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

All of us Kansas City residents can breathe easier tonight, knowing that, in all likelihood, the Indian Creek Trail killer has been apprehended.

Although it is not certain, it appears 22-year-old Fredrick D. Scott of Kansas City is a serial killer.

Scott has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is suspected in three other homicides. He is in the Jackson County Jail — thank God — on $1 million bond. His last known address was in the 3300 block of Bridge Manor Drive, which is just south of Red Bridge Road, between College and Cleveland — very close to the Indian Creek Trail.

Indications are that Scott’s M.O. was arbitrarily selecting prospective victims, following them on foot and then executing them with one or more shots to the head.

Scott

In a tense and riveting 13-minute news conference — and in accompanying documents — Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker today laid out the chilling details of the most recent murder and uttered these extremely unsettling words:

“There is no motive that makes this make sense.”

No logical motive, that is.

But there is, I’m afraid, one awful, disturbing fact: Scott is an angry young black man who apparently took perverse satisfaction in killing white men.

The house where Scott was living. It is very near Indian Creek Trail, scene of four murders in the last year.

Why was he angry? He has told police he was upset about the murder of his brother in 2015. I don’t know — and Peters didn’t say — if his brother was killed by a white person. Watching the news conference, I did not hear any question relating to that point, although most of the questions were muffled because of poor audio.

I’d sure like to have the answer and hope reporters working the story want to find out.

Racially, this is a highly sensitive case, but reporters and their editors must not shrink from the facts. In the coming days, the public needs and deserves a lot more information about Scott’s background and the factors that may have motivated him.

**

Scott is charged in the slayings of 54-year-old John W. Palmer and 57-year-old Steven Gibbons.

A “probable cause statement” filed by the prosecutor’s office says Scott admitted killing Palmer, one of the four Indian Creek victims. Palmer was shot several times with a 9mm handgun on Aug. 16, 2016, near Bannister Road and Lydia. Scott told police that after shooting Palmer, he dragged his body away from the trail and into a tree line.

The three other Indian Creek Trail victims were 66-year-old David Lenox, who was killed Feb. 27 of this year near 99th and Walnut; 57-year-old Timothy Rice, killed April 4 north of Red Bridge Road just east of Lydia; and 61-year-old Mike Darby, who was killed May 18 in the 300 block of West 101st Terrace, not far from the bar he owned, Coach’s, at 103rd and Wornall.

The killing that broke open the case, however, did not occur along the trail. As often happens, once a serial killer gets going and building up confidence, his horizons expand.

Surveillance video shows that on Aug. 14 — two weeks ago yesterday — Steven Gibbons got on an ATA bus at 75th and Troost shortly before noon, and a man got on behind him. At 67th and Troost, Gibbons got off, and the other man followed him down 67th Street.

The probable cause statement says the man following Gibbons was drinking a beverage with a screw top. The camera, mounted on a building near 67th and Troost, then panned away about the time Gibbons would have been shot. A short time later the same camera captured the unknown man running from the scene.

**

Some good investigative work led police to Scott. Remember the line about “the unknown man” drinking from a screw-top container? Detectives found a bottle near the scene of the Gibbons killing. Police were then able to track the killer back to a gas station at 75th and Troost, where he had purchased the beverage (which The Star reported was iced tea). Surveillance footage from the gas station showed Scott purchasing the iced tea.

A few days later, a police officer saw a man resembling the presumed killer sitting on a wall, smoking a cigarette, near 97th and Holmes. When approached by one or more officers, the man identified himself as Frederick Scott. After the conversation, police recovered the butt of the cigarette, and undercover officers followed Scott to his home on Bridge Manor Drive. Later, police linked the DNA from the cigarette butt to that on the iced tea bottle. At the home, police also recovered a 9mm handgun that Scott said killed Gibbons.

Police also have DNA evidence linking Scott to Palmer’s murder. Searching the scene of that homicide, detectives found a T-shirt that was too small for Palmer.

On the shirt, police found DNA from two people: Palmer and Frederick Scott.

**

The probable cause statement says Scott mowed lawns to make money and that for a three-week period in July and mid-August he worked he worked at the Burger King restaurant, Red Bridge Road and Holmes. He did not have a vehicle, and the probable cause statement says: “His two primary modes of transportation were walking and the KCATA bus lines. But he had been known to ask for rides from neighbors or associates.” He told police he was familiar with the Indian Creek Trail.

With the Royals in free fall, the nation’s fourth-largest city under water, the North Koreans firing missiles over Japan and a lowbrow boxing match in Las Vegas serving as entertainment for the nation, I’m looking desperately for things to be positive about.

I’ve had to brainstorm mightily for signs of hope, but you knew you could count on me — Mr. Poztiv — to come up with a few things. Some are a bit parochial, but in desperate times, you have to narrow the frame of reference.

So, here goes…

:: Daughter Brooks and son Charlie safely completed a marathon, two-day drive to Las Vegas over the weekend, and Charlie successfully enrolled today at UNLV in what should be his last semester (or two) toward a master’s degree in environmental health physics. Not the least of our worries was the fact that they made the trip in Charlie’s 2000 Malibu, which we inherited from my father after his death in 2007.

The Malibu has given us a lot of intrigue the last few years. It’s got about 135,000 miles on it, and the air conditioning has gone out twice. We replaced the AC control panel several years ago, and I’ll be darned if the “new” panel didn’t start acting up recently. With temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees in Las Vegas these days, getting that AC fixed before Charlie went back was imperative. Last week, I bought a new panel at Midway Auto Parts in the East Bottoms, and our niece’s boyfriend, a car whiz, offered to install it.

Friday morning, then, westward-ho went the “kids” (he 27, she 29). They made it to Albuquerque — about 800 miles away — that night, and they arrived in Las Vegas — 575 more miles — Saturday night. They stayed at an Airbnb Saturday and Sunday, and today Brooks flew home.

What a relief to have them in their respective cities safe and sound!

:: The price per share in “the failing” New York Times (NYT in the market listings) is up 38 percent this year…I bought a considerable amount of that stock (and kept adding) after the Great Recession. Years ago, I read where Warren Buffett advised amateur stock-market players to “buy what you know,” and that was my guidepost. (I have to admit, though, that an earlier newspaper investment didn’t turn out so great. After I retired in 2006 — before the recession — I bought McClatchy stock, telling people my intent was to demonstrate my confidence in the newspaper industry. I bought at 50 and sold at 7. Ouch!)

:: Inversely proportional to the NYT stock price, my golf scores have been going down. I shot a 77 — my lowest score ever — a few weeks ago, and last week recorded a 78, even while missing a few putts of three feet or less. I back slid a bit yesterday, hitting an 87. But I think I’ve turned a corner because of a swing change. I watch a lot of golf on TV, you know, and I got intrigued by the swing of outstanding Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama. He pauses for almost a full second — very unusual — at the top of his backswing, before starting the club on its downward path. After adopting the pause, I have been hitting the ball farther and more accurately than ever. Thank you, Hideki, and good luck in the season-ending FedExCup series!

:: Great progress continues to be made on renovation of the Sea Horse Fountain at Meyer Circle, a couple of hundred yards from our house. The expected completion date is now mid-October, and we should see a few bursts of water from that majestic fountain yet this year. Late last year and early this year, retired KPMG executive Dave Fowler and I collaborated on a private fund-raising effort, aiming to generate at least $250,000 for a permanent endowment. (We ended up raising more than $350,000).

The Sea Horse Fountain, under repair

In return, the city agreed to shoulder the brunt of the renovation cost. The cost of repairs has jumped from an estimated $605,000 to more than $900,000, and I expect the total to come in at $1 million or more…Everyone who drives by that fountain should be grateful, as I am, for the KC Parks and Recreation Department’s determination to do this job right. By the way, more than 40,000 vehicles pass the fountain every day.

:: Finally, I am looking forward to the Romanelli West Homes Association annual picnic on Sunday, Sept. 10, at Arno Park. As usual, we’ll have barbecue from BB’s on 85th Street, and for the kids we’ll have Kona Ice and Grateful Bubbles.

I ask you, how can you be downcast when shaved ice cups and giant bubbles are being served up?

Grateful Bubbles

With the buyouts this week of three veteran reporters and the subsequent hiring of a high-profile reporter from Washington D.C., The Star has put on full display — once again — its regrettable and product-diminishing double standard on salary control.

I came back from a weekend trip to my hometown of Louisville to learn that three veteran reporters — Diane Stafford, Scott Canon and Donna McGuire — had been “offered” buyouts. Naturally, they took them, or they would have been laid off.

Horsley

A couple of days later, The Star announced the hiring of Washington Post reporter Bill Turque as the new City Hall reporter, replacing Lynn Horsley, who will stay with the paper and move to the Johnson County government beat.

The compelling reason behind Turque’s hiring is unfortunate: Less than a year ago, The Star hired Turque’s wife, Melinda Henneberger, to be a member of the revamped editorial board. Like him, she had been working in Washington, although not at The Post.

So, plain and simple, this was a package deal, probably arranged with a handshake or informal agreement when Henneberger was hired.

Turque

Several former Star journalists, including me, believe this trade-off — hiring Henneberger and Turque, while giving Stafford, Canon and McGuire their walking papers — is a net loss for Kansas City Star readers. According to a KCUR story, the three departing reporters had a combined total of 99 years experience at The Star. That’s a lot of talent and institutional knowledge walking out the door. It’s disappointing and distressing for many of us who plied our trade at 18th and Grand.

**

Before delving more deeply into packaged husband-wife hires — this is not the first — I want to give you a little history on salary suppression at The Star.

It got underway in about 2004, when top editors decided to reorganize the newsroom. I was right in the middle of it. At that point, I had been editor in the Wyandotte-Leavenworth bureau for nine years. In the reorganization, I was offered the job of Kansas editor, overseeing both the Johnson County and Wyandotte County bureaus. I would go from overseeing two full-time reporters and one part-time reporter to managing about a dozen reporters and two other editors.

When then-Assistant Managing Editor Randy Smith — a good friend to this day — offered me the job, I asked how much of a a raise I would be getting. He said none, adding that I should derive my satisfaction from the prestige of a higher perch in the managerial chain. I said that was nice but that I thought a raise was in order.

He said he would take up the matter with then-Editor Mark Zieman. A few days later, Randy came back and said he could give me a raise of one percent. My response was: “I see what’s going on here — salary suppression.”

Randy did not respond.

Despite the ridiculous raise, I took the job because it had been made clear to me I wasn’t going to stay in Wyandotte. My only alternative would have been to resign or retire, and I wasn’t ready and didn’t have a plan. Two years later, however — after another job change — I formulated a plan to become a teacher and retired.

I can’t say that when I left in 2006 I saw the bottom dropping out of the newspaper business, but, as I’ve told many people, I was feeling uneasy after The Star’s then-owner Knight Ridder agreed to sell out to McClatchy early that year. That unease was confirmed in 2008, when The Star began laying off veteran, higher-salaried journalists. The laying off and buying out hasn’t stopped, and I almost certainly would have been discarded somewhere along the way had I not left voluntarily.

**

After taking charge of the paper in early 2016, publisher Tony Berg began hiring young journalists at entry-level salaries to replace the higher-paid, experienced people who had been let go, and continue to be let go.

The Star has made some exceptions to the hire-young, hire-low regimen, however, namely in the hiring of perceived “stars” who they believe will bring great value to the paper.

Since 2013, The Star has hired three such people. First, came sports columnist Vahe Gregorian. Late last year it was Colleen McCain Nelson to be editorial page editor, and early this year it was Henneberger — although her star billing was certainly not as high as that of the other two.

But that’s not all…In each of those cases, Berg agreed to hire the spouses of the perceived stars. So, with Vahe Gregorian came Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian, a features writer. With McCain Nelson came Eric Nelson, who is in charge of The Star’s digital operation. And now Turque is packing his bags and joining Henneberger in Kansas City.

The first two package deals achieved the desired result: Vahe Gregorian has lived up to expectations as a standout sports columnist, and McCain Nelson has not only revived the editorial and Op-Ed pages but has proved to be a genial and genuine personality and an accessible leader.

Henneberger, on the other hand, appears to be struggling to develop a following. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me, “Did you read Henneberger today?” Maybe it will happen, but the signs aren’t promising.

And now The Star is giving headline treatment to the hiring of Turque, who very early in his career worked at The Star for several years.

Until this week, I had never seen a story in the paper announcing the hiring of a “beat” reporter. Even more startling was the size and prominent display of the story, as if the incoming reporter was the reincarnation of war reporter Ernie Pyle. And yet, there it was, both in print and online.

**

Well, I wish Turque the best, but I seriously doubt he’s going to be as productive or as informative as Lynn Horsley has been during her many years at City Hall. Also, since Turque is part of a package deal, I doubt he’ll be held to the same standards of production as Horsley and the other non-coupled reporters. Nevertheless, he will probably start out at a higher salary than Horsley has been making. If that’s the case — and I would bet all the money I’ve ever lost at the racetrack — it isn’t right.

On the positive side, one thing I know for sure is that in her persevering, shoe-leather-burning style, Horsley will raise the profile of Johnson County government. The Star has virtually ignored JoCo government in recent years, and that is about to change.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that for weeks I’ve been looking into the July 6, four-vehicle crash that killed 68-year-old, retired Johnson County firefighter Paul W. Scott.

Paul Scott

The Hyundai SUV Scott was driving was stopped at a traffic signal on westbound Parallel Parkway at the K-7 intersection when a Ford Expedition (also an SUV) slammed into the rear of the Hyundai. The vehicle Scott was driving plowed into the vehicle in front of him, and that vehicle struck a fourth vehicle.

As I reported Aug. 2, the driver of the Expedition was not charged because, according to the KCK police department, he apparently committed suicide sometime after the crash.

But the police department would not give me his name. Last week, I filed an open records request for the “accident report,” and I can now tell you who caused the chain-reaction crash.

Dylan Eull

His name was Dylan Matthew Eull. He was 24 years old at the time of the crash. He lived in southeastern North Dakota, in a town called Verona — population 85, according to the 2010 Census. He was a millwright for Eull’s Contracting, a small company apparently run by a relative. The Expedition belonged to the company.

On Monday, July 24, 18 days after the crash, Dylan Eull committed suicide at his home. He had turned 25 between the crash and his death.

His obituary said his interests included “designing tattoos, playing guitar, fishing and working on cars, especially his International pickup.”

The obituary also said: “Dylan was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. Behind his tough guy exterior, he was a teddy bear with the biggest heart you could imagine.”

North Dakota public records indicate Dylan Eull was a young man with an earlier history of irresponsibility.

He was fined for speeding in 2011, and he had seven misdemeanor convictions between 2011 and 2014. Among other things, he was twice convicted for driving with a suspended license, and he had three convictions for possession and/or consumption of alcohol as a minor.

It appears from the records he was never sentenced to jail time but repeatedly placed on unsupervised probation, as well as being fined and required to perform community service.

…Undoubtedly, you are now wondering if he was driving with a valid license on July 6 and if he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

As best I can tell, the answers are yes (he had a valid license) and no (he was not driving under the influence).

The investigating officer put a check mark in the box with the heading “No evidence of impairment,” and he entered the numeric code for “valid license” in a nearby section.

So, what was Dylan Eull doing when he slammed into the back of Paul Scott’s SUV? Unfortunately, the accident report does not shed light on that, nor does it indicate how fast Dylan Eull might have been going.

My own supposition is that he was speeding and not paying attention. Maybe he was doing something with his cell phone — texting or playing dial-a-tune. Maybe he was daydreaming. Maybe he was looking for something in the glove compartment. Who knows? It’s clear, though, he was not paying attention because, for God’s sake, he would have stepped on the brake and stopped his vehicle if he had been!

**

Another thing about Dylan Eull: He was no stranger to vehicular death. According to a story in The Jamestown (ND) Sun, he was one of five people in a Dodge pick-up that went out of control and overturned four years ago this month. The 18-year-old driver was killed, and the four passengers, including 21-year-old Dylan Eull, were injured. Three of the passengers (the story doesn’t indicate if Dylan Eull was among them) were ejected. None of the five was wearing a seatbelt.

**

Up until about a year ago, Dylan Eull’s Facebook page posts were mostly about tattoos and his libertarian propensities. (For example, a drawing he apparently created includes a raised middle finger between the words “drink” and “responsibly.”)

He apparently posted nothing between last Aug. 8 and this July 10, two weeks before his death. That day, he posted this:

“god loves us all and christ forgives all who truely (stet) seek him”

Later that day, two other people posted comments. One said, “Glad to know that you are going to make it you sacred the crap out of me.”

Another, apparently a relative, said, “Glad to see you out here, And super happy to know you are going to be ok.”

At 10:03 that night, Dylan Eull made his final post:

“any day spent with jesus at my side is going to be ok”

Those words were followed by a smiley-faced emoticon.

**

Note: I would like to give credit to former Kansas City Star and current freelance reporter Karen Dillon for prodding me to file an open records request for the accident report. I had asked the KCK police department for the report several weeks ago and was told it wasn’t available because the case was “under investigation.” After that, I forgot about the report, until Karen said it was an open record and that I would be able to obtain it with a formal request…Thank you, Karen!

I have not read any of the four proposals for a new Kansas City International Airport terminal and, frankly, don’t know if they have been made public yet.

All I know is what I read in The Kansas City Star and elsewhere — and what I hear from people who know more than I.

But my first impression, from reading in today’s paper about the proposals submitted yesterday, is that Burns & McDonnell’s first proposal — the one it submitted when it appeared poised to get a no-bid contract with the enthusiastic support of Mayor Sly James — would have resulted in the city and the airlines paying the firm hundreds of millions of dollars more than necessary for a new terminal.

We taxpayers can be very grateful that several City Council members, especially Councilwoman Katheryn Shields, pushed for a slowdown and insisted that other firms be permitted to submit proposals.

More about the possible cost saving in a minute, but first an observation on the politics….The deeper into this we get, the worse Sly James looks. Bow-tie man was so desperate to get a new airport started during his second term that he dumped the customary process — time tested by governments at all levels — of presenting a project, soliciting bids and determining the “lowest and best bid.”

Burns & McDonnell came to James (or vice versa, perhaps) with the unconventional idea of giving the firm a short-arm contract to build the terminal and do so with money the firm would borrow privately at a significantly higher interest rate than the Aviation Department could get by issuing municipal revenue bonds. The big plus — as pitched by Burns and Mac — was the city wouldn’t be on the hook if debt payments outstripped airport revenue. (The prospect of taxpayer dollars being on the line is a phony proposition on its face because the airlines, not taxpayers, would have to make up any shortfall. But that’s another story…)

Now, it’s all ass backwards, and there appears to be little chance of getting this project back on the conventional track, which offers the best chance of getting a new, vibrant, functional terminal at the lowest possible price.

Here’s where we are:

:: Instead of the city issuing a thorough “request for bids” outlining exactly what it wants and then being able to compare proposals side by side, line by line, four firms are throwing out hundreds of pages of proposals about wildly divergent plans, leaving City Council members to wade through the mess and attempt to figure out, or guess, which plan might yield a good airport and which would waste the least amount of money.

:: If pursued to conclusion, this loosey-goosey process will essentially place the contractor, not the city, in charge of the project, with citizens reliant on the goodwill and honesty of the “winning” contractor to give the city a good product at a good price.

Do you like that scenario? I don’t. Putting the contractor in the traditional role of “owner” leaves way too much to chance, not to mention significantly increasing potential fraud and waste.

The initial proposals, submitted yesterday, show exactly how vulnerable the city is with this tails-up approach.

…The original “memorandum of understanding” — put forth several weeks ago — between the city and Burns and Mac called for the airlines to pay “approximately” $85.2 million a year to repay the project financing. Now, the airlines are currently paying about $33 million a year to retire the city’s airport debt costs, so jacking it up by $50 million seems like an incredible hike.

Under the memorandum (now on the shelf), it was impossible to tell how much of that $85.2 million Burns and Mac intended to use for debt payments and how much it intended to retain as profit. That was all supposed to be worked out. But it sure sounded like Burns and Mac was going to have about $85.2 million a year to work with.

I’m just back from the Boston area and Cape Cod, where we had a family reunion revolving around my last living aunt and uncle, Nanette and Jim Eckert, who are in their mid-80s.

When my Aunt Nanette, my late father’s sister, mentioned that the Eckert family was planning a reunion and invited me along, I jumped at the opportunity. Who knows? It could be the last time that part of my family would be intact and assembled.

Like the rest of us Fitzpatricks, Nanette was born in Louisville, but after she married Jim, who’s also from Louisville, they moved around because of his job with GE. Among other places, they lived in Kansas City (before I got here in 1969) and Omaha. More than 40 years ago they landed in the Boston area. That’s where they raised their four children and where they stayed. Now they live in a retirement complex in the Boston suburb of Needham.

One of their sons and his wife, Bob Eckert and Marie Therese Wolf, live in Milan, Italy, but have a large vacation home in the town of Yarmouth on Cape Cod. Another son and his wife, John and Elaine Eckert, have a vacation home in Plymouth, adjacent to Cape Cod, on the Atlantic Ocean.

Besides Milan, we came from California, from Nevada, from Missouri, from Kentucky, from Washington D.C., from Ohio and from New Hampshire. (I might be missing a state or two.)

On Saturday, about 18 of us gathered at Bob and Marie Therese’s house in Yarmouth. On Sunday afternoon, we loaded up and traveled west and north to Plymouth, where we met up with John and Elaine Eckert and one of their three children and her husband and two children.

All but one person attending the reunion stayed in one of the two “reunion” houses Saturday and Sunday. The exception was me…My days of sleeping on air mattresses, bunk house style, are behind me. I got an Airbnb room in a house strategically located between Yarmouth and Plymouth.

The reunion was very gratifying. The climax came Sunday night at dusk in the backyard of the Plymouth house. Aunt Nanette summoned everyone around, and we stood in a loose circle. She expressed her gratitude for the reunion and specifically thanked the two grandsons who instigated it, David Temming and Tom Parker. Then, in a voice halting and breaking, she said, “And I want to thank all of you for the joy you’ve brought to my life.”

It was a short speech, but one of the best I’ve ever heard.

Here are the photos…

The Yarmouth home of my cousin Bob Eckert and his wife Marie Therese Wolf. It was built in about 1850 by a shipmaster named Capt. Solomon Taylor.

Uncle Jim

Aunt Nanette

One of their two sons, Bob Eckert, who lives in Milan, Italy

One of their two daughters, Alice Temming of Cincinnati

My cousin Sharron Hilbrecht of Louisville and Doug Parker, of Napa, CA. Doug is a son-in-law of Jim and Nanette.

Grays Beach on Cape Cod Bay is less than half a mile from Bob and Marie Therese’s house.

The boardwalk adjacent to the beach

I took a chance and parked in a handicapped space and was lucky…as usual.

Alms House Road, between the house and the beach

One of Bob and Marie Therese’s daughters, Mailina, left, agitated for a baseball game.

Back at the house, Ralph Till, husband of Claire Till, a granddaughter of Nanette and Jim, got in a little basketball.

Just before we headed off to Plymouth, I got our Yarmouth hosts to sit still for a moment. That’s Marie Therese Wolf, Lola Wolf, Mailina Wolf and Cousin Bob.

From one spectacular vacation house to the next. This one, within easy walking distance of the Atlantic Ocean in Plymouth, is owned by John and Elaine Eckert. It was built by Elaine’s late father, Henry Sentola.

John Eckert, taking care of his guests

What’s a reunion without some corn shucking?

White Horse Beach, Plymouth

Ralph Till and Claire (Eckert) Till

David Temming (fore) and Tom Parker, reunion instigators, and Lola Wolf

I, too, am grateful…for this great aunt and uncle!

The lead editorial in Tuesday’s print edition of The New York Times contained a grammatical error so bad I read it four or five times trying to figure out if my eyes or my knowledge of the King’s English were failing me.

The editorial, titled “Drop the Bluster on North Korea,” urged the Trump administration to reach out to North Korea in an effort to initiate talks regarding North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The last paragraph of the editorial went like this:

“Are the North Koreans even interested in talks? American experts who study the issue say there have been repeated signals in recent weeks that they is.”

The italics are mine because those are the two words at issue. “They” — as everyone with an eighth-grade education knows — is a plural subject, while “is,” is a singular verb.

Like I said, I was so confounded I read that sentence over and over to see if I was missing something. But no, there it was, clear and simple, a classic and embarrassing screw-up.

The next thing I did was read the paragraph to our daughter Brooks, who is also an avid Times reader. After reading it to her, I said, “That’s pretty funny, isn’t it?” And she replied, “It are.”

Today I put in a call to Phil Corbett, standards editor for the Times, to see if he knew about the screw-up and what his reaction was. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message. A few minutes later, he sent this email:

“Thanks for the call. My reaction: ugh. I assume something that egregious must have resulted from a last-minute editing change where someone didn’t read it over one more time. Glad they fixed it online, but ouch. Bear with us, and I hope that won’t happen again.”

…It was a bad error, but you gotta like it when the standards editor’s response is “Ugh.”

**

For almost a month, I’ve been wanting to follow up on the July 6 crash at K-7 and Parallel Parkway crash that killed Paul W. Scott, a 68-year-old Tonganoxie resident. Scott, a retired Johnson County firefighter, was sitting in his tan SUV that Thursday — stopped at the Parallel Parkway intersection — when a white SUV plowed into the rear of his vehicle. Scott’s SUV was pushed into a box truck, which, in turn struck a third SUV.

Paul W. Scott

Scott was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver of the white SUV was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The drivers of the other two vehicles escaped with minor injuries.

In a July 8 post, I said it was very likely the driver of the white SUV was not paying attention, and I speculated he might have been texting or dialing up a song on his phone. A week or so later, I called Officer Cameron Morgan, the KCK police public information officer, to see if charges had been filed. He told me a detective had the case and was investigating. I checked with Morgan a week or so later, and the answer was the same. Another week went by, and the answer was the same.

By the third check, I was starting to get suspicious…Could it be the driver of the white SUV was someone important? Or someone with connections, and law enforcement was playing the delay game or even trying to make the case go away?

Today I requested another update, and Officer Morgan sent me this response:

“The subject causing the accident has died so no charges will be filed.”

That’s about the last thing I expected to hear, but it didn’t answer all my questions.

I sent Morgan another email, asking for the driver’s name, age and city of residence. He replied:

“I’ll have to ask the detective but he’s not answering my call right now. I believe he died in Nebraska so you would have to check with that city if they released his name. I don’t believe they will though.”

Realizing I had assumed the driver had died of the “serious injuries” from the crash, I sent Morgan another email, asking if the man (note that Morgan used the word “he”) died as a result of injuries suffered in the crash and if he was a Nebraska resident.

Morgan answered one of my two questions…

“No, he didn’t die from injuries in the crash. I believe it was possibly suicide but you would have to confirm that with them.”

One of the things I love about the news business is the element of surprise. Not only will there be no charges but the man responsible for the crash is dead, in all probability having killed himself.

I would still like to know more: Who is this guy? Where did he live? How old was he? But with suicides, the information flow often dries up. What was a public case becomes a personal, family matter, and what he was doing behind the wheel on the morning of July 6 becomes moot…I think it’s fair to speculate, though, that the Parallel Parkway crash took not one life but two.

Patty and I like to throw parties, but last night we outdid ourselves: We hosted a wedding reception for about 150 people.

We weren’t responsible for everything; it was catered, and an event production company and other service providers were involved. But we had to get the house, yard and patio in tip-top shape. Lot of work.

A week ago Saturday there was a surprise, complicating factor: A huge oak tree in the back of our yard went down in the big storm. The tree went three ways — east onto our yard, north onto the master bedroom and west into a neighbor’s yard. Fortunately, the damage was relatively minor, although the tree removal was a four-phase operation that took place over four days.

The bride, Sarah Cayton, of Kansas City, is the daughter of longtime friends of ours, Roger and Suzanne Johnson, who live in the Los Angeles area. Sarah had long wanted an outdoor reception, and we were happy to oblige — with help from the weather gods, who gave us a perfect midsummer’s evening.

I had the foresight to alert the neighbors, up and down the block and behind us, that it was going to be a pretty noisy affair. Everyone I heard from said things like, “Have a good time; it won’t bother us.” So, I thought we were in the clear…until the police arrived shortly after dark, blue lights flashing.

At first I thought someone must have complained, but the officer who was standing in our driveway pointed to a black Toyota Scion that was parked — of all places — on southbound Ward Parkway, 50 yards or so from our house!

It takes a lot of cheek (and not a lot of good judgment) to park on Ward Parkway, but this person had obviously pulled stunts like this before because he had brought alone a couple of orange cones and had put one in front of the car and one behind it…Like those cones were going to provide a protective cocoon around his little vehicle.

Turns out the perp was a member of the bride’s family, but I’m not going to name him to spare him further embarrassment. Anyway, he scurried out to Ward Parkway, moved the car and that was the last we saw of the police, fortunately.

I thought you’d like to see some photos from this special event, so here you go…(I took all the except two that Roger Johnson took.)

Our daughter Brooks gave the dance floor a trial run on Friday, the day before the wedding. (In the background you can see what remains of the oak tree that went down in the July 22 storm.)

Three kinds of Boulevard on tap

Patty, hostess extraordinaire (Photo by Roger Johnson)

Fifteen tables were set up in the yard…

…and one on the patio.

Monique (front), her husband David and Cathy were among the guests.

Sarah — the bride, of course — and Patty

The groom, Eric Hawk (right), and friend Mike

From the bride’s side, sisters Maggie and Ellie (Photo by Roger Johnson)

Dancing on the patio

I’m going to spare you photos from the aftermath, today’s clean-up. All I’ll say is that — like I told several guests at the party — Patty and I produced this one free of charge, but for the next one the price is $10,000. One guy I told that to nodded and said, “You’re underpricing yourself.”

I’ve got two concerns about the selection of a new Kansas City police chief. One is general, the other specific.

First, the general…

Under the system we’ve got — been stuck with since the Pendergast days — our police chiefs are selected by a five-member (four members right now) board appointed by the governor.

The days when local officials couldn’t be trusted to oversee the police department are long past; we badly need local control of the department. And the mayor, who is a member of the board, should be making the selection.

Several years ago, St. Louis City, the only other Missouri city whose police department was governed from Jefferson City, won its freedom. In a deal that involved St. Louis area resident and political activist and contributor Rex Sinquefield, the Missouri General Assembly approved a bill that gave St. Louis voters a chance to approve local control. After a campaign largely financed by Sinquefield, that’s exactly what St. Louis voters did. Now, their mayor appoints their police chief, and the city runs the department top to bottom.

We need the same thing, even if it means making some sort of deal with Sinquefield, who also has agitated, unsuccessfully, for elimination of the city earnings tax. The e-tax is off limits; it’s the biggest single generator of general-fund revenue. I don’t know exactly what the deal was with St. Louis, but it was a huge step forward to get the police department out from under state control. So, Sly, put in a call to Rex and see if you can’t get something going…It’s ridiculous we don’t have local control in KC.

Second, the specific…

As you probably know, the next chief will either be Maj. Rick Smith, the internal finalist, or Norman, OK, Police Chief Keith Humphrey.

My concern stems from Smith’s involvement several years ago in the case of Shawn Ratigan, the Catholic priest who is serving a 50-year prison sentence for producing or attempting to produce child pornography. Specifically, he took “up skirt” photos of young girls attending the Northland grade school operated by the parish where he was then assigned.

Smith’s role in the case has not received much media attention, so here’s the context…

Smith and Humphrey, police chief finalists

Smith was a member of a diocesan review board (Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph) that assesses sexual abuse allegations. Then-Bishop Robert Finn and then-Vicar General Robert Murphy knew about the photos but did not initially bring them to the attention of the review board…or the police. A subsequent report revealed, however, that Murphy phoned Smith and told him about a photo of a nude girl found on a priest’s computer.

Murphy himself had not seen the photo, and he described to Smith what he understood the photo to show. Based on Murphy’s description, Smith said it might meet the definition of child pornography but probably did not.

And that was as far as it went, up to that point. Apparently Smith did not contact any other review board members, and he apparently did not ask to see the photo.

Much later, Smith told investigators he was shocked to learn there were hundreds of photos.

…Finn, of course, was ultimately convicted of a misdemeanor count of failing to report child sex abuse, but it took a long time for the full story to come out and for the legal process to run its course.

It seems to me that Smith’s police antennae failed him when he did not press to see the photo. I would think hearing from the vicar general — the No. 2 diocesan official — that a photo of a nude girl had been found on a priest’s computer would set off alarms in an experienced police officer’s head.

Maybe an alarm did sound, but I suspect what happened is that the heavy cloak cast by a big Catholic diocese muffled the sound, and Smith decided to let it go.

Smith wasn’t the only non-clerical official to drop the ball. Diocesan officials also told their attorney, Jonathan Haden, about the photos. Laughably, Haden told diocesan officials that in his legal opinion a picture that did not show sexual conduct, contact, performance or sexually explicit conduct did not constitute pornography.

I guess Haden hasn’t ever looked at porn…Either that, or he, too, was feeling the weight of that Catholic cloak.

So, should Smith’s handling of the question put to him by the vicar general disqualify him from becoming police chief? I’m not sure it should, but if I was on that police board, I’d have a hard time voting for him.

Sometimes you have to go a long way to get find out about important news taking place close to home.

Such was the case today with a routine, second-quarter earnings report from the McClatchy Co., based in Sacramento.

On the third page of the nine-page report, came a stunning announcement about the Kansas City Star’s most valuable piece of real estate, its press pavilion at 17th and McGee.

“On July 12, 2017, the company (McClatchy) entered into an agreement with R2 Capital, LLC to buy the Kansas City Star’s production facility, which will be structured as a sales leaseback transaction.”

Now, it’s been no secret that McClatchy had put not only the press pavilion but also The Star’s headquarters building at 1729 Grand up for sale several months ago. And back in March, publisher Tony Berg told editorial employees that the company had a buyer for the headquarters building.

But to the best of my knowledge The Star has not reported either sale. That seems very odd, doesn’t it?

One thing The Star has always been particularly good at is reporting real estate developments. And yet, it doesn’t report its own deals…I don’t know why Berg has not given the go-ahead to one or more stories about these sales, but, to me, it damages The Star’s credibility: You report on everybody else’s deals but not your own?

…The Star’s reportorial shortcomings aside, here are some things many people will probably want to know about these two deals:

:: The release said the transactions are expected to close later this year and bring McClatchy a total of about $42 million…The total asking price for both buildings had been $46 million, and the asking price for the press pavilion — which cost $200 million to build a decade ago — was believed to be about $30 million. The Star will lease back the press pavilion and continue to operate it and also transfer its editorial operation there.

:: The release gives no details about R2 Capital, but former KC Star business reporter Julius Karash, who has been tracking the sale of The Star’s buildings, found an R2 Capital company based in Chicago, which appears to be the likely buyer. R2 Capital, formerly known as South Street Capital, owns and operates more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial real estate in Chicago and Minneapolis. 

:: The release identified the buyer of the headquarters building as “1729 Grand Boulevard LLC” — a creation of a local company called 3D Development. In an online story today, Kansas City Business Journal reporter Rob Roberts says 3D specializes in historic redevelopment. It has been involved, Roberts said, in numerous projects, “including the office conversions of the historic Corrigan Building at 1828 Walnut St., the Creamery building at 2100 Central St. and the Candle Building at 2101 Broadway.” It is not clear what 3D is planning to do with the headquarters building, although Berg told the editorial employees back in March that it was headed for commercial and residential redevelopment. As part of the deal, 3D is also purchasing surface parking lots north and south of the headquarters building, and a 3D official told Roberts a hotel was a possibility on one of the lots and a multi-story parking lot — for Crossroads District customers — on the other.

**

I indicated earlier that I communicated with Julius Karash about these real estate transactions, and I asked him to weigh in on them.

Here’s what Julius had to say:

Julius Karash

“It may come as a shock to some that McClatchy expects to garner only $42 million from the sale of the two Kansas City Star buildings, when it spent $200 million on the printing plant alone. Is that a good deal on the face of it? No. But I doubt that anyone could get a better deal, considering the state of the industry. Newspapers all over the country have been selling off their properties in an effort to bring in desperately needed cash. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been trying to sell its headquarters building for more than two years.

“McClatchy took on $2 billion in debt when it bought The Star and the other former Knight Ridder papers in 2006. Today’s second quarter earnings release says debt at the end of the second quarter was down to $858.7 million and that the company finished the quarter with $8.4 million in cash, resulting in net debt of $850.3 million. The company also has a $65 million revolving line of credit.

“…McClatchy revenues continue to slide southward. Total revenues were down 7.1 percent in the second quarter compared with a year ago, despite the fact that digital-only advertising revenues grew by 10 percent and digital-only audience revenues were up 6.7 percent.

“The Star is producing damn good journalism, and McClatchy is fighting like hell to survive. The news release says the company ‘remains committed to reducing operating expenses.’ We know the kind of pain that can cause.

“Only time will tell if these real estate sales and other measures will help The Star and McClatchy achieve a long-term future…I sure hope so.”

…As disappointed and puzzled as I am about The Star’s failure to report its own big real-estate deals, I join Julius in hoping McClatchy gets that debt down and that both McClatchy and The Star become financially successful at some point.