Kidnapping and Bank Robbery in Overland Park

A bizarre story of kidnapping and bank robbery is unfolding in Overland Park this morning. According to Jim Weaver of the Overland Park Police Department, the victim, who is a 20yr old employee of the US Bank on 119th st near 69 Hwy, was abducted in the parking lot of his apartment complex last night. Supposedly, the robber/kidnapper took the man and his car to the bank early this morning where the employee opened up the bank and it was robbed.

The victim was found this morning by another employee opening up the bank at around 7:30AM. He had been beaten and was tied to a chair. An FBI spokesperson said the suspect is a white male, 6 feet tall, 180 pounds between 30 and 40 years old. He was last seen in a gray t-shirt driving the victim's light blue 2008 Chevy Aveo (nice car). No word on how much money was stolen.

This story sounds a little weird to me. An inside job maybe? In fact, I wouldn't at all be surprised if the "victim" in this case was also the perpetrator (or one of the perps). If I am wrong, this kid sure is lucky he wasn't killed. I'm sure we will know sometime in the near future. We will keep you posted here on Kansas City News.

Southwest High School Divided into Three Parts

Southwest High School to Divide into Three Separate Parts by Friday
by Kansas City News

Just as predicted, Kansas City's infamous "Right Size" plan has backfired.  In March 2010, The Kansas City Board of Education voted to close almost half of the city’s public schools, attempting to cut down on a $50 million deficit.  Nearly 300 Kansas City teachers lost their jobs, and several major schools were closed abruptly.  A local school, Southwest High School, has suffered immensely since this plan was put into action.  When the right-size plan went into action, Westport High School, located at 315 39th Street (in the deep ghetto) was closed and it's students were crammed in with the students at Southwest High School, located at 6512 Wornall (not so much in the ghetto, more like in the middle of Waldo).  This "blending" of students from the deep hood with students from the Waldo area caused a record-setting trend of violence.  Southwest High, becoming extremely overcrowded, crammed students into closed quarters with catastrophic results.  Police were called to the school 50 times in the first 36 days that the school was open!  Police officers were assaulted and injured, and the school was even set on fire at one point.

Miundrae Prince, Kansas City's Chief Acedemic Officer, and quite possibly former rapper, announced that Southwest High School would be divided into 3 sections to try to combat the discipline problems the school faces:

1.  Early College - not really sure what this means, but we're assuming that the school is hoping to rope all of the decent students into this section.

2.  Life and Engineering Sciences - or "manual tech" - This section probably resembles the classic vocational tech program that Kansas City schools have had for years which separated those who did not want to learn typical school subjects from the general population.  These students were often bussed away to learn how to work on cars, etc.  Or as Forest Gump's mother says "My boy isn't going to some special school to learn how to retread tires".  I remember the kids who attended the vocational program at our school, let's just say that none of them turned out to be white collar business professionals.

3.  Children as Individuals - This one makes absolutely no sense from the name alone, but district representatives (and former rappers) say that it is for students who want to study the "standards based education".  I'm guessing that this is the middle ground.

Students at Southwest High are given the choice of which program they wish to enroll in and they must decide by this Friday.  Three mothers of students were interviewed and they had mixed feelings - "Jovonda" said that she thought that it was a good idea, "Caseyona" said that she hoped that it would work, and lastly, "Lawanda" said that she did not think that it would solve anything at Southwest.  If the students are allowed to choose whatever section of the school that they want to attend, there will surely be a serious imbalance, as high school students mostly follow whatever their friends, girlfriends / boyfriends are doing.

Pedicab Service now offered in Downtown Kansas City

There is a new "green" way to get around Kansas City's hot spots. Tricycle Transit is a new company that started operations last Friday in the Crossroads District. The company operates Pedicabs similar to the one shown in the photo to the right. It's a bicycles operated by a driver and seats up to 3 people. Currently operations are limited to the Crossroads district and Westport, but they hope to expand in the near future to other areas including Waldo, River Market, and Zona Rosa. Fares are $2 per block no matter how many passengers.

With winter fast approaching, it may seem like a less than ideal time to start this type of operation. Owner/Operator Jay Matlack acknowledges this fact, but wants to have the operation fine tuned by Spring when he expects business to take off. I suppose if a passenger is sufficiently lubed up, the cold might not be a problem. I think come summertime they should employ hot chicks in bikini tops to drive the "tricycles".

Good luck to Jay on his new endeavor, I truly wish him luck. You can reach Tricycle Transit at 913-221-8768.

Chiefs And Tigers Let One Slip Away; KU Stages Greatest Comeback Never Seen

It can be debated who had a worse performance on Sunday in Oakland - the Refs or the football teams. Just your typical Raiders-Chiefs contest featuring 27 penalties, 2 fake punts, 6 fumbles, numerous terrible calls (for both sides) - a 4th down that was really a 1st down, and a kickoff return for a touchdown, oh yeah, and Overtime. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs by the score of 23-20 in a game that it seemed no one wanted to win. The Chiefs got off to a 10-0 First half lead that probably should have been a lot more as the Raiders made mistake after mistake that the Chiefs refused to take advantage of. A late second quarter field goal was nullified by a holding penalty on the Chiefs, and when the Raiders gave the ball right back after a terribly thrown pass was intercepted by Jon Mcgraw, the Chiefs failed once again to take advantage. The second half started with a Raiders kickoff return for a TD, and when the Chiefs coughed up the ensuing kickoff, it looked bad for our boys in red. Though the Chiefs righted the ship eventually in the second half to once again take the lead, they let the Raiders tie it up, and eventually win it in overtime.

My thoughts on the game:
-Cassel again was inaccurate most of the afternoon.
-Why can't our guy hit on the long ball? Every other quarterback in the league can throw a long ball with better accuracy than Matt Cassel. If he can't execute, stop calling the plays.
-The Chiefs defense did a nice job again, McFadden only had one long run and was contained well most of the day. Take out the KO Return TD and the Raiders only scored 16 on our D.
-I guess Charles was nicked up a little, but he needs to see more carries, he averaged 5yds/Carry to Jones's less than 2.
-This wasn't the disciplined Chiefs team that we have seen this year, but I guess playing the Raiders, a little of that is going to rub off.
-The Refereeing this year has been hideous - particularly Pass Interference calls, and can we at least get the down right? Is that too much to ask?

All is not lost for the Chiefs, they still have the lead in the AFC West, and a very winnable game coming in Denver. With all the parity in the NFL, it should be a fun ride.

Speaking of quarterbacks that can't throw the long ball, Missouri's Blaine Gabbert had a terrible night in Lubbock on Saturday going just 12 for 30 and only 95 yards. After the Tigers broke two long runs for touchdowns in the first quarter, they inexplicably stopped running and started throwing. Gabbert couldn't hit anybody and Missouri's defense wore down in the second half. The Texas Tech Red Raiders shut down Mizzou on route to a 24-17 victory effectively ending Missouri's chances for a Big 12 North title.

KU rattled off 35 unanswered 4th quarter points to stun the Colorado Buffaloes in Lawrence on Saturday afternoon. It was the biggest comeback in Jayhawk history in a game that almost no one saw. Announced attendance was over 40,000, but from highlights I've seen that is a generous estimate and there was no TV coverage. The Jayhawks have been up and mostly down for the year,but they have shown signs of life lately. Of course Colorado is terrible (winless in the Big 12 this year), so who knows.

Chiefs Raiders 2010 - The Rivalry Continues

Chiefs Raiders 2010 - The Rivalry Continues
by Kansas City News

As the AFC West standings reveal, the only two teams left standing in this division are The Kansas City Chiefs and The Los Angeles Raiders.  The Chiefs are a stellar 5 and 2 and the lowly Raiders are only 4 and 4 due to a recent streak of luck that has befallen them.  So basically, even if the Chiefs lose this game they are still in first place, uncontested.  However if the Chiefs can pound the Raiders back into reality, then they will be a lock for a playoff birth in the AFC.

The Chiefs / Raiders rivalry goes way back to the 60's when the Chiefs, led by Hall of Fame coach Hank Stramm, and the Raiders led by the ever-animated John Madden, were constantly battling it out for the top spot and helped to put the NFL on the map.  The Chiefs, of course went on to win Super Bowl IV in 1970, thus showing their overall superiority.

Las Vegas has the Line pick for The Kansas City Chiefs to win over the Raiders with a spread of 2.5 and a total of 44 points.  I don't think that this game will see 44 points as the 2010 season has shown us that when two high scoring teams meet, the score goes low.  If you're out in Vegas, or betting online, definitely take the under on this game.  This will be a defensive battle, although I do predict most of the scoring to occur early in the game.  Amazingly enough, history shows that if the Raiders score first, they are more likely to lose.  Interesting fact.

The Kansas City Chiefs have the number 1 rushing game in the NFL, and they will relentlessly run against an unpredictable Raiders rushing defense.  Plan on seeing more of Tony Moeaki in this game, as well as sleeper receiver Terrance Copper.  On the Raider's side of the ball they have a BIG problem with super star shut-down corner Nnamdi Asomugha out for the game, and adding to their troubles will be the absense of one Zach Miller, who has been a big part of their recent success.

Ryan Lilja, our prized O-Lineman will be returning to duty this week which should really get that running game moving "early and often" as my old partner Mr. Wonderful would say.  I'm almost relieved that this game isn't being played in Kansas City, at least we won't have to be reminded of how much trash and ghetto folk live here when they all show up at Arrowhead (how do they afford tickets?) in their Raiders Jerseys, poor nasty trash - all of them.  I have good friends who usually serve Mexican cuisine at their tailgate party when the Raiders are in town, nice!