Rev. Jerry 'Right Wing' Falwell Dies

You can wonder how many mouths the money spent on Jerry Falwells's funeral might feed or how high the temperature in Hell got today.

Me? I'll welcome the relative silence of pontification from Virginia.

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Going To California?

The AP reports that it's more than fruit being sprayed with pesticides in The "Golden State."

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BLOGGER CATCHES K.C. STAR WITH ETHICAL PANTS DOWN

Give a read here about the article that The Star decided to hold - edit - THEN print on local political goings-on.

Actually- The Star lost me forever during the campaign to give corporate pro sports teams a chunk of hard-earned tax dollars.

Of course the lemming-like voters that went along with the scam share the blame too.

One day when I get my cybernetics completed and can do 24/7 stretches on the scanners and other bloggers can fill-in details with investigative reporting - we'll do away with "newspapers" and radio/TV "newscasts altogether.

Until that day we'll have to suffer being ill, under or just plain uninformed by our "free" press.
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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Sunday, May 13, 2007

**MAN STRUCK & SHOT IN K.C., MO.**

A "male in his 30's" according to a MAST-EMS paramedic is in critical condition at an area hospital this morning.
The man's head injuries and possible gunshot to the back were suffered around 3:15 am in the 2500 block of Hardesty.
Any witnesses left before police arrived and there was no suspect information.
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*KC-MO POLICE RESOLVE STAND-OFF PEACEFULLY*

An 'Operation-100' tactical situation with a barricaded subject police wanted ended without incident Sunday morning.
The operation was in the area of 31st Street & Paseo and lasted during the 2 and 3 am hours.
No injuries nor details heard.
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*MAN CALLED IN AS SHOT HAS UNCOMFORTABLE TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL*

This begins in the 800 block of Prospect- KC-MO - around 2:30 am Sunday morning.
The call came in as a shooting - and police find a man on the ground with a head injury but not shot. He had been struck by "a beer bottle."
As a MAST unit is transporting the victim to a hospital- he "assaulted a MAST employee" and a general emergency call brought fire & police to help the EMS crew.
About 90 minutes after the original call was dispatched the patient - "in restraints"- finally completed his hospital trip.
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*ATCHISON, KS. AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE TANK LEAK*

Fire department units were dispatched to a business on U.S. 59 around 5:30 am where it was reported an anhydrous ammonia tank was leaking.
Firefighters shut off a valve on the tank and within 10 minutes stopped the leak. They also reported apparent vandalism to the tank.
Anhydrous ammonia is used in the manufacture of meth.
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***OVERNIGHT WEATHER***

Again a lovely mid-springs' morning - clear calm with temperatures into the lower 60's at dawn.
A beautiful Mother's Day today - temperatures again in the mid to upper 80's - but a Stevie Ray-like 'Change In The Weather' coming Monday night/Tuesday morning.

A cold front will traverse the area - bringing a chance for showers and thunderstorms ( no severe weather expected) and temperatures up to 20-degrees cooler than today's readings.

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First with Kansas City Metro- Region Breaking News - KSHB NBC41 ACTION NEWS.
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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Saturday, May 12, 2007

**PEDESTRIAN KILLED IN KANSAS CITY, MO.'S NORTHLAND**

The Missouri Highway Patrol confirms a male pedestrian is dead after being struck by a semi-truck on southbound I-435 and N.E. 108th street early Saturday morning.

There was initially a report at 4:40 am that a driver thought he had struck a deer but wasn't sure. That call was to eastbound I-435 at U.S. 169. Fire, MAST & police couldn't find any body or driver to contact spanning a 5-mile search either side.

A Highway Patrol trooper found the correct location at 5:11 am.. MHP also reports "there are indications the deceased was lying in the roadway when he was struck."
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*FIRE & FIGHT*

KC-MO firefighters responded to a kitchen fire in a townhouse in the 1200 block of West Bluff at 5:35 am..

Firefighters used an inch and three-quarter handline on the fire which was under control 11 minutes after dispatch. A fire investigator

No one was injured - but firefighters also had to help quell a domestic disturbance that broke out in front of the building at 6:10 am..

Don't think police arrested anyone.

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***OVERNIGHT WEATHER***

Clear skies- calm winds and pleasant temperatures - lowering to the 60-degree mark at dawn - prevailed overnight.

A very pleasant May and 'Mother's Day' weekend weatherwise - take it to the bank.

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First with Kansas City Metro- Region Breaking News - KSHB NBC41 ACTION NEWS.
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BREAKING NEWS: KC-MO FIRE INVOLVES INJURIES

KC-MO FIRE HAS CRITICAL INJURIES TO A CHILD- ANOTHER CHILD AND AN ADULT HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM A HOUSE FIRE IN THE 2500 BLOCK OF MERSINGTON ON THE EAST SIDE.

TWO CRITICAL PATIENTS "APROXIMATELY 4 & 8-YEAR-OLD MALES" SOON TO BE TRANSPORTED BY MAST.

NO WORD ON THE CONDITION OF THE ADULT PULLED FROM THE BURNING HOUSE.

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2245 CDT UPDATE: THE ADULT VICTIM FROM THE FIRE IS ALSO REPORTED IN CRITICAL CONDITION - "AN APPROXIMATELY 30-YEAR-OLD MALE."

I'M ALSO HEARING A FEMALE CHILD BEING TRANSPORTED (SORRY FOLKS, I CAUGHT THIS STORY ON THE CUFF) ALSO IN BAD SHAPE FROM WHAT ALL OF THEM SEEMED TO SUFFER - SMOKE INHALATION.

THE FIRE WAS DECLARED UNDER CONTROL ABOUT 8 MINUTES AGO AND I'M SURE WILL BE CAREFULLY INVESTIGATED.

THERE ARE 2 ADDITIONAL MAST-EMS UNITS BEING SENT TO THE SCENE - UNKNOWN IF THERE ARE FURTHER VICTIMS OR IF ANY FIREFIGHTERS WERE INJURED.

SUMMARIZING: AROUND 10:15 PM TUESDAY - IT APPEARS AT LEAST FOUR PERSONS - 3 OF THEM CHILDREN - HAVE SUFFERED CRITICAL INJURIES IN A HOUSE FIRE ON KC-MO'S EAST SIDE.
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2300 CDT UPDATE: THERE ARE ONLY 2 CHILDREN-VICTIMS OF THIS FIRE. ALSO- THE 2 CHILDREN TRANSPORTED WERE "NON-BREATHERS" AS CONFIRMED BY BOTH A FIRE DEPT. CHIEF AND THE MAST-EMS MED REPORTS TO THE MEDICAL CENTER.

THE FOURTH & FIFTH PERSONS INJURED IN THIS FIRE ARE FEMALES: ONE "23-YEARS-OLD" AND THE OTHER "30-YEARS-OLD" ACCORDING TO MAST.
THEIR CONDITIONS DO NOT SOUND ANYWHERE AS SERIOUS AS THAT OF THE OTHER 3 PATIENTS.

SO FIVE INJURED - 3 CRITICALLY - 2 CHILDREN AND AN ADULT - IN THIS HOUSE FIRE IN THE 2500 BLOCK OF MERSINGTON.

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May The Great Spirit be with this family.

MORE PHOTOS OF THE GREENSBURG MONSTER

Reportedly this is the tornado shortly after it touched down south of Greensburg.
Note all the vehicles - no doubt "tornado chasers." This is one reason I rarely "chase" anymore. I'm more concerned about some of these chase drivers than ANY tornado!



This photo is I believe from the same spotters that provided the screen capture from my original blog on this tornado. Looks like it was shot from a backseat photog.
That was NOT the sunset backlightling the tornado but lightning!
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W.G.A.F.

I've been sent a couple of these "let's get back at the oil companies" mass-emails and you know what? Ain't gonna work.

Nothing short of a 1 or 2 day flat-assed national strike by ALL it's citizens is going to do any good. And you and I both know that ain't gonna happen.

Hey, let's all gas-up and just go joyriding around for the next few months. Let's all just drive our way to bankruptcy and to hell with it.

It's evident the American people have turned into the world's fattest sheep.

Nothing and I mean NOTHING seems to outrage us anymore.

Then our so-called "news-media" keeps foisting celebrity crap on us- instead of DOING SOME ACTUAL REAL LIFE INVESTIGATION INTO REAL LIFE ISSUES!!!

News item: Pollys vote down the cheaper perscription drug imports.
News media: More time spent on Paris 'I-could-give-a-damn-less-about' Hilton.

As CHICAGO once sang: "Don't it make you angry the way war keeps dragging on?"
Well my fellow Americans- if you don't have a loved one in Iraq- you probably don't give a shit.
Oh sorry- you do? And you are doing what about it?

Uh-huh.

To paraphrase an American who once had hope for this nation:
"Ask not, what America can do for you - because if you're not rich and/or connected - forget it."

The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Sunday, May 06, 2007

***SEVERE WEATHER WAS BIGGEST CONCERN***

This is a Monday afternoon edit.

Yes- there were the shootings, stabbings, car wrecks, fires, robberies and your what-have-you both weekend overnights.

The historic news story was unfolding about 300 miles southwest of us however.

Gary Lezak's storm chaser relayed the report that Greensburg had been struck by a tornado early in NBC41's 10-o'clock newscast.

The town of around 1,500 people had "heavy damage" but the extent was still unclear with night having set in and the whole town powerless.

As you see by my blog below - as time went on early Saturday morning what sporatic communications that were getting out were indicating Greensburg was "wiped out."
"Every ambulance within 100 miles" being sent into the town was mentioned several times on a monitored broadcast from the area.

The town's police, fire and EMS vehicles were crushed and the hospital partially destroyed - the first fatality was not reported until about 3 am.. That number has risen to 10 as of this writing.
Around 100 people suffered some injury and there's still more than a dozen people in critical condition.
Not yet a complete account for every resident of the town either.

We have some high water problems right now.
But this does not compare - in my nearly 50 years of weather study - to a town the size of Greensburg, Kansas wiped out by a tornado.

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First with Kansas City Metro- Region Breaking News - KSHB NBC41 ACTION NEWS.
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BREAKING NEWS: AT LEAST TWO KANSAS TOWNS STRUCK BY TORNADOES

KSNW-TV in Wichita is reporting a 2nd southwest-central Kansas town - Macksville - has been struck by a tornado at 2335 CDT Friday night.

This broadcast is being monitored live here.

Reporters from the station are in the town of Greensburg, KS. in Kiowa County.
Greensburg was struck by "a large tornado" around 2200 (10pm).

At least 12 critical injuries have been reported in Greensburg - with people still reported trapped in structures there.

A tornado watch is or soon will be in effect for portions of eastern Kansas - mainly northwest through southwest of the Topeka area.
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12:05 AM SATURDAY UPDATE - Tornado damage has now been reported in the north-central Kansas town of Phillipsburg.

Greensburg is receiving mutual-aid help from emergency agencies as far away as Garden City - communications into and out of Greensburg remain sporatic at best.

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1:30 AM SATURDAY UPDATE: A massive supercell thunderstorm continues to produce either one - or a series of large tornadoes across south-central Kansas this morning.

The latest report - at 0115 CDT is that a large tornado has apparently just missed the mile-square town of Ellinwood, KS. - just east of Great Bend.

Reporters have said the downtown business district of Greensburg, KS. was virtually destroyed. Injured persons have been taken to hospitals in Pratt and Dodge City.

The town of Macksville northeast of Greensburg has damage - but the extent is unknown due to communications issues.

This is also the same issue with Phillipsburg in the north-central part of Kansas - also reportedly struck by a tornado from other supercells that have moved into southern Nebraska.

No fatalites yet reported anywhere in this very unusual nightime tornado outbreak that will no doubt have some historic value.

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0140 CDT - CLAFLIN, KS has been struck.
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KSN WEB SITE WITH NEW VIDEO & INFO



0335 CDT UPDATE - One fatality has been confirmed in Greensburg, KS. by KSN.
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UPDATE - 0730 CDT - The death toll has risen to 3 with more than 5-dozen injured - 12 of those critically - from a massive tornado in southwestern-central Kansas.

The huge "wedge" tornado tore into the town of Greensburg, KS. just before 10 p.m. Friday night.

KSN-TV reports "60% of the Greensburg destroyed" by the tornado which also the hit the neighboring town of Macksville. Two died in Greensburg as of dawn Saturday morning and another death was reported near Macksville.

Nearby towns of Claflin and Ellinswood suffered near-misses but damage by the funnel that some described as being "a mile wide."

Also reported hit by a tornado is the northwest Kansas town of Phillipsburg. There were no reports yet of damage and injuries from that strike.

The same areas are under the gun again today according to the Storm Prediction Center.

A "moderate risk" of severe thunderstorms is expected later today (Saturday) from central Oklahoma through Central Kansas into Nebraska - including many of the same areas affected Friday night and early Saturday morning.

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My "Official" congrats to Mayor Funkhouser

Your Honor Mayor "Funk,"

I was on the Texas Gulf coast (absentee) when I learned on-line of your win as Kansas City's new leader.

It was more enjoyable than that mornings' walk on the Port Aransas beach in the warm sun.

The very best to you Mayor, your witty wife Gloria - whom I think will be the city's first true 'First Lady," as well as your children.

Your swearing-in speech was consise and to the point. It must be me sir - but I see a lot of Harry Truman-like qualities in you.

Any thinking Kansas Citian understands what your quite logical and refreshing statements meant - and I'm sure or at least hope the rest of the City Council did as well.

Your next four years in office are going to be very interesting.

Issues - very expensive issues like the storm/wastewater mix-fix and the light-rail system (which we hope you will be riding ON rather than out-on) have been dropped in your lap upon official seating.

You will also have to deal with any ultimate mistakes made by previous administrations - under-performing T.I.F. projects to name one. Infrastructure neglect another.

You know the numbers game. You know respect and compassion for people.

I'm looking forward with great anticipation to these next four years Mayor.

Just one suggestion- in respect to your beloved Toyota - it should be retired as the first "official car" of your first term for the future Mayor Funk Museum.

And it should be replaced by a brand-new (driver/bodyguard optional) Ford-hybrid vehicle - made right here at the Kansas City (well okay, Claycomo) assembly plant.

That would be a crafty move both environmentally and - with many Ford employees Kansas City, MO. residents - politically.


At Your Service,
Groucho