It’s NFL playoff time. Will this be another one and done post-season appearance for the Chiefs? Let’s hope not. Kansas City, where the league’s most dynamic quarterback resides, will play host to a playoff game next weekend on Saturday, Jan. 12.
I’d feel better about things if the Chiefs actually had a defense. A playoff caliber football team is not going to come into Arrowhead and gift Kansas City turnover after turnover like the awful Raiders did last Sunday.
Anyway, Kansas City’s long suffering NFL fans have waited patiently for a Super Bowl. The Chiefs won the 1970 Super Bowl, which is before many of you reading this were even born. I was six, almost seven, and really the only thing I can remember about that game is my dad jumping up off the couch when Otis Taylor made a remarkable touchdown catch/run and the Chiefs pulled off the upset over the heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings that year.
Who would have thought in 1970 that this many years later KC fans would still be thirsting for another Super Bowl?
Can this team do it? Maybe, we all like to dream, but the Chiefs defense is so liquid-like the odds seem stacked against them.
Some folks have already offered comments and feedback to us regarding the recent jail study proposal by a consultant hired by the Platte County Commission. A lot of the comments focus on the lack of attention on the word “why?” As in, why is the average length of stay in the jail increasing? While it’s important to know that inmates are staying longer, it’s even more important to know why are they staying longer? Perhaps that’s a problem that can be addressed more effectively than by simply building a state prison-sized county jail.
Also the numbers of ICE prisoners (the county rents bed space to house Immigration and Customs Enforcement prisoners) were included in jail population figures by the consultant, which helps to skew the uptick in prisoners. If the county doesn’t have to house them, why include it other than to show how the facilities are being used? There aren’t any comments in the study relative to courts, the legal system, and impact of changes as it impacts the average length of stay (ALOS).
And regarding ICE, what happens if the feds change how that is done and the need for that space and the revenue that comes with it goes away? We know the answer to that one.
As for general population projections, as we’ve seen in the past trying to predict population growth beyond 10-15 years is mathematical gymnastics. Faulty predictions. First the area has to have available jobs to attract continued population growth. Who are the potential employers 10 or 15 years from now?Also, the number of felony case filings is interesting to watch. You’ll notice the county’s general population is in an uptrend but the total crime count isn’t changing (in fact, in the past year there were three percent fewer felony cases filed in Platte County than the year before), which goes against a narrative that county officials push when they say: “The overall crime rate isn’t going up but the number of serious crimes is going up.” The latest numbers don’t support that narrative.
These are just a few thoughts that are getting tossed around in the community as we head into decision time for the county commission. If the commission wants to put a jail proposal on the ballot in April, they’ll need to get certified ballot language to the Platte County Board of Elections by Jan. 22. That’s just a few short weeks away.
Still waiting for the new Platte City QuikTrip store?
Platte City Mayor Frank Offutt said this week that QT is requesting a temporary occupancy permit to open its new store in Platte City. The mayor says Thursday, Jan. 10 is the date listed on the application to begin operating the new store, which is on the same footprint as the current store along NW Prairie View in Platte City.
You’ll be able to tell which building is the new one when you get there.
Shoutout to the loyal Landmark reader who popped in the office one day last week to ask why we never talk about the new QT opening up soon. At first I thought he was joking. He wasn’t.
This surprised me because we have mentioned the new QuikTrip so often in print and on our social media outlets that I personally felt like we were going overboard with it, and here is at least one reader saying we haven’t talked about it enough. I could only chuckle in slight amusement. It’s funny how individual readers perceive coverage of various topics. I feel certain there are other readers who think the new QT coming to Platte City has been covered ad nauseam. I guess this is more proof it’s impossible to keep everybody happy, my friends.
I mean, to an extent the new QT is big news and worthy of coverage, which it has been given multiple times by The Landmark and other outlets. But when a privately-owned business keeps changing its targeted opening date it’s really up to that privately-owned business to get the word out about that ever-changing target date. It’s not the local media’s job to become a large privately-owned corporation’s public relations team. After all, QT isn’t exactly a mom and pop general store in need of free pub from the local newspaper.
Either way, thanks for reading and keep that feedback coming.
Don’t know if you’ve heard but the new QT in Platte City is scheduled to open Jan. 10.
Just as an FYI, though, I wouldn’t chisel that in stone.
(Find Foley on Twitter @ivanfoley and email him at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)