Hyatt Skywalk Collapse 30 Year Memorial Design Unveiled

I can't believe that it has been 30 years since the Hyatt Skywalk Collapse. I remember that night well, watching from the TV at grandma and grandpa's house as rescuers ran in and out of the dust and fire, rescuing as many victims as they could. 114 people lost their lives and 216 were injured in Hyatt walkway collapse on July 17th, 1981. At the time and for several years to come, this was the world's largest and deadliest structural collapse in history. The collapse was the result of a faulty change in the skywalk design plans by the Havens Steel Company.

Much like a surreal scene from one of Jack Torrence's fantasy segments in "The Shining", the Hyatt was hosting a formal tea party dance that night. A live Kansas City jazz band was performing, cocktails were flowing and dancing was underway. With over 1,500 guests in attendance, this was quite a gallant affair. At the time The Hyatt was the most prestigious and elegant hotel in Kansas City and the skywalk was one of it's main attractions.

The basic structure of the Hyatt skywalk consisted of 3 suspended open atrium walkways that were about 120 feet long, overlooked the lobby below, and weighed about 64,000 pounds each. The highest fourth floor walkway was suspended directly above the 2nd floor walkway, with the 3rd floor walkway offset from the other two by a few meters. So the lobby of the Hyatt was an open 4 story atrium with 3 open "skywalks" where guests could stand and watch the activities below. At 7:05pm, with that party going strong, there were about 20 people on the fourth floor skywalk and about 40 people on the second floor skywalk when the fourth floor skywalk broke loose from the wall, came down directly on top of the 2nd floor skywalk, and then both skywalks came crashing down to the floor below, instantly killing 111 people and injuring 216. 3 more victims died later in the hospital. The following aftermath lasted 14 hours and included fireman, police and several emergency physicians from nearby hospitals. The rescue operation involved setting up a temporary "morgue" in an adjacent area, and an onsite triage area for those too dangerously injured to be moved. Anyone who was able to walk was told to evacuate immediately, and those trapped under the walkways who were injured fatally were given morphine and told that they were probably going to die. One brave man, who's legs were trapped, authorized the on-site amputation of his legs in order to free him, but he died before they could get him to the hospital due to loss of blood.

In the aftermath of this horror, a group of concerned citizens called the Skywalk Memorial Foundation and family and friends of those who died in the Hyatt skywalk collapse have organized an effort to erect a monument in Hospital Hill at 22nd and Gillham. Today, on the 30th anniversary of the Hyatt skywalk collapse, the foundation unveiled the design for the $800,000 memorial. They are hoping to have the memorial completed by the 31st anniversary of the collapse next year.

Our First Real Hate Mail !!

Here at Kansas City News we pride ourselves in creating controversy, bearing naked truths, and pulling the wool OFF of the eyes of the people.  In our quest to tell the news like it is instead of candy coating it, we often run into resistance and even hatred from some readers.  With this premise I present to you, OUR FIRST HATE LETTER!!

Here is the letter in verbatim:

To whom it may concern:

As a veteran journalist, I just wanted to give you some insight on what it appears you're trying to do.

You cannot "tell the news like it is" if you're just scraping the material off the other news organizations' websites in the metro. If you're "news writers" or "bloggers" are not on the scene, talking to the sources themselves then how do you expect them to write with authority on any of these subjects or news items?

You do, realize, that when you express your opinion, you are stating your bias. You cannot write an opinion that is without bias. By nature, the opinion is stating your bias.

I'm not sure what "candy coat" (not hyphenated because those words are not double modifying any words that follow it in the sentence) you are talking about. If anything, the local news stations sensationalize things and make a bigger deal out of things than they really are. They do not candy coat the news.

And really, you're paying $50 for four paragraphs of someone's random thoughts on news in Kansas City? A freelancer doing actual reporting work is lucky to make that (depending on the market and type of story). Unless you have some money-making scheme (see how money and making both modify scheme to prompt the hyphen) or are obscenely rich, I don't know how you're going to afford that for very long. Please, please, please do not say you're innovative approach is to make money off advertising because that is the actual business plan for most publications. The cost of a subscription to a newspaper or to pick it up out of the rack/newsstand doesn't even cover the cost of the actual raw materials to produce the paper - let alone the labor or overhead costs.

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm also hinting that you should brush up on your grammar to ensure clean writing on these blogs.

I just thought I'd give you a few pointers for your little start up.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Cynic Journalist

Ok, and here is our AWESOME response:

(From Kansas City News)  Well, you sir are a real treat!  And you are also an idiot.  No real journalist in Kansas City would have time to sit down and write this email to us.  But alas, let's play your game and start with YOUR grammatical errors.  See highlighted below:

To whom it may concern:

As a veteran journalist, I just wanted to give you some insight on what it appears you're trying to do.  You sir, are NO veteran journalist.

You cannot "tell the news like it is" if you're just scraping the material off the other news organizations' websites in the metro. If you're "news writers" or "bloggers" are not on the scene, talking to the sources themselves then how do you expect them to write with authority on any of these subjects or news items?  Question, have you ever heard of the internet?  Are you from 1965 or something (hey Johnny, yeah see, let's go get the scoop from Sammy down on 3rd street, yeah he's a real wise guy see)?

You do, realize, that when you express your opinion, you are stating your bias. You cannot write an opinion that is without bias. By nature, the opinion is stating your bias.

I'm not sure what "candy coat" (not hyphenated because those words are not double modifying any words that follow it in the sentence) you are talking about. If anything, the local news stations sensationalize things and make a bigger deal out of things than they really are. They do not candy coat the news.  The "candy coating" that we're referring to is the politically correct manner in which the local news stations use to relay the news.  If there are 400 black kids from the ghetto on the plaza at night in front of the movie theater causing a riot, then there are 400 black kids on the plaza causing a riot, NOT "400 teenagers" as the news puts it.  If the crowd is made up of black teenagers from the ghetto then that is what the news should report.

And really, you're paying $50 for four paragraphs of someone's random thoughts on news in Kansas City? A freelancer doing actual reporting work is lucky to make that (depending on the market and type of story). Well, we have a lot of money because we know what we're doing, apparently unlike yourself.  The news online is not about the news at all, it's about getting web traffic and generating ad revenue.  You see, there's this thing in the world called money, and with money you get power, and with power you can tell the news any damn way you want to.  It's a beautiful thing.  Unless you have some money-making scheme (see how money and making both modify scheme to prompt the hyphen) or are obscenely rich, I don't know how you're going to afford that for very long. Please, please, please do not say you're innovative approach is to make money off advertising because that is the actual business plan for most publications. The cost of a subscription to a newspaper or to pick it up out of the rack/newsstand doesn't even cover the cost of the actual raw materials to produce the paper - let alone the labor or overhead costs.  Newspaper?  Newsstand?  Haha, you ARE from the 50's man.  What the hell is this newspaper item that you speak of?

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm also hinting that you should brush up on your grammar to ensure clean writing on these blogs.  You made more grammatical errors in this email than you found in my post.

I just thought I'd give you a few pointers for your little start up.  We would like to give you a few pointers as well, switch hands every once in awhile when you masturbate so you don't get carpal tunnel, you douche bag.

Sincerely,

Kansas City News

Bernard Jackson Convicted of 1980s Waldo Rapes

It only took 4 hours of jury deliberation to convict Bernard Jackson of 18 total counts of Rape, sodomy, and robbery. During the trial, the prosecution relied heavily on DNA evidence saved from the almost thirty year old cases to convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. None of the victims that took the stand could positively identify Jackson because they were blindfolded, but all told similar stories of threats with a gun and robbery during the rapes.

Bernard Jackson, it seems, is a lifelong rapist. He was first sent to prison on a rape conviction in 1977 at 19 years of age. When he got out six years later, the crimes he was just convicted of took place, as well as another attack that he plead guilty to in 1985. He was sentenced to 30 years then, but was paroled in December of 2008.

He is also a suspect in the 2009 through 2010 series of attacks in the Waldo area. Do you see a pattern developing here? Finally he will be put away for good. Too bad they didn't castrate him after the second rape conviction.

Man Charged in 11 Year Old's Death on Fourth

Take a look at this Dumb Fuck. Aaron Sullivan, 50, of Kansas City, has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Fourth of July death of 11 year old Blair Lane. For those of you not following this story already, Blair was killed by a stray bullet while lighting fireworks in an east Kansas City neighborhood. The assumption was that some dumbass was celebrating the Fourth by shooting in the air like a West Virginia Hillbilly.

Four men admitted to taking turns firing the gun that investigators linked to the bullet that killed the little girl. The weapon was a 9mm Glock belonging to Sullivan. He turned the gun over to the police earlier this week for testing.

Grown men, fifty years old, firing a gun indiscriminately. Unbelievable. And why are they not charging the three other geniuses? Hopefully charges are pending on them as well. Sullivan is currently being held on $25,000 bond.

And WTF is he looking at in that mug shot? Is he already keeping an eye out for the prison rapists? Enjoy your time in the slammer, dipshit!

US Women Advance To World Cup Final

After a dramatic, come-from-behind win over Brazil in the quarterfinals, many feared the US women's team would have a let down in their semifinal matchup against France. Despite some inconsistent play, USA was able to pull away late for a 3-1 victory.

Abby Wambach has emerged as one of the most clutch players in the world, and her performance against France added to the reputation. Wambach sent a header into the back of the net in the 79th minute to break a 1-1 tie. It was Wambach who scored the game-tying goal against Brazil to force penalty kicks - the latest goal scored in the history of the women's world cup. Alex Morgan broke through France's defense and added another goal minutes later, wrapping up a finals berth for USA.

The trip to the finals will be team USA's first since 1999, the year the Americans defeated China to win the cup. Up next for the Americans is either Sweden - who beat the US in the group stage - or Japan. The final will be held on Sunday.