It was good to see Kansas City, KS, getting significant attention in Monday’s Kansas City Star.
Wyandotte County has always been a font of news, but for about a decade now it hasn’t been getting the coverage it deserves, other than for its crime.
Kevin Hardy
On Monday, though, The Star’s brand-new economic development reporter, Kevin Hardy, teamed up with longtime retail-and-restaurant reporter Joyce Smith on a big story about the development boom in downtown KCK and on Strawberry Hill. (Hardy came to The Star last month after being a business reporter for four years at The Des Moines Register.)
The crux of the story is that as Kansas City’s Downtown and the Crossroads Arts District have exploded, developers and entrepreneurs have turned to KCK as a close-in, more affordable alternative.
One of the things I learned from the story is that the University of Kansas Health System plans to resuscitate the former EPA building near Fifth and Minnesota, bringing hundreds of workers to the building, which has been vacant since the EPA picked up and moved to Lenexa several years ago.
Another promising development at 5th and Minnesota: The Merc Co+op, based in Lawrence, is scheduled to break ground soon on a government-subsidized, 14,000-square-foot grocery. I have been to The Merc in Lawrence many times, and it is excellent. (Nota bene: best cookies I’ve ever had — soft in the middle, crunchy edges.)
Having headed The Star’s Wyandotte County bureau from 1995 to 2004 (the period when KCK shed its doormat status under the strong leadership of Mayor Carol Marinovich), I am thrilled to see KCK making further strides and becoming an entrepreneurial hot spot.
Despite its breakout progress in the late 1990s and continuing into the 2000s, Wyandotte County has continued to be overlooked by many area residents. Maybe that’s about to change. It was gratifying to see The Star bring KCK’s upswing to metro-wide attention.
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Also on Monday, The Star had an editorial headlined “KCK must look outside for new police chief.”
How true!
KCK has promoted from the inside for as long as I can remember.
KCKPD is an insular department, as evidenced partly by the fact that a crooked detective named Roger Golubski ran amok in the department for years, allegedly extorting sexual favors from women and ginning up phony evidence in order to close cases and put defendants behind bars. Some of those defendants, including Lamont McIntyre, who was convicted of murder, were innocent.
In addition, the retiring chief, Terry Zeigler, is alleged to have had a sweetheart deal that allowed him to live in a county-owned house near Wyandotte County Lake Park for minimal rent. The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office is continuing to investigate that.
The Star’s editorial concluded by saying…
“The next police chief will face steep challenges in rebuilding relationships and cleaning up some of the messes that Zeigler is leaving behind. Bolstering public trust in the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department is essential…The Unified Government must get this hire right. And bringing in fresh eyes from outside the department may provide the best chance for success.”
David Alvey
There’s no better person to organize the search for — and make the selection of — a new chief than Unified Government Mayor David Alvey. He is a multi-talented man with wide civic and professional experience, including working as an assistant principal at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City.
Alvey will not be afraid to buck the good ol’ boys at police headquarters, Seventh and Minnesota, and shake the department from its hidebound foundation. It will not be easy — expect wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth in the ranks — but, like The Star said, the time is right.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Good stuff Fitz!
Great column, Fitz! GO WYCO!!
Well, let’s see. As you point out, The Star no longer has a WYCO Bureau. The guy writing this isn’t even regularly assigned to WYCO. Breit’s Stein and Deli on 5th has had the best Reuben in the metro area for years. Big Grill and More on 6th has had fine family style meals and soul food options. Minnesota from 15th all the way back east has one excellent dining experience after another as has 7th St. and Kansas Ave from 18th St back, including Jarocho’s gourmet seafood restaurant at about 8th and Kansas Ave, rated by one reviewer as the best restaurant in the metro. And so I can’t tell you how excited I am to see that The Star has finally discovered something that has existed for years less than four miles from their office.
Thank you, Larry, Moe and Curly…I mean Larry, Julius and John…
When I was working in The Star’s Wyandotte County bureau from 1990-1993, there were only a handful of places nearby to eat: Kristen’s, Bambi’s, a deli at 7th and Armstrong and a Subway. Nice to see that the times have changed.
I still have a Blue Willow pencil, which I can never use or throw away, and who could forget Lethal’s down on Central — (Lee and Ethel’s)?
Is Mad Jack’s Fish Shack still there? Bring it in, they’ll fry it up! Think I still have the t-shirt.
Google shows Mad Jack’s at 1318 State Avenue. I think I went there once. I remember that my predecessor in the Wyco bureau, Randell Beck, used to love the place. He and Rick Alm went there often, I believe.
Was there recently. An institution in Wyandotte County.
I remember eating at Loretta’s Cafe on Minnesota Avenue with reporter John Dauner in the late 90’s, when we were working on stories about legal shenanigans going on at Health Midwest hospitals. Fitz, Loretta’s had a table reserved for you at all times, right?
I wasn’t that much of a regular there, Julius, and my “bureau chief” status wasn’t lofty enough to merit a reserved table.
I remember that Loretta (Colombel) was elected to the BPU and was president of the board for several years…She’s still alive; I know that because of that wondrous thing called Facebook.
Thank you for sharing that history, Fitz. I just sent Loretta a Facebook friend request.