Five, four, three, two, one.

Guys, guys, guys.

Chaos erupted as shots rang out at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade today.

We're deeply disappointed as we are steadfast in our belief that Jackson County is far better off with the Chiefs in the war.

But unfortunately, it did not turn out the way that we hoped to want it.

It has got one word for you.

Take away our victory today.

It's a win for cops.

First and foremost, I want to say thank you.

The nicest sports facility in Missouri or Kansas or America is right here for the Kansas City Curry.

Get excited.

It's our annual year in review edition of the program.

This half hour, we look back at the metro's most memorable news stories and newsmakers of the year.

And we break out the crystal ball to predict what you can expect in this grand spanking New Year 2025.

This room week in review is made possible through the generous support of Dave and Jamie Cummings, Bob and Marlese Gourley.

The Courtney S. Turner Charitable Trust, John H. Myers and Bank of America, N.A.

Co Trustees, the Francis Family Foundation through the Discretionary fund of David and Janice Francis.

And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

Move over Antiques Roadshow, the PBS NewsHour, and whatever Ken Burns is working on next.

Public television's biggest show has arrived.

Are you ready for laughter, tears, an astonishing insight.

It's all coming up on our year in review edition of the program.

We poring through the last 12 months here in our metro in game show style.

With us on this Yuletide romp is 50% of Dana and Parks on KMBC.

Dana Wright, the best dressed man in Kansas City Media From next page, KC, Eric Wesson, former Kansas City star reporter and editorial writer Dave Helling, and from the anchor desk at KMBC nine News, Chris Ketz.

Now, our first stop on our weekend review sleigh ride is a fill in the blank question.

Dana, write complete the sentence for me.

The story that had the greatest impact on Kansas City in 2024 was the length, the unprecedented success of the Chiefs in the Royals, which we all celebrated, continue to celebrate, coupled with the inability of those teams to put together any sort of plan in front of voters to keep them here.

What was the plan?

I don't think people still know, and that will spill into 2025 for all of the Chris kids.

What do you do?

Put down the ongoing stadium saga You are talking about arguably two of Kansas City's crown jewels and new homes for both and the millions, hundreds of millions of dollars that this is going to cost taxpayers in Missouri and Kansas or possibly both.

That's still unresolved after all that time.

Dave Helling.

The election of John Patterson to the Missouri House of Representatives, maybe you don't have a clue who he is.

He's likely to be the next speaker of the House if all goes according to plan.

That is a rare victory for the Kansas City region, which is usually absent from discussions of public policy in Jefferson City.

He can do a lot of good for this community and there are expectations he will do this.

Eric, $70 million that might have been returned to the feds because the Jackson County legislature couldn't figure out what to do with the money.

But we had a Christmas miracle.

And they seem to have resolved right.

They put it on hold.

They kicked the can down the road.

It'll come back up again later on.

But we didn't get anything resolved during this period.

Okay, Eric, you get to go first on this next question.

Complete this sentence for me.

The news story Kansas City would most like to forget in 2024 was blank, the shooting at the Chiefs parade.

I think that put a black eye on the city.

And I don't think that people have really absorbed the impact of what it had.

You know, you had some people have problems getting the money that was earmarked for them for recovery.

So I think that's one of the stories we'd like to hear.

Dana, write the story we most want to forget.

Well, I think the story Wyandotte County would most likely to forget, but we have an obligation to keep in the headlines is the death of 71 year old rapist, former detective Roger Glinski.

I want all of my friends in the media to remember that I keep saying disgraced former detective.

He was a rapist.

He preyed on poor black women, literally sent people to prison.

That should not be there.

And now that he has decided to check out the day before his trial started, the women are left saying where is the justice?

And I would say, where have the feds been for ten years or more?

Chris, I'm going to go back to the stadium saga because here it is, the end of 2024, largely because we're at the end of the year.

We're going into a new year with very, very, very few answers in focus.

Dave I think the story we'd most like to forget in Kansas City is the shooting death of Sean Brady, who at the Brady and Fox Restaurant in Brookside were shot outside of his car and the what appears to be a misbegotten effort to prosecute people who may have been involved in that crime.

Sometimes shootings will crystallize for people the the overall problem of of gun violence in the community.

And I think, you know, we don't want to emphasize when a white guy gets killed and nor when when African-Americans or others are killed.

But that one seemed to grab the attention of the community in terms of the violence that still plague even though homicides went down this year, It's sort of fuel that I see overall about crime as a next step, getting ready as we crown our local person of the year.

Time magazine just named President elect Donald Trump Person of the Year.

Its name was picking Kansas City's Person of the Year.

I would choose Taylor Swift after all, didn't the global superstar spend just as much time in Kansas City this year than anyone else?

Well, she might pick Travis Kelce, who managed to upstage Patrick Mahomes as the most talked about man in the NFL.

Or was it Harrison Barker who eclipsed Travis Kelce in National Jersey Sales after becoming one of our area's highest profile champions of conservative values?

Well, Byron Robeson, the poster child for how Johnston County has dramatically changed.

He's the first Democrat in nearly a century to be elected.

Johnson County sheriff and the first black person to ever hold the job, or Kathy Nelson, the head of Visit KC and the Sports Commission, who seems to be bringing every big sporting event to Kansas City with the exception of the Olympics.

She's also behind the new push to bring a WNBA franchise to town.

All worthy choices.

Chris Katz Or did you pick somebody completely different?

I have a feeling somebody at this table is going to say Taylor Swift, It's not going to be me, but I might go with I might go with Kathy Nelson on that list if for no other reason, because when it comes to the royals, the Chiefs, the Big 12 WNBA current and of course, Sporting Kansas City, I have a feeling I'm certain of it that there are moments when dealing with the wants and needs of all of these institutions is far easier said than done.

And somehow, some way she figures out a way to do it.

Dana, who did you put out?

Why did you think Helen was going to pick Taylor Swift?

Where'd where to take my pick?

Yeah, I think it's Kathy Nelson.

There is no other choice.

She, by the way, is one of only four female sports commissioners in the entire United States of America.

She was one of the Women of the Year from USA Today a year ago.

They won executive of the year in 2024, as well as event of the year for the NFL draft, which would not have happened without her.

All of the other events that that Chris mentioned.

And oh, by the way, Caitlin Clark is coming to the win for KC event next year.

Good luck getting tickets to that.

And then I do think we will in part because of her humbly and quietly, as always, working behind the scenes, I think we will end up with a WNBA team here.

Eric I said none of the above and I chose darkest Gates Darkest just like John Patterson we heard about earlier.

Most people say we have no clue who this person is.

Darcus Gates, of course, is is married to George Gates, the son of Ashley Gates.

She has won a Grammy award.

She's a singer.

She's an entertainer.

And earlier this year in Las Vegas, they gave her the key to the city, rolled out the red carpet.

And here in Kansas City, we pay very little attention to us.

So I chose Doug.

Thank you for that, Dave.

I picked the person with the most impact on Kansas City and the region, and that is Frank White.

Without question.

This year he was in the middle of the stadium debacle.

He was in the middle of the $70 million spending debacle.

He's in the middle of the reappraisal debacle in Jackson County.

Debacle pretty much describes this year in Jackson County.

And Frank White sits at the top of that.

So he's my Person of the Year.

And as we end the year, there's a recall effort to there.

And there is a recall effort that has been is and it has legs and people are going to be voting on that, do you think, in the next year?

Yes, quite possibly, Yes.

Okay.

Dave Helling, fill in the blank for us.

The biggest winner in Kansas City this year was blank.

I usually use this segment to talk about people we've lost.

So if I could Nick, Sister Berta, who we all know, Operation Bright.

Yes.

And her advocacy for those who need help in our community was unparalleled.

And we miss her greatly.

And it best serve all who passed away, the former Johnson County legislator and chairman of that commission.

And she was a unique person with whom I had long conversations about what happens in Johnson County and her love for it and her efforts to make it better.

And then two other quick ones.

Doc Worley was a name you might not recognize passed away recently.

He was with the Port Authority, cofounded The Business Journal.

An adviser to Emanuel Cleaver for many years.

He was a great guy.

I love talking politics with him.

And then finally, Mike Brewer of Brewer and Shipley passed away yesterday.

And you know, of those of us of a certain age and a certain proclivity in this life to use substances always loved, one toke over the line.

So the Oscars, of course, has its In Memoriam segment.

Thank you for giving us hours, Dana.

I'd like to echo what Dave said about Sister Berta.

I had the great honor of visiting Operation Breakthrough and the Ignition Lab this week.

What sisters, Berta and Korina would think about all that has gone on out there.

And also the first class of those kids will graduate this year from all of that.

And obviously, Travis Kelsey has a hand in that and it's a beautiful thing.

But the winner that I chose was Father's and their daughters and the NFL.

An unprecedented number of eyeballs are watching football now, thanks to Taylor Swift.

Daughters are watching the games with their fathers and fathers are listening to music with their daughters.

Only one woman in the world can do that.

It is Taylor.

She moved GROSS domestic products around the world this year.

But I think the sweet thing here is it brought so many families together in a way that we haven't seen before.

Biggest winner, Eric I would say the Kansas City Council, they were able to fly under the radar this year, did move the needle a lot in areas that it should have been moved in and never had to be held accountable for it.

When we look at some of the things that could have been done, that should have been done, that weren't done.

So I kind of think that they're winning by keeping their jobs, by not having to be accountable there.

There wasn't that discord that we saw, say, in the Jackson County legislature on that city council, which we might have expected with new members of the council elected.

Right, Dana?

Right.

To complete the sentence, me, the person, group or institution who lost the most in Kansas City this year was blank.

I said, the biggest loser is Frank White and by extension, the Jackson County taxpayers.

Because of all of the reasons that Dave mentioned prior that goes to court in January and I think will spill well into 2025.

Okay.

How about the Biggest loser, Chris?

I said Frank White, too, for all of the obvious reasons.

I mean, one debacle after another and again now facing a recall effort that I think has legs.

Dave, are we can have consensus on this QUESTION Oh, no, no, no.

The obvious answer is Roger Gloom ski in Kansas City, Kansas.

But more broadly, the justice system in wind up county, the judges, the attorneys, the police, the prosecutors, all of those involved in and in protecting the people of that community failed.

And we are seeing just the tip of an important iceberg.

Nick, the biggest loser is the sense of justice across the river in Casey.

Okay.

I'm going to echo that and I'm going to take it one step further because we know about the six women.

What about the women?

We don't know about what about the Hispanic women?

What about the poor white women?

They didn't have the opportunity to come forward.

So something should have been done.

And there's no closure.

There's that community is still in trouble and no one listened.

Now, if there is a lesson from the story, the disaster there is we must listen to these people.

We don't.

No one listened.

Even when a captain within the walls of that department came forward and said, I saw him raping a woman in his office.

If no one is going to listen to women when a police officer witnesses that behavior, what message does that send to the community?

And that's another question for you.

The most overreported story in our metro this year was Blanca in the stadium saga.

And in the words of our esteemed colleague Michael Mahony, a quote in a book by the late great Walter Dean, rarely have so many said so much about so little.

All right, Dave, I said the overreported story was the Hurford House scandal.

Was there somebody there?

Yes.

Well, you do a story on it, obviously, maybe a couple.

But the restaurant ended up closing, which seems a rather extreme overreach to what is a story, an important story, but not something that reflects a major trend in our society.

Though world Cup, I can go for the rest of 2025 without hearing another word about a World Cup and what it's going to do for Kansas City and how Kansas City is going to do.

I know I will have a lot of people now imagine how upset that never giving to public broadcasting ever again as a result of that and said we love you for saying it.

There's only one answer here.

What the heck is Bucky's and why do you care?

That's a second time.

Who needs a 74,000 square foot gas station, Nic?

No one.

I drive a Tesla.

I don't understand.

All right, that's a good one.

Eric.

I forgot about that story.

Complete the sentence for us.

The most underreported story of the year was blank.

Oh, that most underreported story has to be the fact that the city has a decrease in homicides, but an increase in shootings.

So if the shooters had have been a little bit better, we would have a bigger record of homicides this year than last year.

Dave, I think the most underreported or misunderstood story at this point is the purchase of the plaza by this group from Texas.

I think everyone applauded that the plaza is an important part of our community, but after that, we don't know what that means for the future of the shops there or the restaurants or whatever.

I think that we need to probe a little bit more into what this company has in mind for the Plaza and the Post had reported story.

No, I thought the Plaza too, but since the storm stole it so which is which is perfectly fine, the legislative efforts to reverse the will of the people at the polls.

This is going to be a much bigger story, I think, in 2025, especially in Missouri, when it comes to the minimum wage and when it comes to abortion and something to watch.

Underreported story.

I said again, real solutions to the crime problem in the inner city and the nonfatal shootings get the nonfatal shooters off the streets and everyone believes it would flow, that the homicides would go down.

The Sean Brady story was important, but shined a spotlight on crime in Brookside and Waldo.

And I think it left a lot of people in the inner city saying we've been dealing with this same horrifying problem for years.

Absolutely.

It absolutely did.

Did you get to go first on our next question, which we call pick a gift.

Now, it sounds simple enough.

You're responsible for giving a gift to one metro area public figure this holiday season.

But who actually gets this gift?

And when he or she hastily breaks open the shiny wrapping paper, what would that gift speak?

Well, I think the gift I would propose is a bus ticket for the organizers of the World Cup, I think 500 days some odd days away from inviting all these visitors to our community.

And I still don't think we have much clarity on how they're going to get everyone from point A to point B and how much it's going to cost.

And by the way, don't be looking for the federal government to help out as you once might have, in part because Elon Musk and other people are going to cut to $2 trillion from the federal budget.

Who should you put down?

I have there's a book on it on Amazon called How to Get Along with Difficult People by Florence Littauer.

And I would order a copy and gift wrap it for Frank White and every member of the Jackson County Legislature.

Because of all of the debacle that we've talked about, they've already got how to win friends and influence people.

It just simply wasn't working.

Okay, Dana, I said politicians on the state and federal level, as well as all of the conspiracy theorists, I would give them a book about the history of science and specifically why and how we eradicated things like smallpox and polio.

Oh, Erik.

Ding, ding, ding, ding.

The Jackson County Executive, Frank Wyden.

I would give him a thinking cap.

We all remember when we were in elementary school, the teacher would tell us, put, Well, yeah, I probably went to private school, but the teacher not name the teacher would tell us, Put on your thinking cap.

And we go through the just the steps of putting on cap because they're a school and they made us put other things.

I think goal.

There's there are some things there that just require some common sense.

Well, coming up next, we break out the crystal ball to get our panelists predictions of what we can expect together in this new year.

Call 2025 now.

But before we do, let's take a quick look back at how well our panelists did in forecasting the future last year.

The royals will end up where they've always wanted to be in the East Village of downtown for a new ballpark and entertainment district.

And I think the chiefs will leave the sports complex.

Jackson County legislature will get something done.

The Chiefs moved over to Kansas.

I think you see that happens.

I really, really do.

I think Calvin Hayden, the sheriff in Johnson County, if he decides to run again, will get crushed.

True or false?

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce get engaged, true love, everything true or false?

Quinton Lucas resigns as mayor to take new job in Washington.

True.

All righty.

What do you think?

I mean, you weren't terrible.

You got some things right, but you do have an opportunity to redeem yourselves.

Complete the sentence for me.

I don't own a crystal ball, Chris.

But if I did, this is what I see happening in Kansas City in 2025.

I think by the end of 2025, we will for once have some clarity when it comes to the royals and chiefs.

And I think the Royals will probably end up in Washington Square Park across from Crown Center.

And I think the chiefs probably again out by the legends in Kansas.

You're looking in your crystal ball, Dana, and you see blank happening in 2025, I said, continued a appropriate conversation about the dumpster fire that is the health care system that we all take part in.

After the murder of health care, CEO Brian Thompson.

I saw these words this morning.

Volcanic anger.

I had never heard that.

It is volcanic, it is anger.

People are angry about the state of health care, but they're also sort of like not yelling about the fact that it was murder in broad daylight.

And I think there's some continued discussion that needs to happen there.

Eric, I said that the city of Kansas City will finally repave all of the streets in the urban core.

I drove down 39th in Jackson this week and by the time I got to 42nd and Jackson, my glasses were like this and I think some fillings had fallen out of my teeth.

But they have told us for years they're doing resurfacing.

And I do believe that they're going to do it this time.

I believe that they're going to get all the streets in the urban core resurface for some reason.

It seems like by the time they get there, they run out of money or something happens, it gets cold and they never finish.

But this year, I predict they're going to finish those streets and put cell as well.

Dave There will be attempts in Kansas and Missouri to cut taxes.

The legislatures in both states, in Missouri, there will be a serious attempt to zero out the income tax, very similar to what Sam Brownback proposed a couple of years ago.

That attempt, I predict, will fail.

Nobody mentioned, of course, the streetcar, which will officially extend down to the plaza in UMKC in 2025, though now looking like the latter half of the year.

Another big change on the way, of course, is the swearing in of a brand new president in January.

Complete this sentence.

The biggest change I see happening in Kansas City with Donald Trump in the White House is blank chaos.

And why?

Because the mayor was on and he said he was not.

So the reason is not so much because of Donald Trump, the Trump actually, but the people around him, cabinet secretaries and others have no concept of how government actually works.

And there's going to be a bit maybe a greater impact on Kansas City.

And.

Well, in terms of this neck, I do think there will be a push for tariffs.

Tariffs are particularly a problem for farmers who try to sell their goods overseas, and there will be a depression of income in the rural communities.

I think that will filter down to Kansas City.

I think I think big cities with Democratic mayors face a terribly difficult year in 2025.

I mean, it seems pretty clear that that tax cutting and direct deregulation will be centerpieces of a Trump administration.

And I think this is going to be a much different federal landscape than it's been in a long time.

Might it be harder to get some of that cash to do all of that roadwork in Kansas City with a Trump presidency?

There's been a lot of money washing around for infrastructure over the last four years.

But I think the difference will be that we still have a Republican governor and he'll pour money in.

Now, whether that governors shift the money to Saint Louis in Kansas City are two different conversation.

The biggest change I see four words.

I up my meds.

Okay, before we end our show, it is a fast paced, true or false round until the buzzer blows.

And this is a chance for our panelists to redeem themselves.

And what they said last year.

True or false?

In 2025, voters finally approve a new downtown ballpark talk.

False.

False.

Oh, wow.

Oh, chiefs announce move to Kansas.

True or false?

True, true.

Fool.

That's going to happen.

False.

True.

I don't think they want to go to Kansas.

They just use it as leverage to bargain with Jackson County.

And they may end up staying in Arrowhead.

I say false as well.

Okay.

As part of the new stadium deal, though, the Chiefs announce a name change.

Let's go now to our folks.

Another chance for you here.

Dana and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Get engaged.

Put a ring on it, baby.

True or false?

All right, Go on.

True or false?

Now I think he's going to retire.

I think he might like to get engaged.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think he retires after this season.

True or false?

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announces she is running for the United States Senate.

I think that's false.

You said a few weeks ago she was going to do that.

No, I did not say that.

What I said was the pressure on her and the pressure and the Democrats in Kansas are going, what are we going to do?

We don't have anyone to run for governor.

We don't have anyone to run against.

Roger Marshall.

So the pressure on her to go.

But she has been pretty adamant so far.

Nick, She ain't going.

Right.

To a false.

Quinton Lucas announces he's running for Jackson County executive Ross.

Okay, you said that.

I said that.

I'm going to stay true to that.

You think so?

Now, you know, if there's a recall effort, a prank, which we talked about, if that were to be successful, then there's going to be a scramble for a new leader.

Right.

And he could go over there.

I don't believe they have term limits.

So he can be there as long as he wishes.

He could mark time until something else comes over.

Plus, he would be right there in the courthouse where the Jackson County prosecutor did not see the Hallmark Christmas movie.

He's going to Hollywood.

I was so good in that it flashed by so fast.

What's up with whether it's 100%?

Well, we haven't heard from Dave on this.

I think he may end up playing second base of the royals.

You never know.

But I think I'll go.

I think it's false.

I don't think.

First of all, what a nest of vipers.

The Jackson County Courthouse is.

And that's not the kind of place that Quinton Lucas would be successful.

Or why would that be considered, though, a step up?

But no county is bigger, though.

Yeah, bigger.

I think he's a county does the county, runs a jail, collects taxes, and that's about it and appraises property.

I don't know what his options are after all right?

I don't even want to think about it.

By the way, Frank White, how can you mess up something that's so simple?

And yet he's found ways.

True or false?

Kansas City secures a new WNBA franchise.

True.

True.

You believe that?

I have been false because of the way it works?

Yeah.

Usually the franchise is connected with an NBA franchise, a men's NBA franchise, which we don't have in Kansas.

We are the central hub of women's sports.

I say if Nick Haynes had his finger on the buzzer, he would tell you that I mentioned that last year.

But I think the price point makes that okay.

Okay, We are out of time.

Boy, have you been great sports and all for zero pay and a lousy cup of coffee.

She is 50% of data and parks weekdays from 2 to 6 on KMBC radio and he is Kansas City news icon Dave Helling.

Eric Wesson leads our metro's newest newspaper.

Next page, Casey and Chris Katz anchors your news over at KMBC nine News.

And I'm simply your host, Nick Haynes.

From all of us here at Kansas City, PBS, we wish you a Yuletide season and a new year filled with wonder, mirth and merriment.

And, of course, be well, keep calm and carry on.

We we'll see you in 2025.