Platte City will keep its current headquarters for the local popo at Fourth and Main, at least for a couple more years, while efforts to find a new police headquarters building and/or construct a new building get rolling.
There’s your police facility update for now. But what about the department as a whole since the recent hiring of Joe Wellington as new chief? Glad you asked. Here are some words from Wellington, as written in a report to aldermen in conjunction with the most recent public safety subcommittee meeting.
“We are continuing to evaluate the department as a whole, with the goal of providing excellent service to the community while becoming more efficient,” Wellington says. “The booking procedures have been streamlined for city charges and the warrant procedure is being reviewed as well. Some procedures are court mandated and that is being discussed with Jennifer Fain (of the city attorney’s office).”
I like Platte City’s approach to traffic enforcement and traffic flow. That approach involves fewer car stops. Here are some comments from the new chief about that.“Traffic enforcement actions continue to trend well below prior results without having a negative impact on the volume of motor vehicle crashes,” Wellington said.
The numbers show traffic stops in Platte City are down 31 percent compared to this time in 2018. Traffic citations are down 26 percent and warning citations are down 48 percent.
The folks at a place called QuoteWizard by Lending Tree have ranked the fittest and fattest states in America. Our apparently skinny friends at QuoteWizard say Missouri is ranked number 42, in other words Missouri is considered one of the most overweight states.
So basically they’re calling us a bunch of fatties. Sticks and stones, you guys, sticks and stones. I for one will not be intimidated. Pass me that slab of ribs.
Mississippi, Kentucky and Texas were ranked as the top three fattest states. Of course, Texas. They say everything’s bigger in Texas, which is probably just a myth pushed by Texas cowboys.
Tutera will open a $55 million state of the art senior living community at Tiffany Springs. And 55 million sounds like a lot of cash until you realize it’s still $10 million less than the county commission wanted to spend to double the capacity of a jail that’s not full.
We’ve been sprinkling in some good ideas for summertime fun in various articles in your Landmark the past few weeks and will continue to do so, including a list of the Zona Rosa free summer concert series, promoting the recent Wings Over Weston, and this week the focus is on Weston winemaking and the Weston WineFest set for Saturday.
Oh, and don’t forget Fox4 will be doing its morning show in downtown Weston this Friday.
Weston is a good day trip anytime, but the town really gets to hopping the days of special events like WineFest.
Speaking of day trips, your Between the Lines travel writer recently took a Saturday afternoon excursion to check out downtown Excelsior Springs. Here is my review: Don’t waste your time.
Speaking of travel advice, the website known as GasBuddy has ranked the cleanest gas station restrooms in each state. Who gets top ranking in Missouri? You might guess QuikTrip. You would be wrong. Ranked as the place with the cleanest gas station restrooms in Missouri are those Hy-Vee fuel stations.
There’s knowledge you can use on your next road trip.
There will be a free concert series on the front lawn of the Platte County Courthouse again this summer. Look for some musical acts in that location the second Saturday of June, July and August. The musical fun runs from 7-9 p.m.
Landmark Live, the videocast you can find on our Facebook page at Platte County Landmark, returns this week. You don’t have to watch but it’d sure be cool if you did.
This Thursday night’s show will feature my co-host Brad Carl and I talking, well, talking insurance and the insurance biz with the always-fun Brandon Tritten and other good folks from JBLB Insurance. JBLB is the former Olin Miller Insurance Agency, across from The Landmark office in beautiful downtown Platte City.
Tune in for an update on the new peeps and some insights into the business of insurance. You might think insurance doesn’t send chills down your spine but hold on. Office manager Cindy Rinehart says Brad and I have a knack for making any topic weird. I think she meant that as a criticism but we took it as a compliment.
Then next Thursday, May 23 the Landmark Live goes on the road for a live broadcast from what the hotel folks are calling “Party on the Patio” at the KCI Marriott. Please send good thoughts and positive vibes to the innocent souls with the Marriott, they know not what they do. Apparently somebody at the Marriott once said “we wish you guys would do a Landmark Live here sometime.” Be careful what you wish for. On that night, my long lost pal Chris Kamler and I will be reuniting on camera for the first time in several months. I don’t wanna say things will get wild but Chris and I will be snorting Smarties and throwing back pink lemonade shooters.
(More Between the Lines can be found on Facebook at Platte County Landmark, on Twitter @ivanfoley or catch up with Foley on Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)