Our sincere condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of Dennis Sharkey, whose life was taken in what authorities say appears to be a road rage incident Friday night on I-29 in Platte County.
Sharkey, age 50, worked as a local high school sports reporter for the Platte County Citizen. He had previously worked at other newspapers in the region as well, and had been a news reporter for us here at The Landmark for a short time about 15 years ago.
Some of his other stops in his journalism career included time at the Oskaloosa Independent, the Mexico (Mo.) Ledger, the Mound City News, and multiple years covering sports at the Citizen. I believe at one time he had told me he also spent some time working for the newspaper in Maryville.
Sharkey worked as a news reporter for us here at The Landmark from early September of 2009 to late January of 2010, so only about five months. You may have to be a longtime, alert, and very aware Landmark reader to recall seeing his byline in our paper. I’ll forgive you if you don’t remember the name gracing our front page on many stories for a few months 15 years ago. Even my wife on Saturday morning when we were talking about his tragic death told me she had no recollection of someone named Dennis Sharkey working for The Landmark. “He was only here a matter of months, you may not have had the chance to meet him,” I told her, trying to give her an excuse for not remembering.
Work for us he did. He worked his ass off, covered a ton of news stories in the short time he was here. He cranked out a lot of copy, as we say in the news biz, and he liked it that way. There were times I would have to rein him in, reminding him that 60-80 hour work weeks were not in the payroll budget for a news reporter. Neither one of us enjoyed those necessary conversations.
Sharkey’s time spent with us has been on my mind the past few months–before his tragic death last Friday night–and I’ll tell you why. Each week I sort through old Landmark editions to gather entries for our “Looking Back” feature that appears each week in the right hand bottom corner of page 3. Looking Back includes stories from 15, 30 and 45 years ago. Well, the 15 year ago time period the past few months has been smack dab in the middle of Sharkey’s time as news reporter here, and his stories are plastered throughout the editions I have been perusing the past few months for the Looking Back piece.
In the fall of 2009 he covered things such as county commission meetings, meetings of the Platte City Board of Aldermen, Platte County R-3 School Board, even the Platte County Regional Sewer District board meetings, some Riverside meetings, some Parkville meetings, and other general news events that would come up each week. His reporting was admirable. He had a good nose for news, for the most part was able to accurately filter what was news vs. what was noise, never had any trouble finding topics for stories. He didn’t need–nor did he want–a whole lot of guidance.
Controversial news stories were happening fast and furious during that timeframe in Platte County, and as such Dennis and I rarely engaged in a whole lot of personal talk, we just didn’t have much spare time nor many mutual interests. But I do recall he talked about how he liked to play disc golf (some folks identify this as frisbee golf) and he appreciated the fact there was a disc golf course in Platte City at Riverview Park.
RIP Dennis Sharkey.
NFL playoff time is here. Well, it actually started last weekend with six games in what used to be called Super Wild Card Weekend but the NFL quietly downgraded it to simply Wild Card Weekend, apparently to not hurt the feelings of the Super Bowl, I guess.
There were a few dog games in the mix last weekend. Some bad football was being played, especially in the Chargers vs. Texans game, which was rated G for gross. And now the Texans come to KC this Saturday for a game in which the Chiefs are currently sitting as 8-point favorites, for you gamblers out there, degenerates and casuals alike.
Got a television recommendation for you, and it has a Missouri connection. Do you like those cop ride-along shows? You’ll want to see this one.
It’s called Ozark Law and it plays on the A&E network. That’s channel 265 if you have DirecTV, and channel something else if you have something different. You’ll have to find it yourself, I’m not a walking TV Guide.
The TV series features the Lake Ozark Police Department and the Osage Beach Police Department on their daily patrols and walking the streets of the Bagnell Dam strip during July 4th weekend. The police chief of Lake Ozark seems like a cool guy, assuming he’s really that way when the cameras aren’t rolling.
I watched a good portion of the first episode last week and found it interesting, sometimes entertaining. A head-scratching part was seeing one of the police officers, a female, not that gender matters these days–come cruising up on a vehicle parked in a handicapped parking spot. “This is a pet peeve of mine,” she says to the TV camera. Something a simple citation should take care of, I was thinking. Nope. The officer immediately radios dispatch asking for a tow truck to have the offending vehicle loaded up and hauled away. The owner shows up just as his vehicle is now atop the flat bed tow truck. He is polite and quietly asks how much it’s going to cost him to get his vehicle out of the impound lot. It’s like $375 or so to get his car back. Lol. I’m not a police officer but this seemed like a bit of an enforcement overreaction. I mean, if it’s a repeat offender or a vehicle that the officer knows has been in the handicapped space for quite some time, sure, but that’s not the impression that was given. What’s next, jail time for parking tickets? (Oops, I shouldn’t give the Platte County Commission any ideas).
A synopsis of the show, which airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m., describes it this way: “For nine months of the year, the peaceful towns around central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks are home to just a few thousand residents. However, when summer arrives, millions of tourists flock to the area, seeking fun on the water and vibrant nightlife in the bars. This surge transforms the serene environment into a bustling hub, putting extra pressure on local law enforcement. ‘Ozark Law’ joins the Lake Ozark Police Department and Osage Beach Police Department on their daily patrols, witnessing firsthand the challenges they face in maintaining order and ensuring safety in this lively Midwestern destination.”
Check it out. It airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m.
(Pro tip: Unless you want your car immediately impounded never park in a handicapped spot in Lake Ozark, Mo. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
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