RAYTOWN'S LEADING NEWS SOURCE

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DOUBLE CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM

Due to a family crisis last year, my wife, Mecee and I were unable to take an extended holiday. So we packed up our stuff and headed west last week to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole and the surrounding areas.

The Grand Tetons are unique because they have no foothills. As the picture above shows, the mountains literally shoot up from the surrounding plains. The Tetons have glaciers, and unlike so many in our world, they are actually growing in size! The high altitude and extremely heavy snow falls in winter are the reason why. The Teton glaciers were formed in what is considered a mini ice age around 1850.

My mind wandered to another part of our planet in the mid 1800’s. Between 1300 and 1850, England endured a “little ice age” that brought harsh winters. The fact is documented in Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carole”, which portrays London as a snowy town with sub-freezing temperatures.  The winters were so cold that contemporary artists painted pictures of people ice skating on the Thames River!

Anyone who has been to London in the 20^th and 21^st Century knows it can get damp and cold. But it is extremely rare to see snow in London. Furthermore, the Thames River does not freeze over. It is open to navigation year round.

Coincidentally, there was story in the local news paper, the Jackson Hole Daily, which lampooned some the hysteria of scientific experts who spend an inordinate amount of time lamenting global warming.

It was a good read. The most interesting part was a reminiscence of so-called scientific predictions that got it all wrong with dire predictions for the future.

Following are a few examples.

Newsweek magazine featured a cover story in 1975 about “global cooling.” That was supposed to be a scientific consensus.

Prior to 1985, there was “scientific consensus” that acid rain caused by electricity generating plants fueled by coal and emitting sulfur dioxide was destroying vast acres of forests and lakes in the eastern United States. In 1991, “after 10 years and $500 million, the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program study … concluded, ‘Acid rain was not damaging forests, did not hurt crops, and caused no measurable health problems.’ ”

A June 2010 article in Reason magazine lists some of the other Chicken Little claims about doomsday being just around the corner. The magazine’s science writer, Ronald Bailey, found a July 1, 1979 issue of The Washington Post claiming a “broad scientific consensus” that saccharin causes cancer. It took 30 years before the National Cancer Institute reported, “There is no clear evidence that saccharin causes cancer in humans.”

Today’s hot topic is “global warming”. Not all scientists are in agreement with the popular theory that CO2 controls the climate. Most notably, MIT climate scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen, who claims believing that CO2 controls the climate “is pretty close to believing in magic.”

As for the “Little Ice Age” mentioned earlier in this column, just what did cause the unusually cold weather of the mid-1800’s?

One influence may have been a drop in solar energy. Isotopes of carbon in tree rings and beryllium in ice cores show a drop-off in solar radiation during much of the period. Moreover, sunspot observations that began around 1610 show a near-absence of reported sunspots between 1645 and 1715. However, recent studies have brought down the relative importance of this solar effect on the little ice age.

Also in the mix are volcanoes, which seem to have erupted more frequently after 1500 than during the so-called medieval warm period that preceded it. The 1815 eruption of Indonesia's Tambora – one of the most violent ever recorded on Earth – led to a disastrously cold summer across much of the globe in 1816. That "year without a summer" brought crop failures to northern Europe as well as snows in Vermont as late as early June.

After reading through all of this data, the only conclusion I have come with is that the climate is something everyone can talk about, but none are able to control.

OH NO! NOT AGAIN!!!

Driving down 59^th Street on Saturday I saw the problems are not over for one of Raytown’s busiest east/west streets. Another water main break – this one about 15 yards north of where the previous break was repaired.

BY GREG WALTERS

59^th Street

to be Repaired

One of the first things I did on my return from vacation was check out 59^th Street. It came as no surprise that the street had degraded even further. Whoever  wrote on the blog that driving down 59^th Street was like riding on a roller coaster pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I have been watching the comments in the Raytown Report and know more than a few people want the street repaired. So I checked at City Hall to see what the plan is for repairing the street.

I was told there is no doubt the problem with the street is the responsibility of the local Water Company. The city has informed the Water Company of its responsibility to repair the street properly.

At the same time the city has also recognizes its responsibility in making certain the repairs are made in a timely fashion. That being the case, the city may make the repairs and then require the water company to pay for the cost of the repairs.

Whatever the solution, it would be in the best interest of everyone concerned for the street to be repaired soon, properly and efficiently.

BY PAUL LIVIUS

The Paul Livius Report

Raytown Board of Aldermen Meeting – June 6, 2017

Mayor McDonough applauded the efforts of the Raytown Council of Aging for their continued efforts to improve the lives of its Senior citizens.

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Police Chief Jim Lynch introduced Officer Ann Provost. City Clerk Teresa Henry administered the oath.

Will Dyson told the Board he is the HOA President of a sub division at Noland and Bannister Roads.  They received a letter from KCMO telling them they need to purchase flood insurance. The reason the flood plain changed is because the storm water run-off from Raytown.  The Mayor asked Mr. Dyson to email City Hall in order to discuss this further.

Alderman Mark Moore said the City of Raytown does not agree with the assessment in the letter and suggested he (Mr. Dyson) contact the Army Corps of Engineers, whose responsibility it is to evaluate and determine responsibility in matters of flooding.

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Paul Hackenburger said he has been the victim of two break-ins. The first incident, the officer was exemplary of her processing of the break-in.

She dusted for fingerprints using the mobile equipment the department provides its officers and was very understanding and helpful.

Four days later there was another break-in and the two officers dispatched were not as good. Mr. Hackenburger asked the two officers to dust and they said they could not because of the lack of mobile equipment. Mr. Hackenburger asked the Board that the police department improve training of the officers to provide better service.

He told the Board he uses a mobile app called “Next Door” in which community neighbors and friends communicate what is going on in Raytown. He continued that even though there are instances of exemplary service by the police (as demonstrated by the officer that responded to the first break-in). There is a general feeling in the community the police could do more to work with citizens in their time of need.

Mayor McDonough asked if Hackenburger if he had any other communications with the Department.

Hackenburger replied they had been assigned a detective who has been very responsive to their questions but they (Hackenburger) had to take the initiative to involve the detective in the process.”

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Mary Jane VanBuskirk told the Board that code violations abound.  She can drive any street in Raytown and find violations.  She wants to know why the codes department can’t.  She only wants Raytown to look better.

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The Board passed a resolution approving the appointment of Damon Hodges as the Public Works Director for the city.

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The Board passed a resolution authorizing the continuation of an agreement for inmate security housing services with Johnson County, Missouri, Sheriff’s office for fiscal year 2016-2017 in an amount not to exceed $71,500.  On July 1, 2015, the City entered into a contract with the Johnson County Missouri Sheriff’s Department to provide housing for our inmates.  The current contract will expire on June 30, 2017. The Police Department requests approval to extend the contract with the Johnson County Missouri Sheriff’s Department for an additional two years.  The contract would begin on July 1, 2017 and will terminate June 30, 2019.  The only change to the existing contract will be lowering the number of guaranteed prisoner beds per day from 17 to 10.

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