Puffy coat alert!
You may have noticed it’s cold outside. Several days of single digit high temperatures have either already hit us or are on the way, depending on when you read this. The long range forecast indicates some “normal” temps aren’t on the way until late next week. Old Man Winter not giving up without a fight this year, kids.
The low temperature on Sunday is predicted to be around 10 degrees below zero. How does a person count to minus 10? Cut off all your toes?
Disclaimer: Don’t cut off your toes. We’re just talking here. I’m not your math tutor.
The Landmark office was built in 1869. Yes, in the 1800s. What I’m about to tell you may or may not come as a surprise: the building can be a bit drafty on extremely cold days. The fact that I’m currently running a space heater three feet away from me pointed at my backside speaks to the draftiness.
The draftiness is on the main floor. Fortunately on Thursday night for Landmark Live, we’ll be on the air-tight second floor in the comparatively comfortable confines of what former Platte City Mayor Frank Offutt has dubbed Studio A.
Our guest this week is Mary Jo Vernon, director of the Platte County Health Department and our topic is the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are interested in receiving the vaccine and have questions about the process and the supply, this is a must-see episode. The show goes live at 6 p.m. on Facebook at Platte County Landmark and on our web site at plattecountylandmark.com.
What is confounding to a lot of us about Missouri’s vaccine rollout is that some of the more rural, out-state areas already have/are getting a supply for mass vaccination events ahead of some of the higher populated areas of the state. Sparsely populated areas have not been as at-risk to outbreaks as densely-populated areas, so this strategy has seemed strange. Or perhaps strangely political, though our governor is denying that’s the case.
Another pandemic Netflix recommendation for you: If you haven’t yet watched Night Stalker, the documentary series about the serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles in the 1980s, you should do so. Creepy and terrifying and fascinating, all at the same time.
The Chiefs were awful the other day. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ individual performance was better than most of his teammates, but even he had a few moments that were head scratching. The rush got to him, physically and it seemed mentally, as well. He was being chased out of the pocket so often that a few times it looked like he started scrambling even before the Capitol had been breached, to use a modern day analogy. And early in the game he missed a wide open Hardman on a medium depth throw to the right by about five yards. But Mahomes deserves no individual blame for this stinker. The man had virtually no help from his offensive line and the coaching staff made zero adjustments (where were the quick slant patterns?) that could have helped.
Mahomes taking a snap and then immediately going into full scramble mode looked like the backyard football games a lot of us played as kids, when the older neighborhood guys let the youngest/smallest kid play QB then took joy in relentlessly chasing him in hopes of pancaking his ass into the grass.
When it comes to what he has meant to the Chiefs and to Kansas City, I love Mahomes. More than is probably considered healthy, to be honest, but that’s a topic for another day.
Let’s look at things with an unbiased eye, if we can. The Chiefs star QB has played in two Super Bowls now. As you know his record is 1-1. In last year’s Super Bowl, you’ll remember the Chiefs’ offense played at a below Mahomes-like level for three and a half quarters (the Chiefs trailed 20-10 against the 49ers midway through the final quarter) before kicking it into Mahomes gear for an electrifying final six minutes. On Sunday, between running for his life and multiple dropped passes by his receivers and a couple of his own miscues, he never had the chance to kick it into turbo.
So in eight quarters of Super Bowl football, we’ve seen Mahomes and the Chiefs offense clicking in only one of those quarters. When you look at it from that perspective, the Chiefs are a bit fortunate to be 1-1 in the past two championship games.
Update on the continuing Sunshine lawsuit facing the City of Parkville. The plaintiff, Jason Maki, recently argued in front of the court that the city and its legal team have seemed to be employing an ignore/stall tactic for some time now in the open records lawsuit. On Jan. 25, the court heard arguments on a motion by Maki asking the court to force the city’s hand in responding to multiple interrogatories brought by Maki. Requests for some of the discovery items have been basically ignored by the city to this point, Maki pointed out in court arguments. On Tuesday, Feb. 9, Judge James Van Amburg announced that he sides with Maki on his motion to compel “discovery,” which is a term for the exchange of information and evidence. Van Amburg issued an order overruling the city’s objections and the judge has ordered the city to answer those interrogatories within 10 days.
A court hearing in the case was originally set for Monday, Feb. 8 but was canceled, presumably due to weather. No new hearing date has yet been posted on Casenet.
(Send your interrogatories and other requests for discovery and whatnot to Foley at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)