Capt. Spaulding's World

Saturday, August 04, 2007

California De-Certifies Certain Voting Machines

People in the know on the Net have been screaming about these machines for years- now the Great State of California has banned certain machines made by "Diebold Election Systems- Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems" according to the AP article.

Why? Because these machines can be accessed by hackers and the voting results altered- the very thing the people in the know on the Net have been saying.

Et tu Central States?

___________

CENTRAL STATES WEATHER: Severe Thunderstorm- Tornado Watch In Nebraska And Iowa

According to the NWS-SPC- severe thunderstorm watches remain in effect for a large part of Nebraska into western Iowa- and a tornado watch has just been issued for parts of central Iowa.

Below are images depicting the watch areas- by county.

No severe weather in the K.C. MetroRegion overnight.

____________________

Love And Color

As always- I'm scrolling though the latest news and come across what I thought was kind of an odd article HERE- seemingly odd anyway because your Captain has always been an Equal-Opportunity lover.

It dealt with black woman- and the seeming dearth of decent- eligible black men to mate with. It also deals with the issue of interracial relationships and how it's "okay" for black women to date white guys.

The article mentions how it's often a "status symbol" for black men to marry white women.

Silly me- I thought it was just L-O-V-E.

Call and wake me please when we're all color-blind.

__________________

Bottom Line- Money Came Before Lives In Minnesota- Elsewhere

HERE is the latest AP article on recovery efforts in the Twin Cities.

You can give me all the song and dance you want- but what happened in Minneapolis could happen anywhere in this great land of ours.

It's time to quit nation-building elsewhere and rebuild THIS nation. Now.

Oh and Bush?

Stay the Hell home next time part of this country's infrastructure falls apart and kills Americans.

You're part of the problem- not a solution. Unless you come to HELP....

_______________

Overnight News And Weather Report Later

Something has come up here- so the Overnight report will be delayed until later.

Nothing too serious other than a possible shooting involved in one of several vehicle accidents around the Metro and a couple of rural Missouri structure fires.

_____________

Friday, August 03, 2007

KANSAS CITY'S WEATHER: Rainfall Today In The Metro

Here is the NWS-Topeka Doppler radar depiction of indicated-rainfall over the Kansas City Metro today.

The maximum rainfall amount found was just south of the Downtown Airport in the West Bottoms west of downtown and in far southeast KC-MO north of Raymore at 2.25-inches.

Except for a lone- dying shower in central Leavenworth County KS- all activity has departed with the warmth of the Sun.

________________

Doubts Remain In Tornado Recovery In Greensburg-KS

It's estimated the town's population is around 400 these days- down more than 1100 since the deadly tornado struck in May.

A number of folks in Greensburg don't think the town will ever recover- according to this Associated Press article.

_____________

KANSAS CITY'S WEATHER: Storm With Torrential Rain Near Downtown KC-MO

A heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain is indicated as you can see by the radar picture- near downtown KC-MO.

This cell will produce street flooding. Other cells in Jackson County MO and on the state line near Leawood.

__________________

Citizen Letter From KC-MO's Mayor: "Notes From Funk's Front Porch" IX

Funk's Front Porch

03 August 2007

Dear Folks,

The Mayor met with Clay Chastain last month to try to find a way to move forward with a shared light rail plan. As you know, the Mayor supports a regional light rail plan as it is desperately needed in order to bring people, hence money, back to the City. Mr. Chastain agreed that a regional plan would be much than his starter line but stated that he was uncomfortable changing his plan because it is what the citizens voted for. The beauty of the discussions that the Mayor is having is that they will not delay Clay’s starter line, as that line cannot begin work until the Federal Government completes its Alternatives Analysis Study first. The Mayor believes that the metropolitan community would prefer a regional light rail plan, if they were given that choice.

The ordinance terminating the City Manager’s contract so that a new contract could be negotiated that reflects the Mayor and Council’s goals came up for vote yesterday. It lost by one vote. Unfortunately, the ordinance became a political issue instead of what it is: a necessary step in contract negotiations. The Mayor is trying to make sure that Kansas City has a professional City Manager who works for the Mayor and the Council, for the good of the citizens as a whole. The current contract will most likely come up for another vote next week.

Funk and I are taking the weekend off; our first since before the campaign began last November. We are going to our little cabin in the woods with our family. While there we will probably list it for sale so that we can buy something closer to home in the near future.

That said, I’m cutting this newsletter short this week to begin packing. Please try to attend the weekly Town Hall meetings, which are ongoing, and the Economic Development and Incentive Task Force meetings, which will wrap up at the end of this month. For a schedule of both meetings, please go to our website at, www.funksfrontporch.com.

In faith,
Gloria & Mark

You can respond to this newsletter at http://www.blogger.com/funksfrontporch@gmail.com.

Please help us by forwarding this email to as many people as you think might want to be more informed about their city government. They can sign up to receive the newsletter at, http://www.funksfrontporch.com/.

The Mayor’s top ten priorities:

1. Establishing a good working relationship with the Council
2. Getting the City’s finances in order
3. Making downtown work
4. Tending to our neighborhoods
5. Implementing the Housing Policy task force recommendations
6. Improving the perception and the reality of public education in Kansas City
7. Reducing Crime
8. Repairing our sewer systems
9. Establishing an excellent regional transit system, which includes light rail
10. Improving citizen satisfaction with City services.

_______________

Largest Number Of Bad Bridges Are Not Far From K.C.

In case you missed a paragraph toward the bottom of the last AP story I linked to- note:

"Among counties with more than 100 bridges, the problem appears to be most significant in the Midwest. In Nemaha County in southeastern Nebraska, about 58 percent of 194 bridges are structurally deficient. More than 55 percent of neighboring Pawnee County's 188 bridges are in the same shape. Of the 10 worst-off counties with significant numbers of bridges, seven are in Oklahoma or Nebraska."

The county seats of the two counties are Auburn and Pawnee City respectively.

According to a list of Kansas City bridge ratings published in Friday's K.C. STAR- spans that carry a "sufficiency rating" equal to or less than the "50" assigned to the failed I-35W span in Minneapolis are:

* Fairfax (southbound span) built in 1935 and Platte Purchase (northbound)- built in 1957- bridges over the Missouri River- rated 49 and 42 respectively.

* Eastbound span of I-70/Lewis & Clark viaduct- built in 1907- rating 49.

The next lowest-rated bridges were:

* Eastbound span of the I-70 Blue River/Manchester Trafficway bridge- built in 1960- rated 51.
* Westbound span of I-70/Lewis & Clark viaduct- built in 1963- rated 52.
* The Paseo bridge which carries I-35 over the Missouri- built in 1954- is rated at 55.