More election wrap-up thoughts next week but here are some of my initial reactions to Tuesday’s vote in Platte County.
The margin of victory for the children’s fund quarter cent sales tax was an eye opener, winning 56% in favor to 44% opposed. Whether or not you supported the tax, what we can all agree on is this result has to be another bruise to the ego of our current county commissioners. The trio of Scott Fricker, Joe Vanover and Dagmar Wood openly hated on the children’s services tax to the point they fought to keep it off the ballot even after a petition process brought it forward. Then Fricker loudly campaigned against it on his Facebook page, which has been an embarrassing political crapshow for months now. By the way, if there’s someone out there looking to get into local politics you should start gearing up for a race against Fricker in 2026. The guy is out of touch with what his constituents want and is politically vulnerable. He should never be let off the hook for the over-the-top jail tax proposal and his boorish behavior during that campaign.
Again, whether you were in favor of the children’s services tax or not, when it comes to a choice of passing a half cent sales tax for building a big-ass jail or passing a quarter cent sales tax for mental health services there’s no denying Platte County voters have spoken loud and clear. Do you think these three county commissioners get the message?
Enough political talk. Time for some romance.
Not sure how to say this but I’m currently in a loving relationship with Pringles potato chips. What makes Pringles such a naughty temptress? One of the mysteries of life, I suppose. I was gonna say those things are like crack but I’ve never done crack and don’t have any plans to start. Probably wouldn’t have time for another addiction anyway, with my connection to Pringles at such a hawt and spicy level.
In this edition you’ll see the popular new wine bar and brewery in Downtown Platte City, Barley & Vine, has been named the best new brewery in Kansas City by The Pitch magazine. Nice award for the impressive brewery/wine bar and its owner, Laura Lowrey.
Barley & Vine, by the way, will be celebrating its first anniversary with special events beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday night, Nov. 8.
When you’re at Barley & Vine don’t forget to order a Landmark Lager, a special brew by Barley & Vine named after your favorite newspaper. Silky smooth. Just like The Landmark publisher?
I gave Tom Brady’s early season performance as an NFL color commentator for Fox a failing grade. So I want to be fair now and let you know the man has improved tremendously since the first week of the season. We’re now into about Week 10 of the NFL season and let me say that Brady is now infinitely better than he was eight or nine weeks ago. He’s not yet as polished or as relaxed as the top analysts in the game, such as Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth or Tony Romo, but he has improved by leaps and bounds. Fox has the Super Bowl this season so the network is hoping–and probably expecting–Brady to be up for the largest assignment in sports television by the time the big game is played on Sunday, Feb. 9.
It’s good to see Best Buy coming back to Platte County (see front page story). Some business publications still refer to Best Buy as a big box retailer, which I suppose may technically be an accurate description, but in the last several years of their stay at the Tiffany Springs Market Center they weren’t stocking a whole heck of a lot of inventory. There seemed to be a lot of empty space in that expansive store layout.
So I’m fascinated to discover how much “big box” is still part of Best Buy’s business plan when they open in Barrywoods Crossing near I-29 and Barry Road. The new Best Buy location will be a major downsizing from their previous spot in terms of square footage. Their previous store at Tiffany Springs had about 100,000 square feet. Their new space at Barrywoods will feature only 17,000 square feet.
Couldn’t help but notice the price of a gallon of gas on North Oak Trafficway Saturday afternoon was $2.49. Meanwhile, the cost of a gallon of gas at the QuikTrip in Platte City that same day was $2.71.
Lol. Highway robbery?
These are good times in the website business.
The Landmark’s website at plattecountylandmark.com experienced a record number of impressions from internet visitors in the month of October. As verified by the Google Search Console Team, The Landmark’s website reached a new record high of 297,000 impressions in October, surpassing our previous monthly record, which was 252,000.
Several factors helped drive the record amount of traffic to our site. “Early voting to begin Oct. 22” was one of the top web article pages attracting visitors, as were the stories headlined “Southbound I-29 is a traffic nightmare” and “Body, vehicle pulled from river at Parkville,” as well as a story about the planned opening of the new Buck O’Neil Bridge. And of course the work of our columnists, no doubt.
Impressive.
Shout out to everyone at the Platte County Board of Elections and poll workers who showed up to maneuver miracles in guiding 23,295 people through the early voting process. That’s amazing. Nearly one-third of Platte County voters opted to vote early this year, the first presidential election in Missouri that featured an advance two week period of “no excuse absentee voting,” simply known in most circles as early voting.
There is talk at the board of elections of possibly adding a second site for early voting in the future, but likely not until 2026, when heavy turnout could be expected for what is known as mid-term elections on the national level. As popular as the advance voting option was this year, it certainly seems like a second site for advance voting will be needed in time for the 2028 presidential election.
(If you find Foley awkwardly licking his lips while staring at Pringles potato chips please tell him to snap out of it. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
