Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News Report - Saturday - October 11, 2008

*** Three Shot After Westside KC-MO Club Disturbance ***

*** Three people were shot overnight- at least two of those victims in serious to critical condition- after a shooting early Saturday morning outside a Southwest Boulevard nightclub.

The incident occurred around the Barcelona Club in the 3000 block of "The Boulevard" around 2:45am.

The shootings were reportedly outside the club near closing time. One victim drove as far as 20th Street & Main where he was located by rescue workers. Two victims tried to drive themselves to an area trauma center.

A reported suspect vehicle and driver was chased and stopped by KC-KS police on I-35 near Lamar shortly after the shooting and that driver was taken into custody.

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*** FATALITY CAR CRASH IN FRANKLIN COUNTY-KS ***

*** A one-car crash early Saturday morning on southbound I-35 near Wellsville-KS killed a 7-year-old Oklahoma boy.

The incident occurred about 2:30am on I-35 south of Edgerton Road- according to Kansas Highway Patrol and media reports.

A car containing 3 children and driven by Ravin Harrison of Del City-OK left the road- Harrision apparently tried to overcorrect and the vehicle rolled over.

Seven-year-old Alvin Harrison was thrown from the car. The other 2 children and Ravin Harrison suffered unknown injuries..

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** Fire Heavily Damages KC-MO House **

... A house in the 2800 block of Quincy suffered heavy damage after an early Saturday morning fire.

No injuries were reported in the 2:14am incident that was under investigation.

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

Temperatures stayed above seasonal averages for October 11- in the mid-50's to low-60's at dawn Saturday. Winds were generally light from the east to south.

A strong warm-up today and Sunday as a storm system gathers in the Rockies- bringing 80-degree temperatures throughout the MetroRegion and a chance of showers and thunderstorms on Monday.

Some areas of the Central States may receive heavy rainfall from the early-week storm system- but no extremely cool air is expected behind this system.

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

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NBC-Universal To Discontinue "Weather Plus" Channel

Since NBC/U has bought a stake in The Weather Channel- the Peacock network is pulling th plug on it's 4-year "Weather Plus" channel- according to this article at Broadcasting and Cable.

KSHB-41 is the Kansas City affiliate currently using Weather Plus.

It is yet unknown how KSHB will fill that void in it's own local weather channel that is operated by KSHB's weather department.

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WDAF-Channel 4's New Owners Cut News Coverage

"First in Kansas City" seems destined to be last in newscast ratings soon.

If you haven't seen SkyFOX4 in the air much lately or seen scene video of overnight events during weekends there's a reason:

Channel 4's new owners are apparently trying to maximize profits at the expense of their primary money-maker- the news.

This is the scoop from CSW insiders at Kansas City's first television station.

In these times where the broadcast and print media NEED more in-depth/investigative coverage of business and political goings-on- most news shops- Channel 4 included- have been stripped by their corporate owners of the people and tools needed to do this job which IS an American Trust.

It seems to be some part of the general "dumbing-down" of the American public- first- the educational system and now- the free press.

What we don't know won't hurt us is a lie of epic proportions. What we don't know already has cost us freedoms and is bankrupting the UCSA.

Kansas City STAR cuts- now Channel 4's bean-counters- seem to be leading the pack locally.

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KANSAS CITY'S BREAKING NEWS: Injury- Possibly Fatal House Fire In KC-MO's Northland

At 7:20am - five KC-MO Fire department companies were sent to a reported fire in a residence with a burn victim in the 6600 block of North Hamer Drive.

That initial victim reportedly has suffered second-degree burns to the hands- face and back- according to the first-arriving fire crew and MAST-EMS.

That first fire company on the scene also reported heavy smoke showing and a working fire in the basement of the one-story house there.

At 7:28am- there is reportedly a "possible (fire) victim" inside the burning basement. An initial search of the basement at 7:32am reports no victim located.

However- at 7:35am- Fire reports a victim has been located and was being "brought out" of the residence. At 7:36am- "C-P-R" is being performed on that 2nd victim.

The initial fire victim is reported to be a "19-year-old male" by MAST-EMS and is in "critical condition" according to the paramedic's medical report to a local burn trauma center

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UPDATE: 0753CDT- The 2nd victim from this house fire is reported to be a "20-year-old female in full cardiac arrest" and has been transported to a nearby medical center in critical to grave condition.

This victim- more stable than earlier but still in very citical condition- was later transported to the same facility as the first victim (0930CDT).

In addition- a full fire investigation crew has been summoned to the fire scene- although early reports were that a defective furnace was a preliminary cause for this fire.

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

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Government Care of Iraq "War" Victims Is Bad Joke

The following is one reason I want to shove a filthy rag in the mouths of politicians who wave their phony flag "supporting" Armed Forces personnel:
Suicides by Iraq veterans are a tragic- under-reported facet of Bush's Folly. As of October 7-2008- 4180 soldiers and 8 civilians have died in Iraq- but only 3385 by "hostile action"- according to the AP..

The Associated Press also reports that a widow of one such soldier is suing the Federal Government (good luck) because her husband didn't get timely treatment from the Veteran's Administration (another bad joke) for her husband's suicide attempts after his return from Iraq.

Like Vietnam-era vets- Iraq veterans are mostly forgotten after they return home with their battle wounds- both physical and mental.

This is- and continues to be like so many things these days in the UCSA (United Corporate States of America)- a national disgrace.

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Name Change For The United States In Order

In view of the generous American taxpayer welfare so freely given out to American (we think?) corporations- I propose a name change from the United States of America to the United CORPORATE States of America.

Save America in November- vote for an ALTERNATIVE party!

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Cordish "Demands" Police "Show of Force" For Power and Light District

Downtown KC-MO's "Power & Light District" is slowly being overrun by crime- particularly (when I work) on weekends.

A well-publicized shooting 2 weekends ago- plus other sundry more minor assaults & robberies have plagued this area since early summer.

Center Zone patrol officers and MAST-EMS ambulances already handle dozens of calls there on any given weekend (personal documentation IS available).

In Wednesday morning's KANSAS CITY STAR- it's reported that the chairman & CEO of Cordish- the corporate entity that built the P&L with a HUGE check from city taxpayers- is "demanding a police show of force" in the P&L District.

Oh really? "Demanding?"

At whose expense should this police "show of force" be charged to?

The inner-city- where the crime/murder rate is highest?

Westport- where there's ALREADY a police "show of force" on weekends- yet has done nothing to slow crime & shootings- and a recent murder there?

How about these borderline-effective police sobriety checkpoints?

I imagine Cordish's "demands" will be met- seeing how corporate rules in the good-ole UCSA (see endless taxpayer bailouts).

Plus- the city can ill afford to jeopardize the $300-million taxpayer investment in the P&L District. That's be ANOTHER bill come due- at our expense.

Maybe the City can convince the governor to assign National Guard troops to Kansas City's party areas on weekends- so the KC-MO Police Dept. can try a little offense- rather than on the defensive of running from call to call until other areas of the city are sapped of police protection.

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American International Group Executives Should Be Jailed

The Associated Press is reporting tonight that after American taxpayers bailed out AIG to the tune of (a reported anyway) $85-billion- AIG executives took a nearly half-million dollar junket to a Southern California health spa.

Washington career politicians: These bastards SHOULD be treated to 6 months to a year in prison!

Vote independent November 4 to ATTEMPT to stop this insane crap.

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Soccer Stadium Plan At Bannister Mall In Peril

It appears the decrepit sights of dozens of abandoned buildings in the old Bannister Mall area will be with us for awhile.

Recently- The Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) met- and did not take action on the $21-million in state tax credits to the developer of the project- Lane4/Three Trails Development LLC (L4/TTD).

The board claimed that L4/TTD had not submitted their proposal of how many square feet of building would compromise each phase of the project.

The next MDFB board meeting was scheduled November 18.

L4/TTD had proposed an 18500 seat soccer stadium for the Kansas CIty Wizards- along with a retail and office development for the area around the former Bannister Mall site and the "first" phase that includes the soccer stadium and some retail was to be completed by 2010.

As of this morning- October 7- 2008- not one spade of earth has been turned nor one brick removed for the project. The old Bannister Mall and the numerous empty structures in the area around it- open to the elements in many cases- continues to deteriorate.

In addition to the delay on the state tax credits looms a bigger elephant in the room: the faltering American economy.

One HAS to wonder if the project will get the needed private funding to proceed even if the state tax credits are approved.

The article linked above indicates that if the stadium isn't completed by the originally proposed deadline of 2010- the Wizards may build their stadium elsewhere.

Fellow residents in this seemingly neglected area of Kansas City wonder aloud if indeed this- or any other project- will replace this major-league eyesore (see the CSW post "Photo Essay...." ) visible to drivers along Chuck Eddy (Hillcrest) Road and I-435.

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Kansas City MetroRegion Weather: Showers- Thunderstorms On The Increase

Here's the latest image from our own in-house GRLevel3 radar- showing a large area of showers and a few heavy thunderstorms approaching Metro K.C. from the southwest & west.



The activity within this area is actually moving almost due south to north- so precipitation is likely soon lasting for at least 2 hours- then off and on through at least early Tuesday morning.



Mostly heavy rain and some deadly lightning strokes are expected and some hail cannot be ruled out with any thunderstorms that approach severe levels.

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Environmental Disaster - 300 Still Missing In Hurricane Ike's Wake

The death toll from Ike has passed 70- with around 300 people still missing- and there are hundreds of enviromental challenges left after Hurricane Ike's September landfall near Galveston- according to this AP story.

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Voting AGAINST November's Light Rail Plan

That's right- this long-time supporter of a commuter rail system in this backwards burg is coming out against the city council- manufactured plan.

Mainly- but not totally because the City Council put it together. The SAME City Council that OVERTURNED the voter-approved Clay Chastain plan.

I ABSOLUTELY oppose elected officials overturning the voted WILL OF THE PEOPLE.
I'll even go you one better: Those council people that voted to overturn the voter's wishes should be thrown out of office.

Which leads to reason Number 2 why I'm voting against this plan: Clay Chastain.

You see- Mr. "Hundred Pounds of Tedium" Clay has a pending lawsuit against the City because the Council overturned Chastain's VOTER-APPROVED plan earlier this year.

I'll be the first to admit Chastain's plan had some folly about it (gondolas? really!). But Chastain's lawsuit has merit- a lot of merit- and if the judge rules in Chastain/public's favor- ANY light rail plan that voters approve after they were disapproved will be thrown to the pavement.

I'm only glad we didn't have the PRESENT city leaders around back when the parks & boulevard systems were proposed- we'd have no parks or boulevards.

At any rate- we have hundreds of millions/billions to spend to fix the sewer system and the millionaire sports players playpens. In this tightening money market- there won't BE many dollars to throw at a glorified bus line on rails.

We need council members with a little (a lot of) imagination- something to occupy their time rather than peeping to see if the Mayor's wife is in his office.

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Politician Term Limits Not The Only Solution

Ms. Linda Esposito of Leawood writes in the Monday KANSAS CITY STAR that "partisanship has paralyzed this country to the detriment of the American people" and that "term limits seem to be the only solution."

Actually- term limits AREN'T the only solution Linda.

The REAL solution is viable 3rd and 4th political parties. Alternatives to Demoblicans and Republicrats.

That's where I'm headed to vote on November 4th- for an alternative party solution to America's ruling class mess.

Throw the Fear of God into the Demoblicans and Republicrats this year- join me in voting for 3rd & 4th-party candidates.

(I'm Captain Geoffrey Spaulding- and I believe in my soul this message.)

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KANSAS CITY'S BREAKING NEWS: Homicide In KC-MO

KC-MO homicide count for 2008 has reached at least 103 Sunday morning after a 2-victim shooting.

Police responding to a 1:45am shots-fired call at 11th Street & Cleveland find a party breaking up- and a person down with gunshot wounds. That person died on the spot..

A 2nd gunshot victim is found about 20 minutes later about a block away. That victim- "an approximately 20-year-old Hispanic male" according to MAST-EMS- was taken to an area trauma center in critical condition.

The only suspect information police had to report as of this one is that they're looking for "a Hispanic male" with only a clothing description.

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

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