City Union Mission Needs More Help Than News Media Knows

Item on the Saturday evening newscast on KSHB: "The City Union Mission needs public help because they're (CUM) low on funds."

For a fact- I know they're nearly $3000 short. That's because they lost an unemployment appeal last week- to my mate Lady Di.

You see- Di was fired the day after her October birthday- after 7 years of dedicated employment as an accountant at the City Union Mission.

The CUM fought to deny her unemployment benefits- but a State of Missouri unemployment referee overturned CUM's objections and awarded Lady Di her benefits.

The awarded benefits did nothing to ease the unemployed Christmas- but that nearly $3000 will help Lady Di catch up on any unpaid bills.

What got her fired?

Employees were- bottom line- stealing public donations.
Lady Di thought that was wrong- tried going through "channels"- bringing the matter up to superiors who vaguely gave her direction to pursue it.
Those employees involved and others in the (gravy?) train circled their wagons- burned what personal integrity that remained- and got rid of the messenger.

Specifically- some of the paid employees there were frauding the organization- stealing public donations basically- by getting paid for time they did not actually work.
Lady Di contended that even when those certain employees WERE at work- they did very little.

A supervisor told her that proof would be needed- mentioning time sheets as one form of evidence. That supervisor did not specify WHOM was to get that information.
In that vagueness Di assumed that was direction for HER to obtain that evidence- as she had open access to that information in her normal course of work.

Di gathered that evidence- the time sheets- as "in-"directed.
Those employee time sheets that- as PART of her job- she made ready for the employees to fill out each week.
She examined those time sheets- containing no personal information other than employee names and times worked- that were "left out so ANY employee" could look at them.

It was then that those accused and long-time employees of the place got their acts together- and summarily denied any such wrongdoing and doing their masterful job of table-turning.

They got Lady Di fired- for the reason the City Union Mission gave the state unemployment people was because of "mis-conduct- viewing confidential information" that was on the timesheets.

I don't know about any of you- but as head of a company or organization- I would foam at the mouth for an accountant- like Lady Di- looking out for the organization's interests.

I would want to KNOW who was stealing time- which is money- from my firm. I would want to KNOW who is using public donations for expensively-catered parties and such.

Especially a homeless shelter- which is having financial difficulties.

The City Union Mission serves a worthwhile purpose and is a worthwhile organization to donate money- products or services to.

I think I would demand an accounting of their donations- uses of same and their employees' habits before I would give very much however.

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What A 9-1-1 Center Sounds Like During A Tornado

People couldn't believe those tornado warning sirens were for real last Monday in Kenosha County- Wisconsin.

Then other people begin calling in reports of houses damaged and destroyed with people injured and trapped in their basements- HERE at a link to audio from Kenosha County's 9-1-1 Center January 7.

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What The Hell Is A "Sneak Peak"

That's what's on the graphics this Friday morning on CNBC as they're pimping Ford's "new" F-150 pickup truck: "Sneak Peak At Ford's New F-150."

MAYBE they intended that to be a "sneak PEEK."

Incredible....

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Scattered Cumulus I

• There was an incredible more than 430 reports of severe weather from that tornado outbreak Monday and Tuesday. That hasn't occurred so early in the year and so far north in the nearly 140 years of weather records kept.

Al says global warming- I say climate change/extremes.

• Today there's a moderate risk of tornadoes in the middle Gulf coast states. Tornadoes have already been reported in Mississippi-with the risk of strong tornadoes throughout today in that state as well as parts of Alabama and Tennessee.

• Item on the news: "Price of gasoline could hit $3.50 a gallon by next summer.

The bastards are bilking us again now- as gas is already just below $3.

I don't know how "we- the people" can do shit about this plus the rising food prices- other than to vow not to buy anything but absolute essentials for- say- a month.

Crapper of that is that food and- for many of us fuel- IS essential.

People with a far greater knowledge of economic conditions are publicly and privately expressing serious concerns about the state of the American economy this year.

People are also looking in to their money market/IRA accounts and a growing number are cashing out and putting their money elsewhere.

I suggested to my companion Ms. Rittenhouse that she put hers in a mattress....

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One Dead- Dozens Injured In Rare Winter Middle-USA Tornado Outbreak

Extremely rare early January tornadoes have killed one and injured dozens in Missouri- Illinois- Wisconsin and Arkansas- according to the Associated Press. The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service reports 30 tornadoes in those states through 10pm Central Time.

The death is at a mobile home park near Marshfield-MO- near Springfield. Two others reportedly have critical and 6 more lesser injuries.

Two tornadoes were reported in the city of Springfield Monday evening- but no reports of injuries or damage yet.

Tornadoes swept through northern and northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin- more than a dozen injuries reported but as of yet no fatalities.
A tornado knocked a Union Pacific train from the tracks near Harvard-IL- causing a tank car leak and a subsequent evacuation of a small community of 500 people.

Tornado and sever thunderstorm watches continue late Monday night and into early Tuesday morning from eastern Kansas and Oklahoma across Missouri into the Ohio Valley.

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Rare January Tornadoes Causing Damage And Injury In Mid-States

At least 19 tornadoes have been reported thus far this Monday evening from southern Missouri into northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin.

AT least 1 injury has been confirmed in Wisconsin- but the latest reports have been a person or persons trapped in a tornado-ravaged house near Springfield-MO.

Severe thunderstorms and tornado watches stretch from eastern Oklahoma into Illinois tonight.

I'm keeping my eye on the front that's gone through K.C. this late afternoon- and how it might interact with another low pressure wave near the Texas Panhandle moving northeast along that front.

This may lift thunderstorms presently in the southern MetroRegion northward into the Metro.

More on that as the situation develops....

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KANSAS CITY'S BREAKING WEATHER: Tornado Watch No. 1- South - Southeastern MetroRegion

The Storm Prediction Center has issued the first watch of the year- Tornado Watch No. 1- that includes southeastern Kansas- a large portion of Missouri and western Illinois.

Cass- Johnson and Lafayette counties Missouri are in the watch- as well as Linn county Kansas.

I'll be on this developing weather situation throughout the afternoon and evening as this is VERY close to the K.C. Metro.

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Temperatures Vary Wildly Across K.C. MetroRegion

As you can see by the imbedded weather map image- temperatures vary a great deal across the MetroRegion this morning.

It's 64 degrees right now in southeastern KC-MO- but temperatures to the north where some snowpack remains struggle to reach the 40's. Note the 32 degree reading at MHK or Manhattan-KS this hour.

An area of showers to our southwest will continue to move northeast and over mostly southern portions of the Metro over the next few hours.

Present forecast is for more showers- even a thunderstorm possible later today- then a cold front sweeps through overnight and may bring a couple of hour period of snow Tuesday morning from the K.C. Metro north into northern Missouri.

The warm weather slowly goes south the rest of this week- another chance of wintry weather Thursday and again by late weekend.

It was sure nice while it lasted tho....

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Eat Me - Texas Style

Police in Tyler-TX have a pleasant investigation today.

The AP says officers went to the home of 25-year-old Christopher Lee McCuin looking for his former girlfriend- 21-year-old Jana Shearer.

McCuin had abducted her from her home Friday night and stabbed her current boyfriend.

What they found at McCuin's home was a pot on the stove with a human ear boiling away- and a hunk of flesh on a fork- sitting on a plate on the table.

Please hold the puns until I leave the room....

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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Sunday, January 06, 2008

*** One Dead- Another Nearly So In KC-MO Shooting ***

*** Two people were shot- one was dead at the scene in the 2700 block of Grove around 2:20am Sunday morning.

The police are looking for 4 suspects who left the house in a burgundy-colored new-model Chrysler Intrepid.


The other very critically-injured victim was rushed to a nearby trauma center.

No other information available from uncooperative police on the scene.

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** Crash In Lee's Summit-MO Seriously Injures Two **

*** An early Sunday morning wreck on U.S. 50 near 3rd Street have left 2 young women- one 18-years-old- with serious facial injuries.

The wreck happened around 2:25am Sunday morning in the eastbound lanes when their car hit another.

No other injury was reported however and an officer was quite uncooperative to our TV news camerawoman.

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** Carjacking In KC-MO Leads Police On Chase- Hotel Search **

... The carjacking by "10 black males" of a man's 1999 GMC Denali happened in the 3000 block of Swope Parkway in south Midtown around 12:40am..

It was around 1:30am when police in downtown KC-MO spotted the blue and green Denali containing 2 black males and chased the vehicle west across the Lewis & Clark viaduct- then west on I-70 into KC-KS.. Speeds were reported by chasing cops up to "120 m.p.h.." The chase went to 78th Street in KC-KS- then back eastbound toward Missouri.

Officers finally get "stop-sticks" on the Denali around 38th Street as the suspects sped east at up to 100 m.p.h.. The driver got on I-670- and headed into the Downtown loop under Bartle Hall. Officers including a KC-MO PD helicopter lose sight of the Denali for about 5 minutes- long enough for the suspects to ditch the vehicle on the Central Street exit and- according to witnesses- run into the hotel at 1301 Wyandotte right around 2am.

Police conducted a floor by floor search of the at least 22-story structure and- at 5:21am- reported not finding any suspects.

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

Spring-like temperatures prevailed over about the southern 2/3 of the Kansas City MetroRegion overnight. Temps were up to 40 degrees above average morning lows- from the mid to upper-50's generally along and south of I-70.

Winds continued to be gusty ahead of the broad-scale West Coast storm system- from the south with some areas gusting into the 25 m.p.h. range.

Skies were covered by a thin high-cloud (cirrus) partial to complete overcast at times- but no precipitation in the MetroRegion.

Spring-like temperatures will continue for generally the southeastern 2/3 of the MetroRegion through Monday. Late Monday and early Tuesday a cool front will move through- with showers and thunderstorms along the front- generally along and east of I-35 in Missouri and east Kansas.

Temperatures stay near to above-average through late week- then a series of small storms sets us up for another storm chance and a colder trend late next weekend.

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Kansas City's Breaking News Leader - NBC41 ACTION NEWS.

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