Four Dead After Medical Helicopter Crash in Clay County MO

Around 7 p.m. Friday night- a Lifenet medical helicopter with 3 crew and 1 patient on-board crashed near the Clay County Regional airport near Mosby MO..

All 4 died in the crash.

It has been reported by news partner KSHB-41 NBC Action News that the helicopter was based out of St. Joseph and was flying a "58-year-old" patient from the Bethany MO hospital to Liberty Hospital in Liberty when the aircraft became low on fuel.

Officials at the crash scene says it appeared the helicopter landed hard on it's skids and flipped over near 144th Street and Cameron Road.

Hurricane Irene- Latest Satellite and Doppler Weather Radar Images

Category 2 Hurricane Irene remains forecasted to make 2 landfalls: on the extreme southeastern-easten North Carolina coast and later this weekend- near Long Island- New York.

Irene is expected to weaken before Landfall No. 2- but will still be a dangerous storm with high winds- storm surges and torrential rainfalls- states the NWS' National Hurricane Center (NHC).


Shown are visible satellite images and the Doppler weather radar from NWS Wilmingon NC..

Central States News: AMTRAK's California Zephyr Partially-Derails in Southwest Nebraska

Two locomotives and 3 of 10 passenger rail cars derailed about 9 a.m. Kansas City-time near Max- NE- near the Colorado-Kansas state line- states this story in the NORTH PLATTE (NE) TELEGRAPH.

The derailment happened after the train struck a vehicle- and one person was taken to a hospital the NPT story said.


There were no immediate reports of any other injuries.


The rest of eastbound California Zephyr's passengers were to be transported by bus.

Missouri River Flood of 2011- Latest Upper Missouri Reservoir Readings - August 25

The following are the latest reservoir readings on the upper Missouri River- taken on  Thursday morning- August  25.

NOTE: This presentation is being posted once a week until September 1.

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.

More American Jobs Go Kaputsky As 475 Payless- Stride-Rite Shoe Stores To Close

Yeah- America's economic future looks GREAT...


Collective Brands- headquartered in Topeka KS- announced it is closing 475 of it's Payless Shoesource and Stride-Rite shoe stores as the company "considers it's future-" reports the TOPEKA (KS) CAPITAL-JOURNAL.


No report on what stores in Kansas and Missouri will be closed as more than 1000 Americans currently employed join the swollen ranks of American unemployed.

KC-MO School District Superintendent Resigns- Again- CSW's Proposal for KC-MO School District

It was big bold red letter "breaking news" yesterday evening: Dr. John Covington- Superintendent of the unaccredited Kansas City MO School District (KC-MO SD) has given his 30-day notice for resignation.


Here- at the beginning of the school year- out goes the 26th KC-MO SD superintendent in less than 45 years.


Over the past 30 years or so- more than a BILLION taxpayer dollars has been pumped into this (dead) school district- and while bunches of glittery new school buildings have been built- there has been LITTLE improvement in the quality of education of the youth of the city.


If money and lip service alone determined the school district's success- we'd have the FINEST district in all America- if not the world.

You can call the failure the lack of motivation of teachers to teach or for the lack of motivation for the students to learn- or whatever you want to label the KC-MO SD..

Bottom line is the Kansas City MO School District is a failure- and NO amount of money OR lip service can save it.


In 2009 this blog labeled the school district to be a totally lost cause and I proposed dissolving the KC-MO SD and absorbing the District into the other Missouri school districts that surround it.

Yes- I know that proposal would be a BIG hit (NOT!) with the parents of the surrounding districts.

Shown on this post is a map of the existing KC-MO SD- then a map showing the CSW- proposed merger into the surrounding Missouri-side school districts.  

The tax base of each acquisition would be divided accordingly into the absorbing district.


Such an idea would be fraught with problems you say?


Then what is YOUR proposal for the Kansas City MO School District?

Category 3 Hurricane Irene Will Threaten America's East and Northeast Coastal Areas

The latest National Hurricane Center (NHC) advisory is out- and the forecast still shows a possibility of landfall by Hurricane Irene to either/and the North Carolina coast and somewhere north of Long Island NY..

Irene could intensify to Category 4- but should lose some punch as it enters colder waters further north.

Still- Hurricane Irene is and will be a dangerous storm and all precautions should be taken.

CSW BREAKING: Two Burned in Northland KC-MO Tank Explosion

The original call came from KC-MO Fire and EMS at 2:07 p.m.- erronously dipatched to the 7300 block of Northwest (NW) 86th Street for a "house explosion."

Fire company 44 found the incident instead at the same address on "84th Terrace-" an apparent tank explosion of some sort in "the backyard" of a residence there.

KC-MO FD-EMS reports "2 patients:"

One "an approximately 50-year-old male with 2nd and 3rd-degree burns to 90% of his body" and "a mid-20's female with burns on the right side of her body- arms- legs and back."

The male patient is considered in very critical with this extent of burns- the female in serious condition.

EMS also told a hospital that the burns were the result of "a tank explosion" of an unknown "gas" related to activity around "a barbeque pit."

The patients were enroute to the University of Kansas (KU) Med Center's burn unit.

KC-MO Mayor James Proposes Addressing Gun Violence With Police Checkpoints

According to this KSHB-41 NBC Action News story- KC-MO Mayor Sylvester James is proposing police "gun checkpoints-" that would be set-up in areas of the city where gun violence predominates.


Is this THE answer to all the gun violence in this city?


What about SATURATION PATROLS of police in violent areas- where citizens operating legally-licensed vehicles in a lawful manner would NOT be detained by police simply for driving down a street?


Related but unconfirmed is American politicians attempt to change the name of America to the "United Corporate-Socialist States of America."

Hurricane Irene Heads For Southeast U.S. Coast

America lucked out last hurricane season- but it appears we won't be so lucky this year...


Category 1 Hurricane Irene continues to churn the Atlantic waters near Hispanola (Dominican Republic/Haiti) this Tuesday morning.

Weather model forecasts (shown here close to landfall the GFDL and HWRF models) for Irene take her close to the eastern Florida coast and possibly on-shore somewhere near Wilmington NC possibly by Saturday evening.

It would be a good time for residents on the east Florida- Georgia- South and North Carolina coasts to ready themselves for a possible Category 1 to 3 hurricane in the next few days.

MetroRegion Kansas City News: St. Joseph Home Invasion Results in Homicide

The "Killa City" mentality is spreading to other nearby cities...


The ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS reports a resident was killed Monday night- "shot in the head 2 to 3 times-" during a home invasion in St. Joe.

There were "five adults and four children" in the home when 2 suspects broke in- and the undescribed victim was shot by a "tall, thin, dark-skinned black male" says the SJN-P.

Kansas Citians Get Gouged Again By Terrorist Oil Companies

I call the oil companies terrorists because their manipulation of gasoline/fuel prices are CERTAINLY un-American and a detriment to this country's shaky economy!


You recall recently when the price of a barrel of oil dropped dramatically- nearly $18 per barrel- to around $80- but gasoline prices dropped maybe a penny or two a day- and leveled out around the $3.30-$3.35 per gallon mark.

Even though a barrel of oil's price has risen about $4 from the low of $80- this morning finds gas stations- mainly Quik Trips- have raised the gasoline price DRAMICALLY again- around a $0.15 per gallon rise to as much as $3.52 per gallon!

Americans will tolerate anything these days....

The 74th Homicide of 2011 in KC-MO

If you liken civic violence to the flu- the Plaza Incidents would register as a sniffle- but the recent spate of killings in KC-MO should rate as a full-blown coma...


Late Monday night- a 52-year-old woman was shot and killed in the Old Northeast area.

Police report getting the call around 11:40 p.m. late Monday night to a shooting in the 3500 block of East St. John.

EMS rushed the victim to a hospital- but she passed away from her injuries later.

The victim's 27-year-old son-in-law was the prime suspect in the shooting- and police took him into custody at the scene.


The homicide sickness continues at virtually the rate of 1 per day in the past week- but it seems that KC-MO's "physician" elected officials are out playing golf....

CSW BREAKING: Homicide No. 73 in KC-MO

Police are investigating a shooting of a male in the 1700 block of Kansas Avenue.

The call came in to emergency services just after 2 p.m.- and there was also the report of a vehicle crashing into a tree related to this call.

Police arrived and found a male on the ground without a pulse.

EMS declared the man DOA..

Police had very vague suspect information- "possibly 2 black males seen running northeast" away from this scene.

Heavy Thunderstorms Monday Morning Soaks Kansas City- Omaha

Another round of heavy thunderstorms has moved through Metro Kansas City Monday morning- dropping nearly 2.5-inches of rain in parts of Johnson county KS and sparking several structure fires.


In Omaha- up to 7 inches of rain fell before the storms moved southeast toward Kansas City.

Several areas of Omaha near the Missouri River were flooded- according to the OMAHA (NE) WORLD-HERALD- and floodwaters caused some damage at Omaha's new baseball stadium north of downtown.


In Metro Kansas City- lightning is said to have sparked structure fires in Leavenworth county- in the 19500 block of Jarbalo Road and Lenexa KS- in the 8000 block of Summit.

Lightning also damaged a home in KC-MO- in the 600 block of West 67th Terrace- and may have caused the fire that injured 2 firefighters in the 10700 block of White.

Firefighters from several fire departments are fighting a barn fire in rural Cass county and- at 12:08 p.m.- Grandview MO fire crews were called to a roof fire at a house in the 12900 block of Corrington.

Up to almost two and a half inches of rain fell in south Johnson county KS- and Tomahawk Creek rose about 8 feet in an hour.

No flooding issues have been reported so far.

More thunderstorms are forecasted over these same areas later today into early Tuesday- with flash flooding becoming an increasing threat.

CSW BREAKING: House Fire With Injury in South Kansas City MO

At  10:45 a.m.- five companies of the KC-MO Fire department are sent to a house fire in the 10700 block of White.

First company arriving is Pumper 42- and they report "fire and smoke showing from a 1-story" house.

Three handlines are being used- and the lone occupant was reportedly outside when fire crews arrived- also there sounds to be some sort of water supply problem at this fire.

At 10:56 a.m.- all interior crews were ordered out of the structure- as an outside attack commences during a heavy thunderstorm.

At 10:57 a.m.- a firefighter asks for an ambulance for an unknown injury to  firefighters here.

A1 11:17 a.m.- EMS reports "2 firefighters with minor burns and smoke" inhalation.

One is "a 38-year-old female" and the other "a 58-year-old male-" both transported "non-emergency" to St. Luke's Plaza hospital (Research Med Center reports being "closed to all ambulances").

KC-MO Records Homicide No. 72 For 2011

Another has died by gunfire on the streets of Kansas City MO...

This shooting took place a few minutes before 1 a.m. Monday morning in the 2400 block of Olive.

Police found a male in his 40's with gunshot wounds there- and the victim died after being taken to a Metro hospital.

There isn't any suspect information available from police.

Employee Critically Burned After Vehicle Crashes into An Olathe KS Fast-food Restaurant

Around 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon- the woman driver of a SUV mistakenly accelerated into the side of a Church's Chicken fast-food restaurant in Olathe.

When the vehicle struck and pushed-in the side of the building at 124 North Clairborne- it splashed hot grease from the chicken fryers onto a 21-year-old male employee inside the restaurant- critically burning him.

He- and the 2 occupants of the vehicle- were taken to various hospitals- the injuries to the vehicle occupants being not life-threatening.

Incredibly- Republicrats Want To Raise Taxes on Lower to Middle-Income Earners

Actually- according to this ASSOCIATED PRESS story via MyWay News- the Republicrats want to let the Social Security or FICA (SS/FICA) payroll reductions you're enjoying now expire on January 1.

That equates to a tax increase folks.

Would the Republicrats approve raising the income-rate that the wealthy enjoy regarding Social Security?

You see- the maximum income taxed SS/FICA is $106800- if you made (yeah right) say $1-million- you would only pay SS taxes on $106.8k of that $1-mil.

If you make $10-million a year- you'd STILL only pay SS/FICA based on $106.8k of your income.


Social Security is going broke ONLY because the Federal government has used ("borrowed") the excess SS taxes for everything else- including foreign aid and the bloated defense budget.

If the Fed paid Social Security BACK all that it has borrowed- the SS fund would be fine- but the pollys in DC don't want to do that.


Or raise SS/FICA or ANY tax rates on the wealthy- like even billionaire Warren Buffet has suggested.


America can't continue to spend- spend- spend- but the government can't continue to turn to the Social Security fund to borrow- borrow- borrow.

Failure to give the lower and middle-income earners some sort of REAL relief in this Recession/Depression WILL result in really dark times ahead for many Americans (and hopefully- the pro-corporate/wealthy Republicrat Party).

CSW BREAKING: Shooting in KC-MO's East Side

Kansas City MO Fire-EMS reports "a male in his 20's" is in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds" early Sunday morning.

The man's injuries were sustained in the 2400 block of Myrtle where several minutes after midnight the victim was shot at least 3 times by yet-unknown assailant(s).

Police are investigating.