop. Dumbass
ReplyDeleteIZ DATZ WHAT DE SMART MONEY SEYZ????
ReplyDeleteJesus, speak English.
Takata pleads guilty to fraud in faulty airbag cover-up. The company will pay a $1 billion settlement. 20 dead & no executives are in jail. What in the world is that prosecutor in Wyandotte County thinking?
ReplyDeletetragic event
ReplyDeletedear in their hearts
time immemorial
To wit
Like it or not
Follow the logic
behind closed doors
as we move forward
sad story
uphold the status quo
And the Tony Botello Cliche Festival cranks up yet again
10:14 keeps coming back to sniff those farts. Get a good whiff. See you in the morning sweetheart.
Delete8:35, it is not the Wyco prosecutor. He turned the case over to the Ks AG in Dec. 2016!!
ReplyDeleteIt's Derek Schmidt, the Ks. AG. He finally heard from whistleblowers, which gave him the needed evidence of widespread coverup.
His second four year term expires in November. Hasn't filed yet. Has never tried a murder trial, tho I assume he has or can hire assistants to run the trial.
Tracy at 9:31 response
ReplyDeleteYour claim of non-analogy is itself STUPID. Just because you don't like it for disagreeing with your viewpoint doesn't make it stupid.
Waterslide was designed and built incorrectly? Maybe, maybe not. You seem to be mighty sure that they intended to kill people, and that's illogical.
Mandalay Bay was designed and built incorrectly? Maybe, maybe not. Some would say that because the shooter was able to break out multiple windows it was a faulty design that makes them liable. Some would say that being able to bring a dozen or more long weapons into the hotel room and remain undetected for so long made the staff legally negligent. Etc., etc.
Now, let's use Tracy's own words to score points!
Tracy wrote: "Nobody ever claimed the Mandalay Bay CAUSED the shooter to shoot. Or that the design of the hotel was a death trap. Jeez. If you want to be a cynical know-it-all, at least come up with something that relates."
So, why was the Sandy Hook school razed? Why has the FL Legislature appropriated money to demolish the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building where their shooting took place?
Don't be stupid. Please.
11:12, I thought yesterday right after your hotel analogy about the windows and weapons just like you're hypothesizing. Victims' attorneys in that mass shooting should be able to present the faults on that hotel's deficiencies. Shouldn't hotel window glass be strong enough that horseplaying kids wouldn't be accidentally crashing through from running, tripping, wrestling, etc. Yeah, so, a nutcase assassin shouldn't be able to easily break them out, either.
DeleteCURRENTLY, I'm in talks to BUY that Slide and keep it OPEN !!!
ReplyDeleteI have plans on using a certain individual as a TEST SUBJECT to make sure its SAFE !!!
I've decided the TEST SUBJECTS would be :
KCMO Mayor SLY JAMES
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker
I Will NOT be able to afford to buy the whole slide , so I'm NOT purchasing any SAFETY NETS, but believe ol' SLY JAMES, and Peter Sucker will do just fine without any Safety Nets !!
Get your VIDEO CAMERAS ready, this will be FUN !!!!!!
^^^ LOL!
ReplyDeleteShut.
ReplyDeleteIt.
Down.
Maybe it might work under new management but what other park would want to take over that legacy? It's a screwed up situation and maybe starting over would be the best chance.
Lets hope no one dies at the NASCAR track or gets a head injury at a ball park or stumps their toe on the Walmart sidewalk or anywhere someone might want to shut down something.
ReplyDeleteI cant remember hearing about a rollercoaster designer being burned at the stake when one their rides cause a death
ReplyDelete