So, how did KC fulfill its Giant Steps wish list?
Remember that flash in the pan known as the 10 Giant Steps? Announced in 2000 as part of the Kansas City sesquicentennial, 10 Giant Steps was the Five Big Ideas of its day x 2. It was padded with...
View ArticleKC needs to get cookin' on this idea
Granted, more important things are on the civic agenda. But don't be stupid, Kansas City. Here's George Vesel with this great idea to create a national barbecue museum and hall of fame.
View ArticleNo money for a family vacation? So what?
Even if it bankrupts us -- and it just might -- my wife, daughter and I are hitting the road sometime this summer to go somewhere, anywhere, credit cards in hand.
View ArticleSkating and taxes make a gnarly pair in Roeland Park
Yet another problem TIF project. Only instead of some downtown boondoggle, our story concerns 7,000 square feet of suburban concrete in Roeland Park that might be jack hammered to bits unless some...
View ArticleJoCo leaders are a whiter shade of pale
If you've been keeping up with the census numbers, you're well aware of Johnson County's growing diversity. Surely those changes are reflected in the county's leadership, right? Wrong.
View ArticleWhite guy catches heck for column
Jerk. Loudmouth. Moron. I've been called all those things. Occasionally, there have even been compliments. But on her program the other night, a local talk radio host called me "one of the whitest...
View ArticleHaters need to give soccer a chance
Go to a game at Livestrong Sporting Park. Admire the new digs, sure, but also take time to appreciate the skill and athleticism on the pitch. That's what converted me from soccer hater to soccer fan...
View ArticleAt long last, Katy Trail is getting closer to KC
Folks up and down the line in western Missouri are hoping the Rock Island will be an economic engine again -- as a hiking and biking trail connecting Kansas City to the statewide Katy Trail, which, at...
View ArticleHypocrisy, like cigarette smoke, fills the air
You know that old saying about the law being an ass? The casino exemption in Kansas City's smoking ban is a perfect example. If the aim of the ban is to ensure healthy workplaces, then how do you...
View ArticleTimes change, but the rules shouldn't
As now-former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner would tell you, the Internet can be a weapon of self-destruction. But it also works the other way. Anyone can go online and say anything about anybody...
View ArticleTough to move forward with backward-thinking leaders
Mom always said I was special. Now the Brookings Institution agrees. You see, I live within a block of a suburban bus stop and can be at our downtown office in less than an hour. Whereas most Kansas...
View ArticleVictory would leave abortion foes speechless
It must be frustrating when you win big but can't take your victory lap. That's the position anti-abortion activists in Kansas find themselves in. Here they are on the cusp of what may be a major victory.
View ArticleKansas City Zoo's wild tax idea just might work
The Kansas City Zoo is galaxies better than before the big redo 20 years ago, though still not on par with the zoos in Omaha and St. Louis -- but zoo officials think they'll get there if voters pass a...
View ArticleWhy would at-risk teens need to know about condoms?
It's been a busy summer so far in the Kansas culture wars. This week in Olathe, it was the battle over "the condom on the cucumber." Our thanks to Kansans for Life spokeswoman Mary Kay Culp for the...
View ArticleMoney will be spent, but not here
While it sounds noble to turn away federal money that increases the national debt, the $323,575 public health care grant that Johnson County commissioners voted down last week was already allocated and...
View ArticleMaking Hale Cook Elementary part of the Waldo family
Back-to-school sales are just around the corner. But no new backpacks will hang from the pegs at Hale Cook Elementary School this fall. That effort to reopen Hale Cook I told you about last winter? It...
View ArticleTime for the big boys to step up on skywalks memorial
The fund to pay for a memorial to victims of the Hyatt skywalks collapse is not quite halfway to its $800,000 goal. Isn't that a little sad and a lot pathetic? Much of that shortfall could easily be...
View ArticleOverland Park plays taps for former military vehicles
With all the staff cuts, you'd think Overland Park bureaucrats would have less time to meddle in people's business. Yet city officials recently crafted an ordinance aimed at outlawing former military...
View ArticleKansas congressman's town hall includes a bouncer
The conservative website Political Chips billed it as "Kevin Yoder's Town Hall," which implies an open event where just anybody could come on in and jaw with the Republican congressman from Kansas' 3rd...
View ArticleRead it before you ban it
If he were still alive, I imagine Kurt Vonnegut would roll his eyes at the thought that "Slaughterhouse-Five," his 1969 book about young men dying for a cause they couldn't fathom was deemed unfit for...
View ArticleAfter 1,900-plus columns, a return to my roots
For the past 14½ years, I've given you my take on the news of the day. From now on, look for my byline as a full-time reporter for The Star, covering local government on both sides of the state line.
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