Metro Kansas City WEATHER: Snow Accumulations Likely Overnight

An upper-level atmosphere storm system continues to produce light to moderate precipitation over the K.C. MetroRegion.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for extreme northeastern Missouri portions of our M-Region and up to 2 inches of snow are possible across Metro Kansas City.

I think the greatest snow accumulations will be over the eastern or Missouri portions of the Metro- and with temeperatures continuing to fall slowly- some bridges and overpasses could become slick and hazardous in those areas by dawn Sunday.

No problems are anticipated on Metro Kansas City roads through early Sunday morning- but caution should be used around dawn.

More here as needed....

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Longview Lakes' Christmas In The Sky Fireworks

The weather was beautiful. The festive crowds around the lake numbered in the tens of thousands.

It was the annual Christmas In The Sky at Longview Lake Wednesday night.



Bless you and yours- remember- The Spirit of Christmas costs nothing- so spend freely this year!

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Oh- Thank You Great Spirit

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

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Rare Astronomical Event Next Monday

Imagine a crescent moon- Venus and Jupiter clustered together in the dusk sky.

Monday evening- you won't have to imagine it- as the phenomenon will occur shortly after sunset in the southwestern sky- according to this AP story.

These heavenly bodies will begin to close-in on each other Thanksgiving night- getting closer until Monday evening's group shot.
Hoping to get a couple of pix of this- for the next such occurrence won't happen until 2052.

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KC-MO's Corporate Welfare

Like most of Corporate America- the City of Kansas City- MO is in financial doo-doo.

Unlike Corporate America- what exacerbates KC-MO's troubles are corporate subsidies (welfare)- a.k.a. Tax Increment (Excrement) Financing (TIF/TEF).

Almost $10-million will be required from the city's coffers to satisfy TIF obligations with a multi-billion-dollar sanitary sewer bill ready to fall on our citizens.

On top of that idiocy- city leaders are already talking of putting ANOTHER sales tax increase on the ballot. There's even been rumors of an increase of the highly-unpopular KC-MO "Earnings Tax"- that insidious tax on tax on tax on our paychecks.

Now it appears that Lane4- the outfit that claims to makeover the eyesore known as the old Bannister Mall area- will be asking for MORE financial help from the City.

How can we say NO- NO- NO to that and convince our elected officials?

It increasingly seems to me that Kansas City's failure will be corporate welfare and cost of non-infrastructure glitz projects.

We may see council people with signs at street corners soon: "Hey Buddy- can you spare any money to help us fix (fill in this area)?"

Sheesh!!!

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"Quik Trip Don't Lose This Number"

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Rare Video Of 1970 CHICAGO Documentary

Thanx to fellow YouTuber ChicagoKid1969- here's a 1970 documentary of the rock band CHICAGO- and an insight into their early recordings CBB (CHICAGO Before Ballads).

There are 3 parts to this documentary- listed in order below. Enjoy!

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"New" Type of Tornado Will Rid Your House of Pests

Whatever you do- STAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT when the following spoofy tornadoes invade! The following was sent via a storm chaser's mailing list I'm subbed to:

From The Onion:

MEMPHIS, TN—Officials from the National Weather Service issued a severe weather alert for all basements in Tennessee Tuesday after a deadly new weather phenomenon ravaged scores of residential downstairs areas, leaving every other part of the houses completely untouched. The recently discovered targeted cyclones, known as basement tornadoes, tore through cellars all over the state, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

Calling the recent devastation the worst indoor weather event in U.S. history, weather service director Dr. John L. Hayes said that millions of residents who have for years been taught to seek shelter from twisters by taking refuge in their homes will have to drastically adjust long-held assumptions about tornado safety and preparedness.

"If there is a violently rotating column of air in your basement, do not go downstairs," Hayes said. "Wait in an attic or at the top of a stairwell. If possible, find shelter in a structure lacking any kind of subterranean open space at all, such as a mobile home."

"Unless, of course, regular tornadoes are sighted in the area, in which case you should immediately get to your basement, provided you have one," Hayes added.

Meteorologists have measured the spiraling basement winds at speeds of up to 200 mph—powerful enough in some cases to drive a box of dryer sheets six inches into solid concrete. In all, the cyclones have caused hundreds of dollars in property damage by toppling artificial Christmas trees, smashing jars of fruit preserves, and overturning ping-pong tables.

"Some people lost their entire basements," said Knoxville-area relief worker Dan Weiss, who personally observed a dozen rec rooms that were completely destroyed, and a half-dozen more that might have been destroyed, though it was difficult to say for sure. "Everything they had ever stored was suddenly lost. So much extra stuff gone to waste."

Using Doppler radar, interior satellites, and computer models, researchers have determined that basement tornadoes form when warm dank air collides with a cool dry draft, creating a significant drop in pressure, and causing wind velocity to increase and whirl in a vortex of dust, debris, and cobwebs. Predicting where and when a basement tornado will strike is challenging, however, because they seem to jump from cellar to cellar by traveling through sump pumps.

"All we can say for certain is that unfinished basements are twice as likely to develop tornadoes," said Allan Boyer, a controlled meteorogist at the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK. "Also, when residents leave their washing machines and dryers running it creates the ideal environment for tornadoes, because of the extra spinningness it causes in the air."

The NSPC has developed a scale for ranking the intensity of basement tornadoes with the lowest rating, B0, only causing mild shag-carpet disturbances, and the highest, B5, capable of destroying workbenches and water heaters. According to NSPC statistics, independent-minded siblings between the ages of 16 and 19 who always want to be alone are most likely to be injured by basement tornadoes. The second highest at-risk group is families huddling in basements waiting for normal tornadoes to pass.

The outbreak of basement tornadoes has also raised a slew of privacy issues, pitting so-called storm hunters against homeowners, since those who study the deadly new phenomenon say they must gain access to private residences to be able to set up their equipment and observe the storms. Angry residents have already forced dozens of researchers camping in their cellars out of their homes, and at least two have been shot at or violently assaulted for peering through basement windows.

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NWS have been working together to develop new nationwide evacuation guidelines, officials say it is a complicated process.

"Even if a storm warning goes into effect hours before a tornado strikes, we caution citizens against attempting to flee the area in automobiles, since this will dramatically increase their chances of being severely injured or killed by car tornadoes," FEMA administrator R. David Paulison said. "This could shape up to be the worst development in natural disasters since the 2003 spate of earthquakes that struck directly under doorways and large desks."

-- Heaven, let your light shine down.

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Longview Lake's Christmas In The Sky Map

Here are directions on how to get to tomorrow night's "Christmas In The Sky" celebration. The Raytown Road exit on I-470 is about midway between U.S. 71 and U.S. 50.
Hope to see you there- if not- log into CSW Thanksgiving for photos and videos of the event.

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Kansas City BREAKING NEWS: Bank Robbery In KC-MO's Northland

A bank robbery has been reported by the KC-MO Police in the Northland..

At 3:54pm- police are looking for the white male suspect who robbed the US Bank at 6060 Northwest Barry Road.

Unknown yet how much cash the guy got away with. No one was injured.

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

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KC-MO's Country Club Plaza Lights Up By David Cook Thursday

For 79 years- a Kansas City winter holiday tradition.

This year- Blue Springs' celebrity David Cook and an unsuspecting child from an expected crowd of more than 250000 will pull the switch that activates tens of thousands of Christmas lights.
The weather Thanksgiving evening should be dry with light breezes- temperatures dropping slowly from highs in the low to middle-50's.

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K.C. Christmas 2008: Video of Briarcliff Village Fireworks Show - Finale

This was the 2:30 finale of the about 12-minute fireworks show that came after the lighting of Briarcliff Village Sunday night.



Briarcliff Village is on Briarcliff Parkway- just west of U.S. 169/ Broadway Extention/ Arrowhead Trafficway in the KC-MO Northland.



Linked HERE is an approximately 10-minute video of the first part of the fireworks show that is posted with the rest of our videos on YouTube at CaptGSpaulding.

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Hopefully- An Old Sign Of The New Times

Kansas City Christmas 2008: Briarcliff Village Lights and Fireworks

Sunday evening brought the lighting of the Briarcliff Village shops buildings on Briarcliff Parkway west of U.S. 169/Arrowhead Trafficway.

The crowd and traffic were surprisingly light- it seems thousands of Kansas Citians missed a very decent fireworks show.

Here is the shopping area before the lighting (click on all CSW images for full size).



The ceremony with local celebrities and choirs ended at 7pm with the lighting of the upscale shopping area followed by an about 12-minute fireworks show. (I'll post an about 3-minute video of the Briarcliff fireworks finale later this morning).

The next Christmas lighting and fireworks show will be this Wednesday evening at Longview Lake (see earlier CSW post- Christmas In The Sky)..

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Man Hurt Trying To Steal A Leavenworth-KS ATM

The pursuit of some easy money left a 41-year-old man with a crushed leg early Sunday morning in Leavenworth-KS..

Police- fire & paramedics were called at 2:03am to 506 South 4th Street- where a man was reported "trapped in a Bobcat."

According to police and EMS reports- the suspect stole the Bobcat at a nearby construction site and drove it to the bank on 4th Street where the man used the small bulldozer to steal a bank automatic teller machine (ATM).

The man got the ATM in the Bobcat's scoop- then drove off with it- apparently trying to drop the ATM off a cliff to open it. Instead- the ATM tipped the Bobcat over that "40-foot" drop with the suspect inside.

Firefighters had to extricate the suspect from the crashed Bobcat- the man reportedly suffering a "crushed leg." The suspect was taken to a Leavenworth hospital then flown to a Kansas City-area trauma center.

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Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News Report - Sunday - November 23, 2008

*** Two Injured- One Critically- In Independence-MO Shooting ***

*** Independence police are investigating two people shot in a car around 1:30 am Sunday morning. One of the victims- a male- was reportedly shot in the head.

The 44-year-old female driver had been shot in the finger- but managed to drive her and the male victim to a convenience store near 23rd Street & Noland Road- where they were met by police and paramedics.

It's not yet known where the two victims were shot- but the male's condition was very critical.

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*** KC-MO Shooting Injures At Least Two ***

*** Not many details- but KC-MO police were called to a shooting scene at 13th Street & The Paseo at 2:22am Sunday morning.

Several citizens had reported numerous gunshots fired and at least several people shot.

Police didn't find any victims on Paseo- but within 10 minutes- 2 shooting victims had been delivered by private vehicle to a nearby hospital.

Police haven't released those victims' conditions not any additional info on this incident.

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** KC-MO House Fire Injures One **

... A fire in a south KC-MO residence reported at 2:52am heavily damaged the small house and slightly-injured an occupant.

The house was in the 12800 block of Prospect- and it was initially feared an occupant was still inside when firefighters arrived to smoke showing at 2:54am..

The fire was knocked down by 3:05am- a search by firefighters revealed no one inside a few minutes later.

The occupant injured reportedly had gone to a neighbor's house- from where she was taken to a local hospital with minor smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire is under investigation..

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** Two Escape Their Blue Springs-MO House Fire **

... Fire also heavily-damaged a residence in Blue Springs- reported at 2:17am..

This fire was in the 700 block of Southwest 19th Street- a police officer arriving a minute after the dispatch reported heavy fire showing from the 1-story house- and reports of the 2 occupants possibly trapped inside.

The 2 occupants escaped uninjured- but lost 2 house pets.

The fire was under control at 2:36am- and the Central Jackson County Fire District has assigned a cause of an overloaded/overheated extension cord that had a space heater attached.

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** Johnson County-KS Manhunt **

... Officers from the Johnson County (JoCo) Sheriff's Department- Overland Park and Leawood have been looking for a 28-year-old "suicidal male" who had at least 3 firearms in his possession.

The search began around 1am in the area of 181st Street and Nall in southeastern JoCo-KS and authorities apparently have been tracking the suspect's cell phone.

The manhunt remains in progress as of this report.

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

Clear skies prevailed across the Kansas City MetroRegion this morning with temperatures generally in the 30-35-degree range with light south winds.

Temperatures today will rebound into the 50's with freshening southerly winds ahead of a cool front pegged to pass through the area by early Monday morning..

The weather will be dry and mainly seasonable through Thanksgiving- with possible highs in the 50's by Wednesday and Thursday.

A storm system will develop in the central Rockies late this Thanksgiving week- and will affect the MetroRegion by Friday with rain- possibly changing to or mixed with snow by early Saturday.

Stay turned for developments on this possible holiday storm through the week..

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

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