I was recently downtown and noticed that construction workers are busy at the intersection of Seventh Street and Minnesota Avenue. They are preparing the streets for the new bus terminal for the Area Transportation Authority. The workers are removing some of the last elements of what was the Center City Mall. [...]
There is a new boss at the West Patrol Police Station. He is Maj. John Cosgrove, a veteran officer who has served in Kansas City, Kan., since 1984. Maj. Cosgrove, who lives with his wife Kerry and two daughters in the Piper community, said he is pleased with his new position. [...]
I was talking recently with a prominent community leader and he summed up the Google situation. “We don’t know what the answers are. We don’t even know what the questions are,” the leader said. More than 1,000 people gathered at noon Wednesday, March 30 in the Wyandotte High School [...]
About a year and one-half ago, I attended a news conference in the auditorium at Wyandotte High School for what was touted as a very major announcement. The content was a very closely guarded secret. I only could imagine that this announcement was akin to the second coming of [...]
There is a line out of the Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke” that goes something like this: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” That quote could be used to explain the lack of [...]
The recent announcement that market-rate apartments with 228-units near 130th Street and State Avenue is good news. West Wyandotte County must have adequate housing for the employees that are and will come to the community during the next several years. Business West is also encouraged with the market-rate apartment development that is planned [...]
When I attended the Kansas City, Kansas, School Board meeting recently at the district office, there was considerable discussion about the 2012-2013 budget. I couldn’t help but recall may days in a one-room rural school and its budget. As I remember the annual budget (for nine months) was about $5,000. Most of that [...]
Mayor Joe Reardon recently spoke to the membership of Business West at the organization’s summer membership meeting. One of the highlights of his presentation was the proposal that the Unified Government waive its building fees through 2013 in an effort to jump start residential development. There is no question whether or not [...]
One of my duties as executive director of Business West is to visit the various units of local government in Wyandotte County and urge elected officials to hold the line on property taxes. This will be the sixth year for such an effort. One of the main reasons that property taxes [...]
The Kansas Board of Regents recently approved a requirement that will increase the academic admission standards at the University of Kansas effective in 2016. I have mixed feelings about this move. But first, let me disclose a few matters. When the Boss Lady and I went to KU, there was an [...]