The first votes of the presidential campaign now cast.

But what about as we track when Kansas and Missouri voters get to weigh in and will anyone care?

It's going to be Kansas City's biggest event ever.

But did hosting the World Cup just got a whole lot more difficult this week?

We talk trash and pick apart the rest of the week's big local news stories.

Straight ahead.

Week in review is made possible through the generous support of AARP, Kansas City, RSM Dave and Jamie Cummings.

Bob and Marlese Gourley, The Courtney S Turner Charitable Trust.

John H. Mize and Bank of America NA co trustees.

The restaurant at 1900.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

And thank you for joining us on our weekly journey through the most impactful and important news stories of our week.

Tracking Kansas City's confusing and befuddling local news stories and Brian Ellison, who tracks the top regional political stories for KC one news from 95.7 FM, KCMO Talk Radio.

Pete Mundo is with us, former star reporter and opinion writer Dave Helling.

And from our own newsroom, Flatland KC Marie Sanchez.

Now, the first votes of the 2024 presidential campaign were cast this week.

And on Tuesday, New Hampshire weighs in.

So when do we get a chance to make our views known?

Now?

Will anybody care what we have to say here?

One thing you need to know is that there won't be a primary in Missouri this year.

On March 2nd, Republicans will hold a caucus and Democrats won't vote until three weeks later on March 23rd.

Bryan, first of all, why no primary in Missouri and why different dates from Democrats and Republicans?

They can't get along well.

Well, I think that's fairly obvious, but I don't think that's the reason.

The reality is that the parties run presidential primary processes.

They choose what order the states get to go in.

They choose how they do them.

And in this case, Missouri's Republicans and Democrats have been on different pages and the national parties have.

I do think that the the caucuses happening in Missouri are are unlikely to get the kind of attention they would get if it were simply a presidential primary.

But I did see, looking at the calendar, Pete, Missouri is actually going to be the sixth state to vote alongside Idaho on March 2nd.

That puts the show Me state as one of the earliest places.

So does that give Missouri some extra political clout?

Well, in a normal year, it might.

But I mean, we just saw what happened on Monday night in Iowa with Donald Trump winning by 30.

New Hampshire expected to take it there.

South Carolina, I think this will be over.

Not not in terms of pure numbers, but it'll effectively be over by the time we get to Missouri.

So totally irrelevant.

Mary, please tell us.

Please tell us.

That's not so.

I say no.

And then I mean, I completely understand the strategy and why it may be over.

You know, someone could say that very accurately, but I think there's a lot to learn, frankly, for reporters, for everyone about rural voters.

You know, which a lot will drive some of those caucuses.

If if there's more nuance and more depth there.

Dave, could we expect some of these candidates to show up in Missouri?

Yeah, I think Peter's right by the time of the Missouri primary.

Ron DeSantis may be out of the race or close to it.

Maybe Nikki Haley as well.

That doesn't leave much for the Republican side.

And of course, Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.

Let me tell you this, though, Nick.

I can 100% guarantee that when the conventions are held and I've attended 14 of them, no matter who wins in Missouri, the delegates will cast their ballots for whoever the winner is.

We always think of Iowa as being sort of, oh, we're going to pick delegates for the know.

They'll always vote in 2020 was for Trump.

In 2016, it was for Trump, even though Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucuses, every vote from Iowa was cast for Donald Trump at the convention.

So they're much less important in terms of delegate selection and the process of nomination than they are about media and exposure.

And will we see any of the candidates?

I very much doubt it.

And part of the reason for that is not only everything that has been said about the potential irrelevance by the 2nd of March, but also the fact that Super Tuesday is March 5th.

It's just three days later.

So there's 20 other high value states happening three days after Missouri's event.

Seems very unlikely that we'll see it.

But but I think the whole question, the whole line of questions raises the issue of whether we are choosing our presidential candidates in the right way.

Should Missouri and Kansas have so little influence when Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have that?

I'm not ignoring you, Kansas, by the way.

You won't get to vote until March 19th.

So not unlike Missouri.

Democrats and Republicans are hosting an actual presidential primary.

That means you can also advance vote.

In the past, Pete, Kansas has decided it doesn't make sense to spend all that money on a primary when the outcome doesn't matter much.

So what changed?

The party leaders expecting Kansas to reshuffle the presidential race?

No, it's about money, as I understand it.

They can save millions of dollars by doing it this way, and it seems like that's the play.

But once again, I mean, we're talking about March.

I think Bryan makes a great point on Super Tuesday.

If we even have a race by then, all the focus, all the money is going to be in those states.

And, you know, we sit here and we hope it's more competitive next time around.

But there's not much to talk about on this front.

And so, you know, if you want to see Donald Trump at your local barbecue joint or Ron DeSantis in the cereal aisle at Costco in Overland Park ahead of that Kansas primary, and Joe Biden won't be at the local ice cream shop.

So, no, I don't think any of those things are going to be happening.

We are in a new year, but the headlines feel old around here.

Last year, one of the big headlines was a spate of shootings at shopping centers from the Country Club Plaza to Oak Park Mall.

Now Crown Center in the spotlight as my Quinton Lucas was preparing to leave for Washington to host a conversation about gun violence with the vice president.

Crown Center is shut down after a mass shooting that sees six people injured in what police say was a dispute between two groups of young people.

It happened just after 5:00 on a weekday.

Is this just another crime story, Mary, that makes headlines now, gets a few news conferences expressing outrage and then disappears when something new comes along a week from now?

I hope not.

And I hope not for the right reasons.

I mean, there are shootings all the time on the east side that could possibly even be considered a mass shooting by three or four.

You know, some people hurt.

This it drives fear.

I mean, I hope that people can understand what this type of thing does is now anyone who goes in and around Crown Center might think in their heads, Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh, I don't feel safe.

Do I need to go buy a gun?

That is why people that drives more gun ownership.

Some will be reasonable, responsible gun owners and others won't.

It that that phenomenon of gun violence in public places drives fear, which tends to drive bad public policy and oftentimes not.

Change at all.

You know, when there was shootings at the independence Center last year, shootings in the plaza, shootings at Oak Park molded a change in behavior.

Did it change any policies?

You might have a know police presence for a week or two and then it just goes back to normal?

Well, to me, the Crown Center story is similar to a lot of the other stories we've talked about in the region as a whole.

But in particular, you know, this is not just about fear.

There's also an economic element to this.

You have retailers, restaurants, business owners who are now being impacted by this.

You have a chamber of commerce that has been very silent on this crime issue in the Kansas City area for the better part of a year.

So it's a story that, yes, it's about six people getting shot.

But the ramifications, because it's in a high retail place and this could be 18th and Vine, this could be the plaza issues.

This could be downtown.

That's why this is a story and it's worth talking about with six people ultimately getting shot.

But really, we just forget about it in a week, Dave.

Well, no, I think Pete may be right that if there is a major economic implication for this shopping center, something will be done.

My guess is the most likely thing are metal detectors.

And I think you're going.

On a little puffball if you know this kind of.

But I mean, at some point people are going to say, look, the economics are such that we need to reassure people that they don't need to carry weaponry into my facility.

And usually the next step is metal detectors or some sort of screening at the door.

Now, Matt Lucas, by the way, has often argued that his hands are tied.

The city doesn't control the police department.

The city can't control guns.

Those laws are set by the states.

Has anything changed, though, In Jefferson City?

To give any indication, lawmakers are ready to give cities the opportunities to make their own gun rules.

Brian.

I don't think there's any indication of that, Nick.

And in fact, this very same week when the shooting occurred, the legislature held a hearing in a committee about a proposal to allow guns on public transportation to to ease Missouri's already basically completely unrestricted gun laws even further.

The representative, Emily Weber, a Democrat from Kansas City, when I spoke with her about that, she called that the guns everywhere, Bill.

She thinks that, again, there will be enough opposition in some fronts to hold it off one more session.

But but it will keep coming back.

I think there's a real question about whether legislators are on the same page as city officials when it comes to issues like and this is a big election year in Missouri.

Do you see any change happening on that front?

No, I don't.

You got obviously three people right now running for governor.

One are secretary of state, one the lieutenant governor.

One, of course, is in the state Senate.

So nothing big is going to happen on that front.

But there's something unique to Kansas City when Saint Louis is driving down its homicide numbers, as it did 30, 40% the last couple of years.

Why are our numbers going up?

We can't look at just the state.

We can disagree on gun laws in the state, but there's something unique happening here that no one's obviously been able to solve because if they could, we wouldn't be sitting here with 182 homicides last year, I mean, 20 seconds or less.

What is that unique thing that is happening here that is not happening elsewhere in Missouri, then.

Mary, I think some of the collaboration, I mean, just has not occurred to figure it out.

The things that drive crime and that drive people to use guns indiscriminately tend to be very human nature.

Tell you what the unique thing is.

It's state control of the police department.

Saying, well, why would you think that would make a big difference?

Because Saint Louis just went back to local control.

And as Pete points out, the murder rate has dropped in a city.

Well, yes, it is.

Mary, what when you have a police department in which no one is responsible for actual oversight, no one takes responsibility.

Every time you blame Mayor Quinton Lucas, he can say, hey, I don't control the police department.

Control of the police department is not just about maintaining oversight of the board.

It's accountability and responsibility.

No one has that in Kansas City.

No one.

Well, rather than giving more freedom to Kansas City lawmakers in Jefferson City this week, we're working to wipe out one of Kansas City's biggest pots of money, which actually helps, ironically, to fund the police department and other things like roads.

It's the 1% earnings tax that everyone who works in Kansas City, even if you don't live here, are forced to pay.

Legislators proposing cutting the tax by 10% each year until it is totally eliminated.

We've heard this so many times before, Brian.

It's never happened.

How seriously should we take this effort?

I don't know that it's going to happen this session, Nick.

It's an election year.

There's a lot of crazy things going on.

But at the same time, I think Kansas City will want to keep an eye on this because it does keep coming back.

Now, in this case, most of the energy for the effort is actually on the Saint Louis side of the state.

It's the Saint Louis earnings tax that is really the target of the legislators who are proposing this.

But it could have collateral damage for Kansas City.

And the reality is it would be catastrophic for Kansas City, at least as the budget is currently constructed.

They'd have to find about half of their general fund budget to do things like roads, fire response, paramedics and and police.

Absolutely.

And at the same time, another big issue that's coming up for all cities is that the COVID money is running out.

I mean, you see that with the bus issue here.

There's a lot of little stopgaps that have been that were helped by COVID money.

And that money, those funds are no longer going to be around.

So the tightening of budgets and what they depend on to fund city services, big conversation.

Missouri lawmakers, by the way, we're talking trash this week.

Back on the agenda is another effort to make it harder for Kansas City to build a landfill in the south part of the city that is enraged pretty much everyone in the vicinity from Remotely Summit.

We've been told that 2037 is when Kansas City will run out of space for all its trash.

Pete We used to legislators talking about big issues like abortion and the death penalty.

How much of an issue and why is this such a big priority for lawmakers?

Well, there's a lot of money and grassroots effort behind this right in our backyard.

So there's a lot of people I've talked to them.

They've called in to my show that are going down.

They're there.

They're making noise about it at the state capitol.

So it's become this pretty big issue.

And you've got the local state senators and state reps have also gotten heavily involved.

These organizations, these individuals are donating to some of these candidates who are seeking higher office as well.

So there's a lot of strings attached.

And, you know, because of some of the nicer developments down there, there's there's there's money behind it.

And the purpose of this is to say that Kansas City can't build this landfill there unless there would be support from Lee's Summit Rainbow and those other neighboring cities.

Right.

Which which if we look at the Missouri political implications of that, those tend to be more Republican leaning cities.

Republicans are in control of the state legislature.

I think there's there is some real possibility that that will be the victorious side as it was as it has been in the past.

You know, again, I don't want to forget about you if you live in Kansas.

It's been a busy week in Topeka, too.

Here's actually three quick headlines out of Topeka, if you missed them.

The Republican controlled legislature trying to squeeze the governor again, this time by stripping her of her ability to fill vacancies such as when a U.S. senator were to resign before their term is up.

The GOP majority also thumbing their nose this week with Kelly's new tax cut plan by voting instead to abolish all income tax brackets in the state and replacing them with a simple flat tax of 5.25% for everyone.

And even though Kansas voters rejected changes to abortion law at the ballot box last year, a new bill has been filed this week that would impose a near total ban on abortion, except in emergency cases to save the life of the mother.

The highest court in Kansas, Dave has already declared that women have a constitutional right to the procedure.

So why introduce a bill at all?

What's the motivation if they think it can't go anyway?

Well.

Let's give them credit for their motives.

They want to restrict abortion in the state.

The bill, however, if you read it, which I have, is extraordinarily unconstitutional.

The justices of the Kansas Supreme Court said that you can only restrict abortions in the state if they meet what they call a strict scrutiny standard, which I won't go into here, but this one clearly doesn't qualify.

So it may be more about show than anything else.

And the tax vote is also interesting.

We can talk about that a little bit as well going forward.

But I'm just, you know, even Kansans for Life, Pete has said that this has no chance of passing the legislature.

I'm really trying to understand why then the motivation for doing it.

Well, anyone can introduce a bill, right?

I mean, it's eight Republicans in a 140 person House that probably none of us can name or pick out of a lineup.

So there's probably political reasons for them.

They see this as a fit.

But you're right, Kansans for Life is not backing this.

No one in leadership wants to be behind this.

So it's a political play for them.

And then it's a political play for those who want to bring it up and make it a big issue when it's got no chance of going anywhere.

Mary, it is a political play and it also does answer something that is occurring for people who are anti-abortion.

You know, Kansas is a destination now as other states have shut down.

So you have people coming from other states to Kansas to get an abortion, which some people find very offensive.

And they're going to fight that any way they can.

And that actually makes me think that in some ways it isn't a political play.

Some of the people who are supporting this are doing it because they are true believers.

There was a story this week that the the platform under consideration that the next state Republican convention is going to be pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and it even quotes God's guidance as the source for those positions.

I think a lot of the energy for this kind of legislation and in the Kansas Republican Party isn't politically motivated in the sense that they believe it's going to pass.

They just think it's the right thing to do.

Okay.

You said, Dave, you wanted to talk about taxes, but a lot of people's eyes glaze over when they hear words like income tax brackets, flat tax.

What is so relevant to the public to know about this debate this week?

You have the idea that someone making 60,000 a year would get $0.75 back in tax cuts.

Why someone making 6 million a year would get $25,000 back.

It's just not going to pass among the Democrats and Republicans, some Republicans in Topeka.

And yeah, Laura Kelly did say on my show on Thursday that she's going to veto this thing when it gets to her desk.

She doesn't want to do it and she won't do it.

Last week, it was Kansas Governor Laura Kelly who was in the news as she delivered her State of the State address.

Now Mike Parson is preparing for his big moment in front of the cameras.

He delivers what will be his last state of the state message before lawmakers on Wednesday.

He leaves office at the end of the year and he's ready to reveal all in a new book about to drop about a group called No Turning Back.

Some of us are already struggling to sleep in anticipation of a possible reveal in his tell all.

But in the meantime, as he starts his victory lap, when will historians look back on as Parson's greatest accomplishment?

BRYANT Well, first, a minor correction.

If the title is no turning back.

So sorry.

I was too.

I was I was being too article.

Exactly.

Which is perhaps part of the story.

But here's the thing, Nick.

Mike Parson started his term, succeeding the disgraced Eric Greitens.

He never got the chance to run for governor on his own in the first place.

He ran for reelection, he has said, in fact, he says in this new book that he never wanted to be governor.

His intention was to serve eight years as lieutenant governor and go home and retire.

I think he will be remembered as someone who did accomplish a few things.

Democrats will say that he he did not hold an entirely ideological perspective.

He proposed budgets that the Democrats often supported.

He, on the other hand, he conservatives will remember him for his unflinching commitment to law enforcement for conservative social issue positions as he was a former sheriff in Polk County.

Well, what do you think is his biggest accomplishment?

Well, I think a lot of people would say, first off, his legacy is certainly tied to Greitens, his biggest accomplishment.

I don't know.

I really I mean, I think a lot of Republicans would say it's he left a lot on the table for a state that has supermajorities and a Republican governor.

It's really the story is about what has not gotten done despite the readiness of the state.

And that's a lot of Republicans running for governor are running against Mike Parson's six years in office.

Mary, it is still up in the air.

I think the main thing that people a lot of audiences are looking for is what is he going to do about Dvorkin?

Is he going to in this last mile.

This officer who was based in Kansas City for shooting on camera?

Yes.

Yes.

And it is the appeals are still going through the courts.

And the governor has said that he's going to wait until that plays out.

If he tries to moderate that sentence at all.

He was sentenced to six years.

If he tries to cut it a little bit short, if he tries to give some sort of pardon that is really going to seal his image for many people in the committee.

But others may applaud him for that because he would be again, back to Brian's point, as being one of the most supportive, supportive governors for law enforcement.

A couple of.

Things.

I think that he'll be best remembered by righting the ship after Eric Greitens.

I mean, could go back and look about where the state of Missouri was at that point.

And I think for better or for worse, Mike Parson at least steadied the ship to a more normal politics after the Greitens affair, he got a bad hand of cards, a neck, because the Republican Party in Missouri is really two parties.

And one of the reasons that he hasn't accomplished much is he was never able to unite the sort of more conservative wing with the moderate wing.

He did get a good deal of the cards with COVID money pouring in from Washington, which, as is the case in most states, enabled him to build up a real surplus from which he could do something.

Now, with so much news, attention on the never ending debate over the sports stadiums, there's been barely any coverage of the growing number of unanswered questions about what could be Kansas City's biggest ever event the World Cup.

With the clock ticking, soccer's governing body, FIFA, has still yet to announce when the tournament will actually begin.

And host cities like Kansas City still don't know how many games the global tournament gets.

And it's going to be starting at about 870 days from now.

All of these questions, we are told, would be answered in September, then by early December, then by the end of the year.

And every one of those self-imposed deadlines has been walked back.

Now, to add to the uncertainty, Kansas lawmakers balking at a commitment from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly to contribute $20 million to the games.

Republican leaders say they oppose spending Kansas tax dollars on an event taking place in Missouri.

So by state cooperation has its limits.

Pete Yeah, it seems to be that way.

And, you know, a lot of the action is going to be on the Missouri side.

And Lucas can say it benefits the regional economy with hotels and restaurants.

And it may.

But really the only thing on the Kansas outer things on the Kansas side that will be used our facilities for practicing as I understand it.

So you know Kansas Kansans are going to say, well, why is my tax money going to something that will mostly benefit Missouri?

But will companies need more help committed in Kansas City, relying on Kansas to give a lot of this money?

Does this jeopardize our hosting of these games?

You know, they'll figure it out one way or the other.

And I think Kansas may come up with some money.

20 million may be too much.

We need to pay extraordinarily close attention next Wednesday, Nick, when the governor of Missouri gives his State of the state address, because the budget is released the same day, and then at that point, we'll know how much Missouri is going to commit to the World Cup A and B, how much money the state may be on the hook for for the stadiums in Kansas City.

So Wednesday is is a really interesting, important day for us to pay attention to.

By the way, of course, the World Cup will be played at Arrowhead Stadium.

Again, all the uncertainty of what a tax election does that play into that tax vote at all the World Cup.

And they need to make already a lot of renovations to make that happen as it is, Mary, It might.

I mean, it needs to be part of the conversation because there do need to be changes to the field to accommodate.

But that all these unanswered questions, it's at the point where it's not anticipation.

You know, when you're in that void of we don't know where we're going to get the World Cup here, that was a good anticipation of unknowing.

Now we need to know more.

Already.

When you 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?

It was the week of the shattered helmet, the frozen mustache, and more than a few shirtless fans in the Coldest Chiefs game on record.

The frigid temps reignites concerns for local homeless.

Oh, it's terrible.

It hurts.

And you got to go to sleep and you wake up and your feet are hurting you and your hands hurt.

Nobody cares.

And school cancellations cause big headaches for parents.

The son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King in Kansas City.

The help wanted sign now out for a new school superintendent in Shawnee Mission.

Dr. Michelle Hubbard retiring.

She's been on the job for just two and a half years.

A help wanted sign is also out for a new Kansas City Library.

Director John Herron resigns to spend more time with his family.

He replaced longtime library leader Crosby Champa three years ago.

Hope he didn't get soggy luggage this week as record cold bursts, pipes and flips the baggage claim with Casey at the cold temps also freezing restaurant week sales.

With temperatures being so low, I think that's kind of deter people from coming out.

All righty.

Bryan, did you pick one of those stories or something completely different?

Well, I booked several of them, which is the cold, I think the cold we meet on shows like this, Nick, we talk a lot about politics.

We talk about policy.

But this is the kind of thing that the real people, if you will, are talking about.

It's it's how devastating and overwhelming the weather was over the past week.

And of course, we're getting another dose of it this weekend.

My neighbor, who is a stay at home dad, he works from home.

He's told me that there was a 32 day stretch where his children were in school for four days over the past month.

And I just think as a as a community, there's there's may not be anything we can do about it, but it is the news.

Mary, I.

Would actually agree as well, because it just affected so many things.

It kind of makes you realize, I mean, we're human beings.

We cannot control the weather and to have the climate change conversation, but we are interdependent.

You know, I was checking on neighbors, you know, people worry about pets.

They worry about houseless people as they should who can get around, who can't.

It's kind of a humbling moment to have that type of a weather siege.

Day coalition of groups in Missouri has agreed on language for a petition to put abortion on the ballot in the state in 2024.

They announced that as we taped their show, they need to get about 170 hundred and 80,000 valid signatures in the next 100 days.

That's a very, very tight timeline.

You can bet that there will be petition gatherers at the polls in April when the Kansas City and potentially go to vote on new stadium.

And Pete.

Well, I'll stay with the theme.

And as someone who was out there just recently thawed out from being at the Chiefs Dolphins game, it's it's been cold.

I can attest to that After 4 hours of being out there.

So go Chiefs this weekend.

And last thing to Mary Sanchez making me a friendship bracelet should not be overlooked in the wake of our fandom for Taylor Swift.

Navy says radio on its gifts.

This is amazing.

We pay nothing for you to come on the show, but at least you're getting it.

Yes, that is that is incredible.

All right.

We will say our week has been reviewed.

Thanks to Marie Sanchez from the Kansas City PBS newsroom, Flatland and 6 to 10 weekday mornings on 95.7 FM KCMO Talk Radio Pete Mundo from KC one News, Brian Ellison and former star news man Dave Helling.

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

Be well, keep calm and carry on.