Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News Report - Saturday - November 22, 2008

*** KC-MO's Latest Homicide ***

*** A man is dead this Saturday morning after a stabbing reported in the 1700 block of East 97th Terrace just before 4am.

Police are seeking a black- 4-door Acura containing the reported suspect: "a 26-year-old white female." It was also reported a "one-month-old baby" was in the car with the suspect.

The incident is still under investigation by KC-MO police detectives.

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*** INDEPENDENCE-MO Crash ***

*** Two vehicles- one carrying a trailer- collided on westbound I-70 just east of Little Blue Parkway about 1:40am Saturday morning.

The van burst into flames with two occupants still inside. Passersby reportedly stopped and got the occupants out of the van with the help of police who had just arrived.

One of those occupants- a woman reported to be in her middle-40's- suffered 2nd & 3rd degree burns to her heard and upper body and was in critical condition. She was taken to a nearby trauma center- then later flown by medical helicopter to an area burn trauma center.

So far- no official report of this wreck.

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** Driver Rams Into Back Of Police Car On I-435 In KC-MO **

... At 3:20am Saturday morning- KC-MO emergency responders went to northbound I-435 north of 23rd Street on a vehicle rollover crash. No occupants were found in or around that wrecked vehicle..

While police officers were wrapping up an investigation of that accident- a motorist on I-435 slammed into the back of one of the patrol cars parked at 3:44am.. That patrol car rammed into another police vehicle also parked there.

The injuries to two KC-MO police officers- a 28 and a 30-year-old- were slight. The driver who rammed the patrol car suffered only minor injuries- and was under arrest pending the accident investigation.

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

A cloud cover overnight kept temperatures from falling much below freezing- aided by brisk southerly winds. That will help produce a warm-up today with temperatures ranging from the upper-40's to lower-50's around the MetroRegion.

The weather will stay seasonable and dry till about mid-week- as a winter-type storm system begins to affect the Central States late next Wednesday and Thursday.

There will be a chance of rain changing over to frozen precipitation close to the Kansas City Metro by late next Friday night or early next Saturday.

Stay tuned to CSW for the latest updates....

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

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State Tax Credits Approved For Bannister Mall-Soccer Stadium Plan

The Missouri Development Finance Board (MDFB) has approved $30-million in tax credits for the proposed Kansas City Wizards soccer stadium and retail/office project on the site of the old Bannister Mall in southeastern KC-MO..

Owen Buckley told The KANSAS CITY STAR that demolition of the decrepit Bannister Mall and surrounding failed retail development structures "could begin 2 to 4 months from now at the earliest" and that actual construction of the new complex "could start as early as next spring"- although K.C. Wizards spokespeople said it could be "2011" before the Wizards play a game in their new digs.

However Lane4 Development- the company financing and building this project- is asking the city for even more help in financing this project.

Buckley told The STAR: "We are very bullish this project will eventually (?) happen, but last winter the economy started taking a nosedive. The economy has caused us to take a step back. It's causing us (Lane4) hesitation because we can't sell bonds" for the stadium/retail project.

Jeffery Yates- KC-MO's finance director- "declined to offer specifics" on the additional "help" that Lane4 is seeking on this project- according to the STAR article.

What I don't understand is the planned retail for this project. In order to build this thing- they'll be tearing down structures that- as of 5-10 years ago- contained hundreds of retail businesses now long gone.

Will Lane4's retail development in this project be viable- especially in an increasingly-worsening retail climate?

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Barrel Of Oil Now Below $50

At this posting just before 3pm- the price of a barrel of light-sweet crude oil stood around $49.62.

The Dow Jones had fallen more than 450 points again.

Gasoline prices continue to fall in Independence-MO- now nearing $1.40 per gallon.

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"Precious Doe" Killer Gets Life In Prison

Twenty-nine year-old Harrell Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without parole today in the 2001 killing of 3-year-old Erica Green- according to the AP..
Erica was only known for several years as "Precious Doe" after her headless body was found in a wooded area of south-central Kansas City-MO..

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No State Standards In Amber Alert Issuances

The Associated Press reports that the criteria for issuing "Amber Alerts" varies widely from state to state. Some states don't even track past Alerts they've issued.

Amber Alerts are media broadcasts for missing and/or possibly kidnapped or abducted people- generally children.

This nationwide system began as a grass-roots project in Arlington-TX after a child- Amber Hagerman- was kidnapped and murdered in 1996.

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MetroRegion Kansas City Winter Weather Outlook

Just issued are the latest long-range National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts for Winter 2008-09.

These first images are forecast temperature and precipitation trends for December.

Click on these images for full size and see that the Central States- Missouri-Kansas-Nebraska- Iowa- Oklahoma and Arkansas- are forecast to experience above average temperatures and precip next month.

These next images are the combined outlooks for the months of December-2008 and January-February-2009.

As you can see- much of the Central States are forecasted to have above-average temps and precip through February.

So it appears that the K.C. MetroRegion will experience warmer than average temperatures through the next 3 months- but we'll also be subject to above-average amounts of precipitation- and in the winter months- that generally means snow and ice.

CSW will keep you up-to-date on any winter storm systems affecting the Metro- MetroRegion and Central States.

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Bailout 2- The Auto Industry

As the economy of America and the world sinks further- Congress has reportedly approved some sort of bailout for the teetering car makers.

Dammit! Not a friggen taxpayer dime to these unresponsive morons UNTIL they start making attractive vehicles that get AT LEAST 40 miles per gallon (MPG).

I realize we cannot let GM- Ford or Chrysler fail- but Hell- who is going to bailout the American taxpayer?????

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Christmas In The Sky At Longview Lake Next Week

Next Wednesday evening at 5:30pm marks the spectacular fireworks display that kicks off the Christmas In The Park holiday display at Longview Lake in southeastern KC-MO..

The event is FREE!

The fireworks show will be at the Longview Lake beach- on Raytown Road about a quarter mile south of Longview Road on the west side of the lake. The holiday lights display is on the east side of the lake- a drive-thru around the campground area off View High Drive south of Longview and the community college.

The long-range weather forecast for next Wednesday is dry with slightly ABOVE-AVERAGE temperatures- so it looks like it will be an excellent evening to kick off the Winter Holidays.

Please join Ms. Rittenhouse- the Captain and crew that evening at Longview!

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Gasoline Below $1.50 Locally

If you have relatives or any reason to do business in Independence-MO- it behooves you these days to cruise that way.

Gasoline prices have fallen BELOW $1.50 per gallon along the 23rd Street & Noland Road area.

This area remains an island of some of the lowest gasoline prices in the country right now with no sign of any significant price increases in sight.

With the airlines adding extra charges to tickets (You want wings on the aircraft? $100 extra) it may just be more economical to drive to your holiday destination this year.

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