I have always loved the Thanksgiving Day Kansas City Star. It is the biggest, fattest paper of the year, and when I was a reporter, I always wanted to have a story in that edition, preferably on A1 or the front of the Local section.
As usual, this year’s edition offers a variety of interesting things that will improve the quality of your lives and enhance your Thanksgiving Day…I think.
Let’s start with the paper itself…
A Load of Thanks
Today’s paper weighed in at an even five pounds, most of it advertising sections. If you combine advertising and circulation revenue, today’s paper probably generated more than $1 million.
The Star’s debt-ridden owner, McClatchy Corp., based in Sacramento, is very grateful.
Wishing and Hoping
A Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives — Noel Torpey of Independence — is planning to lead the charge for ethics reform in the Missouri General Assembly. Missouri, in case you didn’t know, has the loosest ethics laws — virtually none — in the nation. There are no restrictions on gifts from lobbyists; lawmakers can accept campaign donations of any size; they can become lobbyists the day they leave office; and — and this I didn’t know — legislative staffers can work as paid political consultants during the legislative session. Just in case Noel’s bill doesn’t fly, some people (led by a Democratic strategist) have already prepared an initiative petition that would go to the voters in two years.
It hurts me deeply to say I don’t have confidence in our Republican-dominated legislature, but I think it’s odds-on that we’ll be voting on the initiative ballot measure.
Nice Touch
Former Royals player Billy Butler took out a full-page ad in today’s Star, expressing gratitude for his 10-year run — more than any other current Royal has logged. “Thank you for the amazing ride!” was the headline on the ad. Above a photo of Billy, his wife Katie and their two daughters was a paragraph, which ended with this: “There will always be a part of us that will #BEROYAL.”
We all hope you have great success — and find acceptable barbecue — in Oakland, Billy.
Visit What?
The business page featured an article on Ronnie Burt, the new president of the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association. But the headline said, “Head of Visit KC marks progress.” Not recognizing the term “Visit KC,” used as a proper noun, I almost didn’t read the story. Turns out the Convention & Visitors Association has changed its name.
Hmmm. What was wrong with the original name — Convention & Visitors Bureau? That’s what it is, after all, a bureau, the division of the city that promotes tourism. I don’t think I’m the only person who’s going to find the new name confusing and problematic.
Killer Bags
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has demanded that Takata, the Japanese supplier of poorly designed and potentially dangerous air bags, expand its recall of cars with faulty bags. Takata has resisted expanding the recall beyond the hot and humid areas where its air-bag inflators are thought to become more volatile.
I’ve already sworn off GM products because of the company’s 10-year cover-up of faulty ignition switches, but I don’t know how I’m going to put a personal dent in Takata’s business.
It Was Just a Murder…Whatever
Finally, Glenn E. Rice reported that a 37-year-old Kansas Citian named Christopher S. Deboe has been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a man he accused of sleeping with his wife, while he — Deboe — was in prison. (He recently got out.) After the shooting, Deboe called 911 and dutifully reported, “Somebody just got shot.” (Note the passive voice.) The call taker then asked a follow-up question, to which Deboe replied: “Yeah, this guy just came in whatever, he had a gun whatever, we started fighting.”
Happy Thanksgiving, Christopher! And good luck in the future, wherever you go and whatever you do.
Thanks for a much needed dose of gratitude, Jim! Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Same to you and Julie, Jim.
Yes, thanks, Jim, for all your hard work and in-depth reporting. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Patty, Brooks and Charley (Hope I got the names spelled right).
Cheers,
Laura
Charlie (you were close) got in at 6 a.m. today on a flight from Las Vegas, where he’s in a master’s program (environmental health physics) at UNLV. Great to have him here for the holiday…Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Laura…Keep those Star reunions going. (I hope Tom Eblen is doing OK.)
What’s wrong with Tom Eblen? Had I run into him sooner at KU I probably would have gone into some form of journalistic effort. His picture should be in the dictionary beside the word journalist.
Fitz,
Five pounds? Really? Was that a guess, or did you scientifically put it on your bathroom scales?
Thought your comments were a bit weak. I like it when you get stirred up…like how’s the new airport proposal doing?
I leave you with that. You and Patty have a great holiday season.
I’m glad you asked, John. Very scientific. Using a scale that registers to the two-tenths, I weighed myself. 187 pounds. Then, I picked up the paper and weighed again. Exactly 192. Finally, I got out the calculator and voila! (I’m thrilled to be under 190 on this Thanksgiving Day.)
…By the way, welcome back to the Comments Dept. I thought we’d lost you after you got run out of Oklahoma. After we get that new, $1 billion, single-terminal airport, I might fly you up here from Daytona so you can see what a state-of-the-art airport looks like.
Fitz,
I am leaving for Dakar, Senegal on Dec 8 and will visit Kent and Amy for a month. I will do a comment from Africa so you can add another country and continent to your blogees. I ain’t doing too bad for a poor guy!!
Should be a great trip for you, John. I hope all goes well. And yes, write from Africa. That would add an international flavor to the proceedings.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and our families Fitz. We are blessed.
Thanks, Larry. I hope you had a happy one, too.
Jim, I didn’t weigh the paper today, but I can tell you it was a handful trying to assemble it in the back of the van and get it up to the driver in the front so he could throw it. Hey, I enjoyed meeting you and Patty at Laura’s gathering back in October. Keep up the good work with your column.
Thanks, Rick. Delivering today’s paper would seem to be young men’s work all the way. Even at that, it could lead to a lot of shoulder and back strains…It was good to hear you’ve got full-time employment. Tell your Mom hello. Looks like both of you are doing well.
Ours came in two bags — news in one, ads in the other. And, yes, the latter far outweighed the former! Drive AND throw? Sounds challenging!
At least that made it easier on the young throwers. That’s a kindly carrier. I would think driving and throwing papers that size would be dangerous as well as difficult…Maybe I’ll tag along with my carrier someday and write a post about how it’s done.