:: I’ve not been a regular reader of Jenee Osterheldt, but I definitely admire the fact that she’s been very successful in Kansas City and has now parlayed that success into a job at The Boston Globe.
Osterheldt
She is very smart to head East, where the best newspapers are concentrated, and get out of the McClatchy whirlpool. She could have done better only by landing at The New York Times or The Washington Post. By going to The Globe, she is headed for a paper that is doing very well at transitioning from print to digital. Where The Kansas City Star has fewer than 10,000 stand-alone digital subscriptions, The Globe has more than 100,000.
Osterheldt bided her time here, honed her skills and is now entering a significantly bigger market, where she will make more money and potentially become widely known…We’ll be looking for you under the arc lights, Jenee.
Ryan
:: I don’t know if you read it, but Kelsey Ryan had an excellent take-out Monday on the fishy doings within Clay County government, where, it appears, two of three county commission members (one Democrat and one Republican) have frozen out the third commissioner (a Republican) and have steered the government into a state of mismanagement. Ryan was hired about 15 months ago from the Wichita Eagle, another McClatchy paper, and is getting a chance to write some big stories.
:: I’ve long had my doubts about the quality of the Independence Police Department, and the most recent horror story makes me want to steer clear of that city as much as possible, despite the fact it’s got some good restaurants and other stores around the town square.
Terrifyingly, the department is about 20 years behind the times on police pursuits. The Star had a story today quoting a University of South Carolina criminologist as saying, “In the mid-90s we came to the conclusion that it’s not worth chasing anything other than a violent criminal.”
On June 1, two Independence officers chose to chase a stolen Jeep west on 23rd Street, and the Jeep — going as much as 90 mph — crossed into Kansas City and crashed into a Dodge Avenger that was probably turning into a gas station on Television Place. Three of four people in the car that was hit were killed, as was a passenger in the fleeing Jeep.
The Star story today said an eerily similar crash occurred on January 13, 2014, when a speeding driver fleeing police on 23rd Street also crossed into Kansas City and crashed into another car, killing a 35-year-old man and injuring two passengers. The city of Independence had to pay out more than $750,000 to settle lawsuits that resulted from that fiasco.
I trust and hope that in view of the carnage resulting from those two cases, the department will quickly change course and adopt 21st century police-pursuit procedures.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I read her column and for the most part thought it was good, but her comment that white on white crime was identical to black on black crime is simply idiotic. The issue is the violence, the drive by shootings and gang activity. If she has a database of such violence in Leawood, I’d love to see it.
As for fleeing drivers, that is one of my pet peeves. A driver fleeing from a cop is no different than a lunatic running around in public waving a firearm and they need to be treated exactly the same, with deadly force. That will put an end to the epidemic of young punks who try to out run the cops.
In this case, rather than blame the cops for trying to get this killer off the streets, the driver needs to be tried for capital murder and given the death penalty
My second pet peeve. I harken back to the glory days of the Greenlease killers. 82 days including the day they killed the child and the day they were both executed. Go fast to kill how many people 4, 5? Fast track to the death penalty (and let’s restore public hanging also).
NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS — Recent headlines have reported about the following news item: When a local newspaper closes, the cost of government increases. That’s the conclusion of new survey from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, which draws a direct line between loss of the watchful eyes of local newspapers and a decline in government efficiency.
Why are we not surprised?
Here’s that story…https://news.nd.edu/news/when-local-newspapers-close-government-runs-unchecked-costs-increase/
Thanks, Peg.
I’ve followed Jenee’s writings off and on since she joined The Star and have enjoyed watching her writing progress throughout her 16 years at The Star. I agree she’s got a bright future ahead of her at The Boston Globe.
It’s sad, but while reading her farewell column, I couldn’t help but think, “Good for her, she’s getting off a sinking ship!”
Again, congratulations to Jenee and I look forward to more great things from this promising young writer!
I’ve not been a Osterheldt reader, but best wishes to her in Boston. I think the Boston area must be newspaper heaven, if there is such a place these days. We spend a lot of time in Gloucester, on the North Shore, and I’ve been struck by the omnipresence of newspapers.. At our local grocery, there are always tons of papers on sale, including not only the Globe but also the Gloucester Daily Times, The Salem News, and out of town papers such as the NYT and WSJ. (I’m talking big stacks, not just a few puny copies on a little rack. And this is in a town of around 30,000.) Every C-store has racks of newspapers. I work out at a gym that has the Mass papers every day, and it even keeps a handy basket of reading glasses for us old people. Some of us spend more time reading than working out, to be truthful. I have wondered why there is a culture of newspaper reading there, but not so much here in the Midwest. I don’t know what the circulation figures are in Boston, but heck, they are still in business! So maybe Jenee will thrive in that environment, given a big enough salary.
I appreciate your comments about the Clay County government. As I have said before, there is precious little news coverage up here, so some Star attention is indeed a good thing. The county government “scandal” has been in process for quite a long time and needs to be thoroughly investigated. It is eating at public trust.
Independence? Oh gosh, I don’t even want to get started on that situation.
Bob — We both misspelled Jenee’s last name…Now corrected.
Gloucester…Sounds like a nice place to go. I have an aunt and uncle living in in Needham, and one of their sons has a house on Cape Cod. Beautiful place.
Once again, I feel compelled to remind folks that there was a day when The Star covered every Independence City Council meeting, every Clay County Commission meeting and every Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County Commission meeting. Why? Because they were _ and still are_ big enough cities to warrant a reporter keeping an eye on them. Yes, I know that coverage of these cities and counties have had to be sacrificed so that McClatchy stock holders can keep making the payments on their vacation homes and BMWs. I get that. But it sure ain’t right. And trust me, there are a lot of bad guys _ and gals_ out there who will take advantage of the system when they know that the watchdog has been put to sleep.
I just did a search of The Star’s site looking for a reference to David Alvey’s outstanding State of the UG speech last week and found nothing. The speech was pragmatic, focused on realistic goals and essentially vindicates and expands Ann Murguia’s hard-nosed approach to running her district.
KCK also just created a Steering committee to review their zoning codes in an effort to bring more development into the “traditional neighborhoods.
Both of these are significant stories that will potentially have an enormous impact on WYCO and nothing. Perhaps if there’s a drunken judge or a convicted felon they can endorse, they’ll take notice again.
Mike, you are absolutely right. Can’t add a word to your critique.
Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.
J is simply a modern day Marie Antoinette…as the once mighty Star Empire is invaded and destroyed by the hedge fund barbarians, her response, her voice…is to simply distract from the destruction…just another collaborating, corporate tool.
She’s got a voice, a following and a promising future. Give her some slack, Ned. Newspapers are still a great place for writers to shine and connect with the public.
J is much like the new wave of educational leaders and teachers, who are very willing to trade independent thinking and autonomy for a pay check and health insurance in exchange for loyalty to a micromanaging, top down, data driven, management team… and these new “workers” have the attitude of “my-career- advancement-over-time -honored-principles-that-keep-these-democratic foundational-institutions- alive.” That’s because they aspire to be placed inside those management teams…
…and it’s not just in journalism and education…baseball with analytics, medicine with insurance/big pharm, foundation driven art, public media, think tanks, ADVERTISING, …even retail operations where data driven algorithms are used as an excuse to avoid accountability of what used to be know as common sense and the Greatergood.
Maybe this is the way it has to be. But it is what it is: selling out, me first, looking out for #1.
(We need “those guys” who refuse to join in the clubs 100% and thus, from the inside, can see events transpire from a distance, outside the ring. They give us pause to reflect, think, and see issues from outside of a special interest. “Even in the fold, however, I kept my distance. As I recall, I didn’t participate in events other than the parties and didn’t become close friends with any of my fellow Podiceps.”)
Concerning the Independence PD and the most recent incident, I hesitate to call it a ‘chase’. From the moment the officers turned on their lights and sirens the entire thing lasted 45 seconds. This methed-up crack whore floored it and drove insanely DOWNHILL on 23rd at 90 miles per hour. The officers fell back and, at the time of the crash, were no longer in sight of this crazed woman.
45 seconds, from zero to 90. Forgive the meth-head, persecute the police.
SMH.
There is a lot to what you say, Chuck, but I think the driver was still in “flight” mode when she started down that curving hill. (I drove it the other day, and envisioned myself turning into the gas station with a car bearing down at 90-plus.) The specter of the flashing lights in the rearview mirror was still fresh in her mind.
I know it’s a tough call for the police, but you just don’t hear about similar instances in KCMO any more, and I believe it’s largely because they just don’t chase for relatively minor offenses. Not all police departments are the same. Independence still has too many Wild West overtones.