AP: President Obama Chooses Kansas Governor For Cabinet Post

The AP reports that President Obama has chosen Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be his choice as secretary of health and human services.

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Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News Report - Saturday - February 28- 2009

** Shooting Leads To Chase From Raytown Into KC-MO **

*** A man was reportedly shot near 63rd Street and Blue Ridge Cutoff early Saturday morning. A Jackson County Sheriff's deputy heard the shots and chased a suspect vehicle.

The incident was around 12:45am near the Quik Trip store in far western Raytown. A sheriff's deputy at the store heard the shots- then pursued a suspect vehicle west on 63rd Street.

The suspects reportedly threw a possible firearm from the vehicle east of Hardesty before the chase ended a few minutes later near the Pepsi Cola bottling plant on Manchester Trafficway north of 63rd Street.

The deputy had "5 to 6 suspects at gunpoint" without any backup and an assist-the-officer call went out to KC-MO police. Those suspects were in police custody without incident or injury within 10 minutes.

The victim reportedly drove himself or was driven to a south KC-MO medical center where the "seriously-injured" male had gone into surgery.

Police reported a "large party" had occurred somewhere on Blue Ridge and the victim/suspects may have attended the function..

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** KC-MO Wreck Seriously Injures Two **

*** An early Saturday morning crash caused serious injuries to at least one male & female.

The wreck was reported about 12:45am in the 4900 block of East 87th Street- in a cruve of the newer 4-lane roadway west of I-435.

Three vehicles were involved and an arriving police officer found one of the cars involved on it's top. Firefighters had to extricate the adult female.

Her and a 49-year-old male were taken to separate hospitals.

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** Fire Damages Vacant KC-KS House **

... A two-story vacant house was possibly set on fire around 1:25am Saturday morning in the 1100 block of North 19th Street..

A fire company had been dispatched to the area of 19th Street and State Avenue on the report of smoke in the area and found the smoke pouring from the basement and first-floor of the house just north of State..

The house was found vacant and there were no firefighter injuries during the about 45-minute firefight..

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** Police Investigate Suspicious Death in Prairie Village **

... The death came in as "a non-breather" in the 8700 block of Mission Road around 1:48am. When Medact_EMS paramedics arrived- they declared the unknown patient dead-on arrival.

Police who responded to the call ordered detectives- but little else is known right now.

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

Snow followed a northwest-southeast track along the Missouri River from the Omaha area through the Kansas City Metro overnight.

Snowfall amounts in the Metro ranged from 2-1/2 to 5-inches while some snowfall totals from areas northeast and southeast of K.C. receiving up to 8-inches. By late Saturday afternoon- snow had moved out of the MetroRegion.

Cold temperatures Sunday moning in the zero to 5-degrees above zero range will prevail with possible below-zero morning lows in northern and low-lying areas. Temperatures will rise above freezing by Monday afternoon.

< align="justify">A strong warm-up is on tap for the middle of the week- with temperatures reaching the 70-degree mark by Wednesday.

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

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Kansas City WEATHER: Snowfall Video

Here's some video of this morning's 3-inch (so far) snowfall from Capt. Spaulding's landlocked schooner:

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SNOW

Here's a few pictures of what has been relatively rare snowfall in Kansas City this season.

These were taken near 87th Street & Hillcrest in southeastern KC-MO around 4:20am..

Roads are becoming snow-covered and slick- so use caution....

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BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Grandview Fire and Standoff

At 6:58pm- Grandview-MO police and firefighters have removed the "suicidal male" that was barricaded with "a knife" in a house he had set on fire in the 13200 block of Fuller.

The male was injured and the house continues to burn. Police say the suspect had been staying in the house that belongs to the male's aunt.

The residence will be heavily damaged by the fire.

The males' injuries are said by Grandview FD-EMS to be serious- believed to be considerable smoke inhalation. "Aggravated domestic assault" and "arson" charges will be pending for the male when he recovers.

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Metro Kansas City BREAKING NEWS: Grandview-MO: Male Barricaded In Burning House

Grandview police and fire departments are on the scene of a male "armed with a knife" barricaded in a house on fire in the 13200 block of Fuller.

It's reported no one else is inside that house.

Police went to the house around 6:35pm and tried to talk to the reported "suicical male." That male has since set fire to the house- while he remains in a room in the house.

Firefighters are trying to battle their way in now- more on this situation as it develops.

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Dangerous Criminal On The Loose In Overland Park

Known only as "The Peeper" (not to be confused with the Tom Poston character on the old Bob Newhart Show)- this brazen criminal has reportedly followed women into bathrooms in office buildings along College Boulevard.

Then- when the women enter a stall and sit to do their business- this criminal springs into action by "peeping" at them through or over the stall door.
So far the only items taken have been the victim's privacy as Overland Park police detectives do Potty Patrol to solve this one....

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Drug Transporters Get More Prison Time Than Killers

This just shows you how continually screwed-up America's "justice system" is.

Two guys get caught transporting $5-million worth of cocaine and get 19 years in prison.


A guy in Mission Hills strikes a pedestrian while drunk-driving and leaves the man he struck to die. The Mission Hills perp gets 5 years- maybe probation in 120 days.


Bernard Madoff robs people of BILLIONS of dollars- ruins thousands of lives- and is in a holding pattern in his penthouse.

The drug laws in America greatly contribute to crime and corruption. We're not collecting one dime in tax money but spending drying-up revenues.

I'm touched so many care about what substances other Americans "in the pursuit of happiness" put into their own bodies.

Wish the judges gave as much concern (jail time) to people who outright KILL other people.

Free country? HaHa...

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Government Advises Against Spring Breaking In Mexico

The U.S. State Department has advised college students to reconsider plans going to Mexico during spring break- according to this AP story.

There's lots of drug cartel violence- murders and even possible kidnappings down there right now.

Even the mayor of Mexico's Juarez- who lives in El Paso- has had his and his family's lives threatened by Mexican thugs.

Support American tourism and visit South Padre Island or American Samoa (lovely beaches) instead....

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Kansas City's BREAKING NEWS: KC-MO Shooting

MAST-EMS has transported a "33-year-old female" who was shot in a leg to a local medical trauma center. Her condition was serious- but not immediately life-threatening.

The victim was taken from the 6900 block of Crabapple Lane- near I-435 & Eastwood Trafficway- where emergency reponders received the report of a shooting at 8:20am..

Police haven't released any suspect information yet.

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Central States WEATHER: Snow Advisory North - Maybe Here Later

The NWS offices to our northwest have issued Winter Weather Advisories for parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
These advisories COULD be extended into the Kansas City MetroRegion and into the Metro later today.

An upper-level winter storm system is working it's way southeast from the northern Rockies- and will produce a swath of snow across the middle and lower Missouri River Valley over the next 24-30 hours.

Anywhere from 2 to 4-inches of snow are expected in the K.C. Metro and MetroRegion by noon Saturday.

Travel in at least the first half of Saturday may become problematic with slick and hazardous conditions- especially on elevated roadways and bridges.

Update here on this developing winter weather situation as available....

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Clay Chastain: Kansas City Voters Dissed

Geez- that's EXACTLY what I thought when this present City Council overturned the voter-approved light rail initiative.

The Council- by their action- told K.C. voters to STFU- we were "uninformed"- the light rail plan "unworkable."
The Council tweaked another plan for voters- most like me who were upset over the disregarding of our FIRST vote for light rail voted against it.

Unless the Feds or some generous billionaire pays for it- Metro K.C. will probably not see any public rail transit plan. Ever.

The next time we citizens get a petition together to get something voted on and pass whatever it is- the city council would probably overturn that too.

With a few exceptions- I don't like this city council. I like the city mangler (manager) even less. Mangler "assistant" Chuck Eddy's $140000 annual pay could provide jobs for at least 5 people.

First in the ridiculous que.

There will be NO economic recovery this year. TIFs and other corporate welfare must come to a halt.

City council members MUST pay closer attention to their constituents- especially when they sign petitions- vote and approve things the council sees fit to overturn.

The next election could be their recall....

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OPINION: Too Many Unanswered Questions For MAST-EMS Takeover

After consideration and absorption of statements by the involved officials- I'm coming out AGAINST the KC-MO Fire department takeover of MAST-EMS.

My primary reason is money.

KCFD Chief Richard "Smokey" Dyer himself said he's not sure if the City will save any money in such a consolidation.

Another reason is the considerable logistics required.

MAST-EMS employee issues abound- from pensions and retention of seniority to age and residency differences.

Employee morale- both KCFD & MAST would become at least somewhat of an issue with 2 sets of rules and requirements.

Dispatch would shift probably to the KCFD/PD dispatch center at 1111 Locust. You're going to have to add several new dispatchers per shift to handle this load.

MAST has an about 12-year-old headquarters- dispatch center and garage in a refurbished K-Mart building at 6700 East Eastwood Trafficway. Who will do what with this facility that I wonder if it's fully paid-for?

The ambulances themselves will have to be re-marked- or re-painted.

With all those factors- I think it is going to COST the City money in the short-term at the very least.

Therefore- Phil & to wit- I'm agin' any consolidation of the KCFD and MAST-EMS at this time.

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Photo Progress of Performing Arts Center

Here are a few photos depicting the progress of construction of the Kauffman Performing Arts Center located east of Broadway just south of Bartle Hall.

There's been a lot of iron work going on since the last photos I took more than a month ago- there was also a 2nd large boom crane installed at the site.

The deep excavation on this south side of the site seems to show parking will go there- that underground area (once covered over) will make an excellent storm shelter for people in the immediate area of 18th Street and Broadway as well.

More progress photos in the weeks to come....

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K.C. Metro-MetroRegion WEATHER: "Slight Risk" Of Severe Storms Today

The latest convective outlook from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has moved the "slight risk" of severe thunderstorms area over the Metro this morning.

As you can see by the initial graphic (click-on to enlarge)- this slight risk area includes all but southwestern portions of the Kansas City MetroRegion- with the primary severe threat here in the immediate Metro area being possible large hail (3/4-inch in diameter or larger).

Any severe wind or tornado threat is east and southeast of the MetroRegion- according to this latest outlook issued within the past hour.

So far- nothing but scattered showers over eastern and northeastern Kansas and western and northwestern Missouri.

I'll be watching the radar and posting updates here throughout the day.

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South Miami-Dade County- Florida Family Murder-Suicide

The shooter was the 53-year-old father- said to be "a music teacher" according to the Associated Press report.

Dying by his hand were the man's wife and 2 daughters. A 16-year-old son managed to escape and call police.

The man shot and killed himself before police arrived. There's yet no indication of any problems that led to this tragedy.

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K.C. MetroRegion WEATHER: NWS-SPC- "Slight Risk" of Severe Storms Thursday

According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center- this risk runs generally along and east of the state line to just east of Kansas City- then generally east of I-35 in Missouri (see/click on graphics).

Metro Kansas City is not included in this slight risk area at this time.

The risk will be mainly Thursday afternoon when a thunderstorm squall line is expected to develop along a strong cold front that will sweep through the MetroRegion Thursday afternoon.

If the frontal movement is faster than forecast- the severe storm risk area will move east. If the front is slower to arrive- Metro Kansas City may be included in a risk area.

Updates here on this developing situation.

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NASA Drowns A $280-Million Satellite

In a story of ultimate government waste- the AP reports that NASA lost a $280-million satellite.

The rocket and satellite plunged into the ocean off Antartica after the launch went awry early Tuesday.

NASA announced it will spend more money on this mission- a group of "experts" to figure out what went wrong with the Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite.

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How Will Fire Department Takeover of MAST Affect Northern Suburbs?

Right now Kansas City-MO's MAST-EMS serves a number of small northern suburbs with contracted ambulance service.

If I were a city official of one of those suburbs- Parkville and Riverside for instance- I'd be concerned about the KCMO FD and MAST-EMS power-play.

The Fire department already has fire-supression automatic mutual aid with a number of surrounding departments.

One would wonder if the Fire department took over the ambulance service- would these suburban areas have the same contract option with KCFD or would these municipalities be forced to start their own ambulance service?

Would such a contract accurately reflect the costs to KC-MO citizens to provide ambulance service to these needy suburbs?

KCFD IAFF Local 42 union officials have brought up that dark term "labor unrest."

That sort of talk cost me a fire department career after firefighter strikes in 1975 and 1980 made the job untenable.

Can suburbs who rely on MAST-EMS service afford any new set-up- and can the citizens of Kansas City-MO rest assured a fire truck and ambulance will BE THERE when called?

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Swiss Bank Accounts - It Must Be Nice

There's a legal battle underway pitting America's I(nfernal) Revenue Service against a large Swiss bank- UBS.

According to the Associated Press- around 52000 Americans have an estimated nearly $15-billion stashed away in secret UBS accounts.

The IRS claims it has a right to know the identities of those Americans holding the secret accounts- the UBS is clinging to Swiss privacy laws.

If I were to wager this situation- I'd bet that American million/billionaires will prevail here- the rich always do (see Bernard Madoff).

At worse- the rich are incarcerated in their penthouses.

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KC-MO Northland Wreck Kills One

At 12:48 am Sunday morning- KC-MO fire- police and MAST-EMS ambulance crews were called to the intersection of Northeast 52nd Street and Baxter on a single-vehicle crash.

When the first fire department unit arrived- Pumper 34- they reported "a (pickup) truck overturned" and a person "trapped underneath" the truck.

That person died at the scene- but MAST transported an "18--year-old male" with non life-threatening injuries to a Nort land medical trauma center.

Police reported a 3rd occupant fled the scene after the crash.

There are yet no details regarding the wreck- but indications are that excessive speed and possible mind-altering substances were involved.

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