Sunday, January 3, 2010

In This Week's Raytown Report

Snow Stories Speaking of Snow Removal Boulevard Brewing Introduces Ripple Glass High School Sports
-- BREAKING NEWS -- Cushman Pulls Out of Race for 48th District
Raytown's EMS Director, Matt Cushman, has decided not to run for the 48th District State Representative seat district currently held by Will Kraus. In a letter released by Cushman on Monday, he wrote, "In my many conversations with my wife, family, and close friends, I have heard one underlying theme… “Listen to your heart.” Sometimes that can be challenging when your brain/ego is constantly talking to you too. For me to do anything my heart must be in it. The foundation of my heart is my family. My wife and family are the most important things in my life. They are the ones that continue to make me a better person. And, as such, is the primary reason for my decision. I will not be a candidate for the 48th District House race at this time." Kraus had previously announced that he will be running for the Missouri State 8th District Senate seat being vacated by Matt Bartle (who is term limited from running for re-election). That action has left the seat "open" for next November's General Election in Missouri. The open seat has created a scramble of possible candidates in the Democratic party. The district is considered a "swing district" in Missouri. Kraus, a Republican, has held the seat for the last three terms. Other individuals who have expressed interest in the seat include Gavin Fletchall (who has officially announced his candidacy), Pat Riehle and Joe Volpe. Volpe ran against Kraus in the 2008 election. Snow Stories The Kansas City area has been hit with some unusually heavy snowfall this year. As I am typing I can see that another three inches has been dumped on my driveway this Sunday morning. The weather guesser is predicting another “good sized” storm to hit on Wednesday or Thursday. While visiting with some folks this past weekend I realized that a lot of what we are talking about is the weather and how it affects us. The conversations generally revolved around snow removal by our local governments. One woman told me city snow plows blocking her driveway with a wall of snow over 4 feet tall. It took her nearly four hours to dig through the ice and snow so that she could get her car out of the driveway. The hot topic (pardon the pun) on the Blog portion of the Raytown Report has definitely been snow removal. So, with that in mind I thought it would be interesting to hear what readers have to share. You can enter your experience on the blog, or, if you wish, send a longer version directly to me at gregtwalters@sbcglobal.net and I will consider running it in this space. I would write more, but I have to go shovel another three inches of partly cloudy off of my driveway. Speaking of Snow Removal . . . I did some digging around on the city’s web site this weekend and found the city’s snow removal plan. Most interesting was a map showing the pecking order of which streets are to be cleared first, etc. To access the site use this link: City of Raytown - Snow Removal Plan If you have an emergency that is related to snow removal you can call City Hall at 737-6000. Boulevard Brewing Introduces Ripple Glass Boulevard Brewing Company has announced a new venture called Ripple Glass. It is a glass recycling program for the metropolitan Kansas City area. In Raytown recyclers can take their glass bottles, jars and other glass containters to Berbiglia, located at 9150 East Gregory Boulevard. Look for a large purple bin. Last year alone, Kansas Citians threw away 150 million pounds of perfectly good glass. To the dismay of the people at Boulevard Brewing Company, this included some 10 million empty Boulevard bottles - lost forever, buried in local landfills. Kansas City businesses use nearly 100 million pounds of recycled glass every year (brought in from hundreds of miles away), so why almost no local recycling? Because there was no nearby facility to process the glass. And why no local processor? Because, in classic chicken-and-egg fashion, there was almost no local recycling. The folks at Boulevard finally got tired of being part of the problem. So, with the support of local companies and community organizations, they came up with a solution - Ripple Glass. Ripple has constructed a state-of-the-art processing plant right here in KC, and placed dedicated glass recycling containers throughout the metro area. Best of all, we've found a local customer that will convert the recycled glass into fiberglass insulation, saving enormous amounts of energy and dramatically lowering emissions while producing a product that saves still more energy. It's a great way to close the loop, protect the environment, support local businesses and even make homes more energy efficient. For more information about Ripple Glass click here Ripple Glass Frequently Asked Questions . . . Do I have to separate glass by color? No, you don’t. All brown, green, blue and clear food and beverage containers can be mixed together in the same collection bin. Do I need to take the labels off? Nope, You can leave all the labels on your containers, unless you’re into label peeling for some reason. Do I have to rinse the containers? Well, that would be nice. But it is not essential. You may, however, decide that rinsing the containers keeps your home or garage smelling a bit fresher. Can I put window glass in the bin? What about Pyrex and old coffee mugs? Ripple Glass cannot accept window glass, pyrex, corning ware or ceramics. We can accept any glass food can beverage containers. High School Sports Cardinals Can’t Climb out of Hole in Loss to McClure North Poor shooting and a bit of sluggish play in the first half proved to be too big a hole for the Cardinals to climb out of as they lost to McCluer North in the championship game of the Normandy Christmas Tournament. Playing in their fourth game in as many days, Raytown South had made it to the final game of one of the nation's oldest and most competitive high school basketball tournaments but lost 56-51. However, the game could have been a lot worse as the Cardinals were down 28-17 at halftime. For the rest of this story and other stories about Raytown South sports use this link: Raytown South Sports O’Hara Wins Patterson Division of William Jewel Basketball Classic By Brother Richard Geimer One year ago, a lane violation cost O'Hara a last second victory but this time it took a double overtime game, and the Celtics came away with an exciting 71-70 Championship in the Patterson Division of the William Jewell Basketbal Classic.Teamwork and talented individual efforts paid off for O'Hara who led much of the way before the game went into overtime. It appeared the Columbia Rock Bridge Bruins would take the game in the first overtime period when they went up by five points, but eventually T. J. White tied the contest with a layup and the game proceeded into the second overtime. The Bruins' Ricky Kreklow had two seconds on the clock when his shot missed and the game went to the Celtics. O'Hara was off to a great start in the first quarter picking up 17 points while holding Rock Bridge to 9. They outscored the Bruins 19-12 in the next quarter as well. To tie up the game in regulation time, the Bruins put defensive pressure on the Celtics and managed to outscore them by five third quarter points and ten fourth quarter points. The score was 61-61 going into the overtimes. Top scorer in the game was Justin Miller for the Bruins who had 23. Ricky Kreklow who had three three-pointers and Travis Jorgenson each had 13 for Rock Bridge. O'Hara's Josh Rupprecht was O'Hara's leading scorer with 17 followed by T. J. White with 15. Junior Jevon Lyle contributed 10 points. In addition to O'Hara taking the Championship with Rock Bridge as the runner-up, Park Hill won the battle for third place with a 66-49 win over Lincoln Prep. Winner of the Consolation bracket was Grandview topping Lee's Summit West 67-56. For more stories about O’Hara sports use this link: O'Hara High School Sports

23 comments:

Andy Whiteman said...

Greg, what were the results of the snow removal poll? It is no longer displayed.
***
I fail to understand why anyone shovels a driveway. I simply drive over it. Then I may go out and loosen the ice so it will melt. I guess you can call me Simple Andy because I go for the easy way since I am disabled. I did have a concern for getting past the snow piled up by the the snow removal crews so I paid a friend to shovel the gutter where the snow piled up at the same time he shoveled a sidewalk. He shoveled a very narrow place for my vehicle. Since there is a pile of snow by my garage door where he shoveled the drift at the door, I couldn't back straight. Anyway since I was backing at an angle my 4WD vehicle knocked down and went through what the snow removal crews had built up.

I have a neighbor who is more elderly than I. One of the snow removal crew saw her out shoveling her driveway. She said that he turned around and plowed the pile up from in front of her drive. That was a kind action of this city employee.

I will be happy when I am no longer in this State of Misery. It is cold where I am moving but warmer than here and a lot less humidity.

Andy Whiteman

Greg Walters said...

Andy,

I accidentally deleted the poll results. The last time I read them I believe approximately 50 people took part in the poll.

I cannot remember the exact breakdown of the results -- except to say that most graded the snow removal in Raytown as "good".

"Excellent" and "Fair" were ranked about the same.

"Poor" had the fewest amount of choices.

I will be more careful in the future.

Andy Whiteman said...

Greg,

The results you stated were as I remembered them. I was hoping to have the numbers for a presentation.

It seems strange to me that very few voted poor with all the negative comments that were written on this blog. I guess that happens when one anonymous person can enter multiple posts but may vote only once. The numbers just don't correspond to the comments.

Actually I don't think 737-6000 is a good number to call for emergency snow removal since that number is answered only M-F 8A-5P. They aren't there on evenings or weekends.

Andy Whiteman

Greg Walters said...

True. They are not there in the evenings or weekends but there is a message with instructions as to where to call for emergency situations.

Andy Whiteman said...

KCMO is not touching residential streets other than to fetch sand if someone complains. The streets are ice and plowing will make matters worse by exposing the ice. When I lived in KCMO, I sure wished people wouldn't shovel their sidewalks because they exposed the ice and I had numerous falls on the shoveled walks with ice.

Raytown storm removal is much better.

Andy Whiteman

Robbie said...

There is a Ripple collection container behind the Berbiglia store on 350 highway, if anyone is interested.

Anonymous said...

Who has glass? Fewer and fewer of the items I buy are in glass. I prefer glass to plastic except when I buy vitamins packaged in glas that break in shipping due to poor packing.

I feel recycling is good. I have lived in cities with mandatory recycling and the cities had curbside pick up. It doesn't seem logical to waste time and gas for me to deliver these items. If Ripple Glass or anyone else wants my recycle items, they may pick it up at the curb. I have emailed this to Ripple with no response.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I can understand why you don't like glass, Andy. Your's is always half empty.

Anonymous said...

Andy, just a curious question here..... Is it remotely possible that you could plan in advance to take your recycling and drop it off when you are actually out running a few errands, that way it is not a special trip.... or is that really too much extra effort on your part, even though the recycling center is almost in your backyard as close as it is to where you live... or perhaps you would rather just have a reason to complain that they wont pick it up at the curb??? You do get out in the downtown area and run errands, dont you? Is it really that inconvinent? I know that the hours that it is open stinks, but I can travel almost 3 miles to the center... and I manage to get rid of my recycling without any problem. The center is within about 3 blocks of where you live? I dont understand what the problem is here.

Andy Whiteman said...

12:16PM, What makes you think I don't like glass. I stated that a prefer glass for grocery items, but very few grocery items are in glass anymore. I don't like vitamins in glass because they break in shipping when not packed properly. Sounds like your glass is completely empty.

11:06PM Gas cost more than the value of the items recycled and is contributing to pollution. The problem is the recycle center is open only some Saturdays and only day hours. I don't run errands that early since I am disabled. If you or someone wants to pick it up, I will set my recycle containers at the curb the night before provided you notify me the night before and return my containers since I had to buy them in Denver.

You know, what is simple for a normal person may be complex or impossible for a disabled person.

When the city or Ted's Trash offers recycle pick up at no charge, I will gladly set my recycles at the curb provide it is not some complex schedule. I doubt that will happen before I move.

Just think about it, isn't it really wasteful for numerous people to make a special trip to the recycle center when recycles could be collected as part of the trash pick up since the truck is there anyway?

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

I haven't heard about a candidate for the 48th that I would vote for. I am sure there are some out there.

Andy Whiteman said...

As am FYI it was stated at the BOA meeting that at least one cul-de-sac was not plowed after the first storm because of vehicles parked in the street.

I suggest that everyone refrain from parking in the street especially if you want your street cleared of snow.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Has anyone heard if any candidates have stepped forward to file for Board of Directors in Public Water District #2. We sure need someone to file and stop the waste that continues up there. Water rates are too high.

Anonymous said...

I've been watching our street crews at work. I think they are getting better at taking care of our streets. Maybe they just weren't ready for the first big snow.

Anonymous said...

You can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink!

In other words, you can make things as simple for some people to do, but they will find many reasons of why they cant or shouldn't do that.

I know lots of people with disabilities and without that are fully capable of doing most everything and will never complain about anything.

I also know a lot of people that have disabilities and without that are fully capable of running errands, driving a motor vehicle, going to a store, picking up items, moving them around, carrying items, and setting them down.

I also know that most people even with a little bit of common sense can plan in advance BEFORE they leave their house to go shopping to load up their recycling items, and either drop them off on the way to the store, or after they are thru shopping, like coming back home. With planning, this can be done, it is not that hard. I suppose that it might take a slight lifestyle change from lazy couch potato to more responsible enough to realize that it takes more mental effort to argue and come up with more excuses of why one cannot adapt to change instead of just implementing action.

I suppose that it is just one's objective in like to be cantankerous and stubborn then so be it.

Andy Whiteman said...

The first big snow was a BLIZZARD and no jurisdiction was ready for a blizzard. KCMO thinks that one event exhausted their snow budget. OPKS can't get their plows down narrow streets especially if cars are parked in the street. I came down 63rd from KCMO to Raytown Monday. 63rd is 4 lanes but KCMO only plowed one lane eastbound towards Raytown.

I think the City of Raytown and especially the crews did the best job that was humanily possible.

Personally I am having more trouble with the current storm with blowing snow. I paid to have my walk shoveled last night and this morning found part of it covered with just as much snow that was there blown by the wind overnight.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

Sources at city hall say that Mayor Bow Wow is planning on publishing another city newsletter. Why would they waste my tax dollars on another propaganda sheet? They have no credibility so why would they waste their time trying to make me believe their lies? I hope he does, because it just gives the voters more ammunition when he comes up for re-election.

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know if there are any Republicans running for the 48th district as of yet?

Rebecca said...

Kudos to the folks that clear the roads...excellent job this go around. Thank you.

Andy Whiteman said...

The city presently mails a type of newsletter in the sewer bills with notes on pet licenses, recycle news, bridge closings, community activities, etc. This is necessary information. I feel a newsletter is beneficial but I feel that it should be included with the sewer bill. A seperate mailing is a waste of money.

I agree with Rebecca. Raytown crews have done a superior job in clearing the streets. They have done a much better job than other cities I have traveled through. We have plowed residential streets in Raytown. I was in my old neighborhood in KCMO on Monday and the residential streets are backed snow and I assume ice underneath.

Andy Whiteman

Anonymous said...

It seems the city has failed us again, by not keeping to their schedule for re-cycling this weekend. I know Bower and his cronies don't care about re-cycling, but a lot of us do. If you were going to close this why not get it the 3 major television stations so they can run it along with all the other closings in the area? POOR, POOR, CITY GOVERNMENT!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Does anybody know if there are any Republicans running for the 48th district as of yet?

My answer - I hope not!!!

Anonymous said...

yea because we need more vote buying dummycrats...things are so much better with pelosi running her mouth, reid bowing out because he has no chance to win again..dumb dumb dumb just keep givin it away....curtis