Stop The Convention Blackmail

Okay, this is really getting ridiculous. First, of course, was the National Council of La Raza pulling their convention out of Kansas City because of the whole Francis Semler flap.

Now, it may be happening again. And once again Mayor Mark Funkhouser finds himself in the middle of it. The city budget that was passed recently was a tough one, no doubt about it. The city had to make some deep cuts and Funkhouser wanted one of those cuts to be city funding for the zoo. In fact, after two years, he wanted that funding to disappear completely. That didn’t happen, of course. How could it, from a P.R. standpoint? I was at a town hall meeting where a young girl passionately pleaded for the city to keep funding the zoo, explaining how much she loves to visit with her cousins. That’s difficult to respond to.

But the city still cut $600,000 from the zoo’s funding and that’s what brings us back to the convention issue. A national zoo group is now — you guessed it — threatening to pull their upcoming convention from Kansas City. The group’s leaders say they want to come to a community that supports its zoo.

Look, I’m not taking sides on the Semler controversy or the zoo funding issue.. but I do think it’s ridiculous for groups to use their conventions to try to force their way on a city they don’t live in. To the groups: we want you to come. You’ll love it here. We will all welcome you with open arms and good ol’ Midwestern hospitality. Just please: don’t mess around in our affairs. It’s like letting all the visitors to Disney World decide what the Orlando City council should do. That’s not the way it should be.

Let’s hope this is the end of a disturbing trend.

Downtown Comes Alive

Have you been to the Power and Light district yet? If the answer is no, start making plans to go. It’s worth it.

Okay, we know the concerns about the brand new entertainment district downtown: For starters, it didn’t come cheap. $850 million dollars, to be exact and the city is on the hook for 300 million of that. If this thing goes under, the city will get a large chunk of the bill. I still wonder how it will affect the Plaza, Westport and River Market. How many bars and restaurants can the city and metro area support? But enough of the negatives.

The Power and Light district is impressive. In fact, when I first walked through the KC Live courtyard area earlier this month, the first thing that went through my mind was: “This is better than I expected.”

There’s no doubt that downtown Kansas City needed something like this… badly. When my wife and I flew here to shop for a house, KMBC put us up in a hotel downtown. We were surprised how absolutely dead it was after 5 pm. Not that it was all that exciting during the day either. Now, there’s a whole new vibe.

I’ve been in several of the bars and restaurants in the Power and Light district and every one is upscale and seems top-notch. The new bowling alley, Lucky Strike Lanes, is my favorite so far. It’s bowling alley meets New York City lounge, with a beautiful view of KC from large windows on the one side. What a cool place to take friends and family from out of town.

Of course, both the Sprint Center and the P&L district were practically built for out-of-towners. We wanted the Big 12 tournament back and this year, the tourney has returned and fans from all across the Midwest seem impressed by the new and improved KC.

Look, I’m cynical enough to know that a lot could still go wrong here. How many of these fancy establishments will make it and be here 1,2,5 years from now? We’ll see. But I really hope the district thrives and downtown thrives with it. This is a great region and metro to live in and it deserves to have a bustling, fun downtown. So get going and visit already. It may have been built to attract the out-of-towners, but it’s up to us here in the Kansas City metro to make sure our new crown jewel shines for years to come.

Red Noses

You hear stories all the time about people sending things to our troops serving overseas. Everything from food to socks get shipped to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, to give our soldiers a little taste of home.

But this week, I talked with two metro residents who are sending something truly unique to our fighting men and women. And it’s gotten a tremendous response.

Cheryl Herrington and Larry Mills both have ties to the military. Cheryl’s father was in the military and her brother died in Vietnam. Mills is a retired marine. They’re also clowns. “Sweet Pea” and “Pappy” is be exact, when the makeup’s on. They’ve been making people smile around here for years and now they’ve found a way to bring that joy to troops half a world away.

It’s simple really. Easy to package and ship, too. Cheryl and Larry are sending red clown noses to our soldiers. That’s right: those silly round noses that clowns wear as part of their costumes. The pair started sending out the noses last July and have already sent 13,000 of them. They’ve gotten a pile of E-mails and pictures back from the troops, including great photographs of soldiers proudly wearing the red noses. The e-mails and letters describe how the noses brightened the soldiers’ day.

Larry gets emotional when he sees the pictures. He knows how much something like that can help the troops forget what’s going on around them, at least for a little while. Cheryl says if something this simple can help the soldiers, they have to do it.

Cheryl and Larry’s effort is called The Red Nose Institute and it’s funded by donations. If you’d like to help, you can visit their website: TheRedNoseInstitute.com

Celebrity Chat

One of the questions I get quite often is about the celebrities and famous folks we get to interview from time to time in my business. People want to know what they’re really like in person. As you can imagine, every celebrity is different: some are a little full of themselves, but many others are very down-to-earth.

Last weekend, I had the chance to interview Jane Seymour. She was at Nebraska Furniture Mart, promoting her line of home decor items. She’s been in a long list of movies and TV shows. I remember her from Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (which was once my parents’ favorite show), but more recently, many people know her from ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

So what was she like? Very nice. But I have to tell you, I’d have trouble keeping up with her schedule. She flies all over the country for a whole host of different reasons, including her home decor line and of course, acting. How about this: she’s also a painter, and quite an accomplished one. In fact, she’s painting a design for the Olympics in Beijing.

She says she loved her time on Dancing with the Stars, even though she suffered some personal tragedies during the show. Seymour used dancing as an outlet after her mother passed away. However, she admits she doesn’t dance much now.

She talked to me for quite a while after our on-camera interview was over. In fact, her handler pulled her away to make sure she ate some lunch before she gave a presentation about her home decor line. I imagine sleeping and eating aren’t that high on Jane Seymour’s list. There are just so many other interesting things to do.

Families Changed Forever

Sometimes people ask me if I’m affected by the news stories I cover. The short answer is yes. As a journalist, you can get jaded and cynical after covering the news for many years, but some stories still make a major impact. I covered one of those stories today.

On June 23, 2006, a car ran a red light at the intersection of 24 Highway and Noland Road in Independence. 23-year-old Jonathan Edwards was behind the wheel. He was drunk.

He hit a car with 18-year-old Crystal Blessing and 20-year-old Brandon Hankins inside. They were engaged to be married and were killed instantly.

Today, Edwards was sentenced for his crime. He plead guilty last year to 2 counts of Involuntary Manslaughter and Vehicular DWI. Edwards has taken responsibility for his actions from the beginning: he told a police officer at the hospital that night, “It’s my fault, I’m drunk, it’s my fault. I had at least 8 beers.” He took responsibility again today, addressing the packed courtroom and expressing his guilt and sorrow for what happened. His lawyer said Edwards told him he deserved jail time.

Crystal and Brandon were described today by loved ones as two young, talented, giving people who were deeply in love. Family members made emotional pleas to punish Edwards for his carelessness that took two precious people from them.

I watched all three families today as the hearing progressed. Emotions were high, tears were flowing, and nerves were raw. Three families had been devastated by one act, one moment, one horrible decision.

Jonathan Edwards was sentenced today to 20 years in prison. Justice was served, but the impact from that deadly night will continue on for years and decades to come.

Edwards mentioned today that he hoped that this case will be a lesson for everyone about drinking and driving. It destroyed his life and took two other lives. It crushed three families who will never be the same.

Some stories impact journalists and hopefully our viewers as well. This is not just a story about loss and emotion and justice. It’s a story that can be a lesson to all of us how one bad decision can ruin lives forever.

Political Fireworks

It’s only the middle of January, but this has been an incredible political year so far.

I wrote about the crazy Presidential races recently on this blog, but let me tell you, national politics have nothing on local politicos when it comes to controversy and intrigue. Tuesday was a great example.

It started with a letter faxed to media outlets by Frances Semler. She’s become a household name around here, after Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser named her to the parks board last year. Turns out, she’s a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group that opposes illegal immigration, often in ways that many civil rights groups find offensive. Funkhouser was urged to fire Semler and when he stood by her, several groups pulled their conventions out of KC.

Now, Semler has resigned. And who did she cite as one of the major reasons? Funkhouser himself, who Semler says betrayed her. She apparently felt like a political pawn to garner support for the mayor in the conservative Northland and also didn’t like the mayor asking her to stay away from a Minuteman convention next month. Funkhouser took a lot of heat for Semler, but it apparently wasn’t enough.

But that was just Part One of the topsy-turvey political day around here. A rumor started floating around that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt was going to drop his bid for a second term. Even well-connected insiders in Jeff City said the rumor was unfounded. Until it wasn’t. Sure enough, the Guv released a video, saying he had accomplished everything he set out to do in one term, so there was no need for another. Wow.

Now the Missouri Governors race is thrown into chaos. It was going to be a bloodbath between Blunt and Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon. It’s still going to be a lively race, but for totally different reasons. The Republicans need to find a candidate who can run strong, despite a very late start. Nixon needs to change his campaign after planning for years to run against Blunt.

So you thought Obama and Clinton getting personal was great political theater? That the wide-open Republican presidential field was fun to watch? Well, they don’t have anything on us here in the middle of the country. You want political fireworks? Come to Missouri.

One Inspiring Tip

In my line of work, you have to do a lot of sad stories. Murders, fires, and plenty of examples of humanity at its worst. This week, I had the chance to do a story about just the opposite: one person making a difference and inspiring others to do the same.

Marlena Hayes is a 26-year-old waitress at a Mimi’s Cafe in Overland Park. She’s also a full-time student, studying respiratory therapy at Kansas City Kansas Community College. As you can imagine, money is tight.

Earlier this week, she was discussing the high price of college textbooks with a co-worker as she waited tables at her job. She mentioned that books cost her $400 dollars this semester, an expense that made it all the more difficult to make ends meet.

One of her customers, a woman having dinner with her two young children, overheard Marlena’s concerns. And she did something about it. When Marlena collected the woman’s payment after her family left, she found a note. It said: “I overheard. Good luck in school. $400 for books.”

At first, Marlena thought it was a joke. But she fanned out the money and it was all there. Three $100 dollar bills, a couple of twenties and other smaller notes, adding up to 400 bucks. Marlena couldn’t believe it. A co-worker actually held her in the back room as she shook from the emotion of the moment. For the first time in two months, Marlena went to bed that night and didn’t worry about money.

We ran the story on Wednesday and it was picked up by CNN.com. I’ve gotten responses from all over the country, from Orlando to Detroit. People were moved and inspired by this random act of kindness. Several people want to donate more money to Marlena, including one person who wants to pay for her books next semester.

Marlena still doesn’t know who her generous customer is. She hopes the kind woman will come back into the restaurant soon so she can be thanked properly. Marlena plans to take pictures of herself at school and studying, so she can give them to her benefactor.

What this one woman did not only helped a young woman pursue her dream, she has now inspired many people (including me) to think about how we can help others, even in small ways. Marlena’s life has been changed. Others have been inspired. All thanks to one kind gesture. Now that’s some good news.

A Political Junkie’s Dream

Is this great or what?

Unless you’re a Duncan Hunter supporter, this has been an incredible week in the Presidential campaign. Before the caucuses and primaries even started, we knew this would be a wide-open race, with no sitting president or vice-president in the running. But did anyone really expect this?

In the two big votes so far, we’ve have four different winners in the four Democratic and Republican races. And if you count the little-publicized Wyoming caucuses, you have five winners in five races. Mike Huckabee, Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have all had victories. (Romney’s was in Wyoming, which no one seems to care about, even people in Wyoming.)

Of course, on the Democratic side, it’s really a two person race. John Edwards has strong union support, but he’ll be the first to drop out among the “big three.” This race is all about Hillary and Barack. Earlier this week, it looked like Obama might wrap this up quickly, but then came the stunner in New Hampshire. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the political pundits try to figure out what was going on Tuesday night. The polls gave us no indication Hillary could win. And yet she did. It’s why we love to watch sports and politics: you never know what may happen. Unless you’re Mike Gravel. Then you know you’re going to lose.

To the Republican side now, and this race is a big ‘ol mess. I think four candidates still have a legitimate shot at the nomination. Obviously, Huckabee and McCain can win, but don’t count out Romney and Rudy Guiliani just yet. Guiliani’s campaign strategy is just another fascinating angle to all this: he almost completely ignored Iowa and ran TV ads but not much else in New Hampshire, choosing instead to focus on Florida and Super Tuesday, when giant states like New York and California go to the polls. If it works, it will be discussed in political science classes for decades.

If you love politics, like me, it doesn’t get any better than this. Enjoy the ride. We may not see another Presidential race like this in our lifetimes.

Back to Work… It’s 2008

Welcome back to reality, everybody. The holidays are over and the New Year is upon us. And it’s really, really cold out there. Like I said: Welcome back to the real world.

I hope you had a wonderful and joyous Christmas season, or at least got what you wanted under the tree and didn’t get into any big arguments with the in-laws.

My 6-year-old son, Jack, proclaimed this the “Best Christmas Ever” as he unwrapped his gifts, so I figure my holiday was a success. Hopefully, he will keep having the “Best Christmas Ever” for the next six or seven years, at least. My daughter Kate, 19-months-old, just liked ripping off the wrapping paper. I’m sure it was her best Christmas ever, as well.

So, here we go into that time of year between the holidays and spring. It’s cold, it’s a little boring, and sometimes it seems like January and February are four months long instead of two. But hey… we need a rest, right? It might not be “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” like December, but it’s definitely a lot more quiet for most of us. And right now, that doesn’t sound bad at all. Happy January!

Merry Christmas

If you haven’t noticed, this is a pretty busy time of year. That’s my excuse for not blogging in quite a while. (I know you missed me. All three of you.)

It all started the day I posted my last blog. December 5th was the day of the Omaha Mall shootings and I headed up there that night to cover the tragedy for KMBC and ABC News. Obviously, it was a sad story to report on and heartbreaking to see a great midwestern town devastated by violence. The residents of Omaha simply can’t believe they are now on the list of communities impacted by mass shootings. They will recover, but the healing will take some time.

On a much better note, I’ve been busy preparing for Christmas. I’m proud to say almost all the holiday shopping is finished. Most importantly, the gifts for my kids, Jack and Kate, are purchased and wrapped. All we need yet is the delivery by Santa.

So, Merry Christmas to everyone who watches the news and (the much smaller number) who read this blog. I hope your holiday season is happy, safe and joyful. Of course, before all that, tune in tomorrow morning to see just how much snow we’ll get on Saturday. Hey, you want a White Christmas, right?