House Burns In Johnson County MO

Firefighters from at least 5 departments battled a lived-in house fire in northwestern Johnson County MO early Saturday morning.

The alarm went out at 1:15 am for the 600 block of Northwest 1801 Road where a "shed was fully-engulfed" in flames.

The fire quickly spread to the back of the residence- and Elm with Western District fire crews needed help. Two units from Jackson County's Lone Jack FPD also responded.

The fire wasn't declared under control until 2:34 am- but no injuries have been reported.

An investigation as to the fire's cause is underway.

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SUV Crash In Independence MO Injures Two

Independence MO emergency services report that at around 1:25 am Saturday morning- a sport utility vehicle with 2 occupants struck a tree on Jones Road nead Bundschu.



Reports are the SUV was going around "40-50 MPH" when it left the roadway.

AMR-EMS transported the "19-year-old female driver" and "21-year-old male passenger" to a local hospital in serious condition.

A paramedic told CSW neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt and no air bags went off.

IPD is investigating the wreck.

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Lenexa-KS 'City Center' Developer Files For Bankruptcy

As the "recession (depression) improves" (- more and more developers are biting the dust.

The latest bankruptcy involves Shawnee Village Associates- a developer of Lenexa's City Center project where all construction activity has come to a grinding halt.

In addition- a KC-MO firm that abandoned the core city for Lenexa's greener pastures aren't getting the developer's promises fullfilled and could leave their new building- according to the KANSAS CITY BUSINESS JOURNAL..

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Snowstorm In Houston Texas

Yeah- it got down into the teens this morning here in the Kansas City MetroRegion- but the sun is strong right now and the ground is clear.

Not the case in Houston- where you can see by this TransStar traffic camera just east of downtown- it's snowing heavily.

We should see our FIRST snowflakes later Sunday- with a 'significant' snowstorm still on tap for Tuesday in our MetroRegion.

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American Corporations' 'Dead Buildings'

We see it all over towns and cities across America- businesses that seemingly out-grow their old locations and build new structures- often with TIFs (corporate welfare)-leaving their old buildings behind.


In Metro Kansas City- this is common with corporations like Walmart and Quiktrip- with Walmart being one of the worst in abandoning their old locations and leaving them to rot.

Walmart eyesores abound locally- the 2 best examples being the old Supercenter in the 9300 block of Hillcrest in south KC-MO and in Raytown- at 67th Street and Blue Ridge.

Tax subsidies were issued by both cities for the world's biggest corporation to leave their old buildings where they were for new structures.

South KC-MO's Walmart was replaced- with taxpayer subsidies- by the new location at the old Blue Ridge Mall at U.S. 40 and Sterling.

The OLD Walmart on Hillcrest along with the Benjamin Plaza strip center slides into an unsightly un-attraction for motorists on busy I-435- not to mention area residents.

A planned development for the old Bannister Mall area that once included a new soccer stadium for the Kansas City Wizards will likely never be built in my lifetime.

Meanwhile Raytown's old Walmart on busy Blue Ridge- along with the strip shopping center that it anchored- becomes a civic eyesore while Raytown's new Walmart on Missouri-350 could cost that Jackson County city's taxpayers millions of dollars in corporate welfare.

It's not nearly as bad with Quiktrip- most of their old locations are bought by smaller convenience-store chains.

What burns me is why don't cities DEMAND that old locations are either sold or demolished before corporate welfare is issued for new locations?

Both Walmart cases I have mentioned here have resulted in or at the very least continues the declines of the surrounding neighborhoods with their abandoned- crumbling buildings.

Cities where corporations want to leave old locations for new ones and corporate welfare is involved should INSIST that old locations be sold or leveled before ANY 'welfare' kicks in.

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British Couple Make X-Rated Movies To Pay For Wedding

In our never-ending search to bring you the news- I sometimes come across stories like these...

Australia's TASMANIAN MERCURY reports a British couple who wanted a "dream (expensive) wedding"- decided to make porn movies to raise the money needed for their nuptuals.


As one commenter on the story said- wonder what the couple's future children would think of their parent's 'home movies?'

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Significant Snowstorm Possible In K.C. MetroRegion Early Next Week

In meteorology circles- winter actually begins on December 1st.



We'd not have long to wait as it turns out- with sub-freezing temperatures becoming prevalent locally within 2 days of that date and now- according to a surprising agreement among operational weather models- a major snowstorm possible a week into December.



Right now- it appears a low pressure/storm system will intensify over the southern Rockies by Monday- moving across the Kansas City MetroRegion.



The image here is one of the model-run forecast periods for next Tuesday.



The blue lines are air temperatures (converted to degrees Fahrenheit) that shows the freezing line south of Kansas City and even colder air temperatures over the far northern portions of the MetroRegion.



The green shading indicates precipitation- snow- with the darker green area on this forecast map right over the Metro K.C. region.



Other forecast periods both before and after this map's forecast indicate snow could possibly begin in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning and continue in varying intensities until early Wednesday morning.



The Topeka NWS office are already indicating that "4 to 8-inches" of snow could occur in east-central Kansas Tuesday- and that amount can be extrapolated into Metro Kansas City.



Bear in mind this storm is still about 5 days away- with even a much-lesser snow chance here on Sunday with another weaker system.



This is just a heads-up for the early-next-week storm possibility- with updates here at CSW as needed with updates on the looming storm.

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Jeanne Lou Meyer 1931-2009

Operations on this blog are suspended UFN due to the passing of my mother this morning.

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Afghanistan War To Be Escalated

What DIDN'T work for the Soviets in the 1980's apparently does not apply to the United Corporate States (UCS).

President Obama is slated to go on TV Tuesday night to convince this recession (depression)-battered populace that he's sending MORE troops to that 19-century-like nation.

Never mind the sheer cost of all that added to our too-bloated national deficit- nor the loss of Ameica's most important resource: our young men & women.

Neither America- nor the rest of the industrialized world for that matter- can stop terrorism. As I've said on this blog before- when you have nothing- you have nothing to lose.

America would have FAR more success cutting each Afghani a check for a new house- big screen and car.

It would probably cost the American taxpayers FAR less and save a lot of people's sons and daughters- on BOTH sides....

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Snow Wednesday?

The new weather model runs are advertising a snowstorm developing over Missouri on Wednesday.

Right now- it appears that Metro Kansas City is on the northwestern edge of this developing storm- but the models have been all over the place for the past week- so we probably won't know until later tomorrow (Tuesday) if we'll get any of this or not.

Worse- my big-frame office computer is down and I'm relegated to Ms. Rittenhouse's "backup"- so I'm a bit hampered by graphics- etc..

Hopefully- we're back up on the office rig (power supply) before Wednesday but if not- at least I can run downstairs with a handfull of maps- radios & the industrial-sized cup-o-hot drink.

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Oops- That Was A Fatality Structure Fire In KC-KS

Well- I first reported the fire in Kansas City KS earlier this Sunday morning- but what I didn't hear was that firefighters later found a body inside an apartment there.


My most-able colleagues at KSHB-41 Action News report that a "53-year-old man was found (dead) by firefighters near a smoldering mattress"


The victim's name has not been released- the fire caused about "$10000" in damage and the investigation results as to the cause was still pending.

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Four Cops Shot Dead At A Washington State Coffeehouse

In probably the LAST multiple-victim shooting I care to report about on this waning Thanksgiving holiday weekend- the Associated Press (AP) reports that 4 police officers who were sitting in a coffeehouse outside Tacoma-WA were shot dead by a gunman.


The gunman escaped and is still at large.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers decended on the scene and a determined investigation is underway.

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Missouri State Trooper Kills Himself Near Kirksville

The KIRKSVILLE (MO) DAILY EXPRESS reports that a Missouri State Highway Patrol tropper apparently fatally shot himself Friday morning.


The KDE reports that "Trooper Anthony O’Brien, an eight-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, died from the gunshot at approximately 10 a.m." at his rural Lewis County home.

The MHP was investigating.

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Osage County KS Triple Homicide Suspect In Custody

There has been at least a half-dozen multiple-victim shootings around the U.S. in the past week involving families/relatives- and this was unfortunately- was the latest and too close to home...


The "person of interest (suspect)" in Saturday evenings triple homicide at a farmhome just south of Burlingame is in police custody- reported this morning here at CSW.

The suspect- 46-year-old James "Kraig" Kahler- is reported by The TOPEKA CAPITOL-JOURNAL as a former city official for the city of Columbia MO..

It is believed- though not yet official- that this was a domestic dispute with his former wife that turned deadly.

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Overnight Structure Fires In Both Kansas Citys

On the 21st anniversary of the deadly south-central KC-MO explosion in 1988 (4:07 am) that killed 6 firefighters on 2 fire companies at U.S. 71 and 87th Street- fire companies in Kansas City MO and KS worked structure fires.


The first was in South Midtown KC-MO reported around 1:50 am as a vacant house fire in the 5900 block of Spruce.

Flames crackled from the decrepit- boarded-up house and firefighters used 2 handlines to quell them by 2:02 am.

No injuries to the crews and an arson investigator ruled cause as same.

The KC-KS incident came in at 1:54 am when a single fire company was sent to investigate smoke in the area of the 1300 block of North 77th Street.

That company found a structure fire upon arrival at 2:02 am and asked for a full-alarm response of 4 more companies.

The original crew knocked the fire down a minute later and the other responders were returned.

No word of any injuries and again- an arson investigator was summonded.

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Suspect Sought In Osage County KS Triple Homicide

Four people were found shot and three of them died after a shooting in a home south of Burlingame in northwestern Osage County KS around 6:10 pm Saturday night- according to The TOPEKA CAPITOL-JOURNAL.


The incident location is about 25 miles south-southwest of Topeka.

One person died at the home in the 900 block of South Topeka Avenue- two others died after being transported to hospitals. The third victim's condition was reported as critical Sunday morning.



The law is seeking a "person of interest (suspect)"- a "James "Kraig" Kahler- a white male standing about 6-2 and weighing about 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a brown jacket.

He ditched his getaway vehicle and was the subject of an extensive law manhunt Sunday morning.

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Why The Media Circus Over Tiger Woods' Crash?

Okay- the golfer left his mansion around 2:30 am on Thanksgiving and crashed his Cadillac not far from his own driveway.

Only a fire hydrant and a tree really suffer- with TW winning a couple of bloody lips.


WTF is up with all this news media coverage?

Don't we have 1000 other- more important stories to cover?

The effectiveness of this sort of "news" coverage can be demonstrated by ratings.


Locally- there was a time as recent as the 1980's when the most-watched TV news station in town would get 30-shares on their 10 pm show. The least-watched local newscast would still garner double-digit shares.

Now the winner cheers a 12-share with the underdog in the mid single-digits. Nationally- just as bad a dip.


Most (>90%) of us don't give a DAMN where Tiger Woods was going at 2:30 am on Thanksgiving and that should be left to tabloid TV.

I take it the cops who responded to the crash scene tested Woods for DUI and found nothing based on media reports.

Continued coverage has the un-funny comedy of a media circus.

How about the American news media start a new trend by reporting a story- the facts as you know them and move on.

There is LOTS more going on out here than you'd even have time to cover even if you did (between all the ads).

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