Issue dated 12/21/06

In the spirit of Christmas, Platte City Mayor Dave Brooks will soon announce his intention to annex the North Pole.

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After I lampooned the amount of media coverage his impending death was receiving earlier this year, I fear that on Christmas Eve I will be visited by the ghost of Buck O'Neil urging me to do a reverse home mortgage with James B. Nutter and Co.

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Wow. What a Landmark Christmas party last Friday. Hollywood is calling for the movie rights.

Thanks to the many special guests, and more importantly, the devoted readers who took part in the reindeer games. What's most satisfying to us as hosts is the way folks have turned it into a stay-while event to partake in hot food and fellowship. It's not just a quick come-and-go holiday sugar rush.

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Platte City's obsession with what seems destined to be another unsuccessful annexation attempt continues to get more and more expensive for Joe Taxpayer.

Spending your money on failed ventures doesn't seem to be bothering Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys. On Tuesday night they approved hiring more legal help to assist their apparently overmatched team of Williams and Campo.

Williams and Campo's charge to the city has been in the neighborhood of $190 per hour. The additional hired gun employed this week will hit taxpayers at the rate of $245 per hour.

How much are the boys going to spend on this nightmare?

How can they in the future come to the voters with a straight face and say the city has financial needs when they are spending this kind of money on an annexation effort that seems destined to fail?

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With his unfortunate passing last week, pundits are chiming in with their favorite Lamar Hunt story. Let me add some meaningless chatter to the personal clutter by telling of my only one-on-one encounter with the Chiefs owner.

It was the fall of 1998. I was going through chemotherapy for Hodgkins disease at the time. Never one who enjoys sitting still for any length of time, I awoke one rainy Sunday morning determined to take advantage of a sideline photography credential and go cover the Chiefs game that day vs. San Diego. Alone. Just to prove I could.

So I'm standing on the sideline prior to the game and rain is pelting the stadium. Sensing someone standing over my right shoulder, I turned around to be face-to-face with Lamar Hunt. Caught off guard for just a second, I mumbled my way through a greeting. Showing the humble nature you've heard so much about, he then engaged me in conversation.

Turn and look at all those umbrellas in the crowd. It's very colorful, all the different shades of umbrellas. I think that would make a really neat picture," he said.

"You're right, Mr. Hunt, it would," I said, and I turned to shoot a few photos of the crowd and the aforementioned colorful umbrellas while he continued to politely chat me up.

Of course in 1998 The Landmark printed only in black and white, so the colorful site wasn't going to do a whole lot for my purposes. But I didn't tell him that. After all, this was Lamar Hunt. If a guy like that gives you an idea, you do it and figure out any flaws in the plan at a later time.

Again, not an exciting story. . .just one more example of the humble nature of a powerful and wealthy man. Not something found all that often in today's society.

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Reviving a topic at the tail of last week's column, it's time for more story problems. Between the Lines has obtained a copy of the Los Angeles, California High School proficiency exam. Give it your best shot.

1. Ramon has an AK-47 with a 30-round clip. He usually misses six out of every 10 shots and he uses 13 rounds per drive-by shooting. How many drive-by shootings can Ramon attempt before he has to reload?

2. Leroy has two ounces of cocaine. If he sells an 8-ball to Antonio for $320 and two grams to Juan for $85 per gram, what is the street value of the rest of his hold?

3. Raul wants to cut the pound of cocaine he bought for $40,000 to make a 20% profit. How many ounce bags will he need to make to obtain the 20% profit?

4. Desmond gets $200 for a stolen BMW, $150 for stealing a Corvette, and $100 for a 4x4. If he steals one BMW, two Corvettes and three 4x4's, how many more Corvettes must he steal to have $900?

5. Pedro got six years for murder. He also got $10,000 for the hit. If his common law wife spends $100 of his hit money per month, how much money will be left when he gets out?

6. If an average can of spray paint covers 22 square feet and the average letter is three square feet, how much tagging can be sprayed with three eight ounce cans of spray paint left over?

7. LaShaunda is a lookout for the gang. LaShaunda also has a boa constrictor that eats five rats per week at a cost of $5 per rat. If LaShaunda makes $700 a week as a lookout, how many weeks can she feed the boa on one week's income?

8. Tyrone knocked up four girls in the gang. There are 20 girls in his gang. What is the exact percentage of girls he knocked up?

9. Marvin steals Juan's skateboard. As Marvin skates away at 15 mph, Juan loads his 357 Magnum. If it takes Juan 20 seconds to load his piece, how far away will Marvin be when he gets whacked?

(Platte City's Board of Aldermen wish you a Merry *#@!!$% Christmas and Happy *@$%!* New Year! Send email to city hall's least favorite columnist at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Issue of 12/7/06

Every time I'm working in the 110-year-old Landmark building late into the evening like I did this Tuesday and nearly every Tuesday for that matter, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a female reporter who worked for us several years ago. While working alone late one night here in the office, this young lady swore she saw an apparition walk from the back office area and disappear into the bathroom.

She also showed me the outline of a face she found in the detail of the grain of the wood on the floor. She accused me of drawing the face into the wood as a joke. The face spooked her a bit.

At any rate, the young reporter was convinced the ol' newspaper office is haunted. I told her not to be afraid, the "ghost" was probably former Landmark owner/editor Max Jones just dropping by to check on things.

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If it weren't so sad, this would be laughable.

The latest legal challenge to the newest Platte City annexation attempt is now on the books. If the simple allegation made in the plaintiffs' petition proves to be correct--that the city failed to notify them as property owners within the annexation area of the impending land grab attempt--it is another embarrassing act of incompetence at city hall.
It's bad enough having a good ol' boy network in place at city hall. Having an incompetent good ol' boy network is a sitcom in the making.

Platte City can't even notify property owners within the annexation boundaries. It's a (supposedly) simple statutory requirement.

I told you a couple of weeks ago this newest annexation effort was just a train wreck waiting to happen. The folks at city hall better be bracing themselves for another crash.

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Stop the madness.

If the annexation effort ever gets to the ballot box--and at this point with the comedy of errors being displayed by city hall and its highly paid consultants, I'm not sure it will ever get that far--I see no way it will ever get the two-thirds majority approval that would be needed from combined voters in the city and annexation area.

Again, it's time for city hall to blow up the annexation effort and move on to something more worthwhile. Get a sewer line to the area screaming for development on the east side of I-29. Open that area up to development, get some commercial activity going there that will generate tax revenue for the city.

For the folks at city hall, it's time to get over the obsession with annexation. The community is laughing at your every screw-up. It has become a running joke. You're embarrassing yourselves.

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No further proof is needed. It's time to blow up the good ol' boy network at city hall. Voters take note: Platte City would benefit from the following elected officials being defeated the next time their names appear on the ballot: Dave Brooks, George McClintock, Bill Knighton, Jim Palmer, and Lee Roy Van Lew.

It's time to break up the rock group known as Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys. I'll hate it, because these fellas make for some great column fodder, but I'm willing to take one for the betterment of the community.

Once defeated by voters, I suppose Mayor Dave and the Boys could eventually do a reunion tour of sorts, maybe meeting twice a month for a couple shots of moonshine and a poker game in somebody's garage, where they could reminisce about the good ol' days when they were in power at city hall taking care of their buddies, holding illegal meetings and drooling over attractive females who opposed annexation.

Mayor Dave could break out his ball cap with the word "mayor" emblazoned across the front. He could still refer to himself in the third person. The four aldermen could still, for the most part, sit there like bumps on a log or be led around like puppets on a string.
See, life in forced retirement for these guys would be much the same as things are now. . . well, minus the paycheck from the taxpayers, of course.

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Much of the public continues to be skeptical about the future of the proposed Shoppes at North Gate development slated for the I-29 and HH Hwy. intersection at the northern entrance to Platte City. Construction of the project, which was approved for public assistance in the form of tax increment financing (TIF), was originally supposed to begin last March. Construction of anything, or even demolition of existing structures, still sounds a long way off, based on a conversation I had with developer Bill Rabius last week, though Rabius still waxes positive about the entire project.

"We continue to talk to prospective tenants and pad purchasers. We continue to get questions. . can you do this, can you do that. Some spaces have not had enough parking per pad. We continue to talk to them and make alterations to fit their needs and are moving toward getting contracts and leases," Rabius, of the development firm Cox-Rabius, told me Friday.

But Rabius said there are no commitments thus far. And the developers still have not purchased the motel that sits on the site of the proposed retail center, which Mayor Dave Brooks one time claimed would be a development that "looks like Zona Rosa."

"We'd sure like to be building (this coming) spring, but we don't have a firm timeline," Rabius commented.

Some folks recently noticed that one of the signs promoting the upcoming development has been taken down at the site. Why? Several reasons, Rabius says.

"The picture portion of the sign was peeling and fading. And the picture portion was no longer accurate, since we have made changes to the proposed design. The sign itself wasn't looking good and the owner of the motel thought the sign's presence was hurting his business," Rabius said. "So we took it down and hope to get it more accurate and back up sometime in the future."

(Come back every week for more ghostly goodness in Between the Lines. And send your best ghost story to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

 

Posted 11/22/06

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's one of my favorite holidays. A time to relax, break up the normal work routine a bit, get caught up with some family and friends, and of course enjoy plenty of meaningful football, all the while pausing to give thanks for the many benefits of life in America.

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This year, why not give a special thanks to four Platte City aldermen and other original colonists who settled this great country?

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What was the greatest thing before sliced bread?

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I need to take a moment to clarify an item from last week in regard to the City of Platte City's legal expenses related to its annexation effort.

As reported here, the city since May has expended $62,000 toward annexation. Of that amount, $31,000 has gone toward legal fees, but not all of that has ended up in the hands of Chris Williams, the city's annexation attorney. Of that $31,000, around $12,000 has gone toward settling the Sunshine Lawsuit that brought down the first annexation effort. The attorneys for plaintiff Harold Coons were paid a total of $12,300 by the city, including $3,750 to Bob Shaw and $8,572 to co-counsel Murphy, Taylor and Siemens.
This means of the $31,000 that has been spent by the city on legal work, roughly $19,000 of that amount has gone to Williams.

As stated last week, $19,024 has been paid from taxpayer funds thus far to annexation consultant Richard Caplan; $4,800 has gone to engineering and mapping firms; $4,342 has been paid to the Platte County Citizen for annexation-related legal notices; nearly $1,300 has gone to cover election costs for an election that never occurred; more than $1,000 has gone toward postage; and $175 has covered miscellaneous expenses.

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What if there were no hypothetical questions?

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Some things I'm thankful for, well, other than the obvious of family, good friends, good health:

Free elections.

Elected officials, willing to serve. .. and willing to be second guessed and critiqued by those of us who make a living doing so.

Dave Brooks--never before has one man provided so much material for one columnist. My only challenge is to not go to the well too often.

Readers. God bless you.

Laptop computers.

Wireless networking.

That Vegas vacation waiting for me in March.

Reliable sources.

Music. All types.

Fried chicken. Colonel Sanders is the man.

Steak, juicy with pink center, no sauce.

A Thanksgiving night game at Arrowhead, where a Between the Lines entourage will be to cheer the Chiefs to victory over the Broncos.

An office staff that knows how to work hard. . .and how to have fun in the process.

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LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers running back, just told a TV audience that he looked up to legendary running back Jim Brown while growing up.

News flash: Jim Brown quit playing in 1965. I was two years old. Tomlinson wasn't even old enough to be an alleged victim of stem cell research.

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When they pan to the broadcast booth to show Al Michaels and John Madden on camera during Sunday night football games, why do they both insist on so demonstratively talking with their hands? They do it with such exaggerated motion that it looks very contrived (I'm showing off, that's a fancy word for fake).

It's not like their subject matter is so deep the audience isn't going to understand it without the hand jives.

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Sometimes I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

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Speaking of football, it's tradition during Thanksgiving week to have as our Pigskin Picks guest contestant a member of The Landmark family. This year the honor goes to Kurt Foley, high school sophomore son of the publisher. Kurt performed the Years Ago column duties for most of the fall while his sister Alyssa was busy with volleyball activities. Kurt has now relinquished the column-gathering duties back to Alyssa while he competes in basketball. In the spring, I expect I will have to referee an argument between them to see who "gets" to write the column at that point.

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Just now getting started on contacting special guests for The Landmark public Christmas party set for Friday, Dec. 15 at the Comfort Inn in Platte City. The gathering will run from 4-8 p.m.

On the early confirmation list thus far are newly-elected State Rep. Jason Grill of Parkville; Dave Rittman, Parkville alderman; Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd; Quint Shafer, attorney for the City of Weston, who confirmed on election night by saying "only if you put my name in the paper;" and hotshot defense attorney and official Landmark legal counsel Scott Campbell of Platte City.

Many more to come.

(Shoot the bull with this Thanksgiving turkey anytime at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Posted 9/28/06

Our lead story this week comes as no surprise to anyone who has read The Landmark since the Platte City aldermen held a 'we could tell ya, but we'd have to kill ya' secretive meeting back on June 7. It also comes as no surprise if you're a regular reader of our website at plattecountylandmark.com, where we first broke the story last Friday.

Make no mistake, Platte City deciding to pull its annexation issues off the November ballot rather than continuing to fight the lawsuit alleging the city violated the Sunshine Law on June 7 is in effect an admission of guilt. When the settlement is finally approved by the court, expect to see the city having to pay thousands of dollars to cover plaintiff Harold Coons' legal fees. You don't do that unless you know you're guilty. Also, you don't start talking settlement right at the time discovery documents--potential evidence--are due to be turned over. That's another indication of an extremely guilty conscience.

Need more proof? Not surprisingly, more proof is coming from Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys themselves. In a strange press release issued Tuesday night mayor Dave Brooks is quoted as saying:

"I know many people in Platte City are disappointed to see a technical glitch slow the progress of our developing community."

That's just one sentence but it is extremely revealing in a number of ways.

No. 1: The mayor's comment indicates there was a technical glitch. He's talking about the Sunshine Law legal action. If he admits there was a glitch, he has to be admitting the city once again spit on the open meetings law and once again showed disregard for the public's legal right to know.

No. 2: Many people are disappointed? Who is he talking about? The four aldermen who voted for annexation? I like to think I'm pretty well connected with public opinion, and I get no sense of an overwhelming support among city residents for this extremely aggressive and potentially expensive annexation effort. I'm getting more of a sense of overwhelming satisfaction from folks who are tired of seeing the city getting away with ignoring the state's open meetings law and operating as a private board of directors instead of as a public body elected by and paid by the good people of Platte City.

No. 3: Again, the mayor refers to the public's right to know as a "technical glitch." This would be funny if it weren't so sad. The city's top elected official considers his constituent's right to be made aware of what's going on at city hall a technicality. This proves he still doesn't get it. He still hasn't learned that he and the board can't continue to operate in the dark. This is scary. Something tells me this won't be the last time the city violates the Sunshine Law.

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Let's all assume the city intends to come back with another annexation effort fairly soon (as early as February?) and don't' be surprised if it's the exact same proposal. In the meantime, it's time to start digging into how much money the city has spent--and is continuing to spend--to just get this issue to the ballot box, let alone how much it will cost residents of the city to help fund the increases in staff and infrastructure needed to provide services to the proposed annexation areas.

And let's not forget that some of the landowners Platte City is interested in annexing would much rather do a friendly annexation with the city of Tracy. Tracy's involvement may have become more of a possibility as a result of Platte City's action Tuesday night.

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My phone rang Wednesday morning with word there's a group of Platte City folks now considering a recall petition against the mayor and certain aldermen based on their activities on this issue.

It will be interesting to see if this potential action grows legs.

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Jason Grill, Democratic candidate for state representative in District 32 serving southern Platte County, once appeared on the cable TV show Blind Date. That's what his opponent's people want you to know. Grill admits to appearing on the show, where two people are set up on a blind date paid for by the TV folks, but says there is nothing embarrassing about his appearance, which occurred six years ago when he was 21-years-old and working as an intern at the White House.

"Some of the people that go on the show are outrageous. I didn't do any of that stuff. They wanted young professionals and they picked me," Grill told me this week, assuring readers that he doesn't have a Paris Hilton-type sex tape floating around.

But Jeff Roe, a consultant for Grill's Republican opponent John DeStefano, thinks it's still an embarrassing situation for the young Democrat. "I think it's an embarrassing moment for a person who wants to represent 34,000 southern Platte Countians. In his very recent history, he has participated in a dating show. That's not what people look for in leaders. It's no longer the era of 'if it feels good, do it.' He should at least show some remorse that he did it," Roe said Wednesday morning. "A dating show isn't something that represents the values of Platte County."

An ironic twist to the story? DeStefano's son, also named John, is a good friend of Grill and in fact auditioned to be on the Blind Date show as well. The younger DeStefano was working in Washington D.C. as an intern for a Congressman at the time. "He didn't get picked," Grill said.

Roe's reaction to the son of his candidate participating in the audition? "That would be relevant if Jason was running against John's son. He's not. He's running against an adult who doesn't participate in fraternity boy antics. We expect more from our leaders. State representative is a serious role with a serious responsibility."

Back to Grill: "This is just another example of DeStefano's high-priced political consultants wanting to talk about anything but the issues in this election. I've challenged my opponent to several debates and he has refused them. My moderate message is resonating with Republicans and Democrats."

But bottom line: How did the date go? "Horribly," Grill said. "As soon as I talked to her I knew I wasn't interested."

(Ivan Foley hasn't forgotten. .. his blog entitled Political Pipeline is coming soon to plattecountylandmark.com. In the meantime, email him your tips at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Posted 9/21/06

As if we really needed further proof, the recent sudden drop in gasoline prices confirms what we've often opined in this column space: Gasoline prices are the result of speculation, manipulation, and politicalization (I think I may have pulled a George Bush and invented a new word right there) and not of simple supply and demand economics.

You'll have to take your high school economics basic principle of supply and demand and apply it somewhere else. It simply isn't relevant in the oil market.

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The pace will move quickly in the Sunshine Law court case against the City of Platte City.
In a story we first reported at plattecountylandmark.com just hours after the court hearing, Platte County Circuit Court Judge Lee Hull okayed the plaintiff's request for an expedited schedule in court Friday morning.

Platte City's mayor and aldermen held a special meeting Tuesday night in executive session, likely to discuss "strategy" in their defense of the open meeting violation that is alleged against them. By the end of the business day this Friday, city officials are to have written discovery provided. That written discovery is to include documents and electronic correspondence related to the development of the agenda for the meeting of June 7, which is the meeting alleged to have violated the law. All relevant communications between city officials must be turned over in the discovery.

Man, will that be some interesting reading for all parties to peruse.

Depositions of mayor Dave Brooks, city administrator Keith Moody and the city's special annexation attorney Chris Williams will be held the week of Oct. 2.

It's on.

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One thing left undeniable after sitting in on the court hearing is this: Judge Hull tolerates little nonsense. The city's attorney, Paul Campo, told the court the city considers the plaintiff to have "sandbagged" the city and the court by waiting until after the annexation ordinances had been passed to file their allegations of a Sunshine Law violation.

Judge Hull quickly remarked: "I don't consider the court to be sandbagged by the filing. If the ordinances hadn't been passed, we wouldn't be here, would we?"

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Outside the courtroom, Campo wasn't ready to let it go, repeating for reporters that he felt the plaintiff intentionally delayed in challenging the legality of the June 7 special meeting.

"They had 90 days to file it. They waited until the 11th hour."

Here's an appropriate answer to that. "So what?"

There was no need for the plaintiff to file the petition until the city went forward with its intent to annex. And if Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys hadn't (allegedly) abused the open meeting law to begin with--or had they backtracked and started over after it was publicly pointed out they had (allegedly) violated the law--they wouldn't find themselves a party to this litigation right now.

Again, nobody should feel sorry for the folks at city hall over this. They bulldozed their way into this uncomfortable situation.

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I want to publicly thank photojournalist extraordinaire Bill Hankins for representing The Landmark at the Missouri Press Association convention over the weekend at Lake Ozark. Bill traveled home with several awards from the annual Better Newspaper Contest (see front page).

We decided to toss an entry into the Best News Story category this year and are humbled by the honor of being awarded the top spot for a news article that appeared Sept. 15, 2005 about the murder of Steve Sandoval of Platte City. If you're interested in re-reading it, the story can be found archived on our web site at www.plattecountylandmark.com/Article10158.htm

I remember vividly the details surrounding the composition of that story. Foremost in my mind are two trips out to the site where Sandoval's body was found on an abandoned outer road alongside Interstate 29 just south of Platte City. I received verbal directions from a law enforcement source on how to find the spot, and drove out there late on a Monday evening as the sun was setting. I drove to the end of that abandoned road, got out of my car and spent several minutes examining the scene where a man's life had been taken just a couple days before. It was an eerie feeling standing out there alone at the site of a murder as darkness was setting in. It gave me such a feel for the story I drove back out again the next day, in brighter light this time, so as to not miss any details. I credit those trips to the scene for having a positive impact on the ability to develop details for the story.

Quite obviously a journalist is only as good as his sources, and I credit a source close to the investigation who was only willing to speak on a pledge of anonymity. That source helped me piece together facts for the story that went above and beyond what could be found in any other media account of the case. An interview with a cousin of the victim also was extremely beneficial.

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If you run into Landmark advertising sales dude Eric Lewis, former top-notch football player in his high school days at Blue Springs, ask him how he's doing in his fantasy football league this year. Speaking on a condition of anonymity, I will tell you Eric is 0-2 after his team--known as Da Bears--was soundly drubbed by his boss's team--known as the Clown Suits--on Sunday.

I'll keep you posted on the fantasy league standings just as long as I remain in the lead.

(Feel free to keep Ivan Foley updated on your fantasies and fantasy leagues at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Posted 9/7/06

The price for a gallon of gasoline has dropped as low as we've seen it in quite some time, down to $2.45 locally. Either the Republicans are getting nervous about the November elections or Dick Cheney accidentally shot another hunting partner.

It's a welcome break from the $3 range, but will it last? And should we really feel like we're catching a break when just 13 months ago the price was around $2.15 per gallon?

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It's an exciting time here at The Landmark. Our award-winning photojournalist Bill Hankins has compiled a collection of his highly popular Landmark People features into hard-cover book form, and the attractive publication is for sale in our downtown Platte City headquarters or by mail.

Most Landmark readers are quite familiar with Bill's work. His Landmark People pictorial-stories have appeared in our newspaper four or five times per year over the past several years. He also has provided the best high school sports pictures around during that time, building relationships with the athletes and their families in the process. On top of that, the retired journalism instructor is simply one of the finer people you'll ever meet. He has a deep understanding of what community journalism is all about and, on a personal note, has become a trusted sounding board for me.

I'll never forget the first day Bill came walking into The Landmark office carrying a layout of a feature he had photographed and written about Eddie Highlander of Bud's 66 station in Platte City. Bill, a northern Platte County resident, introduced himself and explained to me his background in journalism. He said he was a fan of The Landmark's style of coverage. A professional relationship and friendship developed, Landmark People features soon became commonplace and he later volunteered to start shooting high school sports for us. Since that time, he has garnered 25 awards for his work in the annual Missouri Press Association's Better Newspaper Contests.

His book is an impressive piece of work. Stop by our office to flip through it and I have a feeling you'll be moved to buy a copy. Cost is just $20 or get a discounted price of $14 per book if you take out a new subscription or renew your current Landmark subscription. To order mail orders must add $5 for postage and handling. Email your name and address to me at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com and we'll get the process started.

We'll work out the details of a book signing event in the coming weeks.

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I must admit I'm proud of Platte City resident Harold Coons for having the vigor to file suit against the City of Platte City for what, in my opinion, was an obvious violation of the Sunshine Law on June 7.

I'm also proud to point out The Landmark broke the story of the city's apparent Sunshine Law violation in our June 8 and June 15 issues. Three newspapers, including one daily paper, were covering the events surrounding that special meeting on June 7 and The Landmark was the only publication to point out the city failed to follow the normal public notification requirements of the meeting and the agenda items.

It's good to see a Platte City resident was pushed to act upon his right-to-know being violated. The Landmark has reported upon several occasions over the past few years where the city has assaulted, abused, molested and ridiculed the public's right-to-know. Finally, others have had it with the unnecessary nonsense. Coons' action should be enough of an attention-grabber to put a stop to it.

And I must emphasize the words should be.

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Honestly, if the court rules against the city of Platte City in the pending litigation, nobody should feel sorry for the boys at city hall.

I thought the city's high priced annexation attorneys would have picked up on some hints that were dropped in a June 15 editorial. That's the issue in which we quoted the state's most noted expert on the Sunshine Law, Jean Maneke of Kansas City. Maneke represents the Missouri Press Association in matters dealing with open meetings and open records. I explained to her how the events surrounding Platte City's questionably legal special meeting went down on June 7. Maneke's comment, readers might recall, was to the effect that she couldn't see how any court would find the city had legally followed all the requirements of the Sunshine Law on that day.

Platte City, at that point, would have been wise to backtrack and start over, doing things the right way with proper public notification. Whether due to apathy, ignorance or ego, city hall instead bulldozed its way forward, apparently under the questionable advice of high-priced lawyers who allegedly specialize in annexation matters.

Once the annexation issues were placed on the ballot at an alderman meeting last week, aggrieved citizens knew it was the prime time to file suit. The suit asks the court to declare as void the annexation steps taken to this point due to the alleged open meeting violations that occurred when the annexation bills were first read on June 7. Such action would pull the annexation questions off the November ballot and essentially force the city to start the process over.

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Proponents of Platte City's annexation effort finally filed paperwork with the Platte County Board of Elections last Friday, three days after annexation opponents had filed their papers. The proponents are known as Citizens for Platte City's Future. Ron Porter is listed as chairman, John Andre is co-chair and Olin Miller is treasurer.

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Hats off to developers Cox-Rabius for cutting weeds and brush that had painted an unsightly picture at the site of their TIF project at I-29 and HH in Platte City. MoDOT has been repaving an exit ramp at that location and may have received credit for the clean-up near the roadway, but city administrator Keith Moody told me this week the developers had the work done. Signs have also gone up promoting the upcoming development and indicating tenant space is available.

The city, meanwhile, is awaiting a sewer capacity analysis from the developer's engineers, Moody told me.

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Fall means the return of Pigskin Picks, the weekly battle of Landmark columnists, sponsors and special guests trying to act like football prognosticators. Check it out by clicking here.

This week's special guest is self-anointed stud muffin Dave Stewart of Metro Sports Television/WHB Radio.

(The sun always shines at The Landmark, where you can reach the publisher with a sunny disposition at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Posted 8/31/06

Labor Day traditionally signifies the start of the fall election campaigns, and The Landmark is ready to kick this thing off in high style.

Beginning soon on our web site at www.plattecountylandmark.com, I'll be posting a blog entitled "Platte County's Political Pipeline."

As opposed to many traditional blogs, The Pipeline won't be written by some partisan hack spewing vinegar at his opposing party in questionably-relevant fashion, but instead will be an unbiased mix of news and commentary on anything and everything going on in the wide, wide world of politics. We'll touch on items as local as Platte City's annexation, to the countywide races, the state campaigns, and even the national scene.

The Pipeline will be updated as the need arises, at a minimum of once per week, though as things get into high gear I expect multiple postings each week. You'll be able to access The Pipeline by clicking on a link on the front page of our site.

Pipe will begin being laid next week, if not before. Check the web site in the coming days for the Pipeline icon.

Pipeline news tips can be emailed to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com.

Let's get this party started.

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So Platte City's annexation proposal will make its way onto the November election ballot. Let the campaign strategy and the legal challenges begin. This thing has the potential to be a significant revenue-producer for attorneys on both sides of the issue.

Opponents, as you'll see in our front page story, have filed a committee at the Platte County Board of Elections. Their first financial report won't be due until Oct. 15, but it's safe to assume this group will be raising funds to help in the campaign to attempt to reject the annexation effort at the November--or if needed, February--ballot box.

"The purpose of the committee is to educate the voters on all the issues involved in this annexation and not just the issues the city wishes to emphasize," Bob Shaw, a Platte City attorney serving as spokesperson for the group, said Wednesday morning.

Will the group have fundraising efforts? "I can't comment at this time," Shaw said.

Should it choose to partake in fundraising efforts, the committee shouldn't have to look far for donations. Several big-time developers and landowners are strongly opposed to the city's effort to quadruple the size of its current land area.

Involuntary annexations such as this one are normally successful because the municipality can crush the opposition when it comes to resources. But Platte City's opposition has plenty of resources. The playing field on this one is virtually level.

This should be fascinating to watch.

******

By the way, board of elections officials confirmed for me that the opposition committee known as Platte City Area Citizens for Responsible Growth is the only committee dealing with the annexation issue that has filed paperwork.

Interesting. Former aldermen John Andre and Ron Porter have announced they have a committee in place to support the annexation effort, and according to at least one published report, have started taking donations. But they have no paperwork on file.

******

The only way to explain Platte City Alderman George McClintock's bizarre voting pattern at Monday night's special annexation meeting is to speculate that McClintock is worried about a potential conflict of interest being brought to the forefront.

McClintock first abstained on a vote to bring the annexation topic to the table for discussion and a final reading. He then proceeded to vote yes on all succeeding roll calls/final readings.

So why the abstention? "I knew we had enough votes to bring it to the table so I just abstained. That was it," McClintock told The Landmark during a sit-down interview.
Not exactly a strong explanation. When asked if he fears he may have a conflict of interest due to the fact his wife serves on the Platte-Clay Electric board of directors, (Platte Clay is currently in line to provide utility service to much of the area set to be annexed by the city, but that could possibly switch to the city's franchise holder, Aquila, if annexation is approved), McClintock said no. He said there is no conflict because his wife, Shirley, "is not an employee" of Platte-Clay.

Some opponents, however, seem extremely anxious to point out McClintock's wife does sit on the utility's paid board of directors. So anxious it makes one wonder if some legal challenge is being pondered.

******

It needs to be understood that without McClintock's yes vote on Monday night, the city's annexation effort would have come to a screeching halt. Four yes votes are needed to pass an ordinance, and with Aaron Jung voting no and Kenneth Brown abstaining due to his employment connection with Platte-Clay Electric, there were only four aldermen remaining with potential yes votes. Had McClintock abstained on the vote to place the measure on the ballot, it would have failed for a lack of support from a majority of the six member board.

Jung was voting yes on motions to bring the issues to the table for discussion, then voting no on the final readings. He voted prior to McClintock the first time around, and the speculation is McClintock then took that opportunity to abstain. Later when he realized Jung was voting no on the ordinances themselves, McClintock was forced to vote yes or the annexation effort would have died a quick death. From his point of view, apparently he had no choice, because an abstention would have meant the issue couldn't have passed due to lack of majority. As it played out, his yes vote got the issue on the ballot, but it may have opened the city up to being challenged on a possible conflict.

McClintock was in a Catch 22 Monday night. I'm speculating the fact he abstained the first time around is a sign he has this potential conflict of interest issue in the back of his mind. Had Jung been voting yes on the ordinances, the smart money says McClintock would have been abstaining to avoid any legal questions.

(Don't forget to send your political news tips and thoughts to the Pipeline Pontificator at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Posted 8/17/06

As I was driving home from the Platte City annexation meeting late Tuesday night, a black cat had planted herself in the middle of the highway, her Bette Davis eyes fixated on my headlights while she stood there in a trance-like state of paralysis as my Ford Taurus approached at a speed of around 70 miles per hour. I did the humanitarian thing, of course, by trying to straddle the cat between the tires, hoping she would survive if she was at worst dinged by the undercarriage.

'Twas not to be. Miss Kitty finally decided to make a run for it, darting to her left as my car was virtually on top of her. Just that quickly I could sense my tire making contact with something other than the road. It made kind of a squishy sound.

I'm attempting to notify her next of kin.

******

At the annexation meeting, Mayor Dave Brooks asked me if I could make "at least one nice comment about us."

I can and I will. I thought the mayor and aldermen did a nice job of not making any outlandish statements at the annexation public hearing. Mayor Dave stuck to a written script. None of the aldermen said a word.

Good coaching. Maybe that $50,000 consultant fee didn't go entirely wasted.

******

Like a columnist with a short attention span (and that's my self-portrait) my mind is wandering across a variety of fields today. Will Platte City be successful in quadrupling the size of its city limits? Will opponents to the annexation effort be able to expose the city's allegedly fuzzy math on figuring costs to provide services? Will the new South Platte Ambulance District board of directors really seek the maximum tax levy right out of the gate? Will the county's external auditor have the stones to tell us who screwed up and why in the county's bookkeeping fiasco? Would Jack Jackson have won the GOP state auditor's race if his plane had hit one more deer? Is TiVo everything it's cracked up to be?

My limited brain capacity is on overload.

But let's forget most of that stuff or now, because it's back to school time. Dreaded by many students, anticipated by some parents.

In honor of back-to-school, it's time to dig into that Between the Lines file folder marked "Hey, this might make a decent column topic sometime" and pull out some stash I've been saving for the appropriate week.

Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays, or so the legend goes. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. As we salute high school English students everywhere, here are some of the winning entries:

•Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

•His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

•He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

•Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

•She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room- temperature Canadian beef.

•She had a deep throaty laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

•He was as tall as a six foot, three inch tree.

•The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

•McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

•From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.

•Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

•John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

•The hailstones leaped from the pavement, like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

•He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.

•Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

•The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

•The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

•He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

•The ballerina rose gracefully and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

(Ivan Foley covers Platte County like dew on the grass on a humid August morning. Or something like that. Email him at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Posted 6/15/06

 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have named their baby girl Shiloh.

Apparently she has 18 holes and will cost Platte County taxpayers millions of dollars.

******

Did the City of Platte City learn anything from the failed annexation debacle of three years ago? In terms of realizing it needs to develop a more detailed plan for services and actually be able to provide landowners something they're not currently getting, perhaps. But when it comes to handling this whole annexation process without violating the intent of the state's open meeting laws, I don't think so.

Case in point are the details around last week's special meeting at which the city announced its intention to annex about 6,500 acres. On Tuesday of last week, the city properly posted notice more than 24 hours in advance that a special meeting would be held. Only one item was listed on the special meeting agenda, an item designating certain streets for boulevard status.

But that's where the proper public notification stopped and the games began. At 1 p.m., just four and a half hours prior to the meeting, the city sent notice of additions to the special meeting agenda. It listed a couple of bills and resolutions, but strangely, never provided the normal one-sentence description of what those bills and resolutions would deal with. This immediately had the distinct aroma of road kill being cooked by Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys. In a short amount of time, The Landmark was able to confirm through multiple and various sources that annexation was the top secret item on the city's 'we could tell ya but we'd have to kill ya' agenda.

With this knowledge in hand, at about 2:30 that afternoon I visited city hall to ask city administrator Keith Moody for information about the mysterious agenda items. I never said a word about annexation, and simply asked Moody whether he felt it was proper to amend a special meeting agenda just a few hours prior to the session, and whether it was appropriate to list bills and resolutions without listing the topic of those proposed bills and resolutions. He declined to give explanation or offer more information, saying only that a press conference would be held at 3:30 p.m. and my questions could be dealt with at that time. I asked if he would have an attorney present at 3:30. He answered affirmatively.

I never had to ask my question at the press conference, as it was obvious Moody had already told the attorney, Chris Williams of Lee's Summit, that questions regarding proper notice had been raised. The city's high-priced (see this week's front page story for details on that) attorney specializing in annexation matters opened the press event by explaining why the city had been so secretive. He said the city chose to go the undercover route for competitive reasons, explaining that annexation law dictates the first city to introduce and approve an intent to annex certain areas has first rights to annex that particular property.

Later, I found out some landowners in one of the areas Platte City intends to annex had been in discussion with the City of Tracy about possibly being annexed by that municipality. It would appear a slightly paranoid Platte City contingent didn't want some apparently slick operators at the metropolis of Tracy to beat them to the punch on this one.

Or at least that was their story.

In any regard, the high-priced lawyer's explanation for the failure to follow normal public notice in regard to holding a special meeting is quite shaky and likely would not survive a court challenge, according to Jean Maneke of the Jean Maneke Law Group of Kansas City. Maneke is widely regarded as the leading legal expert on the Sunshine Law in the state. She represents the Missouri Press Association in matters dealing with the state's open meetings and records laws.

"They must cite good cause as to why normal proper posting of the meeting could not have been done," Maneke said this week after I explained the city's strange actions to her. "They've got to provide good cause as to why they couldn't include that in the original notice."

When told the reasons given by the city's special legal counsel for failure to follow the normal posting procedure, Maneke didn't hesitate in her reaction.

"That's not good cause. I don't think any court would find that to be good cause," said Maneke, who has 25 years experience representing clients in matters dealing with media law.

******

While I had the mind of Maneke on the other end of the phone, I also queried her as to whether or not annexation is an allowable topic for a secret (executive) session. After all, Platte City has announced this detailed plan of annexing two huge tracts of land totaling nearly 6,500 acres, and I can't recall our newspaper--which with extremely rare exception has a representative present at every meeting--ever hearing any part of this plan discussed in a public session.

"Could (the city) argue that annexation is potential litigation? I would take the position that it's not, because the city doesn't have a real threat that somebody is about to sue them," Maneke said.

At least not yet, anyway.

******

Oops. That's already two strikes against Mayor Dave and the Sunshine Boys in this at-bat. Let's see if they keep whiffing.

******

What's up with that map the city provided of the proposed annexation areas? It may be the only map you'll ever see issued by a government entity that identifies no streets or other points of reference.

Was it simply incompetence or another attempt to confuse and withhold proper information from the public?

By the way, you'll be able to find that color-coded map on our web site at plattecountylandmark.com real soon. Whether you'll find it useful depends on how well you can navigate as the crow flies.

Or you could go down to city hall, ask for a map and ask them to explain why they didn't take the time and effort to make the land areas more easily identifiable.

(Navigate your way to Ivan Foley's desk via email at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

 

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Posted 6/8/06

A blind man makes his way to a bar stool and orders a drink. After sitting there for awhile, he yells to the bartender: "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"

The bar immediately falls quiet. In a deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says: "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat. 2. The bouncer is a blonde "biker girl." 3. I'm a 6' tall, 175 pound blonde woman with a Black Belt in karate. 4. The woman sitting next to me is a blonde and a professional wrestler. 5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.

"Now, think about it seriously, mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters:

"Nah, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

******

This North Platte early graduation/walk at commencement story, which first broke a couple of weeks ago in The Landmark, has been gaining region-wide media attention.

A couple of thoughts on this:

1. Allowing Katie Bennett to graduate early and then walk with her graduating class at commencement in May would not break from any written North Platte policy. School officials have been unable to produce for us any written policy that says an early graduate cannot walk at commencement. We all know unwritten, in other words verbal, policies can be twisted in any fashion the powers-that-be choose to twist them at the time of the twisting.

It would be tough for anyone to argue that a policy with the potential to create as much controversy as this one should be written, not verbal. Written policies tend to stand the test of time. .. unwritten policies are easily manipulated in a case-by-case basis.

Back in my day, unwritten policies just disappeared.

2. As you see in our front page story, Superintendent Dr. Francis Moran has apparently changed his stance on a couple of issues since this story first broke. In earlier interviews with The Landmark, Moran insisted that denying the early graduate the chance to walk with her class had nothing to do with a loss of state funding the school will encounter after she graduates at semester. Last week a couple of school board members went on record with The Landmark as saying that money certainly was a role in the matter. This week Moran now agrees with those board members and says finances play a part in these types of decisions.

In addition, Moran now has told the girl that he will recommend to the board that she be allowed to graduate at semester and allowed to walk with her class at graduation in May. If so, this will match the policy that appears on the North Platte web site as it links to policies suggested by the Missouri Consultants for Education, but will apparently go against previous practice at North Platte in Moran's time there.

Confused? No doubt.

3. I praise Moran and the school board for their ability to adapt and admit a mistake, if in fact Moran proceeds with a recommendation to establish a written policy allowing early graduates (not just this particular graduate, but all future early graduates) to walk at commencement if they so choose. This will be a major sign of professional growth for Moran and the board if they show they are willing to be open-minded enough to admit their unwritten policy stance was quite shaky, and they deserve respect for their willingness to adapt. That hasn't always been the case at North Platte in Moran's time there.

Commencement is a ceremony for graduates. A graduate is a graduate, whether that student met graduation requirements in December or in May. It's that simple. Or at least it should be.

******

Not saying that legal action was on the horizon, but would that unwritten policy have stood up to a court challenge? Something to think about. Maybe Moran and the board did think about it.

******

Watching the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday morning for the new city hall to be constructed at Parkville took me back in time. When Tony Borchers of River North developers, the folks who have brought us The National golf complex and the impressive new Parkville Commons commercial development, stepped to the podium, I couldn't help but reflect on the growth of Borchers as a person in the time that I've known him.

I remember covering Borchers when he was a standout football player for Doug Hedrick's Platte County Pirate football teams in the mid-to-late 1980s. Back in those days it was my job to cover the team, a task which put me on the sidelines for every game. I can specifically remember one game where Borchers, playing defensive line at the time, was getting ticked that the Pirates' D was being upstaged by the opposing team's running game. Borchers delivered a tail-chewing to a teammate, in no uncertain words telling that particular teammate where he needed to be and the effort he needed to be delivering. "I'm getting tired of doing your damn job for you," Borchers yelled in a voice that clearly carried to the sideline that night. He went on to play some college ball at Northwest Missouri State University.

My next memory of Borchers is when he worked in the Platte County Planning and Zoning Department in the mid-to-late 1990s. Borchers eventually became P&Z director and as such it was his duty to stand at the microphone in county commission meetings and deliver staff recommendations on change of zoning proposals. He would close every thumbs-up summary with this line: "Staff respectfully recommends approval of this request."

Now, among other duties, he's delivering groundbreaking speeches for a highly respected development firm. Kinda cool.

(Ivan Foley has an unwritten policy to criticize unwritten school policies. Send your written thoughts on unwritten policies to him at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

 

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School board members need a memo; County candidate dropping out?

Posted 6/1/06

Memo to school board members at all area school districts:

Your superintendent works for you. You don't work for him. You are his boss. You and your constituents pay his salary. You give him guidance. You set policy, he sees that it is carried out. You are elected to be district leaders and district spokespeople. You have this responsibility to the people who voted you into office.

If your superintendent is controlling you or intimidating you, you are failing in your elected duties as a school board member. Grow some stones or step away from your position.

******

The political rumor mill in Platte County is running hot with this gem: Ilse Smith is giving serious consideration to dropping out of her race against incumbent Eric Zahnd for Platte County Prosecutor.

The two are scheduled to square off in August in the Republican primary. There is no Democrat in the race, so the GOP primary is basically for all the marbles. But it may not turn out to be no race at all, if the speculation about Smith becomes more than speculation. Sources close to the Smith camp are hinting to me she is feeling a lot of pressure about the upcoming race and her heart may no longer be in what promises to be a tough summer on the campaign trail.

Multiple phone messages left for Smith by yours truly have gone unreturned. A relative answering her phone last Thursday said Smith was wrapping up a vacation and would return my call in a couple of days. On Tuesday I tried again and was told by the same relative---who by the way is always extremely polite--that my message was still duly noted and that my call should be returned shortly. Still waiting.

In order for Smith's name to get taken off the ballot at this late juncture, she would need to file action to do so in Platte County Circuit Court. The request would be granted by the court, but the lateness of the action is getting to the point where it may cost Smith some bucks to reimburse the Platte County Board of Elections for costs incurred. By the end of this week or early next week the process of printing ballots is expected to begin and "a fairly substantial" cost of reprinting ballots could be assessed to Smith, according to election officials.

Smith's sudden shyness is surprising considering the aggressiveness with which she had started her campaign. I detailed for you several weeks ago the salty attitude and verbal bullets Smith directed toward Zahnd at a Platte County Pachyderm Club speaking engagement in early May. It was a signal this is going to be a rugged campaign. . . and now that realization seems to be hitting home with Smith, who may no longer want any part of it.

******

On the heels of all the talk in last week's issue about school officials admitting to a drug problem at the Platte County High School, The Landmark this week has discovered an interesting curriculum note. Platte County R-3 no longer has a DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in place. The program was formerly operated at the middle school level. That's according to Terry Hart, principal at Platte City Middle School, whom I called to ask about the matter this week. Hart said the DARE program at R-3 disappeared a couple of years ago and there are no plans to bring it back at this time.

Hart said the program was cut "due to funding." He said the Platte City Police Department formerly supplied the police officer to come instruct the program. The police department and school district no longer have such an arrangement.

This begs a couple of questions. 1. A funding issue? Hard to imagine the R-3 district being so strapped for cash it couldn't afford to fund an anti-drug program on its own. And remember, the school already has its own school resource officer (SRO) in place. Maybe this is the angle Dick Modin, school board president, is pursuing by asking the superintendent for a job description for the SRO. If the SRO isn't helping with drug resistance education, what the heck does he do? 2. Let's hope R-3 isn't trying to blame the local police department for the lack of a DARE program. There is money for funding at R-3, as proven by some curious spending decisions made over the course of the past year or so. It's a matter of priorities and where the school board decides to spend its money.

With the admitted drug problem at the high school, it would seem a good time to re-establish a DARE program.

******

The controversy over whether to allow an early graduate to walk at commencement in 2007 remains a point of controversy at North Platte this week. North Platte Superintendent Dr. Francis Moran is citing an unwritten school policy allegedly followed consistently over the past 15 years as the reason against allowing a pregnant student who intends to graduate at semester from walking with her class in the May ceremony.

But apparently Moran's and the school board's confidence in that policy is being shaken. Amid criticism---justified in my opinion--coming from some district patrons, Moran this Friday morning wants to meet with the young lady and her parents to try to work out a compromise of sorts.

This could be interesting. Some folks are pledging to show up outside the district offices as a show of solidarity for the student while Moran meets with the family this Friday morning at around 6 or 6:30 a.m.

*******

There could be many opportunities for Between the Lines groupies--and you know who you are--to catch a road show as we take this circus act out and about among the good people of northwest Missouri. Public appearances are possible Thursday at the Touche night club in Parkville for the Platte County Pachyderm meeting; Friday night at Houlihans restaurant for the Platte Republican Association gathering or maybe a cameo appearance at Weston to take in the community theatre production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown; Saturday morning at 10 a.m. we're planning to crash the groundbreaking for a new city hall in Parkville; Saturday night I'm scheduled to be a scholarly attendee at the Ramada Inn in St. Joe for my 25-year high school class reunion and at some point in there if I'm not too tired I may catch a nap at my desk.

(DARE to be a Between the Lines groupie by emailing the publisher at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Posted 5/25/06

Hats off to some members of the Platte County R-3 School Board for their willingness to publicly acknowledge there is a drug problem at the high school in Platte City. As you'll note in reporter Dave Kinnamon's front page story, board members Dick Modin and Karen Wagoner both talked openly about the drug problem at a public meeting last week.

Awareness of the drug problem isn't news to most of us who follow community events with a close eye. I started writing this column in 1993 and I can tell you every Platte City police chief in that timeframe (with the exception of current chief Richard Sayles, as we have yet to broach the subject) has made this comment to me, and I'm paraphrasing here: "There's a major drug problem at that high school. The school won't admit it, but there is."

Perhaps school officials were previously of the belief that if they didn't talk about it, the problem didn't really exist. Or maybe it's simply that in any walk of life--and I especially think this is true at schools where those on campus are constantly surrounded by fellow humans whose world, like their own, revolves primarily around campus life--that sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. In other words, problems that are right at our feet can best be seen from a distance.

But last week's screaming headline news about an R-3 high school secretary facing felony charges of using and distributing marijuana from her home in Weston may have guilted R-3 leaders into publicly talking about the problem for the first time. It definitely made the problem much harder to deny or ignore.

School officials insist the secretary wasn't dealing the drugs on school grounds, but even if that's the case there's no denying that her job certainly put her in daily contact with a potential clientele base.

******

Now that the problem has been officially recognized, the question becomes what can be done about it. That's a matter the school board apparently wants to begin dealing with fairly quickly. Last week Modin asked the superintendent to provide a job description of the school resource officer, suggesting the SRO position could be doing more to help weed out drugs at the school. Random drug testing of students was briefly mentioned, though that sounds overly expensive and overly intrusive to me.

A technique I've seen used--and perhaps R-3 has done this in the past, but if so it would seem they need to do it more often--is to bring in drug-sniffing dogs for random walk-throughs on school property. Let the acute-sniffing canines do their thing at random times around lockers and around vehicles in the parking lot. I've seen random drug dog searches performed at school districts a lot smaller and with a lot less money than R-3.

It's a possibility worth investigating.

******

Yes, drugs in schools are a problem everywhere. But that doesn't mean we should like it or accept it. That's why it is refreshing to note that addressing a drug problem has come to the forefront of school board discussions at R-3. Perhaps priorities are getting back in order after a time period where some of us thought things were getting athletically out of whack.

What's a greater priority, getting drugs out of the high school or talking about what conference the school sports teams are going to play in? What's a greater priority, getting drugs out of the high school or worrying about whether the middle school sports program should be interscholastic or intramural? What's a greater priority, getting drugs out of the high school or spending half a million bucks on fake grass for the football field? What's a greater priority, winning more games or making sure student-athletes who use drugs are dealt with severely?

Do we really want Jailhouse Rock to become the official school song? Are we headed for a time when Cheech or Chong can be elected student body president?

Modin and Wagoner should be commended for showing the intestinal fortitude to openly talk about the problem. Keep that backbone strong as the search for a solution--or at least a better deterrent--begins. And let those of us in the local business community know what we can do to help you fight the fight.

(You're free to use your copy of The Landmark any way you see fit, but we prefer you not use it to roll your Mary Janes. Email the publisher at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Talk about stamina; and this local crime beat becoming a full time job

Posted 5/18/06

This week we're proud to announce the presentation of the annual Landmark English Award, given to a top writing student at Platte County R-3 High School. The winner is selected by a faculty panel at the school.

It's the 25th year we have given the award, which includes a $250 cash scholarship to the winner from the newspaper.

Here's your complete list of winners from the original to the most recent:

1982: Natalie Parrett; 1983: Tamera Jones; 1984: Shane Lee Zembles; 1985: Amy Deterding; 1986: Chaundra Crawford; 1987: Sherry Stanton; 1988: Rebecca Ann Brown; 1989: Lisa Pancake; 1990: Jennifer Fowler; 1991: Jennifer Donnelli; 1992: Tyra Miller; 1993: James Davis; 1994: Megan Boddicker (who later became a Landmark employee, now an R-3 teacher); 1995: Kerry Durrill; 1996: Jamie Knodel; 1997: Laura Donald; 1998: Christa Fuller; 1999: Alison Miller (later became a Landmark employee); 2000: Alison Coons; 2001: Valerie French; 2002: Devon Paul; 2003: Tara Gutshall; 2004: Elizabeth Anderson; 2005: Anne Mullins; and 2006: Branson Billings.

******

Well it's been a week for season finales on your television screen. Grey's Anatomy, Boston Legal and others are showing their final new shows of the season, in fact Denny Crane (William Shatner) and friends are closing out the season in high definition on my tube as I write this.

Here at The Landmark, we're in the midst of a season finale of our own. This is the last issue for year number 141 of Platte County's longest lasting newspaper. Those of you good with numbers have figured out that means next week we'll start year number 142.
Those of you really good with numbers can do the math with me. At 52 weeks per year over 141 years, that's now 7,332 consecutive (that's in a row) weeks of continuous (that means non-stop) publication.

******

Wow. More than 7,300 weeks of rapid-fire publication. Every now and then I like to lean back in my chair inside The Landmark's historic yet trendy offices and ponder that thought.

Then I tell myself to get my butt back to work or the streak will end.

*******

More than 7,300 weeks of uninterrupted publication. And we're not even short of breath.
Must be all that time I spend on the treadmill fine tuning this Herculean body.

******

Former Landmark ad sales guru Heidi McCoy, affectionately known as Dog (or Dawg, if you prefer the urban spelling) around the office, has become a proud mama. Heidi and hubby Kyle, who is employed by Green Ridge Farms of Platte City, became the parents of a daughter born April 29 at Heartland hospital in St. Joseph.

Maely Ann McCoy was born at 9:28 a.m. and checked in at 6 lbs., 11 ounces. She was 20 inches long. Dog says the young one does not yet have a nickname, and she does not like my suggestion of "Puppy."

Heidi has decided to be a stay-at-home mom at least for a while, so after an aggressive nationwide search that left no stone unturned, this week we are able to introduce our new ad sales guru.

Lori Carey comes to us with a background in the biz, having previously sold advertising for a publication in Excelsior Springs. Call or drop in to say hi to Lori. . .if she doesn't chase you down first.

******

What an odd sight in a Platte County courtroom Tuesday. Present were the two students accused of making threats of violence against staff and fellow students at the school. Also present was one of the high school secretaries, not so spiffily dressed in jailhouse orange (at least she was sporting school colors), after an arrest last week on drug-related charges.

Bizarre.

*******

Speaking of the students accused of making threats at Platte County High School, one of the accused's attorneys has added an interesting twist to the topic we speculated upon in this column space last week.

Brian Costello, attorney for Trevor Fattig, told The Landmark it's his understanding Platte County R-3 school officials have been contacting both Amos’ and Fattig’s family members daily and having the family members come to the high school to get the boys’ homework.

If so, this would seem to indicate they are still considered students in good standing.

******

Costello also said his defense strategy will be to question the prosecution's witnesses, who are five students at the school. "I want to talk to the five kids and find out what they have to say. My understanding is that they all have a different story to tell," Costello told the media.

******

Check out a new column this week by new Landmark reporter Super Dave Kinnamon. The work of art, Cinnamon Toast, can be found on page A-4 of your printed version of The Landmark this week.

See if Cinnamon Toast helps fulfill your hunger for commentary, Landmark style.

(Ivan Foley thinks he looks good in orange but would not look good in jailhouse orange. Email him at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Is that love in the air or did someone just open a can of worms?

Posted 5/11/06

Ahh, love is in the air.

At least it is for Platte City Administrator Keith Moody, till now a lifetime bachelor.

Moody will tie the knot with his gal pal of the last few years in a ceremony to be held May 20 in a garden at Loose Park in Kansas City.

Anybody at all familiar with Moody knows he is extremely protective of his private life, so I think I caught him off guard this week when I called to quiz him about his approaching nuptials (and let's be honest, is there anything more private than a guy's nuptials?)

Moody will be exchanging vows with the granddaughter of legendary sports stadium groundskeeper George Toma. I'm guessing the landscaping at Loose Park will be extremely well-groomed by May 20.

So, is the wedding open to all of Moody's friends and fans, including his. . . admirers. .in leadership roles with the Platte City Chamber of Commerce?

"It's an invitation type of event," he told me, though he quickly pointed out Loose is a public park so it's assumed just about anybody and everybody will have the right to catch a glimpse of the city's 37-year-old chief bean counter delving into holy matrimony. "But we do have (the garden) reserved," he said.

Moody is in the process of selling his condo and he and Mrs. Moody will reside in a house he had built in the Estates of Platte Valley.

It is expected they will plant some seed, fertilize appropriately, keep the shrubs trimmed, mow every fourth day and live happily ever after.

******

Say it with me: Nuptials.

Beautiful. I have a new favorite word.

******

Ahh, love is in the air. . .well, maybe not so much.

There was a closed session held on the topic Monday night, and obviously anybody and everybody who was behind the closed door is not talking, but unofficial word circulating among a variety of sources is that conflicting opinions might be getting a little dicey among district officials as Platte County R-3 deals with the after-effects of the Columbine-style threats allegedly made by a pair of students last month.

So what might be the cause of differing opinions among some school officials? I'm speculating that some may want the suspects expelled from the district now, while others want to wait for the court system to complete its handling of the case. Sources inside the high school indicate that at least one of the suspects has asked for his homework to be provided to him. Does this mean the suspects are still considered students in good standing?

Other whispers indicate some district leaders are bothered by information that was revealed in court papers filed with the case and printed in this newspaper. Those court papers allege that one of the suspects, Trevor Fattig, in a January counseling session with the school district's hired social worker drew a CD cover depicting a school shooting as his "expression of life."

Some high level district officials could be miffed that communication of that drawing did not make its way to all levels of district hierarchy (perhaps to the school board, for instance?). . . and maybe to other authorities. . .at the time the drawing was done last winter.

Stay tuned.

******

All that plus last week's news that soda pop sales and a much ballyhooed financial donation from the soda folks could be hampered by an agreement involving all the major cola companies who want to focus on furnishing only the healthier drinks to help combat childhood obesity?

No one can deny there are some interesting "what if" issues in play right now at R-3.

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Ahh, love is in the air . . .well, maybe not so much. Part II.

I took the traveling Between the Lines road show to Parkville last Thursday night, where The Landmark was the only media outlet to witness the first public whizzing match between the two Republican candidates for county prosecutor. They each spoke, as did other Republican candidates for other county offices, at a meeting of the Platte County Pachyderm Club at the Touche night club.

Incumbent Eric Zahnd pointed out his opponent, Ilse Smith, used to be one of Zahnd's biggest supporters and in fact hosted his kickoff fundraiser for his reelection. Then she applied for--and did not get--a job in his office. Suddenly, she was throwing her name in the hat to run against him.

Smith answered by saying she decided instead of working for the prosecutor, she wanted to be the prosecutor. She went on to belittle Zahnd for what she termed "the worst jury trial record" in county history, including some losses in trials on crimes against children. She claimed Zahnd is using his involvement in the war against cyber crimes as "a diversion" to take attention off his alleged failure to take felony cases to trial in recent months.

Smith's comments raised the ire of Miller Leonard, a former Zahnd assistant who was in the audience. Leonard loudly and longly verbally objected to Smith's comments. As Pachyderm Club President Lee Pedego repeatedly asked "Mr. Leonard, do you have a question?" and just as I was wondering whether Leonard would become the next Platte County attorney to be restrained by the use of mace, he finally calmed down.

Smith definitely cast the first significantly negative stone so now you can bet anything and everything is fair game from this point. The gloves are off. Smith won't in good faith be able to paint herself as a victim of 'negative' campaigning, as Zahnd's opponent four years ago attempted to do.

There is no more vigorous campaigner than Eric Zahnd, so anybody with a feel for politics knows a strong response will be forthcoming. It's just a matter of when and with how many pounds of torque.

Be sure to strengthen your tummy muscles before you settle in to watch this race.

(Mace your publisher via email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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The 'what if' game has arrived; Manipulating the legal system

Posted 5/4/06

Save yourselves.

Run, don't walk, away from any movie theater showing the alleged horror flick known as 'Silent Hill.'

Awful is too kind a word for this disgrace to the movie industry. A plot line that is both confusing and ignorant at the same time, combined with questionable acting (the actress playing the female cop is particularly baaaaad) that had me snickering through what was billed as "an edge of your seat" thriller added up to an expensive waste of time. If I hadn't plopped down $7.50 a ticket and spent another $10 on a large popcorn and drink, I would have walked out less than halfway into this snoozer.

It depresses me to think I'll never get those two hours of my life back.

******

I know what you're thinking. .. ah, the movie couldn't have been that bad. Foley is using hyperbole. Let's go see it and judge for ourselves.

Don't do it. If you must, at least wait until it hits the $1 movie house. Or wait for it to come out on video and rent it dirt cheap. It's my duty as a consumer watchdog to tell you this thing is crap.

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I don't want to say The Landmark told you so. But we did.

The breaking national news on Wednesday morning is this: America's largest beverage distributors--including PepsiCo, the soft drink company that pledged to pay Platte County R-3 $31,000 per year over the next 10 years with R-3 allegedly using the money to help fund its installation of field turf at the football stadium--have agreed to halt nearly all sales of sodas to public schools. It's a step that will remove the sugary drinks from vending machines and cafeterias around the country. The companies will work to implement the changes at 75 percent of America's public schools before the 2008-09 school year and at all public schools by the 2009-2010 school year.

The companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools. Only diet sodas will be sold to high schools.

Under the agreement, high schools will still be able to sell low-calorie drinks that contain less than 10 calories per serving, as well as drinks that are considered nutritious, such as juice, sports drinks and low-fat milk. (I'm guessing that low-fat milk option isn't a big seller in the high schools vending machines, how about you?)

While the industry says sales of healthier drinks have been on the rise in recent years, regular soda, averaging 150 calories per can, is still the most popular drink among students, accounting for 45 percent of drinks sold in U.S. schools in 2005, according to a national report.

Anyway, regular readers will recall last year we talked about this health-kick effort and the negative effect it could possibly have on the R-3 deal with Pepsi. We said the trend had already hit some states and it would soon be coming to schools here in Missouri. Some R-3 officials practically chided us for bringing the possibility to public consciousness, calling it "playing a what if game."

Well, it's no longer "what if." It's here. As we reported last year, there is a clause in the contract with R-3 that allows Pepsi to bail out if the health wave brings regulations or policies that negatively affect sales in the schools.

How exactly this week's news will affect Pepsi's 10-year pledge of $310,000 remains to be seen. What is less in doubt is that the R-3 public relations machine will be cranking out the propaganda in full force, downplaying the nationwide deal made by the American Beverage Association. I fully expect that we'll soon be hearing from R-3 headquarters, where some of you have noticed the sun always shines and everything is always good and nice and never a problem exists, that the news will have "little, if any" effect on the money pledged to R-3.

There will be a desperate effort to spin this into a positive. Heck, maybe Pepsi will feel so guilty about it they'll double the donation to R-3 and a domed field with sky boxes will be the next "cost neutral" proposal.

Strictly for the good of the band and the PE classes, of course.

******

I'll reprint what an alert reader from Texas told me last year during the field turf controversy at R-3, as the $31,000 per year for 10 years deal with Pepsi was being analyzed. Texas is one of the states that had already eliminated the unhealthy drinks and snacks from its schools.

"They (R-3) will never get their money," the reader from Texas predicted.

******

Word is circulating in legal circles that Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd is quite, uhh, disturbed, shall we say, about the maneuvering that ended with a DWI charge and leaving the scene of an accident charge against former Riverside municipal court judge Charles McKeon being heard in Kansas City Municipal Court instead of in circuit court (see our front page story).

An indication that Zahnd is piping hot could be that he gave his statement on the topic to me in writing. . . possibly worried that if he talked off the top of his head he may say something he would later regret.

Another indication authorities are ticked off is the rumbling I'm hearing that the alleged drug possession case being built against McKeon has been placed on the fast track. Authorities are waiting on results of crime lab work before a decision on charges is made. I'm hearing charges could now be coming sooner rather than later.

And if the public perception is that McKeon manipulated the court system, I would expect some less-than-happy folks involved in the judicial process if he is charged and eventually found guilty of further criminal activity.

Start watching this case with great interest, if you haven't already been doing so.

(Manipulate the publisher via email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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When it comes to gas prices, Bush asleep at the political wheel

Posted 4/26/06

After months of being oblivious to the topic even while public outrage has been building to a boiling point, a stumbling and bumbling President George W. Bush finally acknowledged this week he should try to save the political lives of his Republican colleagues by at least recognizing the fact gasoline prices are causing hardship on American families and consumers. Unless an effective solution is found--even if it is a temporary solution, say, a solution that lasts from now through November--a political price is going to be paid for the ridiculous prices Americans are paying at the gas pump.

That political price is likely going to be paid by Republican Congressional candidates in November's mid-term elections.

******

Dick Morris, a syndicated columnist who is a former adviser to Bill Clinton but later became a staunch Bush supporter in his war on terror, summed it up best in a column that appeared in an area daily paper on Saturday. Morris said this: "Bush has truly become the Republican equivalent of President Jimmy Carter, out of control, dropping in popularity, unable to resume command."

Bingo.

Sadly, I don't even think Bush realizes how bad things have become in regard to his public perception. Any Republicans on the ballot in November better be prepared to run on their own merits. This isn't the time to be riding the coattails of a president who often seems clueless on the domestic issues that common Americans find important.

History has shown Americans will vote with their pocketbooks. A recent CNN poll finds 69% of Americans say the high gasoline prices have caused them financial hardship. Justified or not, Bush and Republicans are going to get the blame for this, in large part because the public perception is that this administration is in bed with the big oil companies.

It could be a rough November for the GOP.

******

The high gasoline prices have much less to do with supply and demand and much more to do with market speculation and manipulation. Oil companies are so large that just one can manipulate prices in a given market.

An example of legal manipulation of the market is the way the oil companies have declined to increase refinery capacity in the U.S. Holding down refinery capacity in the U.S. helps keep gasoline prices up. More money for your friends at big oil.

Blame the lack of refineries on the tree huggers and environmental restrictions if you like--and there's justification to place at least part of the blame there--but that's a little tough to swallow when you see oil companies posting record profits (that's profits, not gross sales, my friend). First quarter profits for the country's three largest oil and gas companies have been reported at $16 billion, up 19% from last year.

The money is there. Big oil has simply chosen to spend a good chunk of it on lavish financial packages for its executives instead of expanding refinery capacity.

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Tony Snow of the Fox News Channel is being introduced this week as the new press secretary for President Bush. I'm waiting for Snow to claim his press conferences will be fair and balanced.

******

Latest on the old Interurban railroad car controversy at Dearborn? Historian David Short, who originally purchased the car in 1990 and helped bring it to Dearborn in 1993, told the city he still has conditional ownership in the car. City officials said fine, then please get the dilapidated piece of junk out of our city limits within 30 days. Whether Short will have it moved or whether he will simply allow the city to dispose of it for scrap remains to be seen. Mayor Frank Downing told me Wednesday morning that a man from Troy, Ks. has expressed interest in acquiring the car for scrap. Either way it looks like the car within 30 days will be a real part of Dearborn's history.

Alderman Gary Bomar had been the lone Dearborn alderman still wanting the city to try to refurbish the old railroad car. Bomar even claimed the aldermen had voted to name the new city park under construction as the Interurban Park. Not so, says Downing, who has researched all minutes of city meetings since 2004 and found no record of such a vote. To Bomar's chagrin at a special meeting last Wednesday, the board voted to name the new facility Dean Park, the same name the old park carried. Obviously this will save on the cost of new signage.

Bomar, by the way, got up from his chair and walked out of the meeting after getting into a disagreement with Alderman Bill Edwards over park matters.

Never a dull moment at Dearborn. I love these guys.

******

It has been brought to the attention of Platte County Clerk Sandy Krohne that her office made a distribution error last year when handing out railroad and utility tax revenues to several school districts whose boundaries are within Platte County. The flawed handouts of the 2004 tax year revenue took place in early 2005, but the error wasn't caught until the North Kansas City School District noticed a significant change in its distribution amount when the 2005 checks arrived in early 2006.

The incorrect distribution gave too little money to Platte County R-3, West Platte and North Kansas City. Too much of the railroad and utility tax money was awarded to Park Hill and Smithville. Corrective measures are being taken, after a sit-down meeting between Krohne and school representatives recently.

It will be necessary for Park Hill and Smithville to send their overpayments back to the county collector. Park Hill will be returning $33,500 and Smithville will be sending back over $17,000. That returned money then will be correctly distributed to R-3 in the form of a nearly $27,000 check, to North Kansas City in the amount of $15,700 and to West Platte in the amount of $8,000.

"It was an error and it had to be fixed. I didn't see that there was any other option," Krohne told me this week.

(Share your pain at the pump story with Ivan Foley via email at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Train whistles blowing at Dearborn? And 'fair and balanced'

Posted 4/20/06

I'm a conservative who believes much of the national media carries a liberal slant, so why is it getting harder and harder for me to watch the more conservative Fox News channel and actually believe I'm getting news without a spin of its own?

******

Warning bells are sounding after the Dearborn's Board of Aldermen voted last week to scrap an old Interurban Railway car that had been given to the Dearborn Community Betterment Association about 13 years ago. Nothing has ever been done with the car, which sits at the city's sewer plant and by all accounts is in a quite deteriorated condition. Some folks are tired of seeing it sit and rot. "It makes our sewer plant look bad," Alderman Bill Edwards said last week.

Alderman Gary Bomar was out of town dealing with a family matter and not present at last week's meeting when the vote to get rid of the old railroad car was made. He seems less than pleased, you might say, firing off this email on the topic to The Landmark last week.

"For the record, I am vehemently opposed to the action of scrapping the rail car. I will do everything I can humanly do to stop this callous disregard of historic property. I am not alone in this sentiment. The decision was made in my absence, otherwise the motion probably would not have been made.

"There will be input from as far away as Texas before they can act on their ARBITRARY & THOUGHTLESS decision to scrap a piece of history. I opposed the previous Board’s attempt to sell it many years ago, I wasn’t on the Board then. Now I am and they had to do this one while I was not present. Go figure! The rail car may not be important to the current sitting board save one but I guarantee you, it is important to our children and grandchildren!"

Bomar, who is the alderman in charge of parks, went on to claim the whole theme of the new park going in at Dearborn is centered on the old Interurban Railway.

Hmm. After a lull in the argumentative mood, it now seems like things might be getting back to normal at Dearborn board meetings. When it comes to the old railroad car, the word "scrap" could have more than one meaning.

******

Some shaking up is going on in the cabinet of President George W. Bush, including but not limited to the resignation of press secretary Scott McClellan and the giving up of policy portfolio by top Bush adviser Karl Rove.

Amid declining poll numbers that are reaching the point of embarrassment, obviously the Bush administration could use a shot of any kind of momentum. It remains to be seen whether any of these moves will provide a kick.

Republican Congressional candidates going before voters in mid-term elections this November have to be quite concerned about being associated too closely with a president who is nosediving in the polls. The stage seems to be set for the Democrats to make some serious inroads, if the often hapless Dems ever figure out how to take advantage of the many chinks in Bush's armor.

******

Fair and balanced?

One person who is being considered as replacement for Bush press secretary McClellan is FOX News’ Radio host Tony Snow. Snow, who hosts “The Tony Snow Show,” once served as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush.

Who knows whether Snow will get the job, but just the fact his name is even being considered does give ammunition to critics who already lampoon the network as being outstanding apologists for the Bush administration.

******

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a fellow hunter and chooses Fox News' Brit Hume to lob him softball questions in his only exclusive interview after the event. President Bush loses his press secretary and one of the candidates to replace him is Tony Snow of Fox News.

Even open-minded conservatives like this strikingly handsome publisher are starting to chuckle at this whole fair and balanced claim.

Will we ever see Bill O'Reilly address this in his no-spin zone?

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Another reason I'm having trouble watching Fox News without cringing is the way Neal Cavuto's afternoon show consistently finds ways to apologize for some economic indicators that paint the Bush administration in a bad light. For instance, the topic of fuel prices came up during Cavuto's show Tuesday. Analysts on the show were speculating crude oil could rise to $100 per barrel and gasoline could shoot up to $5 per gallon.

To this, Cavuto unleashed this ridiculous gem that should land him a spot in the Apologists Hall of Shame: "Even if it does reach $5 per gallon, that's still less than the price of gasoline in France."

Hey Neal, how about a point of relevancy? In other words, good luck finding someone who gives a damn.

I'm sure that knowledge of the price of gas in France will be of great comfort to Average Joe American as he is fighting back tears at the gas pump this summer.

******

Campaign finance information on file at the Missouri Ethics Commission shows Platte County Auditor Sandra Thomas, who as you know is running for state auditor, has $182,000 on hand in her campaign account as of March 31. Of that amount, $150,000 has come from a personal loan she has given her campaign.

(You can still reach Ivan Foley while he is taking extreme comfort in the high price of gasoline in France at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Dissenting opinions can be a healthy thing; The new Dearborn mayor

Posted 4/13/06

Alleged threats of violence coming from the R-3 High School, a former employee suing Platte County, a difference of opinion between the city and the chamber, there's a potential historic railroad car controversy at Dearborn. . . all very newsworthy items deserving of commentary.

But come on, we're overdue for some goofball, childlike humor in Between the Lines. So here goes:

Three mice are sitting at a bar after the funeral of an Illinois mouse who had been killed by an 80-year-old lady with a broom. The three mice are trying to impress each other with stories about how tough they are.

The Wisconsin mouse throws down a shot of bourbon, slams the empty glass onto the bar, turns to the Iowa mouse and says: "When I see a mousetrap, I lie on my back and set it off with my foot. When the bar comes down, I catch it in my teeth, bench press it 20 times to work up an appetite, and then make off with the cheese."

The Iowa mouse orders up two shots of tequila, drinks them down one after the other, slams both glasses onto the bar, turns to the Wisconsin mouse and replies: "Oh yeah, when I see rat poison, I collect as much as I can, take it home, grind it up to a powder and add it to my coffee each morning so I can get a good buzz going for the rest of the day."

The Texas mouse finishes the beer he has in front of him, let's out a long sigh and says to the other two: "I don't have time for this BS. I'm going home to have sex with the cat."

******

Must say I'm impressed with the report from the Platte County R-3 School Board reorganizational meeting held at 7 a.m. Wednesday. (The burning question: Why in the world 7 a.m.?)

I'm impressed that there was a split vote in the matter of choosing a board president for the next year. Dick Modin was reelected to the post by a narrow 4-3 vote over Bob Shaw (see front page).

Who serves as board president isn't nearly as important or as healthy a sign to R-3 patrons as the fact there was a split vote.

This could be an indication that board members are no longer married to the "let's always put on a happy face" attitude in the meeting room. If so, that's a healthy thing for anyone who believes in open and honest public debate of school issues.

There's nothing wrong with civil disagreement on any school board. That's why there are seven positions.

Though they were in the minority, the votes and actions of Shaw, Trish Stinnett and Dave Holland will go a long way toward earning the respect of those who want their elected officials to always speak their minds and true feelings. Nice job.

******

Frank Downing, Jr. has taken the helm of what can be a wild and wacky ship at the city of Dearborn. Called "Junior" by those who know him, Downing has grabbed the reins from Josh Linville, who declined to run for reelection as mayor. At the age of 81 years young, Downing handled his mayoral duties in spry fashion at his first meeting Monday night. It's not like he hasn't done it before. . .Downing previously served as mayor of Dearborn from 1981-86. He also had a nice run as the planning and zoning director for Platte County.

His experience will be a benefit to the city.

******

Frank Downing, Jr. was one of the first contacts I made when I started working at the ol' Landmark in 1982. In his position with the county planning and zoning department, he was a source of background information for me at that time as I began to familiarize myself with the inner workings of the people and places of Platte County. We could often be spotted lunching together at some of Platte County's finest diners back in those days.

******

From the "Whatever happened to?" department, let it be known former Platte County Commissioner Steve Wegner is still around. Got an invitation in the mail to an open house to be held April 20 at a new business known as Realty World Northland KC, to be located in the Kennedy Building west of the Platte City Post Office. The invitation is signed by Wegner and he is listed as broker/owner.

******

After having consistent and aggravating problems with my desktop computer over the past couple months (the darn thing always wanted to act up and re-boot itself right at deadline time, imagine that) I have trashed that two-year old E-Machine desktop and have decided to go portable. I invested in a Compaq Presario laptop a few days ago and with the help of Landmark technical guru Cindy Rinehart now have it fully loaded and connected to our six-station network here at Platte County's oldest newspaper.

Sure, the portability of the new laptop will be a nice feature, but another advantage I've found is that when I'm working at my desk I now have plenty of room for my ample brain power to operate.

No more cramped space from a bulky CPU and monitor. A nice advantage for a guy with claustrophobic tendencies. My apologies to readers for not doing this sooner because who knows what additional journalistic goodness I could have cranked out had I previously enjoyed this additional space for my intuitive cells to operate.

(Reach your publisher and his traveling laptop at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Time to spray roundup on the spring election season; bracket winner cashes in

Posted 4/6/06

Welcome back to Between the Lines, where the commentary is so stimulating you'll need to think about baseball just to maintain control.

******

You may have already realized that on Wednesday of this week at two minutes and three seconds past 1 a.m., the time and date was 01:02:03 04/05/06.

If you slept through it, shame on you. It was one of those scintillating moments that won't ever happen again.

******

If there is a busier time in the weekly newspaper business than that short burst between gathering election results and putting the paper to bed, I have yet to find it. And I'm not sure I want to.

Kudos to new Landmark reporter Dave Kinnamon for hanging with me into the wee hours. Dave joined our staff last week to replace journalism diva Kim Fickett, who has moved back to her home state of Iowa.

Dave, a graduate student at UMKC, brings plenty of newspaper experience to his new position with The Landmark. He is a former managing editor of The Star-Herald in Belton and was a reporter for the Constitution-Tribune at Chillicothe. He also formerly served as an advertising sales account executive for the St. Joseph-News Press.

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Hats off to all candidates--the winners and the also-rans--for taking part in the election process this spring. It was good to see competition develop in many of the open seats this year. That's a sign that there are really many folks with a sincere desire to make a difference.

******

Here's hoping now that he's back in office for two more years, Dave Brooks will continue to grace these pages with quotes that are too good to miss. It's been well-documented that the mayor and I over the course of the past couple of years have been on the opposite sides of several issues, but I can't deny having Dave in office has been good for my readership. I guarantee that he doesn't intend to, but I must confess Mayor Dave helps me sell newspapers when he occasionally lets fly with some off-the-wall quotes.

The Brooks quote machine is already off and rolling for another term. Here are some of my favorite recent ''Brooksisms:"

During the election campaign: "Vote for me because when I win, we all win."

After Tuesday night's election results: "The people have spoken--that Dave Brooks has done a good job the last four years."

You gotta love it when a small town mayor pulls a Bob Dole and refers to himself in the third person. Local politics can't get much better than that, folks.

And Dave's comment on his administration's accomplishments: "One word. . . quality."

******

Remember, think about baseball.

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There is one item on the city's current agenda on which the mayor and I can agree. I do hope the mayor and his board of aldermen, which will now feature two younger voices in Kenneth Brown and Aaron Jung, will continue to exert an effort to make the local chamber of commerce an even more effective organization. True, the chamber membership numbers seem to be growing, but is that because of effective leadership or simply a product of the local business growth?

The city, as requested by the chamber board, should put together a written list of conditions attached to the $10,000 in public money the city has been giving to the chamber annually. One of those conditions might include a suggestion that the executive director enroll in charm school, or at least learn to fake a pleasant demeanor at all times.

It also might include a suggestion that when new or existing chamber members are approached, they be approached with the attitude of "Here's what the chamber can do for you" instead of "What can you do for the chamber?"

Two minor suggestions but it's often the little things that can go a long away in recruiting new businesses to continue to fuel the local economy.

******

Congratulations to the winners in the Platte County R-3 School Board race. Incumbents Karen Wagoner and Dick Modin virtually sleepwalked their way to victory, which is relatively easy to do in a school board race when there is no hot button issue raised by challengers. Incumbents can sleepwalk. Challengers can't.

The closest thing to a hot button issue was raised by Greg Henson, who claims there is a textbook shortage at the middle school even while the school enjoys "a world class weight room." This is at least the second straight school board election in which the alleged textbook shortage has been raised. Successful school board candidate Patricia Stinnett raised the issue in her campaign last year. After getting on the board, Stinnett apparently was later convinced there is no shortage. Yet Henson in his campaign interviews maintained teachers at the middle school will vouch for the shortage.

It would benefit R-3 to have a discussion on this topic in an open school board meeting and lay the issue to rest one way or another. If there is a shortage, what can be done to address it? If there is no shortage, openly prove the fact to the public and all school board members.

One way or another, will somebody put the issue to rest?

******

It's time to announce our bracket contest winners for 2006. First place and $100 goes to Sue Shultz of Platte City, who was the only person in the entire field to correctly tab Florida as the national champ. Impressive stuff. Sue finished with 156 points.

Second place goes to Todd Mick of Platte City, a previous champ who this year takes home the $50 second place prize with his 138 points. Third place prize of a free one-year subscription goes to Ron Nelson of Platte City with 136 points.

(Text book shortage? Ivan Foley is living proof you don't need them anyway. Email him at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Moderates making a push for control of Republican Central Committee

Posted 3/30/06

How about the flurry of late activity at the Platte County Board of Elections on the final day of candidate filing Tuesday? Fun stuff.

First, incumbent prosecutor Eric Zahnd gets a challenge, but not from the Democrats who had been hootin' and hollerin' against him for the past four years. Zahnd's challenger is a fellow Republican and (former?) friend who in the not-too-distant past actually hosted a campaign fundraiser for the incumbent prosecutor. Ilse Smith runs a law firm from her home. She applied for a job in the prosecutor's office late last year and Zahnd chose to hire another applicant. Smith says the application process opened her eyes to things that bothered her about the prosecutor's office. Zahnd has taken the high road, declining to publicly paint Smith's candidacy simply that of a disgruntled former job seeker. See our front page story for comments from both Smith and Zahnd on this bizarre twist.

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Perhaps the biggest surprise came just minutes—more accurately, seconds—before filing deadline when Republican Rebecca Rooney placed herself in the political spotlight by throwing her name in the hat against three-term incumbent Sandy Krohne for county clerk. Rooney had mentioned the possibility of her candidacy in passing conversation among friends in recent weeks, but her decision to go through with the filing process wasn't made until the last minute. Her paperwork was being processed by the good folks at the board of elections as the clock ticked near 5 p.m.

Rooney seemed determined to make her presence felt by firing a volley toward the incumbent. "With all the budget fuss, I figured I could do better. I don't like people sticking it to the taxpayers. I don't think in that kind of office you need to ask for more from the taxpayers."

Ouch.

Reached Wednesday morning, Krohne said she will respond but the response will come later. More pressing matters were requiring her attention this week, she said.

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Here's insight you won't get anywhere else: Looks like the internal battle is on among Platte County's Republican party in a big way.

More fascinating than watching the Republicans vs. Democrats at the local level—because, let's face it, the Democrats are trying but still haven't created enough progress to make that an interesting watch party—is observing the internal battle among Platte County's Republicans. And make no mistake, after looking at the filings for the Platte County Republican Central Committee, there is no doubt the group of Republicans who like to call themselves the "moderates" are aggressively going after many seats on the central committee, which in the past couple of years has been controlled by the more conservative wing of the party.

Many of the "moderates" are active members of the Platte County Pachyderm Club. The moderates have tossed some candidates in central committee races for seats currently held by the more conservative folks. In subdistrict 32-5, for instance, there likely is no more conservative committee member than Dagmar Wood. She'll be opposed by Alexandra Denise Kuebler, daughter of Candy Kuebler, active in the Pachyderm Club. Rob Sweeney is also a "moderate" candidate for the male position in subdistrict 32-5. Former county commissioner Michael Short put his name on the ballot for central committee post in subdistrict 32-3. Mark Ferguson jumped in for district 32-4. Lee and Carolyn Valentine will provide opposition to conservatives in district 30-4. Cherie Pedego, wife of Pachyderm president Lee Pedego, filed in district 30-1. Joyce Yost filed in district 30-2. Jim and Rebecca Rooney, considered moderates, are the only candidates for the subdistrict 29 posts.

Look out. The "moderates" are attempting a coup of the Republican Central Committee. This will be just as interesting as watching the officeholder elections. We'll keep you posted here in Between the Lines.

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Unless it's a year with a hot public issue, such as the installation of field turf, school board elections often fly under the radar. This year's race at Platte County R-3 seems to be attracting little, if any, attention, other than some rumblings I'm hearing from folks who wouldn't mind seeing Karen Wagoner politely asked to leave the table.

Wagoner is seeking her third term. She was first elected by folks who believed she would become a leader on the board, but some of her former supporters aren't shy about stating their discontent. Wagoner, detractors believe, is comfortable being a follower instead. She has settled into a role of being one who prefers the status quo and tends to be led by the administration instead of the other way around. My personal observation about Wagoner is that in her role as Chamber of Commerce executive director, she has been combative with those not in her immediate support group while in her role as school board member the common perception has been she is a passive go-with-the-flow type. She would be doing the public a better service if she reversed the attitude she brings to those two positions, in my opinion, doing fanny-kissing with the chamber and getting feisty while at R-3 board meetings.

I've always had the opinion that every public board needs at least one rebel, so to speak, a member who isn't afraid to question anything and everything, a member who isn't afraid to go against the status quo and think outside the box. Many observers will tell you the current R-3 School Board seems to be lacking this type of role player. If you're looking for a rebel among this year's field of candidates, based on the comments made in interviews printed in last week's Landmark, your best bet would seem to be Gregory Henson.

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With only Final Four weekend remaining, here are the leaders in our annual NCAA bracket contest: Luke Mason 134 points, Shelby Buckler 130, Todd Mick 128, Sue Shultz 126, Ron Nelson 126, Whitney Stubbs 126, Anna Nutt 120, Jacob Hardie 120, Randy Knox 120, Randy Meers 118, Rebecca Rooney 118, Kinsey Barton 118, Steve Sampsell 116, Helen Stiffel 116, and Sherry King 116.

Among the columnists and special guests, the scoring is done. Dave Stewart is your winner with 118, followed by CK Rairden at 114, Brian Kubicki 112, some guy named Foley 106, and Greg Hall 98.

(The Landmark is hands down Platte County's most popular newspaper among rebels. Contact the head rebel at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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Democrats are MIA; Thomas on the verge?; and a chamber debacle

Posted 3/23/06

Platte County Democrats, where are you? With filing deadline now less than a week away, the local Democratic party seems to be falling short once again in its effort to field candidates for important county offices.

The Dems have yet to toss anybody in against incumbent Presiding Commissioner Betty Knight. And how about their inability to find a candidate to challenge incumbent Prosecutor Eric Zahnd? Remember early in Zahnd's career when he was having trouble winning jury trials? The Democrats were all over him, screaming that voters had made a mistake in choosing Zahnd over Tammy Glick. The implication was that Zahnd would be very vulnerable when he sought re-election. Yet, as filing deadline rapidly approaches, there aren't even any names of possible Democratic challengers making the rumor mill. It's bad when a party can't find any candidates. . .it's worse when the party can't even hint that it has some folks at least considering the possibility.

This was supposed to be a comeback year for the Platte County Democrats. So far it looks like it will be anything but.

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Speaking of the political rumor mill, it's still hot with unconfirmed reports that Platte County Auditor Sandra Thomas will file for state auditor, likely on the final day of filing next Tuesday. A variety of sources are saying Thomas has made the decision to seek state office, with at least one person telling me the word came directly from Thomas' mouth this week. Thomas at this writing seems to be running shy of the media and has made no formal announcement, other than to say she is ready to "move on" after serving as county auditor the past 12 years.

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Some Republican power brokers at the state level would love for Thomas to put her name on the ballot for state auditor, if for no other reason than to help U.S. Senator Jim Talent pull votes from females who might otherwise cast a ballot for Talent's opponent, Claire McCaskill. Females often are a tight voting bloc. The theory is that the presence of a Republican female on the statewide ballot could help prevent Republican females from crossing over to vote for Democrat McCaskill in her race against Talent.

The Talent-McCaskill race is expected to be close to the end (see Landmark Journal on page A-4 for more on this).

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Amid scuttlebutt that city fathers and the chamber leaders may be at odds once again, I took the opportunity to sit in on a board of directors meeting for the Platte City Chamber of Commerce last Friday morning. There was plenty of discussion about the city/chamber relationship and plenty of defensive verbal positioning from a couple of chamber board members who seemed to take it very personal that the chamber's hired executive director, Karen Wagoner, could actually be subject to public scrutiny (more on that a little later). But really the only newsworthy item to come out of the meeting is this: The chamber board will ask city aldermen to list in writing what the city's expectations are from the $10,000 annual donation.

Chamber President Joe Carroll says Mayor Dave Brooks has told him he believes the chamber is still important and a viable part of the community, and that the mayor still supports the city making an annual contribution to the chamber in the amount of $10,000. Brooks, however, is not sure he has the support of his board of aldermen on that topic, Carroll said at Friday's meeting. Alderman Ron Porter serves on the chamber board of directors and will speak the chamber board's request to the aldermen. "We need to know our target before we can hit it," said Randy Knox, chamber board member.

Losing the $10,000 annual contribution from the city wouldn't spell death for the chamber, but it would cause some cuts. "We would have to cut some (staff) hours," Carroll told me.

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I know it's human nature for all of us to get a little defensive when we are the subjects of criticism, even if the criticism is of the constructive variety. Still, chamber board members and the chamber executive director should be conscious of the fact they are charged with spending public money--and in the case of the executive director, being paid with public money--and therefore the public has every right to critique job performance.

It's no secret some folks at city hall have gotten sideways with Wagoner. There is no angel at that party, let me tell you. It is widely known that folks at city hall can be combative and vindictive when they don't get their way. More surprisingly and possibly a lesser known fact to the community is that Wagoner can be equally as combative and vindictive toward those not in her inner circle. . . not exactly the type of behavior you expect to see from a person hired to be the community's ambassador of good will.

The city of Platte City has every right to raise questions, especially in light of the significant $10,000 contribution made on an annual basis. The aldermen certainly at times have appeared to be an out-of-touch bunch on some topics, but they still have the duty to protect the city's interests and raise questions when necessary. Their concerns should be considered legitimate by folks at the chamber and the chamber board must be open-minded enough to take an honest and hard look at the job performance of the executive director and make any decisions necessary to address potential concerns.

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Leaders in The Landmark bracket contest after two rounds: defending champ Anna Nutt is tied for first along with Randy Knox at 96 points. Others near the top include Bob Bennett, Todd Mick and Rebecca Rooney with 94 apiece; Daryl Grame, Chris Hardeman, Mark Harpst and Sue Shultz at 92 each; and Jacob Hardie and Ryan Nichols at 90.

Brian Kubicki currently leads in the columnist category but his edge could be in jeopardy as two of his Final Four are already gone. Check back next week for a more detailed look.

(Is Foley trying to hide his bracket score? Get him to reveal his paltry number by sending a request to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

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How about Graves for attorney general? And the battle begins

Posted 3/16/06

Congratulations and good luck to the North Platte girls basketball team as they head off to the Class 2 Final Four Thursday and Friday in Columbia. The balanced attack of the Lady Panthers is led by 6'3" Michelle Anderson, who has signed to play Division I ball with Drake of the Missouri Valley Conference.

I've known the Anderson girl—always referred to as Little Sly within the walls of The Landmark—since she was a kindergartner. Her mother, Sylvia, had two stints of employment at this newspaper, starting out as a reporter in 1993 and coming back several years later as advertising sales rep.

Sylvia is only 6'1" so I have no idea where her daughter gets all that height.

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I've never made a secret of the fact that the connection between Todd Graves and this columnist runs a little deeper than the normal "public figure and member of the media" relationship. It's a friendship that developed in his time as county prosecutor and we've stayed in touch on a fairly regular basis. I've told the story many times of how what has become the biggest public Christmas party in Platte County developed its beginning when Graves, John Elliott, yours truly and three wise men from Wells Bank enjoyed a holiday beverage in the back of the historic Landmark office. Graves' annually has been the special guest at each of the succeeding Landmark public Christmas parties, not forgetting us little people even after President Bush anointed him U.S. Attorney.

"Are you sitting down?" was how Graves began the conversation when he called last Thursday to let me know he would be announcing his resignation as U.S. Attorney the next day. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel momentary panic. . . like maybe someone I knew was in trouble with the feds. . .or maybe the IRS had told Todd they didn't like the looks of my tax return. . . or maybe Todd's brother Sam had been accidentally shot while hunting with Dick Cheney.

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Todd Graves says now that he is stepping away from his federally-appointed post he can become more active in state, local and national politics. And he plans on doing so in a very big way, doing most of his work behind the scenes.

I'm ready to start the public recruiting process to get Graves to launch a campaign for Missouri Attorney General in two years. Current AG Jay Nixon has plans to run for governor in 2008, which would leave the attorney general post open.

Graves for state attorney general may not be as far-fetched as some might think. If it happens, remember you heard it here first.

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I'm ripe for the picking in The Landmark's bracket contest this year. It's been one of those hectic weeks at the ol' newspaper office, one of those weeks where anything that could go wrong has gone wrong. . . which occasionally happens to everybody in every profession, I'm sure. Thusly (which is fast becoming one of my new favorite words), I have spent zero time getting into the ins and outs of bracketology the past few days. As an example, I'm making my picks while looking at a bracket that doesn't even identify for me where the various games are being played. If I do any good at all in the contest this year, let's call it luck and not attribute it to hours of study time.

Having gotten all that BS out of the way, here are my picks round-by- round.

FIRST ROUND WINNERS: Duke, George Washington, Syracuse, Iona, West Virginia, Iowa, California, Texas, Memphis, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Indiana, Gonzaga, Marquette, UCLA, Connecticut, UAB, Washington, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina, Seton Hall, Tennessee, Villanova, Wisconsin, Nevada, Boston College, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, South Alabama, Georgetown, Ohio State.

SECOND ROUND WINNERS: Duke, Syracuse, West Virginia, Texas, Memphis, Kansas, Gonzaga, UCLA, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, Villanova, Boston College, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ohio State.

ELITE EIGHT: Duke, Texas, Kansas, UCLA, Connecticut, North Carolina, Villanova, Ohio State.

FINAL FOUR: Texas, UCLA, Connecticut, Villanova.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Texas vs. Connecticut.

CHAMP: Connecticut.

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As the bracket contest moves along, you'll get the chance to compare your scores to the scores of Landmark columnists and a couple of special guests. Special guests include Dave Stewart of Metro Sports and Greg Hall, the former popular sports media columnist for The Landmark, the Star, the Pitch and anybody else who didn't mind fighting off the legal threats his material would bring. One of my favorite memories of GH's time with The Landmark was the day my fax was smoking with a detailed legal threat from one of GH's former employers. Yes, the Star's attorneys actually strongly hinted at pursuing legal action if GH didn't quit picking on certain members of their sports department. That fax brought tears to my eyes. Of course those tears were from side-splitting laughter. The threat must have worked because I told GH to quit writing about the Star's guys. . .at least until our next issue. But I digress.

Columnist CK Rairden is on the verge of being disqualified from our reindeer games as he turned in an incomplete entry. CK filled out his bracket to the Final Four but then stopped. I'm guessing he was interrupted by the need to write an apology piece for the Bush White House. CK will soon pen an essay telling us that a huge federal deficit and extremely high gas prices are good for the American economy. But I digress.

He still has time, but I must note that big-time celeb Dave Stewart has yet to get his entry to the plush Landmark offices. I'm confident Dave's entry will be on its way just soon as he is done blow drying his hair and manicuring his nails. But I digress.

The point—and I do have one—is that only Hall and Brian Kubicki thus far have fulfilled all the requirements for entry into this category of the contest. Here are the highlights of their brackets:

HALL: His Final Four are Duke, Kansas,