Happy Thanksgiving Kansas City - From Kansas City News

From all of us at Kansas City News, we want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving Kansas City!

Kansas City has it's share of problems, and we complain about them frequently on this site.  But we choose to live here for a reason.  We've all had plenty of chances to move away, California, Arizona, Florida, Texas (well, maybe not Texas) but we stayed for some reason.  Since today is Thanksgiving I think that it would be a good time to go over some of the great things about Kansas City and the people who live here.

The "Stop to Help Change a Tire" Theory
There are many cities that move much faster than Kansas City, people are in a hurry, no time to talk or to pay attention to what is going on around them.  Our people tend to stay in one place for years, get to know their neighbors, get to know the grocery store clerk's name, say "hi" to each other on the street, check in on an elderly neighbor (a neighbor of mine just delivered a covered dish to an elderly woman who lives next door to me just as I was writing this!) - and I can't even count how many times a complete stranger has stopped to help someone with a jump start or to help change a tire.  That is what is great about Kansas City.

Charity Organizations
Kansas City has so many charity functions going on that it is impossible to keep up with them.  Almost every day of the year some charity in the city has something going on.  Our small and large businesses give enormous amounts of time and attention to our local and national charity organizations, and that is what is great about Kansas City.

The Success of the Power and Light District and The Sprint Center
For my entire life growing up here in Kansas City, I can't remember visiting downtown Kansas City for ANY reason.  Our downtown area was a vacant, abandoned smear of old partially demolished buildings, bums on the street, idiotic one-way streets (well, ok, the stupid one-way streets are still there), and the only reason anyone ever went downtown was to visit one of the government buildings - whether by choice or by force.  Today we see a completely different downtown with the addition of the Sprint Center and the Power and Light District.  We were skeptical at first, we are Kansas Citians after all and we don't accept change very easily, but the district is flourishing and it is affecting the entire downtown area.  Old buildings are being bought up and restored, new condos and restaurants are opening up, and we have the biggest names in the world touring through the Sprint Center.

Family and Friends
And for whatever reason our families decided to settle here, we must have come to the same conclusion - that Kansas City is a pretty good place to hang your hat.  So today let's take a minute and be thankful that all of our friends and family are with us and we all share this wonderful city in the stout but modest Midwest.

Mark Funkhouser is infuriated over jobs leaving Kansas City and moving to Kansas.

Mark Funkhouser says he is infuriated over companies leaving Kansas City and moving to the Kansas side. He blames the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce...yikes. He blames the PEAK program which gives incentives for businesses to relocate to Kansas. He blames Jefferson City, and he blames (do you see a pattern here yet?) everyone but himself.

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (Come on, Come on, Swing it!), need to decide if keeping jobs and companies in Kansas City is a priority. If it is, then compete. Don't go blame everyone else under the sun because you have problems that need fixing. Get off your tail piece and do something. Being infuriated or saying that Kansas taking your jobs is "nuts" doesn't help anything. If you are getting your azz kicked by Kansas, then fight back! If Mark Funkhouser's biggest 'hmmmpf' is to tell Kansas that after they pick off all your big companies and move them to the Kansas side (like AMC), that they will realize that the money they spent to lure those companies to Kansas would have been better spent on schools and infrastructure, then you have been wussified and shouldn't be mayor.

I am pretty sure the revenue cities will generate from the newly poached companies from Missouri will help pay for education and infrastructure in their state while you letting them go to Kansas because you don't have a testicle left to fight with will shrink your budget and make your pot holes bigger. Quit crying about your problems to your wife and the rest of us. Quit expecting someone else to solve your problems. Get out there and do the things that need to be done to give incentives to either keep companies in Kansas City or even better, steal them from Kansas!

Black Friday Deals are Plentiful This Year

Get your shopping shoes on Kansas City, Black Friday is only hours away. The insanity gets underway early Friday Morning and in some cases earlier. Retail analysts say this year there could be even better bargains than usual as consumers confidence in the economy grows. Here is a run down of some major retailers specials.

Wal Mart: most Supercenters are open 24 hours, Black Friday deals start at midnight on for most items except electronics; those specials get underway at 5AM. Some examples: many popular video games regularly priced in the $60 range for $29 (those deals start at midnight). In electronics, a 32" HD TV for $198, Blu-Ray Player $69, Digital Photo Frames and MP3 players for $29. For your full Wal Mart ad, click here.

Target: opens at 4AM Friday for their 2 day sale, bargains include: 7"portable DVD player $49, Select DVDs $3.99, Free $10 Gift card with purchase of $100. See full ad here.

Toys-R-Us: Toys R Us is beating everyone to the punch, their Door Busters start at 10PM on Thanksgiving Night. $50 gift card with purchase of any new IPod Touch, Half off Toy Story 3 Talking Buzz Lightyear, Many other items 60-75% off. Check it here.

Best Buy: Best Buy is taking a unique approach. They will be handing out tickets for specific items starting at 3AM outside their stores. Presumably this will help cut down on pandemonium inside the stores for the hottest deals. $600 Fascinate mobile phones for free with 2yr activation, full featured Toshiba Laptop $189, 50" Panasonic Plasma TV $699. Full Ad here.

Have fun, but for God's sake people please act civilized.

North Korea bombs South Korea

North Korea bombs South Korea because they know the only thing at the end of that string is...Barack the magic "Menstruator".

Kim Jong-il bombed South Korea today because he knew that even at the ripe old age of 70, he could beat Barack Obama in either a slap fight or a bikini wrestling match in jello (the only way Barack knows how to fight if it would ever come to that). Since Barack has conditioned Kim Jong-il to have zero consequences for any action that would affect the world or our country in particular, the leader of North Korea now does whatever he likes.

In his defense, Barack did announce today that he will pull Kim Jong-il's hair if he ever sees him in public, boink him in the eyes like Moe used to do from the Three Stooges, and tweak his nipples just like the only thing that hurts worse than a hurricane (a titty twister).

The best part is that North Korea has more nuclear enrichment facilities than Iran, is closer to firing a nuclear weapon than Iran, and is winning the contest to see who can kill the most of their own people without the rest of the world knowing...oh that Kim Jong-il...he is such a card.

And just so you don't miss it and the point isn't obvious, repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell is just the first step in creating the world's largest slap fighting, hair pulling, name calling, well dressed, well groomed, fabulous group of ruffians with those gun things to go fight for Obama the world has ever seen.

Dearest Barack, may your balls push out the string so that North Korea thinks twice before screwing with our allies.

Please enjoy this video of what a fight would look like between Barack Obama and Kim Jong-il...of course there would be mankinis instead of bikinis. Peace...

KCP&L Gets Rate Increase for Kansas Customers

If you are a KCP&L customer in Kansas, your rates are about to go up. The Kansas Corporation Commision (the commission that oversees utility companies and their rate requests) ruled on Monday that the Utility can raise their rates to Kansas Customers by 4.5%. The increase translates into about $22 million annually. KCP&L had asked for a rate increase of more than double that, but the commission was unimpressed. The Rates will go up effective December 1 and will cost the average Kansas Customer around $50 annually. KCP&L also lost its battle to impose a separate charge on customers bills to pay for environmental upgrades.

KCP&L did have a request for Executive Bonuses approved. This action upset some consumer advocates who argued that cost overruns on the new power plant near Weston, MO were the result of mismanagement and executives should not be rewarded for it. The mismanagement of the Iatan 2 power plant was prominent in the negotiations with the Commission - and will certainly be an issue in the upcoming meeting with Missouri next year. KCP&L has asked for a 14% rate increase on Missouri customers, and the Missouri Public Services Commission is expected to rule on that in 2011. We will keep you updated.