I‘m already regretting taking part in that new drinking game, downing a shot every time a state investigation is opened at Parkville. Need to get my liver drained.
We should create and market City of Parkville investigatory scorecards. Let’s keep score on legal pads as a tribute to attorneys, who are making a killing off the city these days.
There’s no denying Parkville in recent years has become a magnet for investigations. I don’t know if Parkville loves investigations but investigations love Parkville. Here’s some of the latest legal news from Parkville, let me know if I’m missing something.
*The Parkville mayor, Nan Johnston, last week pled guilty to DWI. Two years probation and 40 hours of community service. Would love to see the list of community service hours she turns in. I’m guessing it’s creative writing sponsored by Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
*Johnston’s campaign committee is currently under investigation–again–by the Missouri Ethics Commission for alleged reporting violations. You’ll remember about a year ago the mayor’s committee was found guilty of four violations and several others were in essence plea bargained away. Much of the monetary fine was waived, at least temporarily, providing that her campaign finance activity stayed clean. Sounds like that’s in jeopardy.
*The Missouri Attorney General in recent days has confirmed it is investigating the City of Parkville–again–for alleged Sunshine Law violations after a local accountant told the state the city refused to supply him some sewer-rate related records he has been requesting. You’ll recall the state attorney general was investigating the city for Sunshine complaints up until the time Jason Maki filed his lawsuit against the city. When Maki’s lawsuit was filed, the attorney general’s office stopped investigating, saying they’ll let the courts decide whether the law was broken. That lawsuit, as I’m sure you’ve been reading in The Landmark–is progressing in interesting fashion.
*As the lawsuit progresses, the city once again has mysteriously “found” some records it failed to provide to Maki in previous Sunshine requests he has made. This has become a pattern. You decide whether you think these mysterious “finds” are the result of honest mistakes.
More to come, but that’s enough for now. I’m hammered.
If you’re reading this, it means we all survived that two-week long deep freeze. Anxious to see your next heating bill? Me neither. When those bills arrive maybe we should commiserate with a group hug. Sounds risky, better mask up for it. Just a quick hug, don’t make it weird. And don’t get too handsy or extra squeezy, some of us have trust issues.
So the frozen tundra has thawed, Ted Cruz is back from Cancun and it appears the Midwest’s power supply is back to normal.
No more planned rolling power outages from some companies. Comparatively speaking, most of us got lucky. I know I did. Platte-Clay Electric, which is the provider at my residence, says it didn’t need to employ any planned rolling outages that other companies were using. Evergy is a provider for many folks in this area, including The Landmark and other businesses in downtown Platte City. None of the planned outages affected us.
One time I suffered a rolling outage but that was after a meal from Taco Bell.
There is some organized opposition working against the Platte County R-3 School District bond issue question that will appear on the April 6 election ballot. The group has formed a website at www.buildsouth.org.
As the website name implies, the opposition would rather see the school district build an additional high school in the southern part of the district. Building south would “create equal convenience and opportunity for the south end as the north end of our district.”
The buildsouth.org website fights the school district’s claim that the existing high school needs to be renovated by saying: “While parts of the building are older, the high school received significant renovations in 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2015. To speak of the extreme age of the building is an exaggeration to the point of fraudulence. Further, to spend roughly $100 million dollars completely rebuilding the existing structure squanders the capital investments already made by our families while they have continued to be denied equity and lied to by the district. We fully support spending necessary funds to make vital repairs and renovations, but this rebuild is about grandiose wants of the Platte City community while ignoring the desperate needs of Barry students. Safety of our students is more important than flashy displays of wasteful government spending.”
Check out their website if you want to hear a different perspective on things. It never hurts to absorb opposing points of view.
March, normally one of my favorite times of the year due to the madness of college basketball, is less than a week away. Honestly, I’m not really feeling the excitement from college hoops this year. Are you? I’m blaming it on the lack of big crowds in the arenas. College basketball on TV these days gives me the feel I’m just watching a practice or scrimmage. Just not the same without a lively game day crowd. The lack of natural crowd noise while watching NFL games was noticeable but overall didn’t really impact my level of enjoyment. But the lack of natural crowd noise in college arenas for basketball is taking the fun out of it. Why is that? Am I the weird one? Don’t answer that.
(Landmark Live returns March 11. Between the Lines doesn’t miss a week. Foley rarely sleeps. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)