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

As I read The Star this morning — and also taking into account tidbits I’ve heard in the last couple of days — it struck me that today is a day to highlight some significant endings.

Endings…as in, “That’s all folks.”

Some days are like that aren’t they? Prospects that have been developing and mushrooming suddenly get derailed or lose air; people you don’t expect to die do; a politician, star athlete or other high-profile person sidles off the stage.

Endings come in all manner and form, and sometimes it’s good to note them.

So, a moment of your time, please…

:: Kansas City’s hopes for the 2016 Republican National Convention are over. It’s down to Dallas and Cleveland, which makes a lot more political sense than Denver or Kansas City. Sly James’ doing The Mashed Potatoes with GOP site-selection committee chairwoman Enid Mickelson at the Downtown Airport didn’t get the job done…What should he have done differently? It’s as clear as the nose on your face: Sly should have grabbed Enid close and done a slow dance with her. Wasn’t it plain enough that the woman would have greatly appreciated “just one minute of real love”?

For the record, here’s the Sly-Enid dance that cost us the convention…

Sawyer

:: In September, ABC’s Diane Sawyer is stepping down as anchor of “World News,” to be succeeded by understudy David Muir…I’ve always liked Sawyer partly because she can report an emotional story without getting emotional but by expressing tremendous empathy. She really cares about her subjects. Another reason I like her is she and I grew up in Louisville, Ky., during the same era. She’s 68, same as I. She went to Seneca High School, a public school, while I went to St. Xavier High, an all-boys, Catholic school. I never heard of her until she became a weather forecaster on WLKY-TV, Channel 32, in Louisville. Now, she is one of Louisville’s two most famous alums, along with Muhammad Ali.

Mossman

:: The last $1 movie theater in the area, Noland Road Fashion Square in Independence, closed this week. It was losing money; its owners couldn’t afford the conversion to digital projection; and it was a victim of consumer diversification. Brian Mossman, the well-known, independent movie-theater owner in Kansas City, told The Star:

“The newer generation’s movie-going habits are different than that of the older generation. They are not that particular how they view their movies. They can experience them on iPods, on their phones or through Netflix. The movie business is like a big pie, with each slice being a different way to see a movie. Those slices have gotten smaller each year. Something had to give, and unfortunately it was the dollar houses.”  

Deines

:: I’m sure many of you saw the obit of a 30-year-old Lincoln, Neb., woman, Sara Beth Deines, a 2002 Shawnee Mission South graduate. Deines died in a scuba-diving accident last week at Table Rock Lake. Searching Google, I found that Deines got separated from a diving partner Friday while on the lake near Kimberling City. It took searchers two days to find her body. She graduated from Washburn University in Topeka in 2006 and married her college sweetheart, Chris Deines, at the Village Presbyterian Church. For the last few years the couple had lived in Lincoln, where Sara worked for the Department of Health and Human Services, handling Medicaid and long-term care matters…I’m sure that, like me, when you see those photos on the obit pages of smiling young people, brimming with vitality and happiness, it makes you stop and think about endings, especially sudden.

Collison

:: Finally, Kevin Collison, a mainstay business reporter at The Star, has given his notice and is taking the job of marketing communications manager at the engineering firm of Burns & McDonnell. Kevin has been at The Star since 2001. After arriving at The Star from The Buffalo News, Kevin quickly established himself as an authority in one of the most important facets of Kansas City area life — real estate development and urban revitalization. As Kansas City emerged from its decades-old funk, with new projects popping up everywhere and Downtown getting a thorough makeover, Collison was there to report it — before anybody else…This particular ending has a couple of hopeful dimensions: First, Kevin is leaving on a high note: “It was a ball,” he told me this morning. Second, at age 60, he gets a fresh start with a growing company whose horizon — unlike that of The Star — is uncluttered. We readers will dearly miss you, Kevin. All the best!