TGES's Blog

SmartTravel.com recently named Kansas City as one of the "top 5 travel destinations to watch" along with Riviera Nayarit, Vancouver, Peru, * Vilnius, Lithuania.

What have the folks at SmartTravel.com been smokin'?

Part of their rationale for KC's selection was the Sprint Center & the Power & Light District.

Insert vomiting emoticon here!!!

Guess the selection committee either a.) has only seen the pretty pictures of the vivid blue lights in the area, or b.) haven't yet been victimized by overzealous towing companies at the time of publication.

I can think of 100 other places in KC I'd rather visit that the P&L district/Spit Center (no typo), and at least that many other U.S destinations that I would recommend my friends/relatives to visit other than KC (starting with the mayor's office/house/love nest, etc).

Enjoy your stay, and the tow lots will leave the light on for you!

I just read an article on F4 reporting that the former mayor's office employee who allegedly was discriminated against just "upped the ante" on her lawsuit against the city to $800,000.  They are also threatening a "slander" lawsuit because of Mayor Funkhouser's statement after settling his portion of the original suit, and claim the amount they are seeking increased as a direct result of his statement (sometimes the truth really does hurt, huh??)

I would love to see the attorney's calculations to substantiate this amount. 

To me, this matter has now gone from a lawsuit to extortion.  Isn't that against the law in this country.

The attorney ought to be disbarred and this lady thrown in jail for even suggesting her "mental anguish & pain and suffering" amounted to even 1% of that amount.

Shame on them!

This past Saturday evening, the Heart of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored a "night out with the Roos," where Scouts were able to earn tickets to the UMKC Roos basketball game.  The Council provided pizza for the Scouts & their parents, then enjoyed the UMKC game, as they defeated IPFW.

Much to the horror of many who parked in the "pay" lot between 12th & 13th & Broadway, they came out to finding their car windows busted out, and various items stolen.

I personally counted 20 vehicles that had been broken into.  It was heart-wrenching to see the broken hearts of the scouts and their parents as they walked up to their cars, only to find their good deeds that earned them the tickets quashed in mere seconds by some mindless thugs.

Please use good judgement where you park when attending any function downtown.  It appears that overzealous tow truck operators are not the only predators crawling around down there.

OJ Simpson will be sentenced tomorrow after being convicted of 12 felonies for his involvement in a robbery of 2 sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.

He is looking at the possibility of life in prison, but will definitely serve time.

On the other side of the coin, Denise Brown (sister of OJ's murdered wife) was recently hired as a guard for the Nevada Department of Corrections.

Hmmm...that's about as good as it gets!

I saw some of the footage of the suspected graves that our city's finest uncovered down in a homeless camp at the West Bottoms yesterday, and was a little bit shocked at their over-zealous attempts to locate bodies.

Any good Boy Scout would have recognized those structures in a second.....I think what our police investigators were excavating were good old-fashioned PIT PRIVIES.  Yes, the police officers could have been wallowing in a big-ole pile of "FUNK" that wasn't located in City Hall!!

I just read that Mayor Funkhouser has been conducting more and more city meetings at his home, since the City Council passed the ordinance that prevents Gloria from being at City Hall.

I think I can see where this is going...

(For those overly sensitive blog readers, the following is an attempt at sarcasm!)

I think Mr. Mayor and Gloooooria, G-L-O-R-I-A should get their jammies on, and conduct all city related business from their bed, until the Council repeals the ordinance (or simply call "do overs" like they did to the voter approved light rail plan).....It worked for John and Yoko.

I just read the story of a 12 year old Florida girl who was called a racist, because she wore a pink "Go Sarah Go" shirt to school.

The girl was volunteering at the Republican Party headquarters, and received the shirt as a gift from fellow volunteers.

Next thing you know, plans for race riots will be underway for all major cities in the US, just in case Obama loses the election...

Mike Hendricks had an article in the KC Star asking how the crime in Westport can be reduced.

This is very simple......customers should STOP GOING THERE!

No customers means the owners will either take action, or insist on it.  With that, the police can focus on the real problem, the scores of underage "thugs" that have no business being there in the first place.  Once the streets are clear of these "thugs," there will be nobody left, and that will be the community's sign that it is once again safe for "normal" people to enjoy the area.

Isn't that what the community did with Bannister Mall?  It worked there!  Now they get to start over, and will hopefully avoid their permissive mistakes that created the problem in the first place.

The Westport leaders need to be allowed to enforce their St. Patrick's day policy year-round.  Close off the streets, armband customers that are old enough to be in the bars, and if someone's  under age - go away! 

Las Vegas had to do it with their "Fremont Street experience," and it worked wonders.  Now tourists can safely walk most areas in downtown without fear of getting "jacked."

After watching the coverage on the KC Parks Board "putting their foot down" with regards to the Cordish Company and their enforcement of a dress code (at least they are enforcing their rules!!), the city better watch out!

If I were a Senior manager with the Cordish Company, I'd tell the city of KC to take a flying leap off a short road, and manage the Power & Light District themselves, if they are so good at it.

It would take less than 1 year, and the Power & Light district would become Bannister Mall II...

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the Boy Scouts and leaders killed or injured by the tornado that struck the Little Sioux Boy Scout reservation in Iowa.

This is a huge tragedy in itself, but the death toll could have been much higher had it not been for the emergency preparedness training the Scouts and leaders had participated in just 3 days prior to the storm.

As an Emergency Preparedness coordinator for a local Boy Scout troop, I know first-hand how difficult it is to get young people (and their parents) to take emergency planning seriously.  This includes "being prepared" for severe weather events, by conducting tornado and fire drills.  The standard reaction seems to be that any preparation is overkill and unnecessary, let alone building emergency supply kits, and having a plan in place in case of an actual emergency.

Would you know what to do?  Please take the time to honestly answer this question, and if there is any doubt, you owe it to yourself to take the time to develop a plan of action.  It just might save your life and the lives of your loved ones.

Part of our troop's emergency preparedness training program included a date with Joe Lauria and Karli Ritter for some weather training.  Thanks Fox 4, for being a part of our program.

Just caught a news bit that Bob Irwin, father of the late, great Steve Irwin, is walking away from the Australia Zoo, the place he and his wife started years ago and the springboard for Steve's fame and fortune, commenting that he had become a "disrupting influence." 

It's bad enough that Mr. Irwin has lost his wife and his son to such tragic circumstances, but now to have to leave the very place that was "home" for his family is heart-breaking.

What is Terri Irwin thinking?  To top it off, she and the Australia Zoo are also defendents in a lawsuit by creditors, who are trying to recover $2.3 million in unpaid bills.

How unfortunate.   

Now that all is right with the world, and Morgan Brown will be allowed to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, I'm happy.  Good luck Morgan!

Now the ironic twist to the whole thing.  I once participated in Spelling Bees myself, and won a local contest by correctly spelling the word "bureaucracy."

Yesterday, when feverishly pounding out my blog title- I had to look it up!  It's a bummer getting old...

Have a great day everyone!

I do not know Paige Kimble, and most likely will never be "blessed" in my lifetime to know her.  But I can honestly say right now that my dislike for her is only topped by my dislike for the "Scripps beueaucracy bee," more commonly referred to as an "educational program."

Yes, Ms. Kimble, you should be proud of the lessons you are teaching the youth in our country!  Study real hard, know your spelling words, win a local contest, and then learn how bureaucrats can squash any hopes and dreams you may have with one quick wag of the tongue or stroke of the pen.

Isn't society's lessons for young people already screwed up enough, that now some organization has to teach our young people that "clerical errors" are their responsibility, even though they had nothing to do with submitting the correct entry (and the $99 registration fee of course).

Morgan Brown has earned the right to compete in the national spelling bee.  I think it would be interesting for the girl and her family to show up anyway, and see what the press is more interested in covering.  ESPN should consider pulling all coverage of this farce of a contest and give Scripps a dose of their own medicine.

Too bad the almighty $99 registration fee rules all!

Keep you chin up Morgan, you're still a champ in my book!!!

After seeing the smattering of reports of relatively young adults succumbing to the flu, I have started to ask a few questions, trying to see just how bad this strain is that is going around KC.

Some startling information has come to light recently.  One retirement center in the community has posted a sign reading "Enter at your own Risk," because the vast majority of residents have the flu.

A local company's newsletter recently included condolences to six staff members who lost a different loved one or friend to the flu.

This illness is not just claiming the lives of the young and old, but people in the 30's & 40's. 

Frightening, isn't it?

It would be interesting to see a news story of just how bad this strain of flu is, compared to past years. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23166344

Look's like the Pentagon is going to celebrate the 4th of July early.  They are planning to destroy this thing with missiles before it enters the atmosphere....could be an incredible light show.