Nobody is as powerful as Lucy Pinder posing on top of an old school muscle car . . . But it's important to recognize recent strong showings. To wit . . . CHECK THIS LIST OF KANSAS CITY'S POWER PLAYERS THIS WEEK!!!
POLITICOS
1. Dr. John Covington - The former KCMSD Superintendent put Kansas City in a tizzy to end the week. He walked out of the door and raised a ton of suspicion about the inner-workings of the District. Oh yeah, and he took a rather SWEET pay bump when he dumped Kansas City. All things considered, it could be one of the strongest sendoffs EVAR.
2. School Board Prez Airick L. West - In less than 24 hours, just as I predicted, questions about his involvement in KCMSD contracts have disappeared. Why? Because Dr. Covington asked them and then skipped town. So, if he isn't interested, it's doubtful anybody else cares.
3. School Board Member Arthur Benson - No single dude in this cowtown has done more to shape the Kansas City, Missouri School District into what it is today.
4. Council Dude John Sharp - He is working his influence on the Redistricting process and he has stepped forward as the leader of the City Council.
5. Jackson County Legislators Theresa Garza Ruiz/Crystal Williams - They stood up against "business as usual" at The Courthouse despite the very obvious consequences. More on that later.
NEWSIES
1. Micheal Mahoney - Now armed with an iPhone and all over Kansas City.
2. DeAnn Smith - Serving up some of the best digital content KCTV5 has seen in quite some time.
3. Russ Ptacek - Kansas City's Chief Investigator.
4. Hey Cameraman - Showing us how digital news gathering is done.
5. Sloane Heller - A great reporter. Also very hot.
THE MOST POWERFUL KANSAS CITY HAMBURGER JOINTS!!!
1. Winstead's - This place wins on a strong combination of ambiance, local history, burger quality and overall AWESOME. Parking lot peril on The Plaza has scared a few people away but that only adds to the overall delicious for hipster fake urban explorers. Like it or not, a Winstead's hamburger tastes like Kansas City.
2. Paul's On Blue Ridge - Sort of hidden in South Kansas City where the last remaining working class people enjoy a guilty pleasure. I'm not gonna link it because neither I nor most of the patrons want you to show up. Also, I'm pretty sure nobody who goes there has the Internets.
3. Blanc Burger + bottles - If you're the kind of d-bag who only eats gourmet burgers, this is best place in KC. Even for the poor souls who think veggie burgers qualify as food.
4. Town Topic Downtown - Surprisingly quality burgers in this Kansas City greasy spoon chain. Added bonus, in the KC Crossroads this is where hipsters remember they need to call their grandparents.
5. Sonic - This is the TKC personal favorite because I hate everything and I refuse to cave in to tradition and list The Westport Flea Market like every other local d-bag on Urban Spoon or Yelp. Nope, Sonic is the KC Hamburger standby that you love to hate. They serve up consistently great burgers available without having to endure the company of other people. Added bonus, they're cheaper than any other place in town and that's a powerful reason why they probably STAY WINNING in this contest.
As always, this list has been compiled according to scientific TKC polling and market research data and it's a weekly comprehensive guide to local powerful people.
Go vegan.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If Tony constantly talks about how Kansas City sucks and is basically rotting from the inside out, and if he thinks Winstead's burgers taste just like Kansas City ...
ReplyDeleteYour DeAnn Smith love affair is getting tiresome. You have praised her lavishly when she was fired at the Star, then 41, then KMBC and now KCTV.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows she is one of your "awesome tipsters" and her hubby is a Sanders lacky, but she ain't no journalist.
She is to journalism what Michael Coleman is to sports.
All of you in cheap seats can clap and those in the expensive seats can rattle your jewelry.
ReplyDeletePaul's has rocked some of the best burger's in town since the mid-60s.
ReplyDeleteThe only surprising thing here is that your rusted out Cavalier can make it that far southeast...
BRGR in Prairie Village!
ReplyDeleteThe double cheese at Neicie's --- either place, the one just south of Meyer on Troost, or the one in Brywood east of Blue Ridge on 63rd --- is exquiste. And cheap.
ReplyDeleteI find WIndsteads a little thin... but after you've had a good burger at 5 guys, they all seem a little thin.
ReplyDeleteBTW, have you read west's emails? Did you enjoy that one where this cornrow dropout said he'd been too lenient and would start exercising his "AUTHORITY"? I'm no KCSD expert but I never heard of a school board with a mayor/president form of government. I always thought board members were basically powerless (like the supreme court) exccept when voting in session. IF that's what Covington's been dealing with, well no wonder he started looking to get out... and he had that Mich job in his pocket, found no resignation coming from the egomaniac who wants to run the schools just like Marilyn did, and took the job.
I think Mr west is gonna get his hair set on fire.
Looking forward to Pearl Harbor Day this year. That's when the Case Management Conference is for Mr. Wright's civil suit against Slanderella before Judge Mesle. 415 E. 12th, Division 7.
ReplyDeleteCMCs are generally used as a way to settle issues before going to trial. Let's hope that doesn't happen here.
Slanderella finally got served Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
1116-CV22104
Enjoy your burgers, asshole
When are you suck asses ever going to get it, John Sharp is one of KC's weakest links???? the chain in KC government is made of plastic any way and they are all weak links, but JS is the weakest sellout KC has ever seen.
ReplyDeleteWell no one will ever stand up in this shit town and do anything about anything so really what are we all doing on here bitching about what we wont do, how we wont be involved to make a difference! This blog rocks, because people come here, people bitch about things they hate about this city, just curious how many bitchers actually do anything or try to change anything they bitch about? How is your wife, better take care of her because if you dont I will!!!! get my point dumbasses?
ReplyDeleteT, I agree Sonic is good eating, but the Fleaburger is the BEST in midtown. The guys who make them and call your name when your order's ready are true chefs in their own right. I'm amazed you'd choose upscale caucasian Blanc Suburban Burgers over our beloved Flea Market.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about Arthur Benson is definitely not a compliment. It's true, though. He has almost single handedly destroyed the KCMO school district. The fact that he now sits on its board is terrifying. Hopefully, the rest of the board will let his resignation stand. The creep looks like Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
ReplyDelete5:16 and 6:41 are the most powerful comments this post.
ReplyDelete1st down!
School Board Member Arthur Benson - No single dude in this cowtown has done more to shape the Kansas City, Missouri School District into what it is today.
ReplyDelete==================================
And this is something he should be proud of?
I agree with 7:05. 5:04... Drop dead.
ReplyDeleteTHe only bitch I hear about benson is that he made his living as a lawyer bringing missouri money into the kcsd, and rebuilt the schools.
ReplyDeleteOutstate missourians have a bitch but I'm not sure local ones do. yes, kcsd was an experienment...could black children succeed being with white students around them to 'raise the academic bar', and the answer was apparently NO. ANd they got better school buiildings. That didn't work either.
Maybe now it's time to quit bitching about the best thing that taxpayers and educators can do...new schools; busing isn't the bad thing as it was, now every kid is bussed so they dont have to walk. hell I was bussed in SM schools because of distance.
The problem is white families don't want their kids going to school with black families. if that's the bottom line, the white flight, then your hatred for mr benson should be turned INWARD!
IF not, tell me what's right?
The only tragedy is that Benson withdrew his resignation. You are right. He singlehandedly changed the KCMSD -- for the worse. The schools are now more segregated than when he filed his first lawsuit, and the test scores are worse too.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Benson, and good move sending your child to Pembroke. it is a "Let them eat cake" attitude for the rest of us.
You were the one who stated that the children in the district were not entitled to a good education, just a desegrated one. Well, you accomplished neither.
The fact that he is on the school board, after making millions of $ on the district, is unbelievable and obscene.
Radioman if that is what you think is the only bitch about Benson out there, then you need to clean out your ears. Benson was/is guilty of the worst kind of racism...black kids had to be sitting by white kids to be well educated. He was instrumental in the wasting of over over $1.3 BILLION dollars in the District, with nothing to show for it. He systematically destroyed KCMOSD with his bizarre social experiment and complete lack of ethics and morals. And he made millions doing it. The man ought to be ostracized and embarrassed to show his face but instead he is elected to school board by people with small brains and short memories. Hopefully, after he has now made an utter ASS out of himself by being Covington's lackey, he might decide to crawl back under his rock. The man is pure evil.
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to the two of you bitter types, I stand by what I said. The schools in KC are segregated because white people WANT them segregated.
ReplyDeleteI expect many on the south side DO hate the man for integrating the south side high schools. Forcing the ones liking things light and white to private schools or across the state line.
Crazy, isn't it for KCMD residents to complain aobut the money...it all came from outside the district, from across Missouri. Ya got all new schools but you didn't want your kids going there with the blacks. Tell me that's not how it was!
The sad part is that this was the biggest case of affirmative action in KC history, and black people didn't take advantage of it. For the first time, they had better, newer schools.
I wasnt in the district...did the kids fight? I know they did where I was when integration came...same thing...people don't like to be forced together.
So beat up on the lawyer, I guess. But he didn't do it single handedly, I'll bet. Nobody has that kind of power...not even a lawyer.
READ THE EMAILS. Take the time. Airick West is a fool. Read the emails and make up your own mind.
ReplyDeleteRadioman, you are an ill-informed, stupid ass. The money for the desegregation effort did not all come from outside the district. A judge in Springfield who ran the case ordered a large increase in KCMO property taxes to pay for the effort. It was an outrage...a federal judge ruled that KCMO had been "bad" in noy financially supporting the schools to his and Arthur Benson's liking, so he jacked them up very high. And you are full of it when you say white people wanted the schools segregated. The white people were fleeing the district because it was failing, not because of the black kids. It was Benson's entire argument that palatial schools be built to attract white kids back under the entirely wrong and racist assumption that black kids have to sit by a white kid to learn.
ReplyDeleteThe project, that one commenter correctly pegged as costing more than$1.3 billion, was an utter and complete fail. The buildings were built but the teachers were still not high quality. Test scores tanked. Parents were not engaged enough and white kids didn't want to be in under-performing schools. But too few of them had the chance to leave, or go to expensive private schools, as Benson's daughter did.
So yes RDioman, I will tell you the way you depict things is not how it was. The newness of the schools wasnt the problem. It was the horrible school boards, the sweetheart contracts given to Clinton Adams and his cronies, the lousy teachers the union protected, the lack of parental involvement, the micromanagement of the federal judge and Benson, that kept the white families away. I know because I was one who chose expensive private schools over magnets. In some cases, the magnets were nicer schools with all of the amenities. But parent apathy, a lousy board, and corruption kept me, and many others away. Did we leave to keep the schools segregated? Of course not. We left to give our children the best education we could. So do I blame Benson? Hell yes I do. And he deserves it.
horseshit.
ReplyDeleteTruth too hard to take, Radioman? Your response was so eloquent and intelligent.
ReplyDeleteNo you pretty well validated what I said. You and your friends re-segregated the schools with your feet.
ReplyDeleteEverythng you said was code for 'blacks'.
I'm sure you gave an accurate descrip of what occurred, but you're in denial with your conclusion. And your hatred for benson is as I said earlier, misplaced and should be turned inward to describe your attitudes.
What if you'd run for the boe or one of your friends did? what does boe shenanigans have to do with classroom education?
no it wasn't that. it was about the blacks. YOu can deny it all you want but anyone around at the time knows what was in their hearts, what was said only in private. ITs not changed. Just now your kids are grown and gone and youre' still bitter about having to pay for your decision to do what you did.
I don't diss you for what you did... a guy's kids only have one chance at an education. But I think other than that, you protest too much and deny your real reasons... and that's what I call horseshit.
Good job getting the last long-ass word.
ReplyDeleteGee, write long or write short... somebody's always gotta whine.
ReplyDeleteAnon 5:04
ReplyDeleteThe judge will probably dismiss the case, because Louie is suing the wrong person. He can't sue the right people because he doesn't know who they are & Tony doesn't have to tell him. Also, his case would have been stronger if he had sued in 2009 which is when he claimed that his reputation was ruined. How will he demonstate that he has been suffering from a 'ruined reputation' these last two years?
Pearl Harbor Day will be a great day for Tony, & freedom in general!
I love Pauls. Hi Boy would be in a tie with Pauls.
ReplyDelete8/27/11 5:04PM = Louie's henchman and brown noser
ReplyDeleteSorry Radioman, you're wrong. I moved my kids because I didn't want them the victims of some misguided social magnet school experiment. And judging from their success and that of the district, I made the right choice. I stayed in KCMO and paid a good amount in taxes to pay for the public schools, but didn't use them, so arguably I did them a favor. I'm not bitter because I did the right thing. And I'd do it again. You have zero understanding of this situation, but that's not surprising, given you usually have zero understanding of most issues.
ReplyDeletehorseshit.
ReplyDeleteI'd eat Sloane Heller's ass every day of the week and twice on Sundays! Ditto for Lucy Pinder. Not so much for that cunt Byron...I'll leave that for his sister!
ReplyDeleteAnon 4:00 PM
ReplyDeleteYou're a cunt. See, I can say that, too. I don't care if I annoy assholes.
Dear Mr. Byron Funkhouser,
ReplyDeleteI am quite saddened to see you stoop to the level of the idiots here and use such vulgar profanity.
You sir should be ashamed.
Nope, Byron is FUCKING great. It's some of the nasty comments on here that suck.
ReplyDeleteLooks like bryon's mommy just posted @ 959. Now we see where he gets his potty mouth! At least his brother could communicate without using profanity...or maybe that was Gloria. Either way, they make BF look like a junior high school twit.
ReplyDeleteIf you hit me, I will it you back.
ReplyDeleteIf you swear at me, I will swear at you.
Hahahaha! My brother Byron confirms his jr hi school intellect ad level of maturity for all to see. As if on cue! Hilarious to watch his meltdown this weekend as Tony's readers got under his skin.
ReplyDeletePersonally I would have enjoyed more talk of Lucy Pinder and Sloane Heller.
You lose. The Brooksider has the best burgers. But you are right Sloan Heller is sexy hot, hot.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:34 AM
ReplyDeleteHorseshit! Liar!
Its because of Mark that you assholes don't get to me. He desensitized me, long before you came along. As Tony says, you guys are polite even when you're cheating your wives, the taxpayers, everyone. The gentry are phoney, by definition. They don't care about me & I don't care about them.
P.S.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if they think I'm a crude peasant, because I am a crude peasant. Hypocrites, I don't see you calling out the pussies who swear at me.
Byron. You always get that way when you drink Rum. Put that away right now and go take a nap. Quit calling yourself a piss ant, or was that peasant? Either way, you are just as good as these wankers who write on here so do let them hurt your feelings.
ReplyDeleteMy dear brother, how can I call out the ones that swear at you as I too am one of the ones that swear at you. You fucking ignorant hillbilly cunt! Mom was right about you.
ReplyDelete