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Hello I'm Nick Haines glad to have you with us on our fast moving high energy journey through the news of our week, poring through the week's top local headlines from KCUR Lisa Rodriguez.

He is 50% of Dana and Parks on KMBC Radio.

Scott Parks.

For more on Metro's newest newspaper, next page, KC Eric Wesson.

And tracking the region's top political stories for KCUR news.

Brian Ellison.

Now, it was a week in which it seemed like Kansas City only cared about one thing sports.

And adding to the newsworthiness, a battle for eyeballs is a rare clash in prime time for Kansas City fans to pick between watching the Chiefs and the Royals.

Did anyone really, though, care about any of news stories in Kansas City this week?

It seems every single detail took up our entire newscasts from the short sales to Taylor Swift's painted on glitter freckles.

Lisa, I mean, certainly this was the biggest story of the week and no question, But how nice does that feel to to have two teams in the playoffs to have this dominating our headlines?

We are constantly bogged down by by politics, by elections, by crime.

And I know we'll get to all of that today, but it feels nice for this to be the big.

But.

Scott, you and I are in the same business.

We have to fill time to have important things that are happening to talk about.

And again, if it wasn't for the hurricane and the chiefs and the royals, you know, the Kansas City Star might have been just one page this week or maybe half a page.

But I will say this, being in the talk radio business, sometimes you have to talk about what or not.

Sometimes all the time you have to talk about what's on the minds of the people listening to your program.

Absolutely.

And I lost count of how many texts we got during the show this week that said, have you morphed into a sports station?

No, of course we haven't.

But this is what everybody's talking about and it's exciting and it's it's not violent and it's not political.

And I'm trying to think of a time in the history of these two teams when they have both been in the playoffs at the same time.

And I'm struggling to think of a year.

So exciting times with the royals basking in more love and attention that I think they have in so long.

Was this the opportunity for John Sherman saying, hey, let's move forward right now, it's not going to be a better time?

Eric, We need to move forward with a plan for a new royals ballpark.

Right now.

He can either do that or he can market it someplace else.

He's got a golden opportunity right now.

Last year, they lost 108 games.

This year they're in the playoffs.

So this is a great time for the Royals and for John Sherman.

Any evidence he's ready to pull the trigger at this moment in time, taking advantage of the fact that the city seems to have just changed to a shade of blue this week.

You know, it's interesting.

It seems like he's actually pulled back from pressing forward on the stadium conversations.

I saw that he was at the game on Wednesday night sitting in the front row behind home plate, very much into the game.

You haven't heard him talking about the stadium proposals.

And it seems like there is perhaps a concerted effort to give that some space, to give it a rest so that folks can get excited about baseball.

Again, as I've said on this program before, I think that is politically beneficial to him down the road.

Now, several interesting new developments did surfaced this week about that vote.

Plans for building a new Royals ballpark next to Crown Center got a big boost thanks to a front page story in the business Journal, which claims Kansas City can gift Washington Square Park to the royals so the project can move forward without a public vote.

According to the report, the Park sport has the authority to just lease the ground to the royals for free, while the site near Crown Center was not one of the original proposed locations.

The Business Journal says it solves multiple problems, including no need to demolish small businesses or low income apartments to build the stadium where we ranked locations.

Is this now the top of the list?

Scott The Washington Square Park idea, if I could be blunt, is the dumbest idea that I think I've ever no doubt.

Seriously.

Now be honest with us.

This guy, you know, I don't understand the team or the city's obsession with a downtown baseball park.

And I was I was watching the playoffs this week when they were at Kauffman Stadium when they lost that game 2 to 1 to the to the when they lost the game to the Yankees in game three.

And it dawned on me, maybe we're looking at this the wrong way.

Maybe we tear down Arrowhead and leave Kauffman Stadium right where it is.

It is a beautiful, modern looking baseball park where Arrowhead looks its age.

I think the royals need to stay on it at the Truman Sports complex.

I really do.

Or if they if they have to move downtown the northeast side that idea I still think, is the best one and that is not going to happen.

They are the royals are not going to stay at Kauffman Stadium.

I think that is the only thing that I think is clear from all of these conversations.

They're going to go somewhere else.

You know, I think the downtown stadium idea, the interesting thing about the Crown Center proposal is, is that if it does move forward, as is now being predicted without any kind of vote of the people, is there may be initial outcry that that has happened after the no vote earlier, but that will pass.

And a few years down the road, folks won't be talking about what happened with a vote or no vote.

They'll just be assessing the stadium.

That's probably the best outcome for the royals.

And it gets them out.

A lot of the problems that they were going to have with any of the other proposed sites.

Our viewer Joe asks, Where would you park an tailgate if it's right there in the Crown Center?

And how would you expect 20 to 40000 people to get in and out of there 80 to 100 times a year?

You probably wouldn't.

There probably would be a mess.

But but downtown stadiums are a trend.

I was recently in Washington, D.C.

They've got a downtown baseball stadium.

Parking doesn't seem to be a problem for them either.

And then they've got a little entertainment district around it.

That seems to be the trend.

But I think people here have gotten so spoiled with Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium being right there that they're not ready to make it interesting, though, people say that, oh, where are we going to park?

You know how we get that many people out of there.

Yet we have the NFL draft right there.

We have the royals or a Chiefs parade.

And yet it seems to be mobbed with people who seem to have no problem whatsoever going to exactly that space to congregate en masse.

There is parking available.

It's not in a massive lot around the stadium.

The one thing that will be lost, though, as as your reader points out, is the tailgating culture.

You will not be able to park, pop the trunk, get a grill out and tailgate there.

That culture that has that has been so present for so many decades around both Chiefs and Royals games will be gone.

But from a financial standpoint for the city, the what it is what they believe it will be replaced with is going to the restaurants and bars that will be spread out.

The ones that already exist and the new ones that will crop up.

So it will be a tailgating culture moved indoors into businesses and that could be better for the city, at least from a financial standpoint.

I was just going to add to Eric's point about the ballpark in Washington, D.C.

I've been to it and it's nice, but it is also surrounded by a great public transportation system.

When we went to the game in D.C. to see the Nationals, we took public transportation from our hotel to the ballpark.

It drops, the train drops you have right outside, and they don't have that in Kansas.

Well, we will have the extended streetcar line by then.

You better get more.

All right.

Now, it has been a long time, by the way, since Clay County was part of the mix of sites, but they roared back into the headlines as well this week as county leaders say they're not only still in talks with the royals, they're now working on a plan to locate the Chiefs practice facility in north Kansas City.

As I think that it would be something that would be impactful to the North land and to Clay County.

So I would be very interested in having those discussions.

Interesting.

Let's start with the ballpark, Eric.

On a scale of 1 to 10, where one means you've got to be kidding and ten means watch out Jackson County, the royals are moving.

Where do we place this story?

One okay.

All right.

Let's talk sports.

This week we were You didn't have a zero in there.

Yeah.

All right.

So they're being played again?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes, I am.

Is it, though, in the Chiefs notion of having a practice facility there?

I know the Dallas Cowboys, for instance, they have broken it all up.

They play in Arlington, Texas.

That's where the Dallas Cowboys stadium is.

Scott.

Yet the headquarters and the practice facility is it 40 minutes away in the city of Frisco, Texas.

So it seems plausible that something like that could happen here.

Right.

I'll give North Kim.

Well, maybe I'll get North Kansas City.

This they are amazingly aggressive for a relatively small town, and I can only imagine that every morning when Mayor Lucas picks up the newspaper, he's just like, Oh my gosh, that gnat is flying around my head again.

I'm with Eric.

It's highly unlikely that North Kansas City would get either, but I do applaud their tenacity.

Now, speaking of this week's big sports events, my Quinton Lucas was in New York to see the Royals play at Yankee Stadium Monday night, just like anything you post on social media, it gets pushback, Cole wrote on Ex Mayor.

You should be at home advocating for the prosecution of criminals terrorizing the city, not blowing taxpayers dollars on a New York City vacation.

Who does pay for the man to go to games in the city?

Does he pay for it himself?

No.

Often?

Often not.

These are these are lobbyists gifts.

They're donor gifts.

They're not.

The mayor insists they're not taxpayer dollars, but it is his time there.

And and the way he gets there is also something that could be looked into as as lobbyist gifts as well.

A private jet is likely not coming out of the mayor's pocket.

Well, in other news this week, the Nelson-Atkins Museum is announcing a massive expansion.

In fact, one of the largest expansions in recent memory, an international design competition, is now underway to dream up a new building that could house 61,000 square feet of new gallery space.

Here's the kicker it's $170 million project, but it's going to be paid for by private donations.

So help me understand this.

How can the museum do such a massive renovation and building project without public help?

But if you want to renovate or build a new sports stadium, you can't possibly do it without tax of this assistance.

What is the difference?

$2 billion?

Because the size, the scope and size of I mean, the Nelson is clearly without question one of the greatest gems of our city.

I take every visitor there I've taken.

My kids are more times than I can count.

But when you're talking about $160 million and the benefactors of the museum have have deep pockets, whereas when you're talking about building a $2 billion stadium and here comes the the old meme, you're building a $2 billion stadium for millionaire players, That's where it gets blowback from the public.

You say that that's not taxpayer supported, but those are nonprofit organizations.

So all of those charitable contributions made to the foundations that support the museum and to the museum itself, those were tax deductible.

Those were tax sheltered donations.

So the taxpayers are contributing, and rightly so, I would argue, to an arts organization.

But but it is not completely separate and getting into the art gallery is free.

Yes.

Versus going to a game that is 200, 300 and $400.

So that's a big difference.

I'm always amazed.

Also, Lisa, I mean, I was recently at the Nelson.

It could take you weeks to go through everything.

It is absolutely humongous.

Why do they need to expand at all?

What possibly are they can't do right now, given how much space they already have?

Well, I'm looking forward to more detail from the museum, but they've said they want to reach more diverse audiences.

They're increasingly seeing visitors from international places, and I think they probably want to make something more interactive, something that can be more fun.

Going into the museum right now.

It's still a very austere experience, so I could see more interactive, a more relaxed environment.

Now, speaking of big developments, those ambitious plans to build a concrete laid over several blocks of 670 highway downtown so it can be turned into a destination park and that would be quietly walk back.

City Councilman Eric Bunch, who represents that area, says people are probably going to be upset with me, but there's absolutely no way we're going to get that done in time for the World Cup.

That was the original timeline.

With everything else the city is dealing with, Has this project slipped down the priority list?

Eric Yeah, I, I always thought it was down further down the bottom of the list and especially with the World Cup and meeting the deadline and it makes you just question whether Kansas City is really ready for a World Cup.

What are we like 17, 18 months away from it?

But I thought I always thought it was not not that important.

People in the Power and light district, they want to walk.

Their dogs have no greenspace to walk them.

So I could understand their point, but I just never thought it was a private.

Scott Parks, you are our official soccer and World Cup correspondent on this program on a regular basis.

I mean, do you have the same worries about our planning for the World Cup at this point?

You know, and Eric hurts my heart.

Okay.

When he says this, I happen to know Cathy Nelson very well and think she should be the Kansas City Person of the year if she is not All right.

But I have full confidence in the sports Commission to pull this off.

I think the fact that Kansas City is getting the World Cup and they have shown that they can handle these major events like the NFL draft parades, the the All-Star Game for Major League Baseball.

I have no doubt Kansas City is ready and I cannot wait until 2026.

And I get it.

A rebuttal, of course, to get over about 30 seconds.

So people that are coming from other countries, what is the entertainment going to be?

They're going to be in front of the Liberty Memorial throwing sleeping bags into a hole.

These are people I actually would be willing to travel all the way from the U.K. to come to Kansas City to do that.

But I just don't think that they're prepared.

We would 17 months away from it.

What are people going to do?

That's my only concern.

Okay.

But, you know, you don't need a second robotics.

I'm not as down with that is the proof will be in the pudding.

We'd be careful by the way what you say.

You never know who's going to be recording you.

Is that the lesson we learned this week after a Q professor is placed on leave after telling students men who refused to vote for Kamala Harris because she's a woman should be lined up and shot.

So what frustrates me, there are going to be some males in our society that will refuse to vote for a potential female president because they don't think females are smart enough to be president.

We could line all those guys up and shoot them and they clearly don't understand the way the world works already.

Lisa, did social media just hand this professor a career death sentence or is can you just putting him on leave right now so they can wait for it to blow over and then bring it back again?

I think it's I think it's possible.

The fact that that all the attention that this has gotten and while I believe and I think we can see from the video that that the comment was made in jest, I also think that it was extremely irresponsible and in poor taste, especially in reality.

Right now, where political violence is very real.

And and a college professor with with a bunch of students there should should know better.

So while I don't believe that he actually has any intent to commit political violence, I think it was possibly a fatal error.

I did see one of our viewers, Ed, who writes it sounds like he was saying it in jest, but he should have been more aware of the times we are in.

Scott.

The fine art of hyperbole has been lost.

Is there a teachable moment here?

I think if you want to argue that it was hyperbolic, you wouldn't get it necessarily a disagreement for me.

I would.

A quick disagreement, though.

I don't know that it sounded as if it wasn't just it may have been, but according to the great Kansas City philosopher Johnny Dare, who once told me, leave the leave the comedy to the professionals, he's not funny.

It wasn't funny, especially in these tumultuous political times that we live in.

And he should have known better.

Did he play into the hands of Kansas lawmakers who are already upset about what they view as a liberal bent of state university professors?

I'm sure it is crazy making for the administration at the University of Kansas when that sort of thing happens.

These are times where universities need every dollar they can get and that doesn't help.

Now, then, added crime take a holiday this week because the Royals were in the playoffs and the Chiefs are undefeated.

Tell that to folks in Brookside who hit again with more car theft business break ins and home burglaries.

First Lady Brookside residents are now begging for the National Guard to be sent out to help supplement the understaffed Kansas City Police Department.

We're finding that the police officers are telling us they're short staffed.

Thursday morning, Gambino put out a message in a Brookside neighborhood Facebook group to the Board of Police Commissioners, saying if the police department's down so many officers, why shouldn't the Missouri National Guard be called in to answer the calls to work in the stations so more police officers won't have so much overtime where their fatigue and we'll be able to put more police cars out in the community.

It's Governor Mike Thompson who controls the Missouri National Guard.

He said hundreds of them to the border.

Any evidence he's willing to send them to Brookside, Lisa?

No, no.

And while I understand that people in Brookside and all over the city are deeply concerned about the crime that is happening in their backyards, that is not necessarily the role of the National Guard.

I don't think the governor has any plans to I don't think he has any interest in the National Guard coming to help them out as long as that crime was on the other side of truth, you never heard him saying we need the National Guard.

Now, that is in their neighborhoods.

Oh, my goodness.

We we need the National Guard to come in.

Eric is absolutely right.

When it was east of Troost, where was everybody saying, bring in the National Guard now we need the National Guard here.

Once it moved into Brookside, a hoity toity kind of neighborhood that I enjoy, that I enjoy.

Now, everybody wants the National Guard.

I think we need to be very clear about this story.

The massive majority of citizens in Brookside are not calling for this.

This was a post on a Facebook neighborhood group.

They've got a TV story made about it.

I do not I do not think this is being seriously considered.

And it's good for us to talk about philosophically, but let's not get off while I'm ripping up that story.

I'm moving on.

Brian.

And because of that, okay, we've dodged a nationwide dockworkers strike, but another strike of sorts has hit Kansas City.

A rent strike appalled by conditions in their apartment buildings.

Residents in two lower income tower blocks are now refusing to pay any rent, saying enough is enough and living with roaches, broken elevators and air conditioning, and sometimes a lack of running water.

I will not be paying $0.01 to these slumlords because of the deplorable conditions I live in.

Danny tells us a little over a year ago she was getting ready to take a shower when the ceiling collapsed into the bathtub, just missing her head.

I had to remove the trash and the drywall myself and then the hole sat there unfixed for a couple of months.

Now we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars in rent being withheld.

Are you allowed to just not pay our way out?

Are we about to see hundreds of people mass evicted onto the street?

Lisa There are no state or federal protections for renters who refuse to pay rent.

So this is a massive risk that they are taking and certainly they could all be evicted.

On the other hand, while while landlords do enjoy a lot more rights, are more protected than renters, it is not free to evict a tenant.

It takes time, it takes money, it takes resources.

So I don't know that we would see it happen all at once.

But but I but there is I mean, the conditions at these at these apartments have gotten to the point where these renters, despite this massive risk and the massive consequences of having an eviction on your record, feel that they have no other option.

And as in if they did do that, it would be a terrible optic because those people do have extremely legitimate concerns.

Their air conditioners, the elevators, the roaches, the mice.

I think that would be a terrible optic if those landlords start evicting those people.

Okay.

Let's see if this next story that Brian thinks is worthwhile or not, he will be the judge.

What's in a name?

A lot.

Apparently plans to rebrand and the lease summit when this airport as the Greater Kansas City Regional Airport is causing turbulence with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

In fact, it's igniting a war of words between the two cities and threats of legal action.

Lucas says it's going to lead to mass travel confusion.

What does he think is going to happen?

There's no commercial flights out of there.

Does he think people are going to be trying to get on a Delta Airlines flight from Lee's Summit and they're going to be confused where they are?

I'm not clear on the concern, although I suppose if you Google to Kansas, if you put into Google Maps, Kansas City Airport and you end up driving to Lee's summit by accident, that would be a very frustrating day.

You know, I think the question is a broader one of sort of identity and community pride.

And this idea that we've worked really hard to be Kansas City, do we want suburban communities to identify as part of that mobile heart into this whole notion that we are all one Kansas City?

I thought we were okay.

And to Brian's point, if you put in Kansas City Airport and your GPS takes you out to Lee's Summit and you think that's where you need to go, you either just move to town or you don't pay attention now.

And they say they're getting thousands and thousands of flights.

They're getting top celebrities, big business leaders, all coming in from Lee's Summit, bypassing Kansas City.

So it's becoming a big destination.

It's not, they say, a mickey Mouse operation.

No, they have seen increased traffic there.

I don't.

And I think that part of putting Kansas City on the name is to have a broader appeal here.

But ultimately, the FAA will decide what is fair and what is not.

So this really is just an exchange of words right now, maybe a battle over identity.

But but there is a federal regulator that's going to decide.

I just wanted to prove on this program that there was more than the chiefs and the royals happening in Kansas City this week.

I think we do that, by the way, when we put a program like this together every week, you can't get to every story grabbing the headlines.

What was the big local story we missed?

The police chief who made national news for reading a Kansas newspaper makes his first court appearance.

Gideon Cody is facing up to 23 months in prison.

The Andrew Lester trial postponed, pushed off until next year.

Lester is the 85 year old homeowner who made national headlines after shooting a black teenager in the head in a Kansas City Northland neighborhood.

His attorneys say he's showing signs of mental decline and is not fit to stand trial.

Could his strike be on the way?

It's Kansas City's largest amusement park maintenance work.

As it whirls, a fan say the attraction is so understaffed, it's threatening visitors safety.

Currently, it's only open on weekends.

As part of its annual Halloween Haunt event, a rally in Wyandotte County demanding that election materials be available in Spanish.

One in three of the county's residents are Latino.

Kansas City played host this week to the largest gathering of Hispanic business leaders in America at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber Convention got underway at Bartle Hall and Channel your Bob Ross.

You could win $10,000 for putting your artist skills to the test, drawing Kansas City's official World Cup poster.

In addition to the cash for your creation, will be featured all around the city when the global soccer tournament gets underway in 2026, go to Kansas City's World Cup page to enter the deadline is October 26th.

Assuming you've already got your crayons out ready to enter that competition, is that no bigger story missed all?

Was that something different?

We covered a really big story with the rent strike.

I think that is a huge and that might have other apartment complexes creating unions within their apartment complex because senior housing is very serious in Kansas City.

I get a lot of phone calls.

I write a lot of articles about how senior housing is so terrible in Kansas City.

Brian Sandra, Hemy was back in court this week.

This is the Saint Joseph woman who was convicted 43 years ago of murder but was exonerated by a court.

It seems that almost everyone agrees she didn't do it.

The prosecutors, the the police themselves.

And yet the attorney general's office in Missouri opposed her release from prison.

It had to be appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court with a threat to hold the attorney general in contempt if she wasn't released from prison.

Now, the attorney general continues to fight the wrongful conviction as it works its way through the appeals process.

This week at the Court of Appeals, we'll have to wait and see whether it is from there appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Lisa, I've got a different one and not enough politics in this show.

The Emerson, in conjunction with the Midwest newsroom, which is based at case you are released a poll this week on a bunch of issues.

One in particular, local control of Kansas City police, which found that Missouri residents are pretty split with 35 opposed to Kansas City having local control, 34% in support of it, and a bunch of people undecided.

So truly an issue that's not resolved.

And if city leaders had any desire to push a statewide referendum, I'm not sure the votes are there yet.

Scott, I'm going to stay with the sports theme this week, if I could.

The Chiefs and the royals are having incredible success, but quietly, Kansas City, current is having an incredible season.

They are currently ranked fourth in the NWSL one point out of second place and doing an incredible job this season.

And on that we will say our week has been reviewed courtesy of KCUR Lisa Rodriguez and Eric Wesson from next page KC You can hear Scott Parks 2 to 6 weekdays on 98.1 FM, KMBC, and you can hear Brian Ellison whenever an important political news is happening on 89.3.

KCUR.

And I'm Nick Haines.

Next week, we move into election mode.

We debate the upcoming $15 minimum wage amendment on the upcoming ballot in Missouri with the measure's supporters and opponents.

Plus, we lift up the whole hour all the issues we'll be deciding from abortion to sports, betting new casinos to children and senior taxes.

Until then, I'm Nick Haines from all of us here at Kansas City, PBS.

Be well, keep calm and carry on.