JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

It’s a beautiful, warm day in Kansas City, and, except for a slight crick in the neck, JimmyC feels good — mighty glad to be alive and writing.

And yet…Jimmy is puzzled and troubled by a number of things.

For example, he wants to know:

:: Why is the Kansas City Fire Department trying to shovel part of the blame for the JJ’s explosion onto…JJ’s?

According to a police and fire department report released yesterday, the area of origin the fire was listed as “cooking area, kitchen.”

Pardon me, but shouldn’t that have read: “Punctured gas line, alley”?

A story in The Star today goes on to say that “firefighters arriving on the scene before the explosion said they instructed JJ’s workers to extinguish flames on the candles, stove and water heater.”

The day after the explosion, the restaurant manager told fire investigator Thomas Kievlan that employees put the candles out and turned the stove off but did not turn off the stove or water-heater pilot lights.

Just gotta ask here: WHY THE HELL DIDN’T THE FIRE DEPARTMENT GO IN AND MAKE SURE ALL THE IGNITION SOURCES WERE TURNED OFF?

I get the impression that some fire fighter stuck his head in the restaurant door and said, “Hey, you’d better blow out the candles and turn the stove off” or maybe, “You’d better make sure all ignition sources are off.” Even if it was the latter, it’s easy to understand how workers would overlook pilot lights.

Fire fighters, if they had done their jobs properly, wouldn’t have overlooked them, though.

:: How will the city ever get control of the Police Department while an outgoing police board  commissioner is co-chairman of a committee charged with studying the issue of local control? 

A story posted today on The Star’s website quotes Mayor Sly James as saying: “We have assembled fair-minded, equally wise Kansas Citians to weigh this complex issue.”

The co-chairmen are former Mayor Kay Barnes (good) and former Police Board President Pat McInerney (bad). I’ve never heard a single police commissioner who has had anything good to say about local control. And why should they like the idea? They’re the people who have, nominally, controlled the department. (Actually, the police department bureaucracy is in charge.)

:: What prompted H&R Block to notify clients through Facebook about errors it made that will delay tax returns for possibly hundreds of thousands of people?

One client, Dustin Munson, told The Star: “I have been patiently waiting for my education credit refund, which I need to pay tuition bills. I was aghast to learn of the delay ON THE INTERNET and not from communication issued from your company…”

The question of WHY left Block’s director of communication, Gene King, pleading “no comment,” according to The Star.

Facebook? Well, all I can say is H&R Block is really up to date on its social media.

:: How will Kansas City Southern’s decision to not allow commuter trains to use its tracks affect County Executive Mike Sanders’ political ambitions?

Earlier, KC Southern had agreed to allow commuter trains to run on its tracks from Blue Springs to near Third and Grand in the River Market. But The Star reported today that KC Southern officials have changed their minds and are now insisting that Union Station be the final destination. That’s a problem, though, because Union Pacific has not agreed to have commuter trains running on its tracks leading to Union Station.

I smell politics…The Civic Council? Sly James? State reps or senators? Sanders would like to run for statewide office, but this development could pluck a big prospective accomplishment from his resume. Somebody, or somebodies, are out to get him.

:: Can anything good come from a party centered on a dance style “that involves shaking one’s rear,” as The Star put it?

Such a party was held Saturday night at the Tropical Palms Banquet Hall, 87th and Hillcrest. The Star reported that five people between 15 and 20 years old were wounded by shooting that broke out about 11:45 p.m…Of course, nobody saw anything.

The promoters didn’t have a dance-hall permit, and police said they had learned of only one unlicensed guard at the event, which was billed as “Everything/March Madness Twerk Fest.”

The Urban Dictionary lists “twerk” as a verb and gives the following definition: “to work one’s body, as in dancing, especially the rear end.”

Please, readers, for your welfare, stay away from twerk fests.

:: Why must Ding Dongs and Twinkies come back?

I like sweets as much as the next person, but I like them in the form of real food, like apple pie and chocolate cake.

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Please feel free to hazard a response to any or all of these provocative questions.