CSW Weather: Severe Thunderstorm Watch in Northern Kansas City MetroRegion

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman OK has issued Severe Thunderstorm Watch No. 679 until 1 a.m. Sunday morning for parts of southeastern Nebraska- southern Iowa and northwestern and northern Missouri.

In Missouri- the watch is generally north of U.S. 36 highway and St. Joseph is NOT included.

Thunderstorms currently exist is southeastern NE- and are generally moving eastward into the watch area.

Man Dies After Single-Vehicle Crash in KC-MO's Loma Vista Area

The call came in to KC-MO emergency services at 5:44 a.m. Saturday morning: a reported crash at 87th Street and Blue Ridge.

When the first responder arrived- Pumper 41- they reported a "multi-car" crash and that they were doing "CPR" on one of the occupants.

It wasn't a "multi-car" crash- but a single-vehicle collision.

According to KC-MO EMS reports- a "25-year-old driver was going down Blue Ridge at high speed when he hit a curb- spinning the car around to where (the car) hit a light pole."

Emergency crews found the driver laying outside of his vehicle and being tended to by "several" passersby.

The driver was taken to Research Medical Center where he passed away from his injuries.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 23

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Saturday morning- July 23.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

CSW Weather: NWS' National Weather Outlook For August 2011

The August weather for the Central States- in a nutshell- is forecast to be near to above-average temperature-wise with near to below-average precipitation.

Kansas City averages for August are high temperatures around 88 degrees with an average low temperature of 66.

Rainfalls in past Kansas City Augusts have averaged just more than three and a half inches.

CSW BREAKING: House Fire in Raymore MO

All South Metro Fire Protection District (SMFPD) fire crews in Raymore are working a house fire in their city.

The alarm sounded at 6:09 p.m. for the address in the 1100 block of Glendale Drive. Upon arrival at 6:12 p.m.- smoke was seen coming from the "1-story" structure.

A fire in a room on the main level of the house had reportedly "spread into the attic."

Additional fire crews from Belton- Grandview and West Peculiar FPD are also assisting SMFPD crews or at empty stations.

The fire was declared "under control" at 6:28 p.m..


No word on injuries- occupancy status of the house or any other info.

Bungled Ted White Case Costs Lee's Summit Citizens More Than $15-Million

Ted White is a former Lee's Summit MO resident who was wrongly jailed by the Lee's Summit Police department that CSW has blogged about on several occasions- and now the city (taxpayers) are going to pay for the royal screw-up.



The KANSAS CITY STAR reports that Lee's Summit officials have decided to pay $15.5-million to settle a lawsuit Ted White brought against that southern Jackson county city.

No word yet- after all these years- if ANY charges will be brought against the former LSPD detective that conspired with Mr. White's ex-wife to get Ted White wrongly accused and inprisoned.

CSW BREAKING: Lenexa Apartment Building Fire Reveals A Fatality

As reported earlier here at CSW- there was a multi-alarm fire west of Oak Park Mall in Lenexa Friday morning.

When fire crews got enough of a handle on the fire- a body of a male was discovered in one of the burned apartments in the building.

Further interior searches of the remaining portions of the totally-destoyed apartment building in the 9500 block of Halsey are proceeding slowly- due to fears of collapses in the burned-out building.

CSW BREAKING: KC-MO Plaza Bank Robbery Has Memorable Suspect

The M & I (Morons & Idiots?) Bank at 800 West 47th Street in the Plaza was robbed around 2:25 p.m. Friday afternoon.

The suspect has been described by KC-MO Police as "a black male in his 20's- 5-foot 6-inches tall- of slender build- wearing a black wig- hot pink eye shadow and lipstick and a white sun dress with flowers on it."


It was not said if the suspect brandished a firearm nor how much money was taken.

Major Fire Continues To Burn Lenexa KS Apartment Building

Around a dozen fire companies from Lenexa- Overland Park and Merriam continue battling a 2-alarm fire at an apartment complex west of the Oak Park Mall.

The fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. Friday morning in a 3-story apartment building at the Oak Park Village complex in the 9500 block of Halsey.


Heavy smoke and fire was visible to the first-arriving fire crews- who asked for additional help to fight the fire.

Two injuries have been reported thus far- a Lenexa police officer and a building resident- but both are non life-threatening heat-related injuries.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 22

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Friday morning- July 22.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 21

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Thursday morning- July 21.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

Telegraph About Heat Wave Arrives To KC-MO Government

No matter that we've been under some sort of heat advisory for almost a week now- you can see by the image here- screen-capped from a KANSAS CITY STAR Web page- that says "Mayor, other officials detail city's response to extreme heat." 


Gee it's nice to know the city's ON IT- after a reported "13" people have already died.

Central States News: Oklahoma City Cops Arrest Youths Before Curfew

First off- I want to say a few things about American laws and those who are sworn to uphold them...


My first big hit respecting American law came in 1974 when an obviously criminal President of the United States got off scot-free.

Gee- that said a lot to the REST of us about upholding and respecting the law  didn't it?


Then I started working in public safety about a year later and that lasted about a decade and I won't lie a bit when I tell you I was GLAD to get OUT of that for all the wrong-doing and corruption I witnessed first-hand.


So now the headline story- where Oklahoma City cops arrested an unconnected group of teenagers in front of an OKC movie house for curfew violations- according to the OKC OKLAHOMAN.

The only trouble with those arrests is that they came 15-20 minutes BEFORE the curfew actually went into effect and that more than a few of those teens who were arrested were either waiting for rides or their own parents to bring the car around from where it was parked..

Can we all say "L-a-w-s-u-i-t" for false arrest?


I'll bet the wrongly-arrested youths will have LOTS of respect in the future for laws and those who uphold them.

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 20

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Wednesday morning- July 20.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

Missouri River Flood of 2011: Video- As Waters Recede- Railroad Works To Restore Mainline

Once again- the pilot from Barnes Realty in Northwest Missouri has taken to the air to give us a HiDef video progress report of flooding along the Missouri River.


A video taken nearly a month ago showed workers from the Burlington-Northern railroad trying frantically to raise the tracks on their Kansas City-Omaha mainline to keep them above the waters from the rising Missouri.
Looking more like a partially-submerged causeway across Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana than a rail line in the Missouri River Valley in northwest Missouri- the latest video shows crews now trying to repair damage caused by the flood- thousands of yards of washed-out rail bed- and construction of a new bridge.

Many thanks again to BarnesRealty on YouTube!

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 19

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Tuesday morning- July 19.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

CSW BREAKING: Serious-Injury Crash on U.S. 71 in Peculiar MO

A medical helicopter is about to land near a serious-injury crash on northbound U.S. 71 at the Peculiar MO-C Highway exit.

Reportedly- a semi-truck crashed into a line of vehicles that had slowed for construction on U.S. 71.

One person was reportedly ejected from one of the vehicles during the crash.


Northbound U.S. 71 traffic is being diverted off the northbound C Highway off ramp then back onto the northbound C Highway on-ramp to U.S. 71. 


A Lifeflight-Eagle med chopper flew "a 50's- something male who had been ejected from his vehicle after being rear-ended by an 18-wheeler" and was "thrown about 40-feet" with possible back injuries to Research Med Center in Kansas City.


No other injuries are being reported- and at least "one lane" of northbound U.S. 71 is being opened at the crash scene.

Central States News: Never Hire a Clown To Do A Mime's Job

Americans regularly vote clowns into office- but rarely do they try to hire them to murder someone...


The LINCOLN (NE) JOURNAL-STAR tells us that a Fremont NE man- William Bishop IV- was recently convicted to 9-10 years in prison for trying to hire "a professional clown" to kill Bishop's ex-girlfriend's husband.

The clown went to the police after Bishop propositioned him.

Makes me wonder- if Bishop had tried to hire a mime to do the murder- would the mime have talked?

Missouri River Flood of 2011 - Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings- 5-Day Rainfall Forecast for July 18

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on Monday morning- July 18.


The key to the project parameters listed can be found on this previous CSW post on daily USACE project readings.

There are also three-week predictions made by USACE on inflows and discharges for each dam/reservoir in the Pick-Sloan system found HERE.


Also- the National Weather Service's US 5-Day precipitation outlook and forecasted rainfall amounts.

News Stories This Week That Really Wasted Most Americans' Time

Those stories are (were):

The Casey Anthony trial.

Way- way- WAY too much "news" media attention given to this.

The closing of LA's 405 Freeway.

Unless you LIVE in or were TRAVELLING to Southern California- WTF cared???

Harry Potter.

Sorry- I don't live in a pop-culture bubble but I've never seen ANY of the Harry Potter flicks and resent the way valuable news time has been devoted to a fantasy motion picture.

The impending American debt crisis.

Not enough time is being devoted to this looming disaster- except for the nauseating talking heads.

America's politicians are playing a game of chicken with the American economy so fellow citizens- next election vote in those same lame and lamest Republicrats and Demoblicans! 

CSW Commentary: Murdock's Corrupt News Corporation Makes Lockout of FAUX News Channel Easy

Since early in the Bush Administration- I have locked FOX (FAUX) News out of my TV's channel rotation.


Except for breaking spot news- I won't watch FAUX News for anything- and the developing scandal with Rupert Murdock's News Corporation make that seem a really intelligent move on my part.

No big loss here- for I get 95% of my news online- but you can rail; all you want about those so-called "liberal news" channels CNN and MSNBC then tell me how THOSE news organizations have broken laws.

To be fair- I don't care for ANY corporate newscasts these days- be they national or local- as many stories seem to not address with any depth the real troubles and concerns in America right now.


But you can rest assured that anything FAUX News says I'll take with a grain of salt....

Central States News: 5 Die in Northeast Oklahoma Head-on Crash

A head-on collision southeast of Tulsa early Sunday afternoon has killed 5 people.

The crash occurred around 1 p.m. on Oklahoma Highway 51 near Yale- states the OKLAHOMA CITY (OK) OKLAHOMAN. 

Central States News: Iowa Pays Filmmakers NOT To Shoot Films There

Iowa has already payed movie producers more than a million taxpayer dollars for the producers not to make films in the Hawkeye State- according to this story in the OMAHA (NE) WORLD-HERALD.


This is because the state HAD a quite generous program going to heavily subsidize film makers coming to Iowa to make their films- but the Iowa governor found fraud and corruption being perpertrated by the program's administrators.

The film maker's program was revamped- but most of the producers who had accepted the earlier program backed out and threatened to sue.

The state has therefore payed at least 2 film producers for their losses- with the promise not to sue the State of Iowa.

More taxpayer money is anticipated to be payed out because of the failed incentive cinema program.