Threats Of Independence-MO Bus Cuts Are Short-Sighted

One wonders if Independence city officials would like to de-annex that part of their city west of Lee's Summit Road.

First- the Independence-Regional hospital at Truman Road & Forest shuts down and a new hospital goes up 5 miles away- move and tax-break approved by city officials.

Then the city gives further tax breaks for shopping districts- residential developments and- of all things- a sports arena in east and southeastern parts of Indy.

Now- city officials threaten cuts in KCATA bus services due to "lack of funds."

Never mind the many older residents in Independence that rely on busses as their sole transportation.

Never mind the gasoline pump and grocery store price-gouges that force the working middle to lower-income population to try public transit as they attempt to avoid their own financial hardships.

Tax breaks (city funds) to wealthy developers- the shaft to the rest of Independence's citizens.

Shame on that city's political "leaders."

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Today's First Visible Satellite Photo Of Hurricane Ike- NHC Track Forecast

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The Kansas City MetroRegion Overnight News and Weather Report - Sunday, September 07, 2008

*** KC-MO POLICE KILL A SWORD-WIELDING SUSPECT ***

*** The suspect was shot dead at the scene at 40th Street & Charlotte at 1:52am Sunday morning.

Officers had responded to a disturbance at a residence in the 3900 block of Charlotte around 1:45am and a person then threatened officers with a sword. An assist-the-officer call went out after they arrived on the scene- the suspect was shot moments later.

The suspect died on the scene. There are yet no other details on this incident..

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** MAN GRAVELY-INJURED IN KC-MO SHOOTING **

*** An early Sunday morning shooting in the 1200 block of East 61st Street in South-Midtown has left a male in his 20's gravely-injured..

The incident was reported to authorities at 12:40am and officers arrived to find a black male shot in the head.

There was no suspect information available and the police investigation continues.

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** FEMALE JUMPS FROM A VEHICLE IN OVERLAND PARK-KS **

... An unknown-age female suffered critical head injuries after reportedly jumping from a moving vehicle at 88th Street & Antioch just after 1:15am Sunday morning.

The incident is still under investigation with no further info available from OPPD.

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** KC-MO NORTH WRECK INJURES TWO **

...Two persons- a female driver and her 22-year-old male passenger- suffered serious to critical injuries after their small pickup truck slammed into the trailer of a car-hauler semi truck just after midnight..

The wreck occurred on North Kimble north of Missouri highway-210. Firefighters had to extricate the victims from the vehicle- a MAST-EMS paramedic said the force of the small pickup hitting the car-hauler's trailer "knocked the axle out" of the trailer.

Police suspect alcohol was involved in this crash.

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** HOUSE FIRE IN LONE JACK-MO **

...Two adults and a child are homeless this morning after a fire ravaged their residence in the 100 block of West Main in the southeastern Jackson County town of Lone Jack.

Three other fire departments assisted Lone jack FD with the fire which was reported at 2:50am. It took until 4:41am to put the flames out.

No injuries have been reported and the cause is under investigation.

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

Skies remained cloudy over most of the Kansas City MetroRegion overnight as rainshowers moved eastward into northern & central Missouri early Sunday morning.
Temperatures moved little from daytime highs in the 60's- and ranged from the mid-50's to around 60-degrees in urban areas. Some light fog was also reported.

Little change in cloud cover today- as frontal systems move toward the area Monday- producing heavier showers and thunderstorms through Tuesday morning. Some of those storms could approach severe levels later today and Monday over mainly the western half of the MetroRegion.

Temperatures will rise to near 80-degrees over about the southern half of the MetroRegion today and Monday- but will remain below to well below-average elsewhere through at least mid-week.

All eyes will then turn south to the Gulf of Mexico- where forecasted major Hurricane Ike is expected to affect the U.S. Gulf coast by mid-week.

The remains of Ike could affect MetroRegion weather as early as late next weekend.

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

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Southern U.S. Awaits Hurricane Ike

Tropical storm system Number 5- Category-3 Hurricane Ike- will threaten Florida and the U.S. Gulf coast next week.

Here are some visible satellite photos of Ike through today- and the latest hurricane track forecast by the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables- FL.

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K.C. MetroRegion BREAKING NEWS: Fatal Wreck In Leavenworth County-KS

One person has died and a 27-year-old male is in critical condition after a reported 2-vehicle wreck on U.S. 73 north of Leavenworth.

The wreck was reported to LVCO authorities at 6:05am at a location reportedly 2 to 3 miles north of Leavenworth.

One victim died at the scene and the driver of the 2nd vehicle- reported by EMS as "a 27-year-old male" was transported to a K.C. trauma center in very critical condition.

Considerable ground fog was reported at the scene by first-responders- but it's not known if that contributed to the crash.

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Proof Again That MAST-EMS Understaffs The City

For more than 15 years- I have contended that MAST-EMS- the ambulance/paramedic servicing Kansas City and several smaller Missouri suburbs- does not staff enough units to adequately cover the city.

This Saturday morning from 3 to 3:30am- there were no less than FOUR (4) calls in KC-MO that required EMS units from other municipalities to run in place of MAST- who had no units available to run them.

There were no major incidents occurring at the time and no extenuating circumstances.

Three of those mutual-aid EMS calls went to Johnson County-KS's MEDACT- the other went to Claycomo-MO's EMS.

As far as is known- no patients died as a result of an extended response time from those outside agencies- but one MAST-EMS unit responding to a stabbing on KC-MO's East Side took 15 minutes after the initial 3:11am dispatch time to arrive on that scene.

What do I consider adequate staffing?

Cities such as Grandview and Raytown-MO have at least 2 in-service EMS units for their approximately 30000 residents. Using a rule of thumb of 1 EMS unit per 20000 residents- MAST should have a minimum of at least 22 units in service for the estimated 460000 residents in their service area.

I have never logged more than 18 EMS units in service overnight at ANY given time in KC-MO since I began monitoring for Kansas City news media in 1991.

I have brought this to the attention of the news media outlets that have employed my services to no avail.

Granted this issue is not as "juicy" as things such as the alleged acts of the mayor's wife- perhaps someone dying due to lack of prompt EMS service will bring this seemingly more important and on-going issue to the local news media's attention.

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Hurricane- Tropical Storm- Tropical Depression Gustav Rain Totals

The rain from the remains of Gustav has ended in Metro Kansas City- and over much of the MetroRegion as well.

Here is a Metro storm-total radar-indicated precipitation amounts image from the NWS-Topeka (click-on for full size):

SELECTED STORM TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN INCHES THROUGH 1 PM CDT
THURSDAY...UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED:

...LOUISIANA...

FRANKLIN 20.00
GRAND ISLE 19.19
LARTO LAKE 19.00
HAHA BAYOU JONESVILLE 7 SW 18.87
NE BAY GARDENE NR POINT A LA HACHE 17.76
JONESVILLE 7 SW 17.70
FOOLS RIVER CLAYTON 4 NNW 17.58
WINNSBORO 5 SSE 16.51
BUNKIE 0.3 WSW 16.37 THROUGH 7 AM CDT WED
MISSISSIPPI SOUND AT GRAND PASS 14.84
CLAYTON 4 NNW 14.54
BUNKIE 14.06
RAYVILLE 13.91
RED RIVER LOCK AND DAM 13.50
BAYOU COCODRIE NEAR CLEARWATER 13.88
COMO 13.24
CLEARWATER 12.54
DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 11.95
OAK RIDGE 11.79
BASTROP 3.2 NNE 11.55
BAYOU DES GLAISES AT MOREAUVILLE 11.16
WEST MONROE 4.1 NW 10.98
ALEXANDRIA 9.50
MONROE 9.43
BATON ROUGE 4.81


...MISSISSIPPI...

LAKE WASHINGTON TRIB NR CHATHAM 12.40
UNION CHURCH 11.93
GLOSTER 11.74
BUDE (HOMOCHITTO NATIONAL FOREST) 11.53
HAMBURG 11.25
GREENVILLE 11.09
VICKSBURG 10.75
ROLLING FORK 16.1 WSW 10.56
LIBERTY 6.4 ENE 10.27
STONEVILLE 1 NE 10.26
HOMOCHITTO RIVER AT EDDICETON MS 9.34
CENTREVILLE 9.33
BUFFALO RIVER NEAR WOODVILLE 9.25
VICKSBURG 10.1 NNE 9.06
MISSISSIPPI RIVER NEAR GREENVILLE 8.81
MCCOMB 7.59
OAKLEY 7.45
HATTIESBURG 6.42
PASCAGOULA 4.61
BILOXI/KEESLER AFB 4.10


...ARKANSAS...

EUDORA 11.90
BAYOU MACON AT EUDORA 11.74
BISMARCK 11.50
LEOLA 11.26
WHITTINGTON CREEK AT HOT SPRINGS 11.12
FELSENTHAL OUCHITA RIVER 11.00
JACKSONVILLE 10.90
LITTLE ROCK AFB 10.82
HAMPTON 10.65
WARREN 10.33
BENTON 10.26
MORO BAY 10.15
CROSSETT 2 SSE 10.10
MARCHE 9.89
AMITY 9.67
FOURCHE CREEK UNIVERSITY AVE 9.58
MALVERNE 9.57
UNIVERSITY OF AR MONTICELLO 9.51
CENTER RIDGE 4 S 9.27
REMMEL DAM TAILWATER 9.25
ANTOINE 9.23
ARKADELPHIA 9.01
CLEVELAND 9.00
MAUMELLE RIVER AT WILLIAM JUNCTION 8.94
WALTREAK 8.58
HOT SPRINGS 8.14
LITTLE ROCK (LIT) 6.40
FORT SMITH 5.72
TEXARKANA 5.09

...MISSOURI...

JACK FORK AT ALLEY SPRING 11.62
VANDALIA 9.91
MORGAN 1 SE 8.90
ALLEY SPRINGS RANGER STATION 7.91
FORSYTH 1.9 SW 6.98
CHAIN O LAKES 2.0 NE 6.60
REYNOLDS 6.60
EAGLE ROCK 1.5 SW 6.47
BUNKER 4.4 N 6.27
MYRTLE 6.25
SINKIN 6.14
CASSVILLE 0.5 SW 6.03
EL DORADO SPRINGS 0.6 NNW 6.00
PLAD 1 E 5.80
LEBANON 1 E 5.79
WEST PLAINS 3 SW 5.30
JOPLIN 4.93
FT LEONARD WOOD 4.13
SPRINGFIELD 3.48

...OKLAHOMA...

SPIRO 6.17
MCCURTAIN 5.25
KINGSTON 2 S 5.23
NEOSHO RIVER NEAR COMMERCE 4.70
WISTER 3 S 4.28
VINITA 2.95
BUNCH 0.8N 4.38
TAR CREEK AT MIAMI 2.41
BIG CABIN CREEK NEAR BIG CABIN 2.33
DAVIS FIELD 2.07
MUSKOGEE 2.03
MCCALESTER REGIONAL AIRPORT 1.72

...TEXAS...

TEXARKANA 10 SW 2.60
MARSHALL 15.2 SE 1.73
PARIS 1.07

...KANSAS...

PITTSBURG 0.7 WSW 3.91
SPRING RIVER NEAR BAXTER SPRINGS 3.77
CHEROKEE 0.3N 3.50
MCCUNE 1.6 NW 2.49
GIRARD 3.1 SSW 2.41
STRANGER CREEK NEAR POTTER 2.30
PLEASANTON 0.3 SSE 2.18
CHANUTE 1.83

...ILLINOIS...

ILLINOIS RIVER AT RIPLEY IL 4.30
ILLINOIS RIVER AT MEREDOSIA IL 3.28
PARIS (WATER WORKS) 3.00
ARKANSAS RIVER NEAR LARNED KS 2.49
PITTSFIELD 2.24
QUINCY 1.98

...IOWA...

MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT BURLINGTON 2.27
COLUMBIA 2.01
RATHBUN DAM 1.94
CENTERVILLE 0.5 SE 1.42

...TENNESSEE...

MUNFORD 6.8 WNW 2.45
MEMPHIS (MEM) 2.05

...MICHIGAN...

JACKSON 1.2 ENE 1.74
HANOVER 3.8 W 1.54
HUDSON 3E 1.54

...FLORIDA...

PENSACOLA NAS (NPA) 4.12
PENSACOLA (PNS) 2.14
DESTIN 2.08
MARATHON 2.04
KENDALL-TAMIAMI (TMB) 1.92

...ALABAMA...

ROBERTSDALE 5 NE 7.56
FAIRHOPE 2.3 N 5.59
MOBILE BROOKLEY FIELD (BFM) 3.10
MOBILE (MOB) 2.30

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED FROM NORTHERN
ILLINOIS INTO PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN... NORTHWESTERN
INDIANA AND MICHIGAN WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 5 INCHES
THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS NEAR AN INCH
WITH MAXIMA OF 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS FAR SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA... SOUTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI AND WESTERN ALABAMA THROUGH
THIS EVENING.

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Gustav Rains

There has been just about 3.7-inches of rain here in southeastern KC-MO since 4pm Tuesday- compliment of once-Hurricane Gustav.

No flooding problems locally- so thanks Gus!

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Volunteers For KC-MO City Government Should Boycott

Maybe a council person or two should be recalled as well- since they're so intent on passing some idiotic ordinance regarding city volunteers.

It's a knee-jerk reaction to charges- a "she-said- she-said"- brought against Mayor Funkhouser's wife- who allegedly called a staffer a name.

Allegedly a name that's not even one of the late George Carlin's "seven deadly words."

This is typical guilty until proven innocent 21st Century American law.

I'm still pissed at the city council overturning the light rail initiative the voters passed.

Perhaps it's time for this Libertarian Party committeeman to start a recall petition of the council members who overturned the results of that election.

After all- what's good for the goose- et cetera....

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Metro Tornado Warning Siren Test On-Schedule Today

At 11am- the scheduled monthly test of Metro K.C. tornado warning sirens will be conducted as usual- so says the NWS-Pleasant Hill office minutes ago.

"We're not expecting any severe weather today- and the heavy rain and flooding issues will be later tonight (overnight)"- the NWS spokesperson said.

Therefore- don't be alarmed when you hear the sirens going off in less than an hour.....

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Kansas City MetroRegion WEATHER: Excessive- Flooding Rains Nearby

The remains of Hurricane Gustav and a frontal system will combine to produce excessive rainfalls along with flash and general river flooding through Thursday over about the southeastern half of the Kansas City MetroRegion.
Flash flood and general flood watches are in effect for most of the southeastern 4/5ths of Missouri today.

Metro Kansas City will be very close to these tropical rains- with some areas receiving more than 2-inches yesterday (2.2-inches here in Southeastern KC-MO)..

Of special concern will be southern Miami & northern Linn counties in Kansas- where more than 3-inches of rain has fallen since yesterday evening.

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