Vice President JD Vance made a stop in Platte County on Monday. No couches were harmed.
It occurred to me that some of you may have to Google that JD Vance/couch reference.
Is anybody really sure what the event was at the 1890 Fields and Event Space in Tracy where Vance made his stop? Nobody here got invited and I’m guessing you didn’t either. Have yet to hear from anybody who was on the inside at 1890, which is surprising, actually.
Vance was in KC to speak at a manufacturing plant south of the river on Monday. I’m sure you’ve seen the video of that. No video that I’ve seen from whatever that was in Tracy.
Did you feel that? Probably not.
Gas prices dropped from $4.07 locally to $3.99 early this week. That’s in what I like to call the Platte City metropolitan area. I haven’t traveled to southern Platte County this week so can’t speak to how prices are registering in that neck of the woods.
Average gas prices in Kansas City have fallen by 3.9 cents the past week. The average KC price on Monday was $4.20, according to GasBuddy. That’s 68 cents higher than a month ago and $1.26 higher than a year ago.
Here’s what the GasBuddy experts are saying:
“The national average price of gasoline spent much of last week drifting lower after jumping early in the week as oil prices softened on hopes that diplomatic progress between the U.S. and Iran could help ease supply concerns,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “However, that optimism faded after President Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping failed to produce a breakthrough on Iran, while renewed warnings toward Tehran have helped push oil prices higher again. With global oil inventories continuing to trend toward historically tight levels, markets remain extremely sensitive to geopolitical developments and potential supply disruptions. As a result, gasoline and diesel prices are likely to remain volatile, and with Memorial Day approaching, any sustained increase in oil prices could begin pushing retail fuel prices higher again in the weeks ahead.”
That’s a lot of words just to say don’t be shocked when the local price gets back above $4 per gallon. Enjoy your summer travels!
I didn’t know till recently that my buddy Guy Speckman of page 3 fame has so much knowledge about the little town of Skidmore, Mo., including some awareness of who allegedly pulled the trigger on that fateful day in 1981. Again, Google it if you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. Remember, Google is always your friend. I think you can go ahead and burn those encyclopedias you have in your basement.
Also, in another old friend alert, Brad Carl, the singer/songwriter extraordinaire whom you may recall from his co-hosting days on Landmark Live, has recently become infatuated with the 1981 killing in Skidmore. So much so that he is threatening us with a song about it. Nobody asked for that.
Brad’s biggest hit remains the smash “Meet Me at the Speakeasy,” a musical tribute of sorts to former Parkville mayor Nan Johnston. That’s a video so popular it caused an internet brownout in 2021.
True story. Kind of.
The 2026 Missouri legislative session is over. We lived to talk about it. The session ran from Jan. 7 to May 15. According to sources, the legislators were in session 68 days during that time, plus hundreds of committee hearings and many hours listening to constituents, drafting and debating bills, and sometimes planning strategies to grow government.
According to Landmark reader Paul Hamby, who also is a blogger based in Maysville, property tax reform went nowhere this session. Hamby writes: “Property tax relief did not pass. Reform of property tax assessments, rates and the State Tax Commission did not pass. Property taxes were a top priority of both Republicans and Democrats and many Missouri citizens. Yet the house and senate could not find common ground to pass a bill.”
Hamby goes on to say: “Rep. Tim Taylor led the battle for nearly a year. He and his committee have laid the groundwork for a 2027 property tax reform bill. This is a tough subject because state laws govern how property taxes work, but tax rates are passed by the citizens in local elections and 99% of property taxes stay local. 75% of those taxes are typically for local schools. The other 25% fund local services such as fire, ambulance, library and county roads.”
Here’s something you probably didn’t know. Probably didn’t care to know. The Kansas University baseball team is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation by the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. The KU team is ranked No. 13 in the nation by ESPN.
Coincidentally, I was in Omaha on a recent Saturday which reminded me the College World Series is played in that city June 12-22. I’ve always wanted to hit that. Maybe this is the year for a short early summer drive to the Series, with gas prices and such.
It would be at the same time as the World Cup, so it would briefly get me away from the 650,000 people that are coming to KC for all that soccer action, right? Right?
(Find Foley shopping for a sympathy card for JD Vance’s couch. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)
