Our Parkville MO

Parkville Birdcage Liner (a.k.a. Luminary) Expresses its Wishes for Downtown Parkville.

2011-04-16T10:51:00.002-05:00

The editor/publisher of the Parkville Birdcage Liner has expressed his wishes for Downtown Parkville. It was elegantly stated with a photo of a 16-square foot sign stating that downtown business were open in Parkville. The single word caption expresses the quirky little newspaper's long held wishes for Downtown Parkville, "Fail." This newspaper has long been an opponent of Downtown Parkville and finally it has had the stones to say it in print. The position, obviously, hinges on the fact that the bellicosity of the editor/publisher which led to a more than one-year restraining order against him that prevents him from coming close to downtown developer, entrepreneur and community leader Tom Hutsler. He has hired a new cub reporter that had originally applied for the position of executive director of Main Street Parkville Association. While she turned out to be the second choice after a super-qualified applicant decided, for personal reasons, that she would not accept the job; she was offered the job (following a split decision by the steering committee) after she clearly stated, when asked, that she would quit her association with the Bird Cage Liner if hired. She was made aware of the fact that the animosity held by that "quirky little newspaper" towards MSPA and downtown with greatly impact her ability to do her job effectively. Then, once offered the job, she reneged on her statement and announced to Carol Kuhns the MSPA president, that did not intend to give up her job on the newspaper's staff. Since she had originally stated that she would leave the newspaper, and then reversed her position, it was felt that a contract of employment was required that would force her to work only for MSPA and not for any media. She seems to have felt that her loyalty towards the newspaper was far more important that her loyalty to MSPA; hes refused to sign the agreement and thereby refused the job. Despite tha fact that one steering committee member felt that her overarching qualification was that "she is pretty" everyone agreed that having lied in her interview was enough reason to not employ her.

Philosophy of Life.

2010-07-18T14:19:00.003-05:00

Someone once said, "it is better to be petty and vile than nothing." This appears to be the philosophy of the editor of the Parkville Dillusionary. He also has a paranoid streak a mile wide (he's always complaining that someone/everyone is out to get him). I understand that he complained that his paper boxes were jammed with screws; now, I ask you, who would waste a 5-cent screw on one of his paper boxes? I submit that the supposed jamming of his paper boxes and slashing of his tires may have been done by himself. After all, the only person that wouldn't look suspicious spending time with one or more of the Dillusionary's paper boxes is none other then the GWAH himself!
Why should he report on any positive news about downtown Parkville when he can make up glorious lies. My father used to say, "he's the kind who would rather lie when the truth would sound better." The GWAH, when fresh out of new lies, prefers to rehash old stories that were old news two or three years ago and he likes to present them as if they were just the latest news he's uncovered. The result is that he's constantly dropping stale turds on the pages of his birdcage liner. The good folks of Parkville (e.g. the Farmers' Market and the American Legion and at least two of the city Aldermen) have learned that his so-called newspaper, is not.

Conflict of Interests?

2010-07-15T19:29:00.003-05:00

I am wondering if it is a conflict of interest for an alderman to introduce a special ordinance to allow the father of the alderman's friend to have a special permit to sell food downtown in direct competition with local restaurants? All I'm saying is, think about it.

Billy Dee's Southwest Grill is OPEN!

2010-07-15T19:25:00.003-05:00

I suspect all of you have noticed the bright, new, yellow paint job on the train car in English Landing Centre. Well, this is the new home Of Billy Dee's Southwest Grill. Everyone I have talked to says the lunches there are great. Currently open only for lunch, they do plan on extending their hours soon.

New resident journalist in Parkville

2010-04-14T14:56:00.003-05:00

The City of Parkville has installed a bronze statue of Mark Twain in Pocket Park on Main Street. Now the city has its first, respected, journalist-in-residence since Nancy Jack passed. Mr. Clemmens' writings, as he's seated there gazing over Main Street, certainly will have a greater impact than anything Parkville has now. Welcome to Parkville Mark, we hope you enjoy yourself and that the professional jealousies of others will be kept in check.

Martin Rucker visits Parkville

2010-03-27T14:40:00.005-05:00

I met the current 29^th District state representative Martin Rucker who is running for the Missouri State Senate for the 34^th District. Let me see...the current senator is Charlie Shields...he's never been in our store. Mr. Rucker was in today. I don't know Shields' politics, but I suspect there would be little about them with which I would agree.
I'm going to watch this race with renewed interest simply because Mr. Rucker stopped by specifically to meet me, Carol and Leif in our store. It reminds me of the very first time Mike White ran for office in Jackson County. That's a long story, but because of his personal efforts Carol and I voted for him and, as I recall, he won by one vote!
All politcs are local.
==JFK==

Parkville Residents asked to Participate in Local Precipitation Measurements

2010-03-08T10:58:00.004-06:00

This was originally posted on the H.M.S. Beagle Science Blog, but I thought it was appropriate for here too. After all, when it comes to global climate change, we're all in this together. Whether or not you subscribe to to the overwhelming evidence that the earth's climate is changing and in large part due to human activity since the dawn of the industrial age, I think that you can well appreciate the need for as much data as possible. With more data climatologists can greatly sharpen their models and their predictions.

This was sent to us, at the Beagle, this morning by the Earth Gauge group:

Parkville, MO
Link: http://www.earthgauge.net/2010/march-madness-2

Earth Gauge: March Madness
It’s March Madness for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) – they want to see how many volunteers sign up this month to measure precipitation in their backyards. CoCoRahS is a nationwide network of citizen scientists who are measuring and mapping precipitation in their communities. CoCoRaHS volunteers help to provide quality rain, hail and snow data used by the National Weather Service, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities, engineers, ranchers and farmers, teachers and a range of other interest groups.
Viewer Tip: CoCoRaHS is in all 50 states! Sign up to become a Volunteer Observer with CoCoRaHS in your state to help this network grow. You can volunteer to measure precipitation as an individual or as part of a community or school group. Check out http://www.cocorahs.org/ to learn more.

(Sources: Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. www.cocorahs.org; “About Us,” http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=aboutus)

JFK

Is The Luminary Light Burnt Out?

2010-02-15T19:34:00.004-06:00

Where is the Parkville Luminary Papers that once occupied the newsstands around town? There are none to be found anywhere, none at the stores, none at Park University, none at Patriots Bank, none at the restaurants, and none in the newsstands at all. It is like the Parkville Luminary just ceased to exist. The last date on the Parkville Luminary online site is January 30 2010. Is it possible that the Luminary is out of Business? I even tried looking for the other Luminary’s You Tube channel and low and behold it doesn’t exist. Mark, what’s up? Did you run out of cash? Did your investors get tired of the lack of profitable returns? Here it is the middle of February and still no cage liners and fish wrap from you at all. Are you on vacation from the monotony that is your daily life? Did your significant other find out about one of your extramarital affairs?

Is there any other reason that you haven’t printed the paper yet? Are you out of funds, have you considered a government bailout? Has your family realized that you are crazy and had you committed for treatment? Well whatever the reason I am going to miss the issues of your paper that I was hoping to use for my paper mache projects that I was going to use on the target range. When I asked about this recent development with Tom Hutsler, he responded, “there is good news when there is no news from the Parkville Luminary.” Is this the end of the Parkville Luminary, I don’t know, there is still the Parkville Luminary online account, and it is still on twitter.com; but nothing in a printed paper format.

I will still be on the look out for any other developments on this story.

Event Review for October 3, 2009…

2009-10-07T21:54:00.010-05:00

October 3, 2009 Parkville, MO.- HMS Beagle held it’s October
Skies event in English Landing mall 92 rockets were launched. October Skies happens once a year, to promote rocketry with the youth and adults.

Cruise night began at 4 PM and ran until 9 PM several dozen cars and owners arrived for the Event. The last Cruise Night of the season will be on October 24. It looks to be one mother of a blow out with a DJ, Food by the American Legion and there will be a Dyno Machine on site. Come on down for the last event of the Cruise Night Season.

The Cruise Night Dance Began at the American Legion at 7PM and went until 10 PM. There was a live Band playing 50s music. The Tourques, Stevie Wolverton, Kenny Butterfield, Johnny Isom, and Janelle Frost played the music for the dance. The group has been working together since the early 60s.

Parktoberfest

2009-10-03T15:15:00.003-05:00

Parktoberfest, Parkville's own version of Oktoberfest, is rapidly approaching. The event is a fundraiser for English Landing Park Oct. 10, 2009. Volunteers are in great demand. Please let us know if you would like to pitch in. Contact Bill Noble at noblhse@aol.com. Yodeling ability not mandatory.
Sponsored by Parkville Community Development Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Vasto Assaults Pillar of the Community…

2009-10-01T18:25:00.014-05:00

September 27 2009, Parkville, MO.- The events described below are as related by witnesses. Mark Vasto, publisher and Editor of the Parkville Luminary, assaulted Tom Hutsler in the Power Plant Reception Facility. Prior to the incident, according to witnesses, Vasto was ranting that Hutsler had stolen his papers from the machine in front of the American Legion on Main Street and that he was going to kick Hutsler’s ass. Tom Hutsler was in the Power Plant Reception Facility doing some work, when Vasto Broke into the power plant at or about 12 A.M. Vasto then confronted Hutsler in the foyer and then, according to Hutsler, Vasto accused Hutsler of stealing the papers from the machine. He then shoved Hutsler.

Hutsler ordered Vasto off property and stated that he didn’t know about the missing papers, also that he did not have the papers, and that he “didn’t care about the Luminary.” After Hutsler and Vasto stepped out of the building, Vasto continued with his rant, Hutsler asked for someone to call the police. Hutsler flagged a passing Parkville Police vehicle and told the officer that he wanted press charges against Vasto for assault. Vasto was taken into custody by the police and taken to the Parkville Police Department.

The case goes to court on October 15.

Parkville Old Towne Market CID Business

2009-07-21T17:40:00.003-05:00

The Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District (POTMCID) met for its regular meeting on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at the American Legion Hall. The main business conducted was the reappointment of Frank McCall to the board and the appointment of Kathleen Fasone to fill the vacancy created by the resignation in June of Kevin Heaton. In addition, the board reviewed a grant request from the Parkville Chamber or Commerce for support of their upcoming "Bluegrass Block Party."

The request was for a $5,000.00 "sponsorship" for the event. The POTMCID approved support of a grant of $4,190.00 to support very specific line items in the Chamber's budget including the event's marketing. The grant will be paid to the Chamber as reimbursement for actual expenses.

==JFK==

Bliss Fest - 2nd Annual

2009-07-14T09:58:00.003-05:00

The Main Street Parkville Assocation, Parkville residents, The Kansas City Raw Food Meetup Group, Whole Foods Market, Green Acres, Nature's Pantry, and Evolving Magazine are helping to bring Parkville its second annual Bliss Fest.

If you haven't heard, The Bliss Fest is a celebration of conscious lifestyle featuring food, clothing, and beverage vendors, health and wellness speakers, live music, and demonstration of all sorts of personalized services surrounding the topics of sustainability, health, wealth, and creativity. Last year the event was at "The Treehouse", a piece of privately owned land near downtown Parkville. Bliss Fest 2008 was a huge success measured by attendance nearing 250 people, drawn strictly by word of mouth, and a few creative web posts.

Recently, the City of Parkville unanimously voted to approve the festival for English Landing Park. We'll have print advertising blanketing Parkville and spread throughout the Kansas City Metro Area. Live speakers this year are flying in from all over the US to publicly share their powerful stories of health, wealth, and gratitude. There will be reggae music and other entertainment as well. The reach of this festival has unexpectedly expanded and we're expecting a multitude of attendees traveling from all over the Midwest.

If you or someone you know would be interested in being a vendor or a sponsor there are several ways to so. Logo space is available on (1) the large banner that will hang across the street in Parkville, (2) on la arge banner that will hang on the stage in the park, (3) on the kids tent, and (4) on smaller signage. Donations for a silent auction and a raffle are gladly accepted.

Sponsors currently include Green Acres Market, Sonrisa Salon and Day Spa, Eden Alley, BRAS Breast Cancer Awareness Support, and more. We are offering local businesses and organizations a booth for $35; this is thirty dollars less than the non-resident vendors are paying. If you’re interested in sponsorship for banner logos, please call today details. We’re also accepting service coupons for the raffle. Here is the contact phones for additional questions: 816.785.3454 (Heidi) and 816.898.6177 (Maureen). Please use these same numbers for vendor agreements and general information about the festival. For more information on-line please follow this link: http://www.meetup.com/rawkansascity/calendar/10353654/

Thank you,
Heidi VanPelt

Make: KC Organizational Meeting

2009-07-13T17:54:00.001-05:00

A group of makers in the Kansas City area is organizing a meeting to talk about the forming of a Make: KC group. They write:

Do you enjoy creating new inventions or taking things apart to see how they work? Maybe you've seen some of the do-it-yourself projects in MAKE magazine but you're not sure how to finish certain steps.

This is an opportunity for tinkerers, inventors, makers, artists, and crafters to share your knowledge and inspiration with others from young to old in a family-friendly atmosphere.

We are planning for this meeting to include some show and tell projects using Arduino microcontrollers, as well as organizational topics and planning for future events as we launch this new group.

Here are the details:

Tuesday July 14, 2009
6 pm to 7 pm: Maker Show and Tell
7 pm to 8 pm: Organizational Meeting
Where:
HMS Beagle Science Store
180 English Landing Drive
Parkville, MO 64152
(816) 587-9998
http://www.hms-beagle.com

Parkville's 4th of July Celebration - Call for Volunteers

2009-06-23T09:03:00.010-05:00

Main Street Parkville Association has invited the Parkville Chamber of Commerce to take part in the 4^th of July Beer Garden as a special shared fund raiser. The Camber is asking for help with the Beer Garden and MSPA is asking for help with all the other aspects of the celebration's events including the parade.

The Beer Garden will be located on Ball Field One, (intersection of McAfee & East Street, near the Farmers Market), on the 4^th of July and open for business from 5:00 - 10:00 PM.

Beer Garden Volunteer Duties and Shifts:
Volunteer duties will include checking ID's, applying wristbands to those of age, collecting money and serving beer.

The Parkville Chamber of Commerce is responsible to man three shifts with three volunteers per shift. If you are interested in helping with the Beer Garden please click here and provide your name, desired shift, mobile telephone number and t-shirt size.
Shifts: 4:30 - 6:30PM (includes setup from 4:30 - 5)
6:30 - 8:30 PM
8:30 - 10:30 PM (includes breakdown from 10-10:30)

Parade and other event Volunteers:
If you're interesting helping with the 4^th of July Parade or other activities please please click here and provide your name, home and mobile telephone numbers. We especially will need assistance in staging the parade in the parking lots at the Parkville Commons Center. Dannelle Nichols will then be in touch with you to fill you in on how you can help.

Parade Entry Applications:
If you, your family, organization or business would like to have an entry in the parade please click here for parade applications. This year's theme is "Our Home Town". Come join us and help make it happen!

Where else can you volunteer for a great cause, get a FREE t-shirt and have the best seats to a real home town parade and the BEST FIREWORKS SHOW? Only in Parkville, Our Hometown!

Lemonade and Cookies at Great Northland Exposure Artist's Gallery...

2009-06-17T17:45:00.004-05:00

June 12, 2009 Parkville, MO.- When I was walking around downtown Parkville, I noticed two women putting up a new sign outside Northland Exposure Artist’s Gallery that stated “free lemonade and cookies inside.” When I asked the ladies about the sign they said they were going to start the free lemonade and cookies for patrons of Northland Exposure Artist’s Gallery on Saturdays starting in July for the rest of the summer. Northland Exposure Artist’s Gallery is located 110 Main Street in Parkville Missouri. Come on down to view the paintings, drawings, photography, jewelry, pottery, stained glass, wood art, and wearable art; and, of course have some free lemonade and cookies.

HMS Beagle Science Club Dig...

2009-06-17T17:43:00.004-05:00

June 12, 2009 Parkville, MO.- HMS Beagle Science Club goes on a Paleontological Dig at Park University. The young Scientists were digging for fossils at Deer park location at 6^th street and Morden Road on the University Campus. Gilbert Parker, President of the Kansas and Missouri Paleontological Society, was the instructor for this activity and field trip. Most of the fossils found were plant life from the Pennsylvanian Period. The digs will be on Wednesday s weather pending. For more information on the HMS Beagle Science Club Contact Carol or John Kuhns at the HMS Beagle Science and Toy Store at 180 English Landing Drive.

Parkville's Cruise Night a Roaring Success

2009-06-10T11:30:00.004-05:00

Parkville, MO, 6 June 2009: The 2nd Parkville Cruise Night was, without a doubt, a roaring success. The comments were overwhelmingly positive and included many on how it could be made even better. It seems the event had a far reaching effect in the county with Riverside's Cruise Night being attended by only 4 or 5 cars and the Platte City event was called off. I had the personal pleasure of ferrying event attendees around the show as well as up to the shops in English Landing Centre.

My chauffeuring gave me a chance to promote Parkville and the excitement of our wonderful town. I had a great number of folks ride with me that had never been to town and an even greater number that had never shopped the downtown shops. The restaurants, of course, remain the greatest beneficiaries of this event, but Sunrise Soap Company, Rio Salon & Spa, H.M.S. Beagle, Florilegium, The Parkville Antique Mall, Subway, Bentley Guitar and Iron Horse Bistro all got very good exposure from lots of folks who did not previously know of these treasures. Tom at the Iron Horse said they were slammed, and Carol and I ate there that evening and enjoyed conversations on the deck with out-of-towners who had come for the event.

Personally, I enjoyed talking about our town to the folks who rode with me, and I enjoyed the comments and the opportunity to pass out brochures and coupons for the businesses. I was asked lots of questions about the town, our people and the university. I was often asked, "how is the town doing?" I was able to give a truthful, upbeat evaluation of the economy as it has impacted Parkville, and the vast majority said they would be back, soon.

On a sour note it was noted that many shops in downtown were closed too early (one even closed an hour early) and after the show, with the exception of English Landing shops, the cruise night participants had no where to spend their money after they ate at the downtown restaurants.

I had the pleasure to chauffeuring Kathy Dusenbury to English Landing Park for a picnic under a shelter. Finally, and certainly not least, I wish to thank Dale Brouk of the National Golf Club for the loan of a 4-passenger, electric golfcart, Additionally, I want to say how impressed and grateful I was for the assistance given to me by the staff at the Deuce and the National. The cart was festooned with banners stating that the "free ride" was courtesy of the National. The pick up and return of the cart was handled flawlessly by Tom Hutsler. This is just another example of the cooperation amoung several individuals and entities that makes this town so great.

==JFK==

2009-06-07T09:59:00.002-05:00

Bill Grigsby, a pillar of the community, devotes time and energy into what makes him successful ," He brings the best out in people." When Bill speaks, people listen and we should all listen a little more.

Bill, nicknamed the "Prince", by his esteem audience is well deserving of the title. I'm not sure who bestowed the title, but it sure fits the man.

I will continue to speak highly of those who make a marked difference in our community and in our lives. He who gives is deserving of praise.

Parkville's River Jam

2009-06-05T15:03:00.007-05:00

14th Annual Parkville Blues/Jazz and Fine Arts River Jam

Parkville, MO-The Parkville Community Development Corporation and all the volunteers of the Blues/Jazz and Fine Arts River Jam planning committee proudly announce the 14^th annual Blues/Jazz and Fine Arts River Jam on June 19^th and 20^th in beautiful English Landing Park, on the banks of the Missouri River in Parkville, MO. In part due to our continued sponsors and our dedicated volunteers this is the longest running blues/jazz festival in the area.

Eight international, national and regionally acclaimed Blues and Jazz bands will perform at this year’s event. Our line-up features Stacy Mitchart from Nashville, Tennessee, world renowned Jazz artist Angela Hagenbach, Roger (Hurricane) Wilson from Atlanta, Georgia, with Levee Town, Harper from Australia, The Sons of Brazil, the Tommy Andrew’s Band, the Rev. Jimmie Bratcher, The Skip Hawkin’s Band and the Parkville Community Band.

Whether decorating a new home or just acquiring that “one of a kind” painting we also showcase a juried art show from approximately 40 regional artists whose work will be on display and for sale throughout the festival. Such artists, many of whom are returning by popular demand, include Glen Garrison, (Wildlife art), Constance Smith, (oil painting & prints), pottery, acrylics, landscapes and portraits by many others. It’s time to support the arts by starting or adding to your collection.

Historical Parkville is the destination to spend the day shopping and dining with a wide variety of shops, including clothing fashions, re-sale, antiques and collectibles, wine, art galleries, home furnishing and even a science store as well as a wide variety of restaurants to satisfy any appetite. Let’s break the mall habit and enjoy the start of summer supporting Parkville. Remember, Parkville is close to home, but far from ordinary.

A special thank-you to our continued sponsors, North Kansas City Hospital, Kansas City Blue’s Society, KKFI FM 90.1, North Kansas City Beverage and the many others to follow.

Friday June 19^th 5:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Saturday June 20^th Noon to 11:00 p.m.

For more information contact: Linda Arnold/Mario DelCastillo/Karen Montgomery co-chairs call : 816-880-9026, or visit: http://www.parkvilleriverjam.com/.

Guitar Pull

2009-05-31T22:15:00.008-05:00

30 May 2009 Parkville, MO.- As I was walking around English Landing Mall I spied a group of men playing guitars, singing, and enjoying the weather. The music ranged from bluegrass, gospel, to folk. When I asked how often the met, they responded that they met every Saturday depending upon the weather. If you are interested in listening to good music or you would like to bring you instruments along to jam, Just come on down and sit a spell y’all. The session starts around noon and lasts until about four in the afternoon, or until they want to stop playing. Location is at Bentley Guitar Studio, 122 main Street, Parkville, Missouri 64152.

Vasto, charlatan that claims to be a journalist…

2009-05-31T21:45:00.004-05:00

Once again Mark Vasto makes an attempt to make an organization and a pillar of the community look bad in the May 29th edition of the “Parkville Delusionary.” Really Mark you don’t do enough legwork for your stories, but I guess when you half ass your work all of your life it is hard to get out of the habit. I went to the sources named in the “Duly Noted” column of the “Delusionary” and managed to get the information that you apparently got from hearsay statements. So let’s set some things straight shall we.

1. The “ FLAIR” Fashion show was supposed to be for the benefit for Watercolors Fashion Boutique, to increase its customer base. They asked for Main Street sponsorship of the event, MPSA budgeted 600 dollars for the planning of the event, this money was not for Tom Hutsler; it was for the person that coordinated the activity on behalf of the MSPA. However the full budget was not used and actual cost was 500 dollars for administrative costs. The Event that was conceived to “support downtown Parkville” did not drop the Main Street Association. The Main Street Parkville Association dropped the “FLAIR” event. According to Carol Kuhns, president of the Main Street Association, Stated “Because of the planned activities that MSPA has committed to for our downtown business, we do not have the capacity to do an event like this on a monthly basis.”

2. It is true that the Power Plant Brewery is defunct, however the Power Plant Brewery is now the Power Plant Reception Facility, it is licensed and all documentation is available with the city and the state. Something that you, Mark, should be able to do, but since you haven’t the ethics to do such work, you just write about the information without confirming the information. The use of the Power Plant Reception facility was actually donated to the event by Tom Hutsler and Dave Williams for 100 dollars, 900 dollars less than the actual cost for the use of the facility. The Facility does have several events booked for the next three months; therefore the Power Plant Reception Facility is neither defunct nor vacant.

3. The reason that there was no agreement for clean up charges was that the Organizers for the “FLAIR” event were going to do the clean up themselves, which by the way they did not do. I should know as I was there cleaning up the day after the event. And the clean up did not cost 250 dollars, the actual cost was 160 dollars, but Vasto could have called Main Street Parkville Association to find this out.

Personally I believe that Mark Vasto is sooo blinded by his hatred and bias against those pillars in the Parkville community that he cannot bother to get the information that I was able to receive by asking politely and by asking the right questions. I now understand why Mark’s wife makes several times more money than he does; she is actually smarter than him.

The News according to Vasto…

2009-05-25T17:04:00.000-05:00

I have read several issues of the local paper that I will now call the “The Parkville Delusionary,” I will comment upon the issues that caught my eye. The first issue I will deal with is the response from Vasto to a supposed “letter” to the editor about Tom Hutsler “stealing” Papers and intimidating people from allowing the paper to be available to the public in their venue. WHAT? I have seen the paper available to the public at businesses around town for sale and for free, I personally prefer not to read this trash, but it is necessary for me to do so I order to counter what is written by Vasto against those he has an agenda against. In respect to the First Amendment, the First Amendment does not prohibit citizens from suppressing freedom of speech; it prohibits the GOVERNMENT from suppressing free speech. I am thinking Mark Vasto needs to take a review class on the Constitution of the United States of America, or better yet get some psychiatric help for his paranoid schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur. I also think that the author of the letter is definitely an imaginary person, unlike me, that happens to be a REAL friend to John Kuhns.

Second, Vasto wrote about a WDAF news segment that featured Carol Kuhns discussing merchants leaving downtown Parkville for Zona Rosa. Carol is not a telescope salesperson, at least that is what she told me; she told me that she is a shop owner of a science toy store. In fact HMS Beagle is one the top rated science education stores in the region, which is a lot better than owning a newspaper that has less circulation than the Kansas City Kansan and is only good for lining pet cages. Unfortunately, I have heard rumors that a couple of pets exploded after looking at the paper they were pooping on.

Third, “The Word on the Street” article about the Bluegrass Block Party. This is the only event that is being done on Main Street this year. But when you are Mark Vasto, it is nice to think that you had some kind of influence on how events in Parkville are conducted. I have heard about how Vasto was in charge of Christmas on the River and was able to lose $19,000 dollars during the festival. Hey Mark while you are re-learning constitutional issues, you should take a course on running festivals that make a profit.

What does Vasto hope to achieve with his agenda against those that are Pillars of the Community? Who knows from a little man with a paper that supposedly represents a community that he does not even live in. I personally do not see anything in the “Delusionary” that has anything to offer this community that gives back to it, nor brings people to our fair city, nor does it increase our commerce. Vasto is nothing more than a carpetbagger with a printing press.

Of Note?

2009-05-06T17:42:00.010-05:00

From the May 1st edition of the Parkville Paper that my puppy poops on, an article entitled "Of Note" an article that was written about the The last Friday event "Flair." the article claims the event was sponsored by the Parkville Chamber of Commerce and the Parkville pet cage liner. Unfortunately the paper got the sponsor wrong it was Main Street Parkville Association. But then that is what you get for "unbiased" reporting.

The "article" goes on to report that the event was a success, 300 people in attendence, and in an attempt to to critique the Power Plant, The author complained about "dysfunctional" Toilets. and the claim that the power plant was a "vacant" building was also untrue. when a building is being used it is not vacant. The use of the building for the event was donated by Tom Hutsler. The author of the article claims there was "no comment" from Hutsler about the "dysfunctional" toilets, the reason that there was no comment from Hutsler was that the "author" of the article never called to ask for a comment of the situation of the "dysfunctional" toilets. Nice to know that the "author" is thorough in gathering all the information in regards to the story for this section.

I asked Hutsler for a comment on the situation of the "dysfunctional" toilets and he responded that the reason for the "Dysfunctional" toilet in question was that toilet was stuffed full of things that were not meant to go down the toilet, according to the plumber that was brought in to repair the toilet in question. I seriously question the aptitude of the editor of the Parkville Paper that my dog poops on, if this the best he can do then I should begin to report on the activities that occur in my town I live in. At least I can be objective on what I report.

CaptCBleu

Parking spaces on Main Street

2009-04-22T12:00:00.004-05:00

Several Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA) and Parkville Chamber of Commerce members have personally complained to me about the on-going problem of merchants on Main Street parking in front of their own stores, or even worse, in front of a neighbor's store The parking on Main Street is atrocious to begin with. One merchant estimated that on the stretch of Main between 1st and 2nd streets there was only one free parking space every 20 to 25 minutes, and that many of the occupied spaces were occupied by business owners' cars and trucks.

This issue is as important to some business owners as the signage issue, except in this case the city isn't the culprit. Come on folks leave the parking spaces for your customers and for your neighbor's customers. Be a good citizen.

Remember, there is ample parking in the city's lot and in English Landing. Main Street merchants have numerous places in which to park so that their customers are not inconvienced.

==JFK==

Averted in the Park Hill School District

2009-04-18T09:32:00.006-05:00

Last year a student at Park Hill High School complained of a science teacher who was teaching his own form of creationism/intelligent design in the high school. In addition the teacher was downplaying the importance of the theory of evolution by natural selection. The student's concerns were brought to the attention of several folks in and around Parkville, including the teacher, the school principal, the other science teachers, and politically active, long-time school board member. Blog postings (elsewhere) resulted in a regional and national science education organizations getting involved and the result was the teacher has promised to teach science and cease the teaching of supernaturalism. The real question is. "can we be sure this won't happen again?"

In Texas there was recently a statewide effort to subvert science teaching with myth and supernaturalism. The following italicized quotes are directly from an email sent by AAAS: "In a letter to the Texas State Board of Education, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and two dozen leaders of the Texas science and education community urged rejection of amendments to draft science standards that would undermine sound science teaching. In a supporting commentary in the San Antonio Express-News, AAAS warned that the antiscience amendments could undermine the state's reputation as an international engine of discovery and innovation. Read the full text of the letter and commentary. "

"Note: In the 27 March final vote on the standards, the board narrowly supported teaching the mainstream theory of evolution without reinserting the directive to study the "strengths and weaknesses" of evolution and without requiring standards to study the "sufficiency or insufficiency" of natural selection. However, the board approved other amendments above the advice of scientific experts, including a directive to teach "all sides of scientific evidence," which critics fear will embolden the board to challenge science textbooks when they come up for approval in 2011. "

The Park Hill schools are some of the finest in the nation. Parents and students need to keep a watchful eye, and ear, on what's being taught in nscience.

==JFK==

How corrupt is it?

2009-04-13T16:32:00.005-05:00

Rumor has it that the Parkville Birdcage Liner has labeled the Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District (POTMCID), "the most corrupt organization this side of Kansas City, Kansas." This may not be the exact quote since, like most folks, I have not (and do not) read the Birdcage Liner. If the POTMCID is the most corrupt, then the rest of the organizations in Missouri are, by extension, beyond angelic...godlike, in fact. When Kevin Heaton, the owner of the Stone Canyon Pizza Company and board member of the POTMCID, was asked what he thought about the statements in the Birdcage Liner he reportedly said, "I don't read that rag."

Other POTMCID board members, when asked their thoughts, said they had not seen the issue in question and most shrugged it off as meaningless drivel. One board member said it was "just more shit at the bottom of the cage."

We have formally asked the POTMCID District Manager, Carol Kuhns, to put us on the official media notification list of board meetings. She told us that she has recently sent out a blanket email to local, regional and national media informing them that since the POTMCID has not received any previous requests for meeting notifications that each of the emailed organizations should respond in writing or by email to be put on the email notification list. She also told us that even though no local media has previously asked for notification that most that have an interest have seen notices posted elsewhere or have gotten personal (official?) notification from other POTMCID board members.

John Kuhns, the POTMCID Treasurer, has reportedly requested of the Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA) that POTMCID information be posted on the http://www.parkvillemo.org/ web site. The information, reportedly, will include information on how to apply to the POTMCID for grants, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and, yes, meeting notices. Further, the web page will supposidly have PDFs of the official grant application forms that can be downloaded. There will also be a complete list of the POTMCID board members and their contact information.

WAG

Comments are welcomed

2009-04-10T16:36:00.004-05:00

What are you hearing around Parkville?

What do you think about the recently enacted smoking ban? Have you eaten at the Iron Horse Bistro yet? Have you ever met a nicer guy than Tom at the Iron Horse? What did you think of the "visioning" session last Thursday morning? Do you think Jahad at the Cedar Cafe will ever get his directional sign? How do you like the latest downtown visitor's map? Have you tried the giant wieners at Tommy T's?

What Parkville restaurants do you recommend to friends and family? Why? What businesses do you recommend? Why? Which retailer has the best customer service? Have you voluenteered for a Main Street Parkville Association event? Which one? What did you think of the Cruise Night? Did you see the 2007 electric Mustang? Did you know its made by a guy right here in Parkville?

Why do you suppose so many retailers close on Mondays? Why do you suppose so many customers complain about stores that close on Mondays? Did you know that a possibly new species of fossil cockroach was found on the Park University campus? Did you know there are stores in Parkville that give discounts to Park U students and faculty? Are you going to the Flair Fashion event that is being hosted by MSPA?

Give us your comments.

WAG

Deborah Butcher - Ward 1 Alderman

2009-03-30T16:04:00.003-05:00

Well folks, its election time in Parkville...again. In this election on April 7^th Deborah Butcher, the incumbent, is being challenged by the write-in candidacy of Charlie Poole in the town's first ward. Ms. Butcher has been a very active proponent of the goings-on in the the first ward, as well as for the entire town. She has taken a serious interest in everything that happens in the ward she represents and there is hardly a meeting at which she is not present. Her insights and contributions of expertise are always welcomed. She is the type that gets things done.

We know that Ms. Butcher will continue to be a valuable asset to Parkville. We urge the voters in Parkville's Ward 1 to go to the polls a week from tomorrow and cast your votes for Deborah Butcher.

WAG

The Sweet Guy's Karma

2009-03-28T08:54:00.005-05:00

I don't really believe in karma, but if it does indeed exist there is no better example of it than the recent problems visited on the Sweet Guy who recently moved from Parkville to the Waldo area of Kansas City. It seems that he was closed down for a period by the Public Health Service due to critical health violations.

The "karma" comes in because of his statements about Parkville. It seems he was quoted as saying something like, "Parkville is off the beaten path." We're still on the path (and always have been), and it seems his new place in Waldo...has a path that has been beaten by the health inspectors...and so soon after his opening!

On another note, Tom Hutsler, who is renovating the old Sweet Guy place for the pared down Tommy T's was seen working in the place cleaning up the accumulated filth left behind when the previous tenant moved out. Ice cream (gellato?) on the light switches?

Here's the link to the story online .

WAG

Downtown CID Approves Grants to the MSPA

2009-03-23T19:11:00.006-05:00

Last week the Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District (POTMCID) approved the marketing budget submitted from the Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA). MSPA's marketing plan was developed by a marketing committee made up of volunteers from the MSPA membership. Despite some heated discussions and strong objections from Melissa Robbins of Nine Lives and Kevin Heaton of Stone Canyon Pizza Company; the majority of the board voted for the grant's approval. It is interesting to note that the POTMCID bylaws allows the executive committee to approve grants and other such business without a vote of the full board.

The elected offices are Tom Hutsler, Chairman, Ralph Liebetrau, Vice-Chairman and John Kuhns, Treasurer. Carol Kuhns was elected to the position of District Manager, and she handles most of the responsibilities of the POTMCID's business. Ms. Kuhns was also appointed acting secretary (the job having been turned down by Ms. Robbins). Mr. Hutsler, Mr. Leibetrau, Mr. Kuhns and Ms. Kuhns constitute the executive committee.

At a previous meeting of the POTMCID board, its attorney, Charles Renner was present to provide advice and council. Renner was the lawyer who steered the formation of the POTMCID two years ago under the direction of the MSPA. Its purpose is to provide funding for the MSPA's projects and especially marketing. The POTMCID is prevented by its bylaws and establishing city ordinance from assuming any projects that were (are) the responsibility of the city.

WAG

Ribbon Cutting - The Parkville Scooter Guy

2009-03-13T15:12:00.001-05:00

Ribbon Cutting - The Parkville Scooter Guy

DATE: MARCH 26, 2009 (Thursday)

DURATION: 5:00 PM

LOCATION: 101 Mill Street (Downtown Parkville)

DESCRIPTION: Please join the Parkville Chamber of Commerce for the Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of The Parkville Scooter Guy. The event will take place on Thursday, March 26 @ 5:00 PM. The Parkville Scooter Guy is located at 101 Mill Street, downtown Parkville, Missouri, (816)746-6278.

Greg Hawley

2009-01-12T15:08:00.003-06:00

What a great loss to Kansas City, to the Midwest and to everyone interested in river history, archeology and to those who enjoy a great story of adventure and discovery. Greg Hawley, 51, and co-owner of the Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City's River Market was killed Saturday evening when a speeding car driven by a teenager hit Hawley's pickup which then rolled and Hawley was thrown from the vehicle.

We don't know what changes this will make in the stated desires, expressed by the Hawley family, to relocate the museum to Parkville. We understand that they have located what appears to be another boat and they had stated that they wanted to move and expand the present museum and to display a new boat. This is a time for greeving, and soon enough the question of moving the museum will be revisited.

We extend our sincerest sympathies for the family's loss. More information can be found by chlicking the link below. For more information about the museum plese visit: http://www.1856.com/.

Main Street Parkville Association monthly meeting

2008-12-12T14:18:00.003-06:00

At Wednesday's meeting of the Main Street Parkville Association Carol Kuhns was elected as the association's chairperson; she had filled in as interim director since the resignation of Angelo Gangai. Tom Hutsler was elected as the vice-chairperson and Linda Varner was elected as the association's secretary.

PCDC treasurer John Kuhns reported on the association's financial condition, and except for a large difference between the budget and the actual income and expenses for this past years acoustic festivals the overall difference was better than the budget expected. There was a short discussion of the Christmas on the River event (even though COTR is not an MSPA event) and that it was another success. Kuhns noted that the event for the past two years has operated in the black. Kuhns contrasted that to the situation of COTR for 2005 and 2006 when it emmerged about $19,000.00 in the red.

The MSPA signed up nore than 25 members at their breakfast meeting and Hutsler immediately went out into the community and started signing up additional members who were unable to make the early morning meeting. The representative from Park University commented that she was excited about the coming year and all that MSPA has planned.

Anyone can join MSPA. The fee is $25.00 year; contact either the MSPA office at 816-505-2227, or speak to Hutsler at 816-918-0057.

Platte County Business of the Year for Parkville

2008-12-12T13:58:00.002-06:00

H.M.S. Beagle was honored today at a luncheon at the Embassy Suites Hotel as Platte County Business of the Year for Parkville. The Beagle's nomination was submitted by the city's Board of Aldermen and the award was presented by Mayor Gerry Richardson. Calling the beagle "part museum and retailer of science supplies" the Beagle and its owners John and Carol Kuhns were cited for their entrepreneural abilitieas as well as their community and civic involvement.

The Kuhns were guests of the Oppenheimer companies and were seated at the table with Platte Commissioner Elect Kathy Dusenbury, Parkville Mayor Gerry Richardson, executives from Openheimer, Michael Short and others.

WAG

Main Street Parkville Association monthly meeting

2008-12-06T18:05:00.004-06:00

The next meeting of the Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA) is next Wednesday morning at the American Legion Hall on Main Street. The meeting starts at 9:00 am with a breakfast, provided by MSPA, at 8:30 am. This is the annual meeting where officers will be elected and where dues can be paid. Paid memberships allow businesses and individuals to vote on all matters that come before the group at its regular monthly meetings for the coming year. Dues are $25.00; memberships can be purchased by individuals and/or businesses. Each paid membership is entitled to a vote. Member businesses are encouraged to have their employees (clerks, wait staff, sales people, etc.) personally join MSPA. This will give the organization a larger pool of potential, and hopefully committed, volunteers for the many committees and festivals and events during the year.
The officer positions that are being elected at this meeting are the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. MSPA is part of the Parkville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) and it operates under its organizational umbrella. However, PCDC does not direct the actions of the MSPA, but the PCDC's elected treasurer serves as the treasurer of MSPA (as well as of all the other organizations that are under the PCDC umbrella).
A slate of candidates was submitted at the last monthly meeting; it is composed of Carol Kuhns as chairman, Tom Hutsler as vice-chairman and Linda Varner as secretary.

==JFK==

Recent developments on the Steamboat Arabia Museum

2008-12-06T15:49:00.006-06:00

The Steamboat Arabia Museum is still steaming on in its upstream effort to dock in Parkville. The latest news, which is generally circulating among folks downtown, is that the museum owners have secured an option on one of two large parcels of land in which they have expressed interest. That parcel is just to the south of the English Landing Centre. This is another crucial step to bringing the museum to Our Parkville MO. Its good that local politicians, community leaders and others have picked up on the excitement and have kept the buzz going. Even folks as far away as Overland Park, KS, have heard the news and have expressed their delight in the possible move.

On another topic, congratulations to Watercolors High Fashion LLC on Main Street for winning the Best Decorated Storefront in Downtown Parkville award. Many other stores worked very hard at their season's decorations and all are to be congratulated.

==JFK==

Smoking Ban Fails, and Other News

2008-12-03T10:32:00.002-06:00

It was fun sitting at the reporter's table at the Board of Aldermen meeting last night. It was most enjoyable to sit and hear some of the most elegant speeches I have ever heard from local politicians as they spoke about their thoughts and opinions on the proposed smoking ban. This was especially true of Aldermen Sportsman and Bay who had given the subject great thought and were obviously in awe of the gravity of the situation. Their comments were definitely persuasive, but in the end the vote was 3 for the ban and 5 against the ban. So for the time being smoking is still to be suffered in those few Parkville restaurants that allow it. The ban, as it was proposed, would have disallowed smoking in any public building, not just restaurants. This issue will not die, and the eating and drinking establishments in town must realize that it will come.

On another subject that has been dragging one for a few months was that of the motor scooter store that has been working towards opening on Mill Street (FF Highway). The city Planning and Zoning Board, largely because of the strong opposition by Dr. Harold Brown, votes 6 to 0 deny the permit for the store to open. Dr. Brown was heard o say, at that meeting, in response to the question, "where should we open our store?", "anywhere but Parkville." Parkville certainly does not not need such a flat-screen view of economic opportunities in our Parkville. Downtown Parkville has the lowest vacancy rate of any areas in town, and the building into which the scooter business is opening was not even considered to be a vacancy due to its dilapidated state.

Well, last night, the Board of Aldermen went against the tide and passed the permit application unanimously. The permit does have a few, minor caveats that will fall upon the property owners to complete within a defined time span. Our Parkville MO wants to be among the first to welcome the motor scooter store to downtown Parkville, and as usual, we want to emphasize that Parkvillians should think Parkville first when shopping, especially this time of year and in this economic climate.

WAG

Proud to be an American

2008-11-13T19:47:00.002-06:00

I was the unfortunate recipient of a piece of trash e-mail sent to me by a friend who I am confident did so not because he thought I would appreciate it for what it puprorted to be (a "good read"), but as an example of the fact that ignorance can still be found in our fair country. I won't reproduce the e-mail, but I will reproduce the response I sent to the person who seems to have started the daisy chain of forwarded e-mails.

"William:

I don't know who you are, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for sending out such hogwash. You said "good read", so I have strong doubts about what else you consider a good read and what, exactly, your yardstick is. The e-mail you forwarded was written by someone who appears to be racist, bigoted, misogynistic and obviously quite ignorant.
Americans can stand proud, confident in the fact that all of its promises, as embodied in the Declaration and Constitution and other founding documents, are really true. Americans have followed through and not just paid lip service; we're walking the walk and not just talking the talk. We've put our money where our collective mouths are. Now, we can expect to see some of the excesses and failures of the past corrected; or at least an attempt made to correct them.
Most Americans know that our system of government is the best around and even though not perfect it is capable of being perfected. Recent events have demonstrated this admirably."

Here I though the crap that was being sent around before the election was finally over. Boy, was I wrong!

==JFK==

Steamboat Arabia Museum Discussed at MSPA Meeting

2008-11-12T12:41:00.002-06:00

The buzz about the Steamboat Arabia Museum coming to Parkville is increasing. The Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA) discussed the plans and what has transpired in the past few days. Unfortunately, like so many MSPA meetings of late, only a handful of the most active members were present. I am sure that these folks will be talking about this to others in the next few weeks.

In other news from the MSPA meeting Chairman Carol Kuhns suggested that due to the small number of members present that the elections of officers be postponed until the next meeting in December. The revised by-laws, however, were approved. The meeting had to be moved at the last minute to the American Legion Hall due to the Train Depot being locked and no one having a key or the keypad code to open the front door.

Those present, which included Terry Brown, voted to hold all future meetings at the Legion Hall and for the next meeting to have a Legion-prepared breakfast. The next meeting will start at 8:30 am (for breakfast), and the business meeting will start at its usual time of 9:00 am. Carol expressed her interest in getting to know others more in the less formal setting of a breakfast. The Nominating Committee has nominated Carol for chairman, Tom Hutsler for vice-chairman and Linda Varner as secretary.

==JFK==

Tree City USA?

2008-11-12T12:30:00.004-06:00

There are rumors that KCP&L and the City are talking about taking out all of the beautiful trees along Main Street and replanting with smaller species such as crab apple trees. I suspect that KCP&L has no particular love for our trees and would just as soon have nothing but naked overhead lines. Hey folks, we want and need these mature trees to help sequester the carbon dioxide spewed out by the coal-fired power plants, to provide much needed shade, to offer homes for songbirds and to soothe us with their beauty.

Some have suggested that if KCP&L presses the issue that the City will simply cave and allow our trees to be cut down. Now, it is one thing to remove dead or diseased trees and to replace them with the same species, but to remove healthy trees and replace them with smaller species is not what we, as Parkvillians, will want. Perhaps KCP&L should put their lines underground.

Comments?

==JFK==

Parkvillians at the Sprint Center

2008-11-10T17:06:00.003-06:00

I have heard a lot of complaints about, as well as a lot praise for, Kansas City's Sprint Center. I'd like to get some of them on the record for other Parkvillians to consider. If you have had an opportunity to visit the new Power & Light District or attend an event at the Sprint Center please leave your comments here (Just click in the word "comments" just below). If you don't live in Parkville feel free to comment, but tell us where you live.

Thanks.

==JFK==

Christmas on the River Donor's Party

2008-11-07T11:00:00.009-06:00

The donor party was well attended even though some folks who paid did not make it. Most of the Parkville restaurants donated food and desserts. Jenny McCoy was the facilitating hostess and Kirby Varner and Tom Hutsler served drinks from behind the bar. Linda Varner, Debbie Hopkins, Carol Kuhns and Tom Hutsler who are once again the movers behind the Christmas on the River event. The same folks were the co-chairs last year and were able to turn around the losses the event suffered from the previous two years. Melissa Robbins and Kathy Cline who are heading up the Gallery of Trees event brought several local artists who showed their works that will be auctioned off at that event.

The many works of art were on display as were this year's new blue-on-white ceramic Christmas tree ornament. Remember, commemorative ornaments are for sale at a few local stores in Parkville.

There was an interesting discussions last night at the Christmas on the River donor's party at the lovely home of Don & Linda Julian. Don Julian had been in some of the early discussions about the Steamboat Arabia Museum's desire to move to Parkville. He and I, Tom Hutsler and Carol Kuhns discussed the possible reasons that Park University had for deciding against allowing the museum to locate on undeveloped land on the university's campus.

The currently preferred location was discussed and everyone agreed that it would be great for Parkville. The plans for a larger museum, to house a second riverboat, as well as the construction of an hotel on the site was also discussed. I mentioned the seeming disinterest by Platte County leaders.

I encourage this blog's readers to pick up the buzz and to post your comments here. This blog is the first to have any relevant news on this subject (remember, you heard it here first).

Comments?

A Shameful Display

2008-11-05T14:37:00.015-06:00

Well folks, it certainly didn't take long for the wing nuts to drag out the anti-American sentiments. I encountered one that I am fairly sure an American POW of any war would not approve of. This was seen at, or near, 11556 Northwest Highway FF in front of a gated home that is secluded in the hills and trees on the north side of the highway. It is bad enough that the homeowner has the American flag flying at half staff, but to hang another American flag, upside-down over the McCain-Palin sign is an entirely different matter. This is, of course, an international sign of severe distress or emergency, "(t)he United States Flag Code gives an explanation of reasons to fly the American flag upside-down, and none of the reasons include protest. Recently, I have witnessed many stories where people are flying the American flag upside-down as a form of protest against any number of things: the war, the President, the Supreme Court, school, etc. (http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2007/10/30/flying-us-flag-upside-down-not-sign-of-protest/)." I suspect "displaying" the flag can be construed as "flying" the flag.

A satelite photo of the site can be seen on Google Maps at: "
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.196414,-94.713505&spn=0.005172,0.006909&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.194111,-94.714322&panoid=wQzpdcev_Mj8pi2gM9DUJQ"

Here are two photos of the display:

One has to wonder what John McCain would have to say about this shameful display.

WAG

The future is ours!

2008-11-05T10:39:00.006-06:00

Well, our guy, Bill Quitmeier didn't win (our minuscule straw poll gave Bill a 76% to 17% for Kathy). Instead, Kathy Dusenbury did. Now we all need to step up to help her do the best job, especially as her job impacts Parkville. The first job is to secure the Arabia Museum for Parkville. Kathy is in a unique position to help craft an outcome that will be good for our town, for Platte County, the Northland and for the entire Kansas City area. Lets all e-mail or call Kathy to offer our help.

Now, don't think the Arabia Museum is the only important thing facing our city and county. We still have the issues that Bill brought up during the campaign. We are in Platte County not Flat County, and we have no idea where Kathy stands on the important issues of uncontrolled development. Neither she, nor her campaign manager's weekly newsletter, put out any significant information on her positions. I don't really know Kathy (unlike some of the other contributors hereon), but I'll keep reporting on her here, and I hope you will keep commenting.

Comments?

WAG

Restaurant Critic/Reviewer Coming On-line

2008-11-03T15:18:00.002-06:00

We will soon be announcing a new restaurant critic/reviewer to our line up of contributors. This person, we'll call "AJ", will be visiting all Parkville restaurants as well as surrounding area's eateries and will be writing about the experience. If you have particular restaurants you'd like to recommend for one or more visits please comment.

WAG

$500,000 in Reserves?

2008-10-30T16:51:00.002-05:00

Why is it that the recent former mayor and the current city aldermen say that the city has a half million dollars in reserves, but when downtown merchants bring up the need to replace missing lights so that downtown won't be so dark at night the city staff always says they don't have any money? Given that one of the lights was hit by a truck and, presumably, the city collected insurance for it why wasn't it replaced at the time? Now the city officials say "that was so long ago that we don't know what happened, but we don't have enough money now."

Hey folks, either there is enough money to replace three lousy lights downtown, or the city is in far worse financial shape than we've been led to believe. Perhaps those reserves aren't really reserves after all. Perhaps it is money that's already promised. Perhaps for grinder pumps.

WAG

Big Cat on Campus at Parkhill South High School

2008-10-27T11:41:00.004-05:00

Two ladies, both students at Park Hill South High School, are walking around downtown Parkville asking local businesses for support in the way of prizes for their upcoming "Big Cat on Campus" event on the evening of December 3rd. We are familliar with this kind of event having had an AFS student who participated in the "Mr. Park Hill" event years ago at Park Hill High School.

Businesses who participate will be given an advertisement placement in the evening's printed program (this is likely to be seen by more folks than a full-page ad in the local birdcage liner). The event is billed as a "male talent show" and will be judged by area celebrities. The prizes will be given to the winners and participants in the show.

We'd like to encourage Parkville merchants to give and to see the show. More information can be requested from Kerrie Herren at 816-359-4120 or herrenk@parkhill.k12.mo.us.

WAG

Thought for the day

2008-10-25T08:57:00.007-05:00

Proof read!
Our favorite birdcage liner publisher is advertising for an assistant with a computer. Perhaps that assistant will have spelling/grammar checking.

WAG

Downtown Parkville Visitor's Map

2008-10-23T11:49:00.004-05:00

Visitors to Downtown Parkville have a very useful map available to them that shows the locations of all the businesses and amenities available in the historic Parkville. This map is produced by Main Street Parkville Association (MSPA) and is provide free of charge to all downtown merchants and others (including hotels and motels, and the visitor bureaus). The map and listing as well as the events happening downtown are a tabloid size, printed in color and trifolded, are reprinted every quarter.

The new map will now include information of the spaces that are available for rent, lease or sale. Where known by the MSPA the commercial vacancies are listed as "Space available" with a contact phone number. I see folks every week that have an interest in opening new businesses in the downtown. The MSPA also gets notification from community leaders about contacts they have had from new entrepreneurs.

Recently I have met a couple who wants to open a book and stationery store. They have been looking at two or three different spaces on Main Street and in English Landing. I have also talked to several folks about opening an art supply store. I know I would be a customer at both stores should they get open.

==JFK==

Watercolors High Fashion

2008-10-22T14:57:00.008-05:00

Carol and I first met Shelley Wood a day or two after she first moved into her new business on Main Street. We welcomed her and invited her to get involved with Main Street Parkville Association (MSPS) and the many events that are operated under the auspices of the Parkville Community Development Corporation. Shelley did attend the last MSPA meeting. We think she and her business, Watercolors High Fashion LLC, are good additions to our community.

Dannelle Nichols, the program coordinator for MSPA has provide me with the following write-up, from Shelley, about her business:

Watercolors High Fashion is an elegant, high class woman's and men's clothing boutique. Located in historic downtown Parkville, MO. The store is in a home that is dated over 100 years old. There are six rooms with elegant chandeliers in each room and over 2,000 dresses that are restocked every week with new inventory. Included are men's unique t-shirts, shirts, ties and jewelry. There is a TV with sports channels and leather chairs are in the men's area so that their special women can have time to shop while the men are kept happy. We also carry beautiful jewelry and accessories.

We also have a special, very private room where we welcome cancer patients who need that special attention on what to wear for wigs. We carry hair extentions (Jessica Simpson), Racheal Welch wigs, and plumes of ornate feathered headbands. We take high-end dresses and bridal gowns for consignment (all consignors must call for an appointment). Warm fresh cookies are served everyday just for stopping by. Hope to see you soon.

Shelley Wood

Watercolors High Fashion is located at 307 Main Street, The phone number is 816-741-1963 and the e-mail is watercolorshighfashion@yahoo.com. The store hours are: Mondays closed, Tuedays & Wednesdays 11-7, Thursdays 11-8, Fridays & Saturdays 11-7 and Sundays 12-6.

==JFK==

Thought for the day

2008-10-21T17:03:00.001-05:00

Never stick your hand into the cage unless it is to change the liner.

WAG

Parkville Information Web Site

2008-10-20T13:27:00.003-05:00

Parkvillians should be aware of the recently updated and upgraded downtown information web site: parkvillemo.org. On this web site (owned by the Parkville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) and managed by the Main Street Parkville Association (MSPS)) visitors can find: (1) all downtown and member businesses of the MSPA, (2) information about downtown and MSPA and PCDC sponsored events (e.g. Christmas on the River), (3) links to other community related sites and resources, and much more.

WAG

Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District

2008-10-18T18:27:00.006-05:00

What's a "CID"? How is a CID managed? How does it get its money? What does a CID do with its money? How many CIDs do we have in Parkville? How do I find about the CID where I shop or live?

These are all good questions. First, a CID is a political subdivision of the city, it is comprised of a board of directors who are approved by the Board of Aldermen. The officers of the CID are nominated and voted on by the board members; the officers are a President, Vice President, Secretary and a Treasurer. The CID receives its money from a voter-approved sales tax that is levied on all sales within the boundaries of the CID. The sales tax is collected by the businesses, paid to the state and the state sends the CID's share directly to the CID's bank. Each CID is set up differently, but in the case of the Parkville Old Towne Market Community Improvement District, POTMCID, it uses its money to fund grant requests presented to it by organizations that operates within its boundaries. In the case of the POTMCID, to date the on;y grant requests received have been from the Main Street Parkville Association, MSPA, which is an entity within the Parkville Community Development Corporation, PCDC. The grants are used to pay for a wide variety of worthy endevours, including marketing, special events and beautification.

In parkville there are currently two CIDs. The POTMCID and the Parkville Commons Community Improvement District, PC1CID. The latter is a CID set up to utilize the 1% sales tax collected in the Parkville Commons shopping center. The POTMCID also collectes a 1% sales tax which is the same as what the City of Parkville collects. Informaton about either CID can be had by contacting the Parkville City Hall, however, for the POTMCID, you can e-mail me directly at fishmanjack@gmail.com. MeetingS for CIDs are open to the public and I encourage anyone with an interest to attend at least one meeting of either, or both.

==JFK==

A word about our polls

2008-10-17T18:58:00.007-05:00

As you will notice there a few opinion polls posted here. These polls are locked, and neither I nor any other contributors can change any other person's votes. In addition, anyone who has voted can change their vote any time they log in. I do ask that everyone please refrain from "stuffing the ballot box."

If you haven't voted please do so. In addition, I would like to hear any suggestions you may have for any other poll questions.

Walt

P.S. Please welcome JFK, John Farrell Kuhns, who has been invited to be a full contributor to this blog (he has posted a couple of comments). Several other folks have been asked to be contributors. Stay tuned.

A new voice added to the blog

2008-10-17T18:26:00.002-05:00

I have been invited to be a direct contributor to Our Parkville MO instead of just leaving a comment or two. I understand that several other folks have been, or are being, invited to be contributors/editors. First, I want to thank Walter A. Grantham, WAG, for inviting me. I have no axes to grind and no particular causes to espouse, but I really don't suffer fools well. I see this blog as a place where legitimate discussions can be carried on, and where some of the news that never seems to make it into the local press can be passed on in a timely manner.

I feel that the most important thing happening in our beautiful town right now is the prospect of the Steamboat Arabia Museum coming to town. I was one of the handful of folks originally invited by the Hawleys to the meeting last month at the museum in the River Market. Previous to that the museum's representative, here in Parkville, first came to visit with my wife, Carol, to fill her in on the museum's desire to locate on the bluff at Park University. Surprisingly, about one week after he laid out the plans for the museum to occupy a piece of land overlooking the exact site on the south bank of the Missouri River where the boat sank. I sat in on the meeting and I can say Carol and I were as excited about the prospects as was the museum's representative. He had several pages of site plans and maps.

A week later, at the meeting at the museum with representatives of the city and the county, it was reported that the university stated they no longer wanted the museum on campus (for whatever reason). I talked to some officials at Park and they all stated they had heard nothing about it. They stated thay not only didn't know the university was no longer interested, but that they had never heard that there had been any conversation about locating it on campus in the first place. What a dissapointment! However, the Hawleys made it clear that after looking at a few other sites, including Weston, that they still wanted to locate in Parkville. There was skepticism expressed by some of theose present, especially from the county people.

Since that date, as was reported here on Our Parkville MO there is some serious movement with the city, and it seems the Board of Aldermen is involved. None of this has been reported in any of the local newspapers. It seems that some may have spoken out of turn, but I have confirmed from other sources that contact has, indeed, been made and that things are proceeding.

There are very few things I can think of that would be better for Parkville. Imagine the positive impact on the quality of life the museum would have here. This, of course, would be in addition to the positive impact it would have on the economics of our town.

I would like to hear from you on this subject.

==JFK==

Politics in Parkville

2008-10-16T10:23:00.005-05:00

Well friends, last night was a good night for politics in Parkville. The Bill Quitmeier fundraiser was held at the National and the last presidential debate was on television and radio. I'd like to hear from anyone who was at the Quitmeier event; who was there, what was said, what are your impressions? I think this is a tough race for an ethical and reasonable man. He's running against an opponent who refuses to debate due, I think, to her lack of knowledge of what the job entails and her fear that she will look bad in the presence of a man who knows the facts and who really wants to keep Platte County moving along without giving it up to the developers and their lawyers.

Quitmeier has repeatedly said this is Platte County, not Flat County. Your thoughts?

On the presidential debate I was forced to catch snippets from the radio as I drove back into town from Minneapolis (I travel way too much for my family-owned business). What I missed were the facial expressions and body language of the two candidates. Once I got home I tried to watch the rerun at midnight, but sleep beckoned and I missed it. Again, I'd like to hear what you folks thought. This morning the commentators seemed to be in agreement that Obama, again, won the debate and seems to be steaming on. Comments, please.

Steamboat Arabia Museum

2008-10-11T08:48:00.002-05:00

Well folks...it seems a certain Parkville alderman let some folks get a peek at the kitty in the bag. There is more than speculation and hopefulness that the Arabia Museum will actually be coming to our fair town. Stay tuned. Isn't this exciting?

Comments?

Parkville Community Development Corporation

2008-10-09T15:41:00.003-05:00

Wow! The buzz on the street about last night's meeting of the Parkville Community Development Corporation, PCDC, is even louder than the news about the guy who was killed on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tracks last night. It seems that the publisher of the local "newspaper" showed up at the meeting and proceeded to raise strenuous objections about projects the PCDC board was proposing. His performance was given no consideration by the board, and they proceeded to approve a program to recognize the many volunteers who have helped make the PCDC events so successful. It seems he is against recognizing these valuable people...this is completely in line with his stand to do as much harm to the psyche of downtown Parkville as possible.

A Blast in Parkville!

2008-10-05T12:40:00.002-05:00

English Landing, Saturday, October 4th: According the club members of the Kansas City Association of Rocketry (KCAR) this day's event was the biggest so far of the annual gatrhering of amateur rocket scientists in Parkville. Called October Skies, the event is organized yearly by H.M.S. Beagle, Kansas City's science store. The KCAR members run the entire show and provided the necessary expertise needed to flawlessly launch over 100 rockets. Beagle personnel, Leif Bahl, Bill Nedblake and John Kuhns handled the check in for all aspriring rocket scientists.

One participant's father was over heard telling another, "Isn't it great what these folks are doing for parkville?" I later found out that two bus loads of students and teachers came for the day from Turner Middle School's Science Club, nearly each student had a rocket to launch. Launches were done for prizes in two catagories. First was the "spot landing" where the participants' rockets were supposed to land as closes as possible to am R2D2 robot model, and secondly there was "flight duration." The wind wasn't usually a factor, but for some of the lighter rockets with larger engines the duration of flight was truly awesome. One rocket we watched propably landed on Joe Millers deck.

Local restaurants, including those as far away as Nick & Jakes, reported they had the largest day in months. Tommy T's owner Tom Hutsler said his burger joint had the biggest day since they opened.

Changes in Downtown

2008-10-03T16:11:00.002-05:00

The e-mails are flying, and I am sure that there will be a newspaper publisher running stories and editorials that will attempt to make downtown Parkville look as bad as possible. Of course, as everyone says, his job is to sell newspapers and not to promote the town.

Well, here's the news for all of us: While it is true that Angelo Gangai announced that the Power Plant Restaurant and Brewery is closing indefinitely downtown Parkville still has the lowest vacancy rate of any of the business areas in the town with the possible exception of the strip center on Missouri Highway 45. The loss of the Power Plant is to be mourned as is the figure of Angelo briskly walking the downtown streets taking care of his many tasks. We saw the last group gathering at the Power Plant, a campaign strategy meeting for Bill Quitmeier. As one leaves three others are coming in.

Word has it that a book store is coming to downtown as well as a tea room. In addition the scooter/motorcycle shop is coming along and we hop we'll soon see it in operation on County Highway FF west of the Power Plant building. We can count on one hand the vacant storefronts in the downtown. We wonder how many hands it takes to count the vacant storefronts in Parkville Commons. Comments?

Posted Earlier:

2008-09-25T11:39:00.004-05:00

The Packet (Steamboat) Arabia...152 years ago.

This was posted earlier on another blog and has been very slightly edited:

On September 5th of 1856 (152 years ago) the the Packet (Steamboat) Arabia struck a sycamore snag in the Missouri River and sank at Parkville. No lives were lost except for the mule who later became known as Lawrence. When Arabia and its still intact contents were unearthed from 40-feet down in a farmer's field on the Kansas site of the river by a crew of four local treasure hunters in 1987 no one expected the real treasure that eventually came to light. That treasure has been housed in Kansas City's Treasures of the Arabia Museum in the city's River Market.

The museum is one of Kansas City's jewels but is housed in a woefully inadequate former produce warehouse that has been subjected to a leaks from above and other persistent problems. We've heard the owners of the museum are actively seeking to locate the museum in Parkville. Such a location is logical and will be highly appreciated by the citizens of the town as well as the citizens of Southern Platte County. The Arabia will provide a rare, nearly instantaneous boost to tourism, business investment, economic development, educational opportunities (at all levels including the university level) and civic pride.

What's to be done? Last week, September 5th, several politicians from Parkville and Platte County as well as officials from the county's Economic Development Council, a commercial developer and a municipal bonding agent were present at a meeting as invitees of the Hawley family who owns the museum. It has been reported those in attendance were given a tour of the facility and treated to cake and other refreshments while being allowed to ask questions about how the relocation of the museum to Parkville could be accomplished.

It has been said that the first obstacle to overcome is the location. Isn't it always? Even before the first penny can be raised in earnest, the location must be agreed upon and, at least, options for the site secured. We've heard that the Hawleys have a location, or two, in mind near the current English Landing Park. We suspect that due to restrictions that Park College put on the use of the park itself, that the museum cannot be located within the park proper. Of course, location in the wrong place, in that area, will simply invite the Missouri to revisit the Arabia from time to time with floods. Sites above the flood levels will have to be considered.

We think it would be great to have a solid grass-roots support for the museum's relocation to Parkville. Who will step forward to organize this? What citizens of gravitas will step forward to add their support to this effort? We shall see.

Want to be a regular contributor to Our Parkville MO?

2008-09-25T11:10:00.005-05:00

Have you ever had a hankering to make a positive impact on our community? Now that Our Parkville MO is a bit over a month old we feel that it is time to invite others to add their views to the blog as postings rather than just as comments. Most of you remember our first attempt at a blog and I know that most of you were disappointed when it ended shortly after being set up and having the first posts and comments. Those of you who dived into the first fledgling blog, and those of you who think what we're doing here, now, is valuable, and who would like their comments read by others in Our Parkville MO, then send us a resume and a sample post. We're not looking for any particular point of view, your politics don't matter to us, your writing skill should be sufficient to allow your postings to be understood. There will be no deadlines, no agendas, and no personal attacks.

Just send us an email to myparkville@gmail.com. We are limited to the number of people who can actually do postings other than comments. We'll be out of town for a few days of golfing and relaxing and visiting the kids and will only be able to check in sporadically with our e-mail.

Tempest in a Teacup?

2008-09-24T18:50:00.006-05:00

Our local newspaper, The Parkville Luminary, ran a front page story in which, as far as I can determine, the publisher tried to embarrass a local man who it seems just got caught up in doing what he thought was right. The "story" was a series of e-mails that the newspaper publisher simply reproduced in its pages. It isn't completely clear, but it seems that the focus of the story, John Kuhns, was trying to insure that the vendors at a special 2-day sales event would properly collect and pay sales tax. The event was held on the 19th and 20th, a Friday and Saturday.

It appears the organizer of the event got peeved with Mr. Kuhns and sent an e-mail to the newspaper's publisher expressing her outrage. The event organizer did get the correct sales tax information to the event's vendors, and presumably the correct sales taxes were collected. The publisher admitted that the "story" came to him via the reproduced e-mails and that he didn't have to seek out any information. A local politician expressed his view that it was the best writing he's seen in the paper!

There is a very interesting addendum to this story. One of the local participants (the majority were from outside of Parkville) told me that over the two days of the event there were about 20 visitors! She told me that the organizers assumed there were too many other things going on around town. I talked to several other folks in our fair town and all of them said they had excellent sales on that Friday and Saturday.

Ten Questions for the Candidates.

2008-09-24T10:34:00.003-05:00

I have decide to post this on-line questionnaire to the two candidates for the position of Platte County Commissioner. It seems that it has been impossible to get a debate set up between the two candidates. I'm not completely clear as to why this has not been possible (at least so far), but the word on the street and in the restaurants is that one candidate has consistently refused. That will, in fact, be my first question.

Q1: Is it true that both the Parkville Luminary and the Pachyderm Club have tried to arrange a debate between you and your opponent? If so, what do you think is the main reason one or both debates have not come off?

Q2. What public endorsements have you received? (Please cite specific publications, dates and page numbers and/or URLs at which such public endorsements can be viewed.)

Q3. What do you think is the biggest issue (positive or negative) facing Platte County today? Why? How do you plan to deal with issue if you are elected?

Q4. How important is the appointment of non-partisan boards and commissions within the community. Why?

Q5. What is the most important development issue currently facing the citizens of Southern Platte County? Why? How will you deal with this issue if you are elected?

Q6. What do think is likely to become a "headline issue" in the county within the next 2 years? Why? How do you anticipate dealing with this if, in fact, it does become an important issue in the future?

Q7. What do you think the voters of Southern Platte County should consider to be your primary assets and/or qualities?

Q8. Since both of you have been mayor of Parkville, what was the one major, negative, controversy with which you had to deal during your mayoral tenure? Was this controversy successfully resolved during your term in office? If it was, how was it resolved; if was not, why?

Q9. What do you think will be your primary responsibilities to the two different types of citizens in Southern Platte County, namely those who live in municipalities and those who live in the unincorporated parts of the county?

Q10. Please post your campaign platform, in bullet points. Also, please post the link to your campaign's web site.

I want to thank the candidates in advance for their responses.

Stone Canyon Pizza Co. Awarded the 2008 Best of the Taste of Parkville

2008-09-22T16:11:00.006-05:00

I stopped by the Stone Canyon Pizza this afternoon and noticed a spiffy new banner on the front of their counter announcing that they had been awarded the "Best of the Taste of Parkville" for 2008. Many of you know I was out of town on a family emergency during the Taste of Parkville so I missed out on what I know from past events was a lot of good local fare. As far as I know none of the local papers have carried this announcement, so let me be the first to say "congratulations to Kevin and the Stone Canyon crew." How about a repeat next year?

Local Newspaper gets called on its Editorial

2008-09-20T09:20:00.006-05:00

The Parkville Luminary was pulled up short by the president of the Parkville Community Development Corporation, PCDC. In his response to the newspaper's editorial in which the publisher, Mark Vasto, referred to the PCDC as part of a "three-headed monster", Tim Rice layed out a very concise explanation of the history and value of the PCDC to Parkville's past and future economic development. My investigation turned up the fact that a private e-mail from the PCDC's treasurer, John Kuhns, to Rice and the other two PCDC officers, in which Kuhns expressed his concern that the PCDC might not be included in Mayor Gerry Richardson's call for a new commission to study and promote economic development. In the e-mail Kuhns suggested that perhaps Rice should have a conversation with the mayor to find out what the mayor's intentions were.

It seems the private e-mail was forwarded to a plethora of other Parkvillians. One of the persons to whom the e-mail was forwarded was Vasto and the Luminary. The letter was featured in a scathing editorial and Vasto used it as his jumping-off point to do what he seems to delight in...the trashing of downtown Parkville and its volunteer organizations. It was reported in the paper that the mayor had not met with anyone from the PCDC, when in fact, he did have a meeting with Rice about the subject prior to the appearance of the editorial. It seems the meeting might have been a little awkward since the mayor had also been a recipient of the forwarded e-mail.

I have spoken to a few of the merchants and my neighbors here in Parkville, and a very precious few hold the Luminary in high regard. Their biggest complaint, it seems, is that the publishers rarely has anything good to say about downtown. This attitude exists in light of the fact that the current may has reiterated what all of his predicessors have said, "The downtown is the heart our our city."

Let me hear from you on this subject, Post your comments and participate in our pools.