The much anticipated open house to view updated plans for widening Hwy. 92 to four lanes east of Interstate 29 at Platte City was well-attended, with a large crowd filling the board of aldermen meeting room at City Hall (see story on page A-4). There is much interest in this road improvement, which is referred to as “a generational project” by city planners. The big reveal Monday night was the exact location of two roundabouts that The Landmark had exclusively been telling you the past several weeks were going to be added to the plan. Those will go in at Windmill Drive (near the Windmill Creek subdivision) and, as expected, the other will go at Bethel Road, an intersection that is in desperate need of an upgrade and realignment. Another bit of noteworthy news on the project is that the time line has been pushed back. Construction won’t begin until sometime in 2026 and completion is now expected sometime in the 2027 calendar year.
As previously reported, Rob Willard has resigned as county treasurer effective March 31 to join a law firm in Kansas City. Gotta say I’ll miss Willard’s sense of humor in the county building. Whenever I wanted to be entertained in the form of an unpredictable and somewhat off the wall conversation about anything in the world, a talk with Willard was the answer. If you’ve never had the chance to visit with him in a relaxed atmosphere you’re missing out, because in the right setting the guy is quite entertaining when he gets on a roll.
I can recall a night at the board of elections about 10 years ago when a group of us were sitting around a conference table awaiting election results to come rolling in. As we sat there chatting about anything just to kill the time, Willard was offering up wisecrack after wisecrack on a variety of topics. If you have to be stuck somewhere watching paint dry, Willard’s sense of humor will help the clock tick faster. You can’t say that about a lot of people in politics.
Rob Willard’s is the voice you hear when you call the county administration building. His dulcet tones guide you through the county’s phone directory and whatnot and such. I’d give you more details but honestly I’ve never listened to the whole thing and I’m not gonna take the time to do it now.
Anyway, I wonder if the county will re-record those messages after Willard leaves, using some equally friendly and welcoming voice. Or will Willard’s vocal presence live in infamy?
One of my favorite Rob Willard stories, and I may have told this one before in this column space, occurred at a Royals game in 2015. On Saturday, May 16, 2015 my wife and I were at the Royals game vs. the Yankees, sitting down the left field line in seats three and four of a row about halfway back in the stands. Seated in seats one and two of that row, as it turns out, were Rob and his son. About midway through the game Rob and his son got up to head to the concession stand or restroom, or maybe both, and about that time Lorenzo Cain smoked a line drive near our section of seats. The ball came buzzing into the aisle–not far from the seat Rob had just vacated for his run to the facilities. I don’t want to brag but with my cat-like reflexes, I took advantage of Rob’s absence, racing over to and past Rob’s empty chair and out into the aisle, where I was able to grab the bouncing ball, thankfully after some of the Cain smoke had come off of it.
I’ve been going to Major League Baseball games all my life but that’s the only time I’ve ever been fortunate enough to get a foul ball. Off the bat of a star player, no less, In what turned out to be a world championship season for the Royals, no less. And I owe it all to Rob Willard’s need to empty his bladder.
Never forget.
That 2015 Lorenzo Cain foul ball is encased in my personal office now at your new Landmark headquarters at 212 Marshall Road, Suite C, Platte City, if any of you fellow baseball nerds want to stop in and give it a gander.
March Madness will be upon us next Thursday, March 20 when the NCAA tournament tips off. Since this might be the final Between the Lines you’ll see before that tip off, I’ll bring you up to date on the futures wagers I’ve made at Hollywood Casino. Years ago The Landmark did bracket contests to really get in the spirit of March Madness, but eventually that Landmark contest became too big and required too much of my time to run. So for the past several years my March fun has changed to making futures bets, which helps to keep the tournament more interesting.
From a dollars standpoint, I approach basketball futures much more conservatively than I do those Pay Your Mortgage NFL futures plays I give you every August–which I’m sure you remember are undefeated at 5-0 lifetime and have helped you pay off your home, your boat, and maybe your alimony payments if you’ve spent too much time watching sports.
My college basketball futures are done with pizza money, not Pay Your Mortgage money. Here are the tickets in my college basketball portfolio, so to speak. These wagers were made a while back (I’ll list each date for reference) so the exact odds available to you right now have likely changed.
•$25 on UConn to win the title at 40-1, potential payout $1,025. Bet placed on Feb. 10.
•An additional $10 on UConn to win the title at 75-1, potential payout $760. Bet placed on Feb. 28.
•$25 on Tennessee at 15-1, potential payout $400. Bet made Feb. 10.
•$25 on Houston at 10-1, potential payout $275. Bet placed Feb. 10.
•$10 on Michigan State to win the title at 30-1, potential payout $310. Bet made on Feb. 28.
•$25 on Florida to win the title at 13-1, potential payout $350. Bet placed on Feb. 10.
•$25 on Maryland to win the title at 60-1, potential payout $1,525. Bet made Feb. 19.
Some quick math shows that to be $145 invested in championship futures tickets. If any one of those cash, I will have made a little pizza money on this adventure while making the tournament infinitely more enjoyable to follow. Having a little skin in the game keeps my attention.
So when the tournament begins next week I’ll be rooting for any and all of those teams–but as I’m sure you can guess by looking at the numbers–I’ll be rooting hardest for Maryland and UConn.
Final Four funsies.
I do have $30 worth of futures tickets that involve teams making it to the Final Four. As you’ll see my infatuation with Maryland continues. Join me in cheering for Maryland to make some noise in March.
•$10 on Maryland to make the Final Four at 10-1, potential payout $110. Bet made Feb. 19.
•$10 on Maryland to make the Final Four at 12-1, potential payout $130. Bet made Feb. 24.
$10 on Oregon to make the Final Four at 30-1, potential payout $310. Bet made Feb. 24.
(Find Foley giving thanks that on a day in May 2015 his rather large bladder allowed him to stay in his seat long enough to get a foul ball)
