Sold to a Dallas company buying Kansas City's increasingly tarnished crown jewel as this sold the Plaza's big problem.

Plus, we've snagged the NFL draft and the World Cup.

Now, is Kansas City about to become the Globe's newest cruise destination?

The Kansas City police chief making national news resigns.

And amid chaos in Congress.

Look who's stealing the spotlight.

And wait, there's more.

We knew Beyonce's show would be fake, but so big it would literally stop traffic.

We walked the freeway.

The traffic was horrendous.

We walk the interstate to get here.

Has Kansas City learned its lesson?

No.

Host stick two big events at the same time.

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 Turner Charitable Trust.

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

The restaurant at 1900.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines, and it is glad to have you on board as we take you on a journey through the week's most impactful, confusing and befuddling local news stories.

Rolling up their sleeves to dissect the week's top local headlines from KSHB TV Channel 41 Dia Wall.

By the way, just awarded a regional Emmy this week for Best News Anchor.

Congratulations on that.

He wins the award for best dressed man in Kansas City Media from our Metros Newest Newspaper Next page, KC Eric Wesson.

He first broke the news this week that a Texas company was getting ready to buy the plaza.

He is Mr. City scene KC Kevin Collison.

And in the Hall of Fame of Kansas City News great former TV news anchor, star, reporter and editorial writer Dave Helling.

Now, did you know we are currently working on a documentary about the Country Club Plaza as it marks its 100th birthday this year?

It's coming out this November, but the storyline is being scrambled this week as a Dallas company swoops in to buy what is often be called Kansas City's crown jewel.

While that crown has been slightly tarnished over the last few years with an emptying out of retailers and concerns over crime.

How does new ownership change things, if at all?

Kevin?

It will change a lot.

If everything I hear about the company that owns what's called the Highland Park Village Shopping Center in Dallas.

One caveat it's not a done deal yet.

They have a contract.

They're doing their due diligence.

You know, things could fall apart, but it does look highly likely.

But, you know, they bring a lot of expertise in running what is almost like a doppelganger of the country called Plaza.

I was very surprised to learn that this place in Dallas, the Highland Park Village, is 1931, done up in a Spanish folk style, very similar to the plaza.

And it's got a lot of high end retailers.

And these guys are actually small, smaller retail operators and not gigantic type firms that have previously been owning.

We actually just pulled some of that video for you.

This is the Highland Park Village in Dallas, which is sort of that similar vibe as the country club plazas, Kevin points out, including big holiday lights, but with more upscale, luxurious brands.

Is that the thought here?

We need to make the plaza more ritzy, more exclusive Again, You're always our Texas connection on these things.

I'm glad you all are showing Chanel, Valentino and Tom Ford in the video, right.

The the shopping experience.

Highland Park Village.

Highland Park is the wealthiest suburb in Dallas, which is a much larger metro area than Kansas City.

Right.

So the shopping experience totally different.

Yes, there are some smaller shops there, great local restaurants, but Chanel, I mean, we could barely keep Tiffany's on the Plaza.

I mean, in the time that I've been here.

And so I do think retail struggling, period.

Let's start there.

Kevin's right.

They have a ton of experience.

Highland Park Village is gorgeous.

There are a lot of similarities, but I think we do need to level set a bit in terms of the size, the scope, the scale and what it's going to look like because it's a tough time to have brick and mortar stores in a shopping center period.

You know, the mayor said this was the most transformational change potentially in the last 25 years.

That's a huge deal, Dave.

But currently the plaza is owned by a combination real estate trust based in California and in Michigan.

How does changing it to somebody who is actually from Dallas really make much of a difference or judgment?

We'll see, of course, if it goes through.

He is right.

Retail is under some stress Every time the the plaza is sold, everybody says, oh, this is the answer.

You know, these guys are going to come in and fix it.

And it becomes very difficult to do that in an environment where not only is retail under pressure, but entertainment options, which is the other thing that the plaza is known for are available across the city.

If you want to go out to a nice dinner, you don't have to go to the plaza like you might have had 225 or 30 years ago.

So we'll see how it works out.

There's one other component that will be a part of this, and that will involve the mayor in terms of whatever incentives the city might be able to offer to the plaza.

Well, I mentioned, Eric, we're actually doing a documentary around here that's going to premiere in November all about the plaza.

We're bringing in all of these newsmakers, including Emanuel Cleaver, who during that documentary says something to the effect of Kansas City country Club Plaza.

It needs to lose its tuxedo, make it more accessible if we're bringing in the Chanels and all of these top Rodeo Drive style retailers.

Is that the answer?

You know, I believe people have disposable incomes that if they're given the opportunity to shop at some of those high end stores like DIA was talking about, I think they'll do it.

I think they'll come in.

But you also have to have the element of what are you going to do about crime?

You know, before the show we were talking about a better police presence there to keep people from taking advantage of it, because like now they're going to bring in snatch and grab and they run in Gucci stores and grab out of purses and those things and run out.

I'm assuming the folks in Dallas also deal with exactly those same issues, though.

Do you know you don't think Highland Park Village?

Okay.

Now, so that's something else that Eric's absolutely right.

You're going to have to navigate that.

You definitely have to have an answer for crime.

I was really stunned this week when I heard about this Dallas company first of all, from you on this story.

But I thought the rumor was that it was going to be this local group cobbling together their money to have a local ownership group buy this.

What happened?

Well, there were a lot of rumors out there.

Now whether there ever really was a local group, I don't know.

But I mean, one big point, though, I want to get back to is these guys, from everything we know, are going to be able to get it at a price that will allow them to start doing the deferred maintenance that's been building up at the plaza.

As you say, it's 100 years old.

There's a lot of problems with the buildings.

And they're also going to be hopefully be able to lower the rents to bring in not only these national luxury brands, which they have relationships with in Texas that they can bring to here.

But also some of the more unique places in there are successful shopping centers.

Can I just say quickly that if you want to buy Gucci now, you don't have to go to the plaza to buy Gucci, You can just go on online?

And so all of those things as well.

Well, sometimes you want it, you want to see it.

The lambskin or the leather is the better option.

People do as it did.

That's the question.

And we actually have other things on our menu on the show this week.

We always knew that Beyonce's show this week at Arrowhead would be big, but so big it stops traffic.

Massive traffic snarls around our head.

Stadium forced a two hour delay of the concert, but some ticket holders reportedly abandoning their Uber rides more than a mile from the stadium and running along the side of I-70.

To get there.

We walked the freeway.

The traffic was horrendous.

We walked the interstate to get here.

So what is the lesson we learn this week from the whole affair?

Do we acknowledge we can't hold to a big event at the same time, a concert in a Royals game, we breathe a sigh of relief that may never happen again if the Royals move from the Truman sports complex.

Or do we do what Matt Quintin Lucas is now suggesting, Eric And that is building mass public transportation and nearby high density development as part of a stadium redesign.

Then you just have the busses sitting on the side of the freeway caught up in the traffic just like everybody else.

I think the Royals game and the concert and just all the people coming there to gather, I think they probably could have moved the Royals game up another couple of hours.

Now to you.

You were actually at the concert.

I saw that on social media with your little daughter, with you as well.

Did you have to run on the side of the highway to get there?

No, I'm still recovering.

But okay.

So, no, it was incredible.

It took us forever.

I mean, I go to Arrowhead pretty, pretty frequently.

There are some infrastructure challenges.

There were only two entrances that were open to get in.

I think the turnaround time I agree with Eric was too short.

Generally, if you're going to a Chiefs game, they open gates five, 6 hours in advance so people can get there and tailgate.

If you have 50, 60, 70,000 people out to see the greatest entertainer of my generation, you need a little more time.

Tom Jones, though, won't be coming until next year, ladies and gentlemen.

Just want to make sure of that.

I have to say, please, Eric, how long has it taken them to get ten blocks on Main Street?

In my lifetime, we would never see public transportation as a rail going out, which is why I did this topic, because it has a lot of ramifications.

In fact, our viewers have also reached out to us about this, including Richard in Redbridge, who wrote this week, Should we come to expect a similar traffic mess if the royals move downtown?

Will we be asking the Royals, Kevin, to delay the start of first pitch because fans are still backed up on the highway?

Well, here's something that I have noticed.

I've lived here for 22 years now.

I've never seen a city where police, sheriff's deputies, troopers, you name it, don't direct traffic.

I have gone to chiefs games.

They have been playing football at Arrowhead for 50 years.

They still don't seem to know how to direct traffic out there.

You get caught in a traffic jam, you finally get to where you leave the stadium.

You see a half a dozen sheriff's deputies sitting around by their cruiser.

I would be very curious if there were any cops out directing traffic.

And if we're going to do downtown, we need to have a more proactive police department that can direct traffic.

Is this going to be a problem then, if the royals do indeed decide to move downtown?

I say, well, the reason why I say no is because you have heavy amounts of public transit and people who live downtown as well, who will be able to walk, take a streetcar, take a bus line.

You can move people more easily.

There is nothing by the Truman Sports complex.

It's still not guaranteed that the royals will indeed move downtown.

But we do get an interesting bit of new information this week that Jackson County, that the royals have come to Jackson County leaders.

One of the negotiating aspects of this now is they want a 40 year lease if they were to move downtown.

Currently the stadium leases a 25 years.

Does that matter?

If the tax rate remains the same, she will actually pay any more taxes.

Should we be happy with that arrangement?

You would be paying taxes for 40 years, not 25 years.

And so what the reason you scratch that out is so you lower the amount needed each year, but you end up paying much more money, in part because the interest but does not show more of a commitment for the royals.

Do they want to be here for my well right.

The chiefs I think want 25 years.

That's a bit of a bone of contention between the two.

But 40 years is a hell of a long commitment, which is why the leases are so important.

Let me just say this quickly, Nick.

One of the problems with Beyonce is I think you had a lot of people who went to the concert who are not accustomed to going to Arrowhead Stadium and may have left a little bit later than they probably should have.

The Chiefs have been able to stretch their fans out through tailgating and other things so that the crush just before game time is the last thing.

With that, though, there were a lot of people who flew in, right?

We talk about Kansas City, we talk about Kansas City being the city on the rise, y'all, I love you.

Let me just talk directly.

Everything in the city ain't for us.

We need to be an environment where we are welcoming.

When people come here, we make it easy for you to come and spend your money.

Go down to the plaza, catch a Royals game, whether they're downtown or at the complex, or go see.

Well, I don't think Tom is going to be at Arrowhead, but you know what I'm saying?

He's not going to Arrowhead.

You're right.

It wasn't big enough.

Now, as we recalled this program, a woman beaten to death in a hallway outside her Kansas City apartment is the city's 146th homicide.

We're now close to ending the year with the highest number of murders in Kansas City history.

Now city leaders are proposing upping police salaries to address 300 vacant positions in the Kansas City Police Department.

The Board of Police Commissioners was scheduled to send to city hall this week a proposal boosting the starting salaries of officers from 50000 to 60000 a year.

Matt Lucas says he's in favor of the $10,000 raise, but claims that the real debate is over where the city can find the money to pay for it.

Now the salary boost is expected to cost Eric around 10 to $15 million a year.

Now, I was just looking at the latest budget.

That's over $2 billion a year.

And they can't find the money.

No.

If they don't want to find it, they can't find it.

If they can juggle things around and say they can't find the money, they can't find it.

But where's the extra $10,000 going to do?

Is that going to attract more police officers with no plan on what to do?

The problem with the police department is lack of leadership that has a vision because they said a year ago or two years ago, oh, well, let's get people from outside.

You don't have to live in Kansas City.

And that's going to have people tearing down the doors to be a police officer.

But again, the police officers that I talked to, they all say it's a leadership problem and it's a disconnect between city hall and the police department.

That's where the problem lies.

And that gets into our favorite topic is we just don't have local control.

We have no idea how the police departments running, it's recruiting, etc.. And I got to tell you, if if there is a proposal out there to increase the starting wages by ten grand, it should be part of negotiations with the police union and getting some concessions from them about allowing more freedom to manage the officers.

I mean, you just we've been throwing a lot of money at police and fire for many years and not getting much in in return.

Police and fire in Kansas City, Missouri, make up 65 to 70% of the budget year after year after year, the Kansas City Police Department budget has gone up.

Every year that I have been here.

There was a recruitment issue in 2020.

We need more money to have bigger recruitment classes.

They just had the biggest recruitment class they've had in history and still we don't have enough officers.

Right.

The challenge for me becomes if you want the $10,000 more for starting salaries for police, I don't think anybody takes issue with that.

But then doesn't it does that not come out of the already highest budget you've ever had in history?

The last thing I will add to this point, my colleague Caitlin could do just in a big investigation over at 41 last month, Kansas City Police Department has paid more than $10 million in settlements, 99% of it for excessive force in the last 18 months or so.

So that money comes out of the budget.

So when you talk about things like every time there's an additional expenditure, you come to the taxpayers.

We all recognize it's a tough time for police, it's a tough time in the community.

This is a hard job, But they don't really have anything to do with the fact that every year the budget goes up and every year we get the same, same complaints.

Speaking of law enforcement, have you noticed our police chiefs seem to be falling like flies just a couple of weeks after the Overland Park police chief resigns?

The top cop in Marion, Kansas, has hung up his badge after making national headlines over a police raid of the town's newspaper.

Gideon Cody was a former senior ranking officer in the Kansas City Police Department before grabbing the national news spotlight.

Are there broader lessons here, Dave Helling, we learned this week from his resignation.

Don't write newspaper offices.

That's, you know, or TV newsrooms, which I've been a part of as well.

Trust me.

You know, the First Amendment means something.

And if you violate it in a way that it appears to have been violated in Marion, you'll pay a penalty.

And the city in Marion didn't actually do any background checks on him beforehand.

They just hired him.

But that happens quite a lot in lots of professions.

The capital.

I well, I do know that this guy was almost ready to be kicked out of the Kansas City Police Department.

So I don't know how much vetting they did before they brought him on board there.

And yeah, he strapped I mean, incompetence in whatever job you'd like to think Washington excluded.

Unfortunately, these days seems to lead to somebody getting fired.

And this guy does not sound like he was ready for primetime when he was here or there.

The biggest news story of the week involved an historic vote in Congress to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

While there are a thousand places you can turn to to find out what happened and what's next, did you notice that Kansas City area Congressman Mock also seemed to get more attention than anyone else in the inevitable media frenzy over the story.

After saying that the House needed a marriage counselor, the former Fox four News anchor was booked on pretty much every news network and cable news show.

It should be noted that no Kansas and Missouri Republicans voted to remove the House speaker.

But Kansas City Democrats Sharice Davids and Emanuel Cleaver did vote to ditch McCarthy.

This is a decidedly national story, but does it have a local ripple effect?

Steve Helling, We may be overlooking at this point, it's not limited to Washington.

We see the same thing in Jefferson City.

We see the same thing in Topeka, and we'll see it in 2024.

Nick, That's really the local impact is this idea of a fringe wing of the Republican Party controlling the agenda to the detriment of some effort to reach?

Consensus is very true in the state legislatures in our region, just as it is true in Washington, D.C. two years ago this week, Mark Holford, by the way, was still reading a teleprompter in Kansas City.

Over to Fox for News.

Have you got an announcement to let us know about that?

No, I like being where I'm at.

And it says something about the possibility, but it's going on the road to follow the idea of former TV reporters and anchors running for public office is everywhere.

I mean, Kari Lake in Arizona and Mark, all four, I mean, it happens a lot.

We don't get newspaper guys running for higher office.

We're just there because it actually requires votes.

All right.

Have you seen those ads for Viking River Cruises exploring the heart of historic Europe With Viking, you'll get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and legendary treasures.

But this could already be on your bucket list.

Close one of your big vacations, sipping wine.

While some of Europe's great capitals pass slowly by.

What if you could actually get on board in Kansas City?

Port Casey says the Global River Cruise Company could be adding a stop in Kansas City.

I'm assuming you're not going from Kansas City to Amsterdam or Kansas City to Paris and Prague.

What is being proposed out here?

Kevin It's a very modest situation right now.

What do you mean, modest?

Well, this is a big deal.

Let's just say here's what's going on.

Port Casey has been approached by a river cruise operator.

There are three major ones in the United States, Viking being one of them that currently runs cruises on the Mississippi in the Ohio River.

And they're thinking about extending it down the Missouri and seeing if Kansas City would be available as a port of call.

So they're being asked to investigate building a dock, which would not be an expensive thing, where these folks could be on the river cruise.

They could stop off in Hermon and Lexington and all these little towns that are along the Missouri River.

Come to Kansas City, get off the boat.

And they're really intrigued with the fact that older tourists with lots of money usually are on these river cruises and then they could take little busses out to the Truman Library, to the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame, or hop on the streetcar and go downtown or to the plaza.

So it's a it's a really interesting tourism.

I was in that town.

I was looking at a Viking brochure.

They actually already have a 12 day cruise that goes through the heartland.

As Kevin points out, it already stops in Saint Louis and Hannibal, so it doesn't seem to be too much of a leap to say, let's let's have a sip.

Wine that was wandering around Kansas City on the Missouri River.

Does it, Eric?

I guess not.

I it wouldn't be anything that I would want to invest a lot of money in.

When I think of cruise ships and those kind of things, I think about going to other countries and enjoying but not really be able to finally say we have made it when we have when we have boatloads of Germans and Japanese and British people coming in on a cruise ship to Kansas City, you can forget about the World Cup.

This would be it wouldn't have to be honest with you.

I'm a person who is a believer.

It's not going to cost a lot.

They reached out to us as a city, right?

So why not explore it if it's going to be another revenue stream?

Plus, the Kansas City current stadium is going to be built up there, maybe a casino, one day.

That's how you really get Dave.

I remember I dated my wife in 1988 and I first came to Kansas City.

We took a little riverboat steamer in downtown Kansas City, and it was just an industrial wasteland, remember things.

And she took it from core point.

This is an atrocity.

The whole idea of the riverboat casinos was we're going to cruise up and down the Missouri.

And we found out quickly that the Missouri is a dangerous river.

It flows very quickly and you need all sorts of rescue equipment and other things if you're going to have boats in the area.

That's why the casinos are all in moats.

You know, I'm not a native of Kansas City, but when I heard that story, the Facebook lit up page with all these people who remember there was a jazz cruise on the Missouri River.

Yeah.

And many people wonder why we don't have marinas and other boating.

I've heard that the currents tough.

But, you know, I used to live in Omaha and the Missouri River is not that much different up there.

And they have a quite an active boating.

But this would be exclusively for cruises and to get to your point, Eric, I mean, we're talking about people from Germany and Wales to come see you and who would who love to do that kind of tourism.

Yeah, well, millennials are not getting on these riverboat cruises.

Now, when you put a story, a show like this together every week, you can't get to every story grabbing the headlines.

What was the big local story we missed?

A manager of a Chipotle in Lenexa making national news as he rips off a muslim employee's head Covering is the Ford Assembly plant in Casey next to closes the UAW strike expands.

Local auto mechanics say they're already feeling the effects as they struggle to get parts for their customers.

Kansas City has experienced plenty of trash problems over the years.

Now it's Johnson County's turn.

Neighborhood leaders in Shawnee, Lenexa, Overland Park and Prairie Village all complaining of rotting garbage and vermin problems.

Some residents say trash company Republic hasn't picked up the trash in three weeks.

Kansas City officially launches a new professional sport.

Taylor Swift starting well, she show up at this weekend's cheapskate.

Meanwhile, if you were ever in doubt that the swift effect was real CU expanding its class Cody Sociology of Taylor Swift.

What might seem frivolous or maybe a waste of time and money on the surface is actually deeply meaningful to people.

Beyonce is not the only celeb in town.

Cardi B spotted a town topic buying food for fans and parades in Kansas City are going to be and also look different in Kansas City from now on.

The Marching Cobras disband after 54 years, and the Royals may have wrapped up a 106 last season, but guess what?

The team says attendance was slightly up this year, up 1% on last year.

Not so.

The TV ratings down 30%.

The second biggest drop in viewership in Major League Baseball.

All All righty.

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

As much as I'm going to miss the Cobras, I do think there was information that came out this week about this proposed South Loop project that would cover the downtown freeway for blocks with the park in Take it all with a grain of salt.

But it did prod out some information about a couple of major apartment projects that they're Developers say if you build this park, we will move ahead with this.

We're talking $850 million worth of stuff all built before the World Cup comes here in 2026, which sounds a little tough, but we'll see.

Eric, I said the Cobras and in my front page story, the last in last week's paper was the Central City Economic Development sales tax and how the board gets beat up for the issues of that tax and is not moving the way it should be.

But all roads point to City Hall not being able to move contracts.

And it wasn't just a c, c, e, D, but you got the housing development trust fund.

No contracts there.

We b oxy, no contracts there.

So what needs to be done at City Hall to get these contracts done, to get development projects implemented in this city?

State renewal will come up fairly quickly, I think, and that's going to be a difficult thing.

But my missed story is the state of Kansas reported a huge budget surplus for next year.

Going into next year, more than $2 billion, which is a miracle compared to where it was ten years ago when we were all lamenting the the potential bankruptcy of Kansas.

The pressure in Kansas and Missouri to cut property taxes next year will be a major story in both states, and they'll all have to pick to the Cobras.

What a legacy.

What a story.

We have not gotten more emails on a community story.

I mean that I can remember the other one, the fact that Cardi B is rolling in the crossroads.

Stay on topic.

I mean, what what universe am I in that Cardi B is walking the streets of Kansas City at town Topic Bob Dylan played the middle and too, for those of us who are over the age of 65, I was thinking this idea when you said that 93% of our audience was saying yes on Tom Jones and 93% of our audience were saying, Cardi, Cardi, who you are, are you right?

Okay, I know they're going to let you know.

So.

Okay.

All right.

On that, we will say our week has been reviewed courtesy of 41 news anchor Dia Wall and from City scene KC Kevin Collison from the helm at Next page, KC Eric Wesson and former star newsman Dave Helling.

And I'm Nick Haines From all of us here at Kansas City PBS be well keep calm and carry on.