Incredible Kansas Jayhawks Football

OK fellow J'Hawkers- are we for real yet?

Today KU's football squad gave the long-feared Nebraska Cornhuskers their WORST defeat in 117 years with a 76-39 victory in front of a record crowd of more than 51000 at KU's Memorial Stadium.

KU remains as one of only 5 teams in America that are undefeated. None but KU in the Big 12.

As the Missouri Tigers are working on a defeat of Colorado right now- this means the BIG game at Arrowhead between the Tigers and Jayhawks will be HUGE.

GO JAYHAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Saturday, November 03, 2007

** THREE OVERCOME BY CARBON MONOXIDE IN BLUE SPRINGS-MO **

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS ... Central Jackson County Fire and 2 EMS units are in the 2000 block of Northeast 3rd Street where 3 persons have been reported sickened by carbon monoxide (CO2) gas.

The call went out at 6:23am. There are reports the CO2 problem was caused by natural gas- yet it was reported from MGE that gas service to the address was off.

The 3 patients are reported to need "hyperbaric chamber" treatments due to the high (200 ppm) CO2 levels they inhaled and are enroute to a south KC-MO hospital at this writing.

>>> Around midnight- 5 persons in Raymore-MO were routed from their home due to high CO2 levels. That family in the 100 block of North Johnson refused EMS attention.

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** KC-MO APARTMENT BUILDING FIRE **

*** No one was injured in an apartment building fire in the 6400 block of Manchester at 5:19am Saturday morning.

Two small streams were used on a fire in a 2nd-floor apartment and flames and/or smoke affected at least 2 apartments. The fire was out by 5:50am.

A fire investigator was ordered to the scene as the blaze was of suspicious origin.

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<><><> OVERNIGHT WEATHER <><> <>

Temperatures Saturday morning range from the upper 20's to lower 30's across the Kansas City MetroRegion. Skies were mostly clear with light northerly winds at dawn.

Today will be a fine fall day- enjoy!

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Kansas City's Breaking News Leader - NBC41 ACTION NEWS.
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Price Of Oil Skyrockets

The price of a barrel of oil has exceeded $95- approching $96 per barrel as I write. We are warned of gasoline prices of $3 per gallon by the end of the year.

It won't take that long- we were getting a "break (HaHa)" as it was with per gallon prices as low as $2.45 recently. As of today- gas was already at $2.80 a gallon.

Pop off those rose-coloured glasses if you're wearing- and I hope you like roller coaster rides my fellow citizens....

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A "More Than" Statistic NOT To Be Proud Of

Item in the KANSAS CITY STAR this morning:

"Johnson County will break ground today on a $60 million project that may give it the largest county jail system in Kansas"- larger than Wichita's Sedgwick County system.

The article came off as somewhat cheerleading. I cannot cheer such a statistic.

America has the largest prison population of ANY Free World country. Certainly nothing to cheer about unless you're an attorney or make your nest egg off of other people's mistakes.

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Katheryn Shields Political Career Is Over Either Way

Whether or not Ms. Shields read the closing papers on the house she sold makes no difference really.

What it proves however is that if Ms. Shields can't even conduct her personal affairs in a responsible manner- such as reading documents she's signing.

How can we citizens trust such irresponsibility with far greater impacting civic matters?

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Independence Shoplifting Incident Redux- Get Over It

Virtually all of us agree that the traffic stop Indy police made some time ago on the pregnant woman who was thought to be a shoplifting suspect was handled sort of poorly.

I just don't see what all the big deal is about- the officers DID apologise.

Then that pregnant school teacher wants to sue the IPD- J.C. Penney's and- it seems- everybody within a quarter-mile radius of the traffic stop.

Personally- I don't think she has much of a case and if her attorney isn't doing this pro-bono- I think she's in for another letdown- this time financial.

Shit happens lady- I too have been hassled by cops when I'd done nothing wrong (when I was actually HELPING the cops too). I could have escalated that incident and sued the Raytown PD- but I didn't (this incident will make a good future post- keep watching! g).

Like anything unpleasant that happens- you move on with life and file that away in things you'll deal with differently next time.

In other words- get over it. Save your attorney for a case you might win....

For what it's worth too- I'm sorry I was in the same region as your unpleasant traffic stop in the People's Republic of Independence.

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The Chapter That Never Ended - The Original Picture Painted In Every Shade Of Blue

I apologise for the dearth of posts lately- but something totally unexpected happened...

Continuing to write the book of my life- there was a chapter that was never resolved.

The chapter was that of a lovely young woman who struck me like a bolt of lightning a year after the break-up of my first marriage in 1973.

I thought I had known something of love by the time I turned 22 in 1974. I didn't know anything really. That young woman- Diane- gently and lovingly tutored me.

The magic time we fell in love was actually kind of brief. The 7 months or so we lived together in late 1974 and early 1975 was hotter than any star. Like a whirlwind- we became soulmates.

I had began writing songpoems just before meeting Diane- this lady would inspire those writings not only during our brief encounter- but also over the coming decades.

Just one of our tender moments- recalled even 20 years later- would inspire those loving but often painfully-written odes to loves found and lost.

Nothing mattered but each other- but by the summer of 1975- we somehow drifted apart. She left my life- but never my heart.

The years went by and both of us found other lovers.

I was lucky the 2nd time around- finding a lovely woman in 1978 who also became a soulmate to me. Not many men ever find one- let alone two who touch their very soul over a lifetime.

But the unresolved first soulmate was never forgotten.

Through the years- Diane and I would touch base with each other every few years or so- as special friends. In those quiet late-nights- I would sometimes listen to the recordings we made and gaze upon the few photos that remained of that wonderful and tender time we had together- and I would ponder what happened- thinking "why?"

I wondered often where she was- and if she was happy. That was always all that mattered to me when it's true love. But those feelings were only fleeting- I was content with my 2nd wife Debi and she gave to me all a man could ask.

Diane and I got together one night in 1986. However- my 2nd marriage was just breaking up- with all the gut-wrenching that came with it. Diane understood- comforted me- but our time still wasn't right and nothing happened between us.

The last time I saw Diane was in the late 1980's- she was going to re-marry and came to see me to seemingly ask my approval. Unemployed and with a still-scarred heart-I had to give her my blessing.

As the 1990's began- after so many jobs that amounted to nothing in the end- I found my niche in the news business. Thoughout that decade- all of my energies and dedication went into that job. Now in my 40's- I more or less gave up on relationships.

By the time the new century unfolded- I had found Internet chat. With it came scores of available women- stretched across all corners of the globe.

By this time I had changed too- I had become totally honest and open with others- a resolve not really suited to Internet chat.

Yet I would be rewarded with another my own age who shared those feelings. A new relationship with a Canadian woman- Jenan- re-introduced me to the joy of falling in love again.

Again- I was in over my head. This time however- the summit of my affections was nearly 2000 miles away. That distance and a seeming change in our relationship due to differences continued to eat away at what I thought was a strong foundation we had built.

Still adoring Jenan but with the reality of the writings on the wall- we would slowly but surely drift away from each other by the beginning of this year. The emptiness that she once filled slowly returned.

Until September 30.

After awaking that Sunday from a tough overnight shift- I found a message on the answering machine. It was Diane- trying to find me and wondering how I was doing. I called her back that evening and we ran down her cellphone battery after a 2+-hour conversation.

Three days later was my 55th birthday. Diane was one of the few people to remember it- and me. Her cellphone battery couldn't keep up over the next few weeks.

Then something wonderfully magic and totally unexpected happened- we rediscovered our relationship.

What I'd only drempt of many lonely nights was happening. We would have another chance.

I had told myself years before- if she ever again came back into my life- I would tell her all those genuine and heartfelt feelings I've had for her since our eyes first met in September of '74.

I told her these things and what I didn't know was that during all these lost years- she had felt exactly the same way about me.

I write this after Diane left here a short time ago- having been with her almost constantly over the past 5 days.

This time though we acknowledge and laid bare the deep feelings- the affection- the passion. We understand the folly of trying to hide our 33-year unresolved feelings for each other. We both know there will be bumps in our new road- no matter how carefully constructed.

This time we realize that the prize far outweighs any pains we may encounter- that with our deepest love and respect- no mountain is insurmountable.

This time we commit- for real- forever.

One soulmate's chapter of the Book of My Life will need re-writing. This time- with an unexpected end- actually a new beginning.

For like that candle for the darkness- everywhere I go she'll be with me.

Oh- once I settle on a cloud- the postings will resume with regularity....

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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Sunday, October 28, 2007

*** MORE SERIOUS INJURIES IN WESTPORT ***

*** It's been two nights in a row now where people have suffered critical injuries in KC-MO's Westport area.

Saturday morning- 2 men were critically-injured in a shooting. This morning- it was a pedestrian run over by a hit and run driver.

At 3:01am- a police officer on patrol in Westport is told by a witness that a man had been run over in an alley behind Harpo's in the 4100 block of Pennsylvania. That witness says the black sports-utility vehicle that struck and dragged the man a short distance under the vehicle drove off.

While that officer takes information and tends to the "seriously-injured" victim- another officer a short distance away has the suspect vehicle sighted. That vehicle is stopped and the driver arrested.

The man who was struck apparently never regained consciousness after he was hit- as MAST-EMS took "the approximately 30-year-old male" to a local trauma center with head and other injuries including a fractured leg. His condition was classed as critical.

While NBC41 Action News photographer Michael Butler was on the hit & run scene- there was an armed street robbery then 3 people assaulted nearby according to police and MAST reports.

Unfortunately- Mr. Butler couldn't clone himself and his equipment in time to shoot those scenes.

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** MORE THAN A DOZEN KC-MO POLICE OFFICERS RESPOND TO NIGHTCLUB DISTURBANCE **

*** It sounded like a riot going on as a Center Zone police officer asked for assistance dealing with a "large disturbance" at the MG's Club in the 200 block of East Admiral Boulevard at 1:36am Sunday morning.

I lost count at 16 cars from Center Zone and 2 other patrol districts responding to the Downtown location. The assist-the-officer call was not cancelled until more than 20 minutes later.

Police "cleared the club" and "closed" it. Two people were assaulted in the melee requiring an ambulance and up to 5 people were arrested. No police officers were reported to be injured.

Nearly all police patrol divisions were "blacked-out" or had no readily-available officers for calls much of the morning. "Self-initiated" police officer functions were not resumed until 5:40am.

In addition- MAST-EMS was reduced to as little as one ambulance covering the 318 square miles of Kansas City at one point early Sunday morning. There are only 15 in-service EMS units in-service as it is.

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** BREAKING NEWS: FATALITY WRECK IN KC-MO **

... There has been a single vehicle/fatality wreck on the southbound Broadway Extention near the north end of the Downtown Airport.

The call went out at 6:10am. When emergency crews arrived- they found a person had been ejected from the wrecked vehicle and was lying in the roadway. C.P.R. was attempted on the patient but they were declared dead shortly after 6:30am.

Southbound Broadway Extention/U.S. 169- is closed near M-9 highway. No other details.

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<><><> OVERNIGHT WEATHER <><> <>

The season's first frost and freeze came to many northern and western locations of the Kansas City MetroRegion this morning.

Mostly clear skies and calm winds allowed temperatures to plunge into the upper-20's in Lawrence and St. Joseph with lower-30's reported as far south as and Knob Noster.

Temperatures in the Metro itself were generally in the upper 30's as of 6am.

A warming trend will prevail this week- until the next frontal system crosses the are Wednesday or Thursday.

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Kansas City's Breaking News Leader - NBC41 ACTION NEWS.
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Freeze This Morning In Parts Of MetroRegion

St. Joseph-MO has already hit 31-degrees- although their 1am temperature is 33.

Lawrence-KS is 38-degrees with calm winds- being in the Kaw River valley and with their history of temperature extremes they will no doubt approach if not exceed the 32-degree mark by sunrise.

Here in the Metro- I'm at 41-degrees right now out by the old Bannister Mall with all local reporting stations actually warmer than I- it's 46 at the Downtown Airport.

With about 6 hours to go until sunrise- I'm hedging my bet that except for some undeveloped river valley locations- we may just avoid a Metro-wide frost today.

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