While there is nothing funny about COVID-19, it’s safe to say the varying reactions of politicians and health officials surrounding the “reopening”have been. . .interesting.
Gov. Mike Parson on Monday announced a May 4 plan that in so many words says: “Hey guys, the pool is open. Just try not to pee in it.”
In Platte County, where health department officials are in control, there opening date has been “pulled back” the way the politicians wanted but with much tighter controls than the state.
Most of us know the old saying: “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.” That may be what has happened in Platte County.
That’s a reference to Dagmar Wood, first district county commissioner, who recently has been on a political grandstanding tour in what is an election year for her.
“I personally would like to see a pullback of that May 15 order and I’m doing everything that I can–officially and unofficially–in my power to see that happen,” Wood said at a recent county commission meeting. She then launched a public “look at me” full court press on local health officials.
Based on her Facebook posts Tuesday night, it looks like Dagmar was premature to spike the football. When word of an amended order moving up the date to May 4 leaked out, she gleefully referenced a change in the health director’s stance and added an emoji of a dancing lady in heels with her skirt twirling in the breeze.
Then Dagmar must have decided to read details of the order. Because the details are tight, much tighter than those laid out by Republican Gov. MikeParson. By the end of the night Dagmar was posting a link to the health department web site where folks could send their complaints about the change that she had celebrated just a couple hours earlier. “This is their order,”she suddenly was quick to remind folks.
I don’t think the health department would play this game but it’s almost asif someone had seen enough political grandstanding and said: “OK, we’ll change the date from May 15 to May 4, but we’ll make the restrictions so tight you might wish we hadn’t.”
Now that the COVID-19 stay-at-home is nearing a conclusion, can social media peeps get back to arguing about more traditional topics?
Yes. I think they can. And I think they will.
Those of us at The Landmark haven’t exactly been catnapping during the stay at home. We’ve stayed busy even when not keeping the public up to date on all aspects of local goings-on related to the pandemic, taking advantage of opportunities to perform less obvious projects like refurbishing all of our outdoor news racks that were in need of some adjustments and some fresh paint, doing a couple minor infrastructure projects inside the 1869 office building, and so on and so forth.
I know a couple members of The Landmark’s normal mailing crew might be glad get back into the office fairly soon for the first time since mid-March.They were probably starting to think we didn’t love them anymore.
A quick welcome to the new readers who have found us during this time when the public has had a thirst for staying in touch with local happenings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of you initially found us through our social media outlets on Twitter and Facebook. Many of you might have jumped on board due to one Facebook in particular. And there’s kind of an interesting story behind that.
The post of our picture of the Bar Louie location at Zona Rosa, in which we shared news of the bar’s decision to close, caught fire on Facebook. It became the most widely viewed Facebook photo we’ve posted in the three year lifespan of the Platte County Landmark on Facebook.
Who woulda thunk? Not this guy.
The photo appeared in our April 8 print edition. I didn’t really give much thought to posting it to social media. It was newsworthy, sure, but not the stuff one would normally consider would be a major attention getter. I finally posted it on Facebook the following Tuesday, April 14, while working late on the April 15 print edition. And the post’s popularity didn’t really take off in the first hour or so. But then it went full nuclear for about 36hours.
When the smoke cleared, our Bar Louie photo/cutline had been viewed by108,089 people. That’s pretty amazing, really. After all, Platte County’s population is 104,414.
Our Bar Louie pic/story was shared by 613 Facebook users. It drew 492 comments.
Sometimes you just don’t know.
One thing I did have time to do on weekend evenings during the shutdown was check out a few things on Netflix. Did you?
My favorites: Season 3 of the series Ozark is nothing short of spectacular.The best season thus far. Some twists and some tension. Jason Bateman is fantastic in his role. And the young actress who plays the feisty and sassy Ruth turns in a terrific performance.
Then there was Tiger King, Murder Mayhem and Madness. No spoilers here but if you’re into real life docuseries type shows there is nothing better. The fact the Tiger King was obsessed with himself and had cameras filming his every move means the show is full of actual footage of weird events–and somewhat unique characters.
And the series finale known as The Tiger King and I was a riot. I know nothing about the guy who was brought in to play host on that follow-up episode but his relaxed style and consistent one-liners while talking to some of the strangest characters you’d ever want to meet was hilarious. It was like a Landmark Live Party on the Patio at the KCI Marriott. Or something.
(Get ready for more Landmark Live episodes coming soon. Email Foley ativan@plattecountylandmark.com )