Welcome back, thanks for reading. I’m still running the numbers but unofficially it looks like The Landmark’s weekly audience is now at 4.4 trillion. Many people are saying it has grown into the single most powerful and influential organization in human history.
Hey, did you see Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is making noise about slooow mail delivery in the Northland? That includes some zip codes in Platte County, of course.
Hawley sent the inspector general a letter last week requesting a full audit of the post offices in Clay and Platte counties. Hawley’s request comes after his office heard reports of residents in the Kansas City Northland area routinely waiting days to receive mail, the letter stated. When it does come, the document detailed, residents’ mail often arrives in large quantities.
Some of you in Platte County zip codes have told me the exact same thing in recent months. A couple of months ago I had a productive phone conversation with various folks in Rep. Sam Graves office on the topic of the snail’s pace of mail delivery.
“The need for reliable mail service across Missouri is critical,” Hawley said last week.
According to a news release from his office, Hawley’s office had been receiving complaints for months. Now, the Republican senator said he wants the postal service to conduct a full investigation.
“While I am encouraged to hear that the USPS is working to address the poor service performance by reassigning staff and hiring additional staff, further action may be necessary,” Hawley wrote in his letter.
As mentioned previously, the zip code we’ve heard the most complaints from is the Parkville zip code of 64152. Worst case scenario was a few months back. At that time we were hearing from some subscribers in the Parkville zip code that delivery of Landmarks that are dropped off at the Parkville Post Office on Wednesday afternoons was not taking place until five or six days later. Wut? It would be hard to be that intentionally slow, let alone unintentionally.
A couple of years ago we stopped mailing our Parkville papers from Platte City. Now we eliminate a step and drive them directly to the Parkville Post Office on Wednesdays. One would think this would mean those newspapers would hit subscribers’ mailboxes on Thursdays. I mean, Fridays at the latest, and that seems overly patient on our part.
On the positive side, lately there has been considerable improvement. We haven’t heard any horror stories of late delivery recently. So things might be looking up? Let’s hope it is a long term fix.
Boneless chicken wings are fake news. Never forget that.
Go bone or go home.
Would love to get a Landmark Live scheduled at the new culinary-based library. I’m not a cook but as a kid I wasn’t afraid of testing the limits of my sister’s Easy-Bake Oven. Might have even thrown a breaker once or twice.
Bring a fire extinguisher to the show.
I don’t like to boast, because lord knows I’ve been on the short end more times than I care to remember with sports predictions. But here comes the not-so-humble brag: I’m not too shabby at what they call “futures” picks.
Some folks–especially those of us who live in Missouri where sports wagering is not yet legal so we have to travel out of state to do it– might be asking: what are futures bets? Futures bets allow wagers on things that will take longer to determine the result. As is their name, futures bets are a bet on something that will happen in the longer-term future. Future bets offer the best odds for a casual bettor to hit it big.
For example, remember in the summer of 2021 I advised you to get to Vegas and place a “pay your mortgage” bet on the Raiders to go over their projected win total of seven victories? That was an easy winner. You’re welcome, America.
Also for example, prior to the start of the current NFL season I suggested you should perhaps “buy yourself a small vacation home” by getting a futures ticket on the Eagles to finish with more than 9.5 victories this year. Have you been following the Eagles? They are currently undefeated at 4-0, the only team in the NFL without a loss. Still too early to do a touchdown dance, but I’m liking my chances of the Eagles finishing with at least 10 wins and you getting that vacation home. Throw me a bone when that happens, if you’re into tipping.
The day before the Major League Baseball season began–in the April 6 edition of this fine newspaper, to be exact–I gave you my five “futures” win total predictions for MLB teams. Good news: Three of those five have already hit with ease–a perfect 3-0 thus far, so already a guaranteed profit.
The two others still have a chance to hit. Because there are still two regular season games to be played as of this writing, a full review of those MLB futures picks will have to come in next week’s column.
Landmark Live update: Mark your social calendars accordingly.
Confirmed guest for Oct. 20: State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer will join us to talk about everything from taxes to limiting the growth of assessed valuations, everything from legalizing sports wagering to bullet-proof jackets for police dogs.
Early confirmation for Thursday, Oct. 13: Former NBA player Scott Wedman. Little known fact? Wedman lives right here in Platte County. He’ll share stories of winning NBA championships while playing alongside Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics. He also played for your ol’ pals the Kansas City Kings back when KC had an NBA franchise.
Wedman is a “soft”confirmation for Oct. 13 at this point. He’s in, assuming his personal schedule doesn’t get dunked in the next few days. Soon we’ll nail it, like a Wedman jumper from the corner.
(Get baking and small kitchen fire tips from Foley via email to ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)