Central States WEATHER: Snow Advisory North - Maybe Here Later

The NWS offices to our northwest have issued Winter Weather Advisories for parts of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
These advisories COULD be extended into the Kansas City MetroRegion and into the Metro later today.

An upper-level winter storm system is working it's way southeast from the northern Rockies- and will produce a swath of snow across the middle and lower Missouri River Valley over the next 24-30 hours.

Anywhere from 2 to 4-inches of snow are expected in the K.C. Metro and MetroRegion by noon Saturday.

Travel in at least the first half of Saturday may become problematic with slick and hazardous conditions- especially on elevated roadways and bridges.

Update here on this developing winter weather situation as available....

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Clay Chastain: Kansas City Voters Dissed

Geez- that's EXACTLY what I thought when this present City Council overturned the voter-approved light rail initiative.

The Council- by their action- told K.C. voters to STFU- we were "uninformed"- the light rail plan "unworkable."
The Council tweaked another plan for voters- most like me who were upset over the disregarding of our FIRST vote for light rail voted against it.

Unless the Feds or some generous billionaire pays for it- Metro K.C. will probably not see any public rail transit plan. Ever.

The next time we citizens get a petition together to get something voted on and pass whatever it is- the city council would probably overturn that too.

With a few exceptions- I don't like this city council. I like the city mangler (manager) even less. Mangler "assistant" Chuck Eddy's $140000 annual pay could provide jobs for at least 5 people.

First in the ridiculous que.

There will be NO economic recovery this year. TIFs and other corporate welfare must come to a halt.

City council members MUST pay closer attention to their constituents- especially when they sign petitions- vote and approve things the council sees fit to overturn.

The next election could be their recall....

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OPINION: Too Many Unanswered Questions For MAST-EMS Takeover

After consideration and absorption of statements by the involved officials- I'm coming out AGAINST the KC-MO Fire department takeover of MAST-EMS.

My primary reason is money.

KCFD Chief Richard "Smokey" Dyer himself said he's not sure if the City will save any money in such a consolidation.

Another reason is the considerable logistics required.

MAST-EMS employee issues abound- from pensions and retention of seniority to age and residency differences.

Employee morale- both KCFD & MAST would become at least somewhat of an issue with 2 sets of rules and requirements.

Dispatch would shift probably to the KCFD/PD dispatch center at 1111 Locust. You're going to have to add several new dispatchers per shift to handle this load.

MAST has an about 12-year-old headquarters- dispatch center and garage in a refurbished K-Mart building at 6700 East Eastwood Trafficway. Who will do what with this facility that I wonder if it's fully paid-for?

The ambulances themselves will have to be re-marked- or re-painted.

With all those factors- I think it is going to COST the City money in the short-term at the very least.

Therefore- Phil & to wit- I'm agin' any consolidation of the KCFD and MAST-EMS at this time.

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Photo Progress of Performing Arts Center

Here are a few photos depicting the progress of construction of the Kauffman Performing Arts Center located east of Broadway just south of Bartle Hall.

There's been a lot of iron work going on since the last photos I took more than a month ago- there was also a 2nd large boom crane installed at the site.

The deep excavation on this south side of the site seems to show parking will go there- that underground area (once covered over) will make an excellent storm shelter for people in the immediate area of 18th Street and Broadway as well.

More progress photos in the weeks to come....

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K.C. Metro-MetroRegion WEATHER: "Slight Risk" Of Severe Storms Today

The latest convective outlook from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has moved the "slight risk" of severe thunderstorms area over the Metro this morning.

As you can see by the initial graphic (click-on to enlarge)- this slight risk area includes all but southwestern portions of the Kansas City MetroRegion- with the primary severe threat here in the immediate Metro area being possible large hail (3/4-inch in diameter or larger).

Any severe wind or tornado threat is east and southeast of the MetroRegion- according to this latest outlook issued within the past hour.

So far- nothing but scattered showers over eastern and northeastern Kansas and western and northwestern Missouri.

I'll be watching the radar and posting updates here throughout the day.

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South Miami-Dade County- Florida Family Murder-Suicide

The shooter was the 53-year-old father- said to be "a music teacher" according to the Associated Press report.

Dying by his hand were the man's wife and 2 daughters. A 16-year-old son managed to escape and call police.

The man shot and killed himself before police arrived. There's yet no indication of any problems that led to this tragedy.

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K.C. MetroRegion WEATHER: NWS-SPC- "Slight Risk" of Severe Storms Thursday

According to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center- this risk runs generally along and east of the state line to just east of Kansas City- then generally east of I-35 in Missouri (see/click on graphics).

Metro Kansas City is not included in this slight risk area at this time.

The risk will be mainly Thursday afternoon when a thunderstorm squall line is expected to develop along a strong cold front that will sweep through the MetroRegion Thursday afternoon.

If the frontal movement is faster than forecast- the severe storm risk area will move east. If the front is slower to arrive- Metro Kansas City may be included in a risk area.

Updates here on this developing situation.

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NASA Drowns A $280-Million Satellite

In a story of ultimate government waste- the AP reports that NASA lost a $280-million satellite.

The rocket and satellite plunged into the ocean off Antartica after the launch went awry early Tuesday.

NASA announced it will spend more money on this mission- a group of "experts" to figure out what went wrong with the Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite.

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How Will Fire Department Takeover of MAST Affect Northern Suburbs?

Right now Kansas City-MO's MAST-EMS serves a number of small northern suburbs with contracted ambulance service.

If I were a city official of one of those suburbs- Parkville and Riverside for instance- I'd be concerned about the KCMO FD and MAST-EMS power-play.

The Fire department already has fire-supression automatic mutual aid with a number of surrounding departments.

One would wonder if the Fire department took over the ambulance service- would these suburban areas have the same contract option with KCFD or would these municipalities be forced to start their own ambulance service?

Would such a contract accurately reflect the costs to KC-MO citizens to provide ambulance service to these needy suburbs?

KCFD IAFF Local 42 union officials have brought up that dark term "labor unrest."

That sort of talk cost me a fire department career after firefighter strikes in 1975 and 1980 made the job untenable.

Can suburbs who rely on MAST-EMS service afford any new set-up- and can the citizens of Kansas City-MO rest assured a fire truck and ambulance will BE THERE when called?

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Swiss Bank Accounts - It Must Be Nice

There's a legal battle underway pitting America's I(nfernal) Revenue Service against a large Swiss bank- UBS.

According to the Associated Press- around 52000 Americans have an estimated nearly $15-billion stashed away in secret UBS accounts.

The IRS claims it has a right to know the identities of those Americans holding the secret accounts- the UBS is clinging to Swiss privacy laws.

If I were to wager this situation- I'd bet that American million/billionaires will prevail here- the rich always do (see Bernard Madoff).

At worse- the rich are incarcerated in their penthouses.

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KC-MO Northland Wreck Kills One

At 12:48 am Sunday morning- KC-MO fire- police and MAST-EMS ambulance crews were called to the intersection of Northeast 52nd Street and Baxter on a single-vehicle crash.

When the first fire department unit arrived- Pumper 34- they reported "a (pickup) truck overturned" and a person "trapped underneath" the truck.

That person died at the scene- but MAST transported an "18--year-old male" with non life-threatening injuries to a Nort land medical trauma center.

Police reported a 3rd occupant fled the scene after the crash.

There are yet no details regarding the wreck- but indications are that excessive speed and possible mind-altering substances were involved.

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