Scott Jennings Rocks KC, Royals Press Forward, Dianna Russini's Lame Letter | 4-15-26

What an absolutely outstanding night we had last night at the Overland Park Convention Center courtesy of Kansans for Life putting on an outstanding show and Scott Jennings of CNN who was an absolute rock star. It was fantastic. I mean you talk about raising money and bringing awareness to a great organization in the Kansas City region it does not get much better than Kansans for Life put on a great show. We had a fantastic time and as I joked last night they had about a thousand people out there. I think there was a gubernatorial candidate at every table last night. It was amazing and as we get set for that silly season in Kansas politics it is full steam ahead. Legislative sessions all wrapped up. We've got of course the governor's race front and center but it was on a serious note. I have been emceeing for them for the last oh gosh five-ish years give or take. We were trying to figure it out last night. There was one year I don't know why either I couldn't do it or they wanted a break from me which is fine. I totally understand it. But every year it's been about hey how did we try to override Governor Kelly's vetoes. It would be nice if next year if they want me to emcee the event. I don't want to say when. I don't want to be presumptuous but if they want me to emcee it it would be nice to say next year hey we had a great legislative session and we actually had a governor in Kansas who signed in the law pro-life legislation. Whoa that would be awesome wouldn't it. So that's what obviously all the focus is going to be on but it was interesting because I had not seen a lot of the gubernatorial candidates in quite some time just because you know they're busy a lot of them are doing their jobs going around the state they're in Topeka whatever it might be. And I don't want to start naming names because I may have missed who was there. I didn't see everybody obviously but you had a bunch of the candidates there. I got a chance to speak to one or two of them during the pre-show and then after the show very briefly and I'm reminded that this race is going to be fascinating. I don't know who comes out on top. I really don't. I think everybody has their lane at least the big candidates have their lane. You know you have obviously the people who are in Topeka like a Senate president, time master's in who seems to be gaining some traction especially when you look at you know the Wichita area and going west from there. He's really the only candidate from there which I think helps him a lot. You have Jeff Collier who's a former governor who will have some name ID. You have the outsider businessman Phillip Sarnacki. You have I mean Charlotte O'Hara who has good name ID around here and is a strong principled conservative. So you know you've got Scott Schmidt the secretary of state. You've got a lot of people in this race obviously who have good solid name ID and are well known around the state of Kansas or have pockets where they're very well known. You know I think that's when you look at the makeup of this race. It's very intriguing. And I don't know how it's going to play out. I can't sit here and tell you I have any good feel for it right now. I don't. You could make a case for almost any of them and I'd say if it was a good case I'd say alright I could see that. But just as good of a case as you can make for one of these candidates I believe you could make against any of these candidates and tell me why they're not going to win. So that's where I think the advertising will play a role. I think that's the messaging will play a role. What issue do they latch on to and also what issue do they attack their opponents on. That's going to be very interesting as well to see how it plays out. So as Kate and I were driving home last night and she was there with me for the first time because typically I got to get to these events at five o'clock to MC them. Got to be prepared. Got a VIP and then we have all these different things that we need to do to get ready for it. We have not really had a babysitter who could watch all the girls and put all three girls to bed until this year. So she was able to join me last night and my father-in-law is a big Scott Jennings guy so I brought a Sharpie and a mug for Scott Jennings to sign to my father-in-law which was very nice of him. He was great by the way. You watch a lot of these people at these events and sometimes they give their speech. They walk off the stage. You never see him again. Scott he was there front and center gave his speech sat back down and he was talking to everybody and anybody after the speech wrapped up. He was happy to take photos happy to take pictures happy to talk to anybody. He was just awesome. So you know you think about people and when they come to you in that kind of a setting what are they like? Are they humble? Do they want to be there? Are they present? Is it just you know for them another gig? That's not Scott and he was in the studio again yesterday. He was doing his radio show from here at KCMO Talk Radio. So we got a chance to see him behind the scenes and he is just an overall very pleasant guy and obviously doing great work every single night on CNN. And even some of the people here in the building who really don't maybe like his politics. I heard from a lot of them because we've got six radio stations here in the building. So a lot of different perspectives. They all respect them and that's the thing. You don't have to be liked. I don't need you to agree with me or Scott or anybody else but when you have the respect and people respect your opinion that's what matters and Scott certainly got a lot of that. Now if you weren't at the Kansans for Life event last night maybe you were watching online or streaming online. The Turning Point USA event. They had one with JD Vance was with Turning Point USA last night and there's a lot of news that came out of that event. And one of the things obviously that came out of the event at the University of Georgia was the back and forth between this administration and the Pope. Now last night you had a great Catholic presence last night. You had Sean McKnight who is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of KCK at the KFL event here in Kansas City. So we had a lot of Catholics out last night for the KFL event. But right now there's obviously this divide and this back and forth going on between Pope Leo, the Catholic Church, some of the Cardinals speaking out on 60 Minutes and the President of the United States. They're going back and forth over mostly the war in Iran but also of course the border immigration all that stuff has come up here and come out over the last few days. So JD Vance talked about it last night at this Turning Point USA event and I'll just play part of what he had to say on that. And he's right. I mean JD Vance is right. And let's be clear, I don't want to sit here and have to beg on the Catholic Church. I'm not going to do that. I am not Catholic. I'm not going to do it. I don't feel it's my place to do it. What I do think is important is to make sure that we look at the facts, look at what this administration has done, look at the border, look at what the President put up last night on Truth Social while we were sleeping. He posted, will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters over the last two months and that for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. America is back President Donald J. Trump. That was seven hours ago on Truth Social. I don't really want to have this fight. I'm really, I'm not interested in it. But where did it start? It didn't start from the administration. They didn't start saying, hey, let's, let's pick on Pope Leo. Let's pick on the Cardinals. I mean, they went out of their way to do interviews with 60 Minutes. They went out of their way to talk to Reuters and Pope Leo's case. And they weren't doing that when Joe Biden's administration was flooding the border with drug traffickers and human smugglers. And you know, you were leaving children to God forbid die on this journey to the United States and getting involved in God knows what once they get to the United States. They didn't see those interviews happening. And that's where the politics of this is just so frustrating. I don't need them involved in the political arena. I don't really want them involved in the political arena. It's not their role. They've got enough on their plate. But for some reason, it seems like when there's one political party in charge, they're more likely to go down that political road. They're more willing to go down that political road. And I got to imagine if you are a Catholic and if you view yourself as a conservative right of center, even middle of the road, you got to be like, guys, what are we doing here? What's the point of this? What are you getting out of it? Why are you playing the game this way? That's the part that's really frustrating. And that's the part where they've got to look at it and say to themselves, I'm not interested in this anymore. I don't need a battle with the president of the United States and his vice president, who by the way is Catholic himself in JD Vance. So you tell me at 913-408-7957, especially if you are someone who would describe yourself as Catholic, how you feel about all this, because I don't want to speak for you. I mean, I can sit here and obviously give my opinion on it, but it leans and means a lot more coming from someone who is a member of the Catholic Church. 913-408-7957 is how you join us on 957 FM. We're streaming as always on the KCMO Talk Radio app. Steve's first up in KCK. Good morning, Steve. Good morning, Pete. Hey, I don't want to insult anybody's religion, but the only thing I got to say to the Pope, one question, does the Vatican have walls? That's it. Does the Vatican have walls? Does it have a border? Do they just let anybody in the Vatican? I don't think so. That's me. Yep. Thank you, Steve. I appreciate it. And listen, that point has been made for a very long time. And it's a very obvious and very fair point to make in this conversation. Very fair point to make. 913-408-7957. It is 616 on a Wednesday morning here on KCMO Talk Radio. 957 FM. We're streaming all morning long, as always, on the KCMO Talk Radio app. In the meantime, we did have more news come out yesterday regarding some of the top plans here in Kansas City. We'll get to that and you on KCMO. On the text line, Pete was a Gomer Pyle there last night at the Kansans for Life event. I did not see ol' Gomer. Doesn't mean he wasn't there. I'm telling you, I did not see him. So I didn't want to start naming the Gumenatorial candidates that were there because I may have not seen a few. There was one I thought was going to be there and I was like, oh, I guess he's not here, but then I saw him when I was leaving last night. So I don't want to start naming names on who was there and who wasn't. But since you asked on the text line, I did not see ol' Gomer Pyle. I missed him. Or maybe he probably rightfully decided he was going to pass. There's Laura Kelly there. No, no, no, no, no. She was the punching bag, figuratively, of course, figuratively. No, no, she did not make it out. She got lost in the way there. What's her pick for Governor? I can't remember. Oh, old Ned Schneebly. That's who I was thinking of. Atheon Corson over there in Fairway. Looks like Ned Schneebly. He skipped out. He was too busy playing banjo in School of Rock, so he couldn't make it. Oh, my goodness. I just can't see that guy without seeing Ned Schneebly and Jack Black. It's just all I see, man. That's it. All right. Well, the other thing I saw was City Hall yesterday, just full steam ahead on this Royals deal, not a shocker at all. But there were two steps taken yesterday for the Royals to move to Washington Square Park. You had the city's finance, governance and public safety committee hearing taking place. That gave initial approval to the stadium funding plan. And it was apparently a pretty packed house yesterday. I had a lot going on here with the show and Scott Jennings was here and had to prep for last night. So I was I was thinking about trying to get down to City Hall. And then I mean, I saw it was a packed house all the way up to the rafters, top and bottom with supporters, with those against $600 million from the city coffers going to pay for the Royals, $1.9 billion stadium. And then hours later, the city's Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, five member board appointed by the mayor unanimously approved a resolution authorizing city manager, Mario Vasquez, to execute a lease agreement with the Royals to use the park, which is owned by the city. So the Royals did have folks in attendance, which is nice. I mean, you know, you're going to get forked over $600 million from the taxpayer. The lease you could do is show up for the meeting. So they were there. Cool that they symbolically set up some orange cones where the bases would be out of the park so we could play some football, you know, get a feel for it. That was there a homeless guy down the first baseline, though. They had to step over. He was officiating the foul line. He was the right field umpire. Like when you get to the playoffs, they've got what? Six umpires in the postseason versus four during the regular season. Someone's got to watch that right field line like a hawk. So a Brooks Sherman was there, the team's president of real estate development. He briefly addressed reporters saying that they will quote, continue our work with Mario, the city manager, and his staff towards an agreement as was put forth in the ordinance. He said, we think we have a great project that will ultimately come to pass. We are very appreciative of this process and we will maintain our work in it. Now, there is a belief that, listen, it's going to pass at city council on Thursday. There's no way the mayor would line all this up without knowing he's got the votes to get it through. It's going to pass on Thursday. The Royals are going to get their $600 million from the city, from you, the taxpayer. And they'll be well on their way to building this $1.9 billion stadium. Combine that with, of course, give or take 50% from the state of Missouri, depending on how that plays out. And you probably have all in all over a billion dollars in subsidies coming the way of the Kansas City Royals. Now, there's a belief that signatures could trigger a petition on this deal and get it on the ballot. And that may be a push that happens in Kansas City. We'll have to wait and see. But the one thing that continues to remain very attractive about the state of Kansas is there's no voters to get in the way. You can give away the farm in Kansas. And no one can really get in your way, as we saw with the chief steel. So I do think it's, it's all but done in Kansas City. I don't know if it, you know, some group puts together signatures to try to get it on the ballot. I don't know. There may be some organizations that try to make that happen, but we'll have to wait and see. I saw Casey tenants and stand up Casey out there doing some lobbying or I don't know. Yeah. They were just kind of doing their protesting at, Hey, hey, ho, ho. We're not funding your stadium. A couple sit up and spoke. Oh, did they? I watched a little bit of the live stream. Oh, okay. So they were getting their jolly speaking. Hey, listen, I'm all about it. And in a weird way, I kind of agree with them on this. So, uh, strange how this all goes down and how some people ally on things that you wouldn't otherwise expect, but that's, that's what's going to end up happening. But it is interesting, you know, when I was doing the KFL thing last night, how many people have come up and been like, boy, you have nailed it on this chief steel. And I'm like, I don't want to be right on any of this. But when the politicians sell the regular people down the river, I mean, it's part of the job like it or not. I don't, I don't enjoy giving people that I mostly agree with a hard time. But you know what? They did it to themselves. You know, I've absolutely no sympathy for NFL reporter, Diana Rossini, who resigned yesterday from the athletics. She's the one who got caught up in this scandal with Patriots head coach, Mike Vrable. What is it with these guys who have ties to the Patriots? They're just total, total dogs, man. Horn balls. Seriously. I mean, they just can't help themselves. Well, there's Belichick with his granddaughter, you know, or Robert Kraft has like some wife now is 60 years younger than him. Right. He also went to that massage place before the chiefs AFC championship game. Oh, that's right. I think that was my home's first season starting. Yeah. 2018. That's right. That's right. I mean, Tom Brady is all over the map. These guys are just cheese, something in the water up there in Boston. I don't know what it is. But anyway, you know, this thing came out, whatever it was last week, Diana Racini prominent NFL reporter is seen in pictures in Sedona, Arizona, holding hands with Mike Vrable, the Patriots head coach, lying in a pool together. Now they were never, they were hugging. There was no kiss, but you know, she called it just a work trip with friends. Right. That's what it was called originally. A work trip with friends. And she stood by it. There was really no apology. It was like this is blown out of proportion and that's where it stood. She works for the athletic owned by the New York Times and they said they're going to investigate it. Right. Well, she puts out a letter yesterday to the athletics saying, please accept this letter as my resignation effective immediately. I've come to this decision with deep sadness, with clarity about what is right for me, my family and the work I've spent my career building. She writes here to her boss that you and I have already publicly addressed the recent attacks against me and I have nothing to add publicly to what we have said. So right away she's playing the victim card here. That's it. There's no apology yet in this letter. It's just I've made this decision with deep sadness and clarity. Now she's got a husband. She's got a couple of boys at home. They're young. They're like, you know, little kids. But we haven't even gotten to an apology yet. And we're like, oh, the attacks have come against me. When page six, meaning the New York Post first appeared with this story, the athletics supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that, I'm grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, she writes commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply on more than the facts were over. This media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process. The athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate fueled by reported leaks. And I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I'm willing to accept. Oh my break out the freaking violins. Diana Rossini. Oh my gosh. You get caught hanging out with an NFL head coach. Okay. Your arm in arm, your hand in hand, you're on a rooftop in Sedona, Arizona with your shirts off. Well, not you, but you know, he's hanging out with a shirt off their pool side. You're both married, the whole thing. And you want to turn yourself into the victim here and all this? No, stop. I have zero sympathy for Diana Rossini. None. You know who I feel bad for and all this? I'll get back to her pathetic resignation letter. I feel bad for her kids. That's who I feel bad for. Her boys are like six and four. They're give or take the same age as my kids ish in that area. She's got a husband who could you imagine how tough it must be to be married to an NFL reporter who's a female, who's good looking, who's really prominent. You've got two kids together. Let's be honest. Takes a certain kind of guy to do that. I don't think I don't know if I could do it. You have to have such confidence and such faith in your marriage and your relationship. You're trying to raise two boys as well in the process. She's got a huge job. She's on the road a lot. She's good looking. She's around really good looking and attractive guys all the time. Listen, let's just be real. As a guy that's a very difficult kind of person to be married to. And now Diana Rossini wants to make herself out to be the victim in all this. Now the victim for the victims, her kids and her husband, but her kids are going to wake up one day and realize how to use the internet and they're going to Google mom's name, who knows what happens with her husband and that marriage. And they're going to find out all this. They're going to see this whole story. And, you know, she puts in this letter that rather than allow the investigation to continue, I've decided to step aside now before my current contract expires on June 30th. I do not, I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or let it define me or my career. That doesn't make any sense. That may, I mean, that makes no sense. You want to resign now because you don't want to accept the narrative that's been constructed around the episode. So then why don't you let the athletic in the New York times do its investigation? Diana Rossini. If you don't want to accept the public media narrative, that's kind of just assumed out there because we weren't born yesterday, then let this investigation play out and then you can be cleared of all this. If they were there with a group of friends, I'm sure those people would get interviewed and, you know, everything would sort itself out if that was the truth. You would think so. You would think so. And on top of that, you, Diana Rossini has also said and claimed this was a girl's trip. Is this the first girls trip in the history of girls trip where there's no photos? Has anyone seen a photo of the girls from the girls trip? I mean, has there ever been a girls trip since iPhones came out where there was like no photo evidence of a girls trip happening? A solo girls trip. Is Mike Frable wearing a wig on the trip? Is that the girls trip? I mean, does he have Bruce Jenner's number on the speed dial? We don't know if Mike maybe identifies this. I don't know, man. Kristi Noem's husband. Brian Noem. Anyone heard from Brian Noem? Brian, are you out there, brother? What's going on here? I mean, this is such a bad look for Diana Rossini. In this letter, I couldn't believe it was real when I saw it yesterday. I'm like, you're, you're missing the point. I know it's popular in today's culture to turn yourself into a victim, but Diana Rossini is not a victim in any of this. Not. Now, as now, now, how about this double standard? Let me just address this to the double standard conversation here. Well, Mike Frable should lose his job too. He should get fired. The Patriots can make the decision as to whether or not they believe Mike Frable has the moral compass to lead their team. They can make that decision. And let's be honest, when it comes to individuals who have had immense success in their line of work, there's more leeway. I'm not supporting it. I'm not endorsing what Mike Frable may have done here at the very best. What he did was incredibly inappropriate for a guy from a professional perspective and a personal perspective, given that he's married beyond inappropriate. But Diana Rossini is in a different position in the relationship because she's supposed to be the unbiased reporter and her credibility in her line of work is severely damaged in all this. Mike Frable may be a pig, but does it impact his ability to coach a football team? You may say it does from a moral perspective, and that's a fine argument to make. But it's not apples to apples to say, hey, Rossini's got to go and Frable's got to go. And I've seen people saying, you know, what about Adam Schaft or an Ian Rapper report? I'm like, yeah, we know that they're in bed with these agents. Maybe not literally in bed. Yeah, be careful how you say that, Mark. But, you know, they're texting these guys back and forth. Who knows what they say to these guys or what they offer them. So I mean, we just don't have photos of it. Exactly. We don't. And you know what? They got caught. And that's the difference here, John. Yeah. Well, the original point of the conversation is here. All that happened. OK. And we can have our judgments. But then her hood spa here in the statement of, yeah, officer, hey, I know you pulled me over, but I refuse to participate any further with this and get more oxygen to this situation. In fact, you've already burdened me enough as it is. So I'm just going to go. Yeah. You you ruin my day by pulling me over, ma'am, you are driving seventy five and a forty five. OK, you made decisions here in all this. Guess what's going to happen anyway, because you resign. Speculation. Yes. Yes. Investigation goes on or not. We still talking about it till Friday. Bingo. This reeks of someone who did who did not want the facts coming out because the facts may have actually been worse than the speculation. And with the NFL draft coming up, I mean, that was going to be a huge time of year for her and people in her line of work. So I mean, that's a pretty big, you know, for the athletic, her leaving is kind of a hole there. Yeah, you're right about that. Absolutely right. Well, you know what? We also know we never have to worry about Andy Reed getting caught in these situations, right? Never going to happen. And he's a standard. We're going to try to tickle your tonsils on every every play every game. Andy just wants to tickle the tonsils on game day. OK, on the field only on the field only is when he's tickling tonsils. That's it. Tomorrow morning at this time, Mayor Lucas will be on the show, of course, 7 30 on Thursdays. We talked to the mayor of Kansas City, and that's going to be a fun conversation with, of course, this rules deal moving full steam ahead. Yesterday, the news came out that the city's finance committee moved on with the six hundred million dollar proposal for the Royals to build a new stadium down at Washington Square Park. And then Parks Board also said, yeah, go ahead. Now, I thought they wanted to maintain trees in Kansas City, so they're taking out a ton of trees down there. But, you know, I guess only certain trees matter. How about all trees, lives matter? Can we start that in Kansas City and see how that goes? Because they were bragging about planting a bunch of trees over the last few years. Now they're taking out a bunch. Well, we have big plans for covering the interstate up there and putting the park down. Oh, yeah. So maybe we'll have some replacements there. You know, the worst thing that happened to those plans was Trump winning the White House a couple of years ago. Biden was supposed to give him a bunch of money for that project. The feds are not going to give him a dime for that park over over I 70. And they, by the way, should not give him a dime for that project to cover up I 70. But, you know, this thing is all but done. It's going to be voted on tomorrow at City Council. They will move ahead with the six hundred million dollars for the Royals. And I'm telling you that because even Councilman West Rogers in the Northland, who's a pretty common sense guy, shared this one hour ago, this article from KCUR. And he says here, he quotes himself saying Councilman West Rogers says the city's investment will have big returns for more jobs and housing. He said, quote, this is something that if we do it right and we do it well, it will change our city for a generation. Now that said, we've got a lot of work to do. So he's justifying it. We'll have big returns for more jobs and housing. So. Now they're going to use the housing angle. They're going to say that this is great for low income housing, because we all know any apartments that go up around the stadium are going to be definitely low income housing, right? I mean, no doubt about it. It's going to be all Section 8. I'm sure. Well, yeah, we got that community agreement. We're going to bring that up. And the jobs are all temporary. We all know that construction jobs. By the way, where are we getting all these construction jobs if we're building two professional stadiums at the same time over the next four or five years? What's that going to do to cost overruns on the stadium when everyone's battling for the same labor? It's down to lows and I can't get a bag of quick creed. Any seriously, man. Got a guy got a two by four around here. Are those all sold out too? It's like, where are we getting all that labor? Because remember the Kansas politicians on the chiefs deal, what did they say, 20,000 jobs? Meantime, SoFi Stadium with the Rams and the Chargers was like 15,000 jobs. So we're somehow getting another 5,000 jobs on top of SoFi Stadium, which is the second biggest mark in the country in LA. And now we're also simultaneously going to build a baseball stadium. Who's doing all this? I mean, I guess if I get blown out of here and they tell me next week, Pete, you're fired, you're done. The show is over. I know I'm not great with my hands, but I'll do what I got to do to feed my family. I'll figure out a way to get myself a gig on one of these stadiums because those of you guys that are doing that work, I'm envious because I would not even know where to start. But at least I know there would be a job for me over there because they're going to need all the bodies they can get their hands on. Yeah, well, you got the Olathe training site, too. So what you want to do is get yourself a hard hat and lease a white pickup that makes noise in reverse. You back onto the job site. Everybody gets out of your way. Everybody thinks you know what you're doing. Fake until I make is what you're telling me, John. Yep. All right. All right. That's pretty good. I can do it. Maybe some blueprints rolled up in your hand where you kind of point at stuff. God forbid they ask me to do something, though I'm totally screwed. I'm really going to be in a world of hurt. But this leads me to, you know, this conversation I had yesterday on social media with a couple of folks about this deal. So I think I told you this at the end of the show yesterday. There was somehow this picture in my feed that came up on X and it was about the power and light district and how this guy is like, why is there no one down here? No one's eating down here. Is this place dead? And he says, how does power and light survive? And I just found this post. It showed up on my feed and I wrote back, it doesn't survive without the taxpayer subsidizing it to the tune of 10 to 15 million dollars per year between Morton Amphitheater and the Royals moving expect that gap to grow. Unfortunately, I then also said I'd love to be wrong about this. So it got tens of thousands of views and people chiming in and a restaurateur here in town decided he was going to get in on the conversation. And his name is Chris Saffron. And he writes here that power and light is not a dinner option on a Monday night. He said it's built for special events. He says, how many people do you think are going to be in there every day during the World Cup? He also goes on the note that Morton Amphitheater, this is him responding to me, Morton Amphitheater will have zero effect on power and light. And that's where this guy just totally lost me, totally lost me. He's obviously got restaurants down there at power and light. He says, Cortis has done a really good job of programming events and concerts in and around power and light, almost 52 weeks a year to drive a bunch of traffic. He says he lives down there. He's in the area all the time. The foot traffic is pretty consistent. He goes on the note that there's eight to 10 new development projects that are in the works. He says, having the Royals downtown right on the street car line is a no brainer. This is all great for downtown Kansas City. And I'm reading this and I'm going through this and I'm like, hold on a second here. If your first example of power and light being great is using the World Cup as a reference, you've totally lost the plot line here. When you're taking a once in a lifetime event and saying, that's why power and light works, it doesn't change the fact that it's a money loser for the city. I wish it was not a money loser for the city. That's why I actually have said for two and a half years now, the best place for the Royals was the Crossroads District idea. It would have combined T-Mobile to power and light, would have had more traction down there at power and light, would have chipped into that 10 to 15 million dollar funding gap. They have it power and light, but it was the Royals who screwed up the roll out of that deal and they didn't have all their ducks in a row and they pissed off everyone. That's why that got rejected by the voter. That's why that happened the way it did. I'm not an anti-power and light guy. I used to live there. I want to see it do well. But the reality is it is subsidized by the taxpayer. Well, I'm curious about the 8 to 10 exciting new projects. Is that what the number was? Yeah. What happened to the 8 to 10 old projects? So many things down there aren't what they were when it opened for a reason. Is one of the projects taking down the Ferris wheel that no one ever rides on when I drive by it on 35? So I know it all this and to say that Morton Amphitheater is not going to impact T-Mobile, you can't be serious. You just can't be serious. Look at the list of shows at Morton Amphitheater. They got like 40 some odd shows this year. And in the end, it's still a money loser for the taxpayer. That's the bottom line. Now, if you want to justify that loss as a good expense, be my guest. I'm like somewhat open to that argument. But don't tell me everything's great because that's not true. So Chris Severin, this restaurateur, then goes on to tell me he said, Where is it here? He says, none of those shows at Morton were going to be down at Power and Light. Do you have any idea, he says to me, how the concert business works? He goes on the note that he watched the college bowl game and there were 5,000 people at Power and Light. He goes, yes, the city ends up subsidizing things. The government chooses to subsidize all kinds of things. He adds here, if you were serious about not wasting money, he says to me, you would spend 100% of your time looking into pensions for the police and fire department, which eats up a big chunk of the budget. He goes on the note, how do you place a value on something like Power and Light costing 10 million a year? But it spurs billions of dollars in development. And that's when I was like, you got to be kidding me. The last part of his post, he said, if you don't want to look like a simplistic rage baiter or rabble rouser, like you appear to be, get serious and start digging into the big numbers in the city budget. You got to be kidding me. I mean, this is just absurd. So a couple of things. First off, Morton Amphitheater is absolutely taking business from T-Mobile. We work in radio. We deal with live nation who owns Morton Amphitheater and has more or less admitted, I don't know about publicly, but certainly privately that some of those shows that are going to Morton Amphitheater would have been at T-Mobile. Other shows would not have come to Kansas City because some of those country shows want to do that kind of a setting. But they are taking shows from T-Mobile. That's number one. Number two, the government subsidizing things doesn't mean that Power and Light should be subsidized. Just because they do other dumb subsidy plans doesn't mean it's good policy. And when he says that Power and Light is spurring billions of dollars and other development, yeah, and all those plans are subsidized too. So like if Power and Light alone where you just subsidized Power and Light and it led to all this massive organic growth, I could actually understand that and you could probably justify it. But everything else that's going up around it is also getting subsidized. So what's the value in the original subsidy that you're justifying? Going after the cops and their pensions. Probably not a great idea when you're a restaurateur and you need the cops to protect your restaurants. Like I'm not saying that public policy pensions aren't all jacked up and they're overblown and they absolutely are. But that may not be the move when you're a restaurateur in Kansas City like this guy is to knock on the police officers and their pensions. And in the end, what this ultimately is, is economic development voodoo math that they all like to make. Kansas City has to keep losing money to try to make money or something like that by picking winners and losers in business. That's always how the argument ends up going. So I guess he ran out of facts to fill out his column inches so he resorted to calling you a few names there. Yes, and of course, yes, a ragebader or what was it a simplistic ragebader? It's like, dude, I just, and by the way, I did give him a link to the podcast and the show in case you wanted to listen on his own time and realize that's not what's going on here at all. I'm pretty sure Chris Stapleton would have been at T-Mobile center that show October at Morton Amphitheater. Absolutely. Dirk Spentley is going to be there this summer at Morton Amphitheater. I saw him at T-Mobile five years ago. Okay. Like the notion that, oh no, none of these shows going to Morton Amphitheater would have gone to T-Mobile. Stop, dude. Just give it up, man. Geez. You muster, moon, moon, moon. Mumford and Sons. Yeah, Mumford and Sons. Some of the pop people that are going to be down there to Kesha, I think, and some of those folks, they would have been at T-Mobile. He said they were all sandstone shows. It's like, no, they're not all sandstone or starlight shows. They're not all starlight shows. They're not. 913-408-7957 is how you join us on KCMO Talk Radio 957 FM, streaming on the KCMO Talk Radio app. You want me to go to these or you want me to just rock and roll? No? All right. Yeah. Let's go to Steven. He's in Johnson County. What's up? Hey, Dr. Mondra, how you feeling? I'm feeling fine as good as I can feel on Tax Day. Well, I just wanted to say that the T-Mobile center down there, it was a sprint center where they first started out. I quit going down there with Favors Days barbecue was there because it's like the more business they put out there, the less parking they want you to pay the park to pay to eat. And that's something that's a major turnoff to even, you just know where to park on the street most of the time. And so I decided to go something different and I quit going down there years ago. And it's got nothing but worse. All of the down grand. I mean, just ridiculous. Well, I don't, you know, listen, I don't want to make it. I appreciate the call, Steven. Listen, Kansas City's got a lot of problems. I like going down there. If there's a show I want to go to, I was probably, what was I down there last? Probably for the Big 12 tournament a month ago or so. I like being down there. I want to see it thrive. I want to see it do well. I'm not looking to just rag on, you know, some part of town for the sake of it. I want to see it succeed. When it's at its best to power and light, it's great. The problem is it's not always at its best. And it's still, I mean, factually cost the city money to operate it. That's the point. And I don't want that to happen. Which is why I, you know, understood the frustration with the three eighths and sales tax extension. But it's also why at the time I said, you know, this is, this is not really a terrible idea at all. When you think about how you could actually spur real economic growth at a much cheaper cost than what Kansas is giving the chiefs and what Missouri is giving the Royals or what it looks like Missouri is going to give the Royals in this new deal at Washington Square Park. And there would have been many more parts of town that would have benefited as a result. 913-408-7957 is our text line and our studio line on KCMO Talk Radio. Hope you are doing well on this Wednesday morning. Had a great time last night with our friends over at Kansans for Life, putting on an outstanding show. And Scott Jennings was money. So Scott did his show, his radio show that he does every day, national radio show. He was doing it from our studios here at CUMULUS Kansas City before he had to speak and was the keynote last night at the KFL event at the Overland Park Convention Center. So he was here in town about a month ago for some other event. He did his show from here a month ago. Then he was back here yesterday doing a show before the event last night. And, you know, it's interesting because we got a bunch of people here at the radio station with a bunch of different viewpoints. We've got six radio stations here. So you have different formats, different people, different backgrounds, different, obviously, political beliefs and opinions. And, you know, people met Scott. Scott was in the hallway. He was around the place for several hours yesterday and last month. And no one had a bad thing to say about him because there's nothing bad to say about Scott. You may not like his opinions, but even people I know in the building who were like, yeah, oh, that guy, oh, Scott Jennings. They were like, well, nice guy. Yeah, he is a nice guy. He is. Do you know how hard it is to keep your cool like he does on CNN every night? Dealing with the absolutely insane people that he has to deal with. On a very minor level, I have some of that when I'm on Kansas City Weekend Review. But I also know the host is not against me. I also know that Nick Haynes is as fair as they come. That's not the case with Scott Jennings. He's on a show where the host, the host is against him. And as he noted last night, you know, he gave about a 25, 30 minute speech last night. It was great. It was all about basically preserving Western values, preserving American values and building a culture for the future. Because without the culture, there really is no country. That was, I would say, his broad point. And as he noted, he goes, I'm not used to speaking more than six or seven seconds without being interrupted, which is what happens to him. Every single time you watch him on CNN. So he's like, this is kind of weird. I got a lot of runway here. But he was really good. He told some very funny Trump stories about walking into the Oval Office and sitting down with Trump and, you know, talking to Trump and going through his book, which Trump had to sign off on. He said, Trump picked the book cover for him. And when he brought Trump, he bought Trump a copy of the book last November into the Oval Office. Trump's like, best book cover ever. Beautiful book cover. He said it was great. So he was outstanding. Great to see so many of you supporting KFL out there last night. Every time I find myself at 435 in Metcalf here in Overland Park, I'm like, man, the homeless problem continues to get worse. And the vagrant issue, the begging issue, it is getting worse every time I seemingly drive right down there. Around 435 in Metcalf. And I'm just sitting here wondering when somebody in charge is going to do something about it. Or does Overland Park claim it needs more tax revenue from the taxpayer to do something about it? Because it would seem to me that is a very basic thing that they should be doing and trying to clean up. And you drive anywhere around 435 in Metcalf. I mean, right now you may be down that way. Going to work, heading out to work, whatever it might be. And I guarantee you're going to see at least a couple people holding up the cardboard sign. Now this doesn't mean I don't have sympathy for them. This does not mean I don't want those individuals to seek help. I do. I want them to find a better way. I pray for them to get themselves and their lives back on track. They're worth it. They have God-given talent that they can bring to society. They can add to society. And they can do it today. They haven't yet chosen to make that decision for whatever the reason is. But from a municipal policy standpoint, it doesn't look good for Overland Park. It's not getting any better. It's not getting any better. And I just wonder what happens when members of the city council on Overland Park drive past that and just, I don't know what they do. They drive past it. They whistle past the graveyard and they figure out where they want to put their next apartment complex. I don't know. That's all I can think of. That's all I can figure. Yeah, it's an issue like at 49 and 150. And these intersections are so huge. I'm like, man, how do you get out there? Well, I wonder that too. Sometimes, you know. But they work it in... I'm cynical, so I'm suspect. So I'm checking out the footwear or what jacket they got. I'm going, they don't... Yes. This is a grift. It's a grift. For a lot of them, it is. Now, some of them it's not, but a lot of them it definitely is. And they're not hanging out there because they're not making money. They're hanging out there because they're making money. That's part of the grift to your point there, John. You know, and they always use... There's always a veteran angle to it. You can always find that, whether it's true or not. They can always play up the veteran angle. But I mean, I threw something up about it the other day and I'm sitting here and I'm thinking to myself, when does the city finally wake up and do something? Or, coincidentally enough, are they too busy writing press releases like this from yesterday where Livability.com created a list of the 100 best places to live in the United States and who came in at number eight? Overland Park. So I'm sure that today there'll be a big press release about how Livability.com, because I saw this in the Kansas City Star, had Overland Park at number eight on its list of 100 best places to live in the United States. And yes, Overland Park is a really nice place to live. It's a very nice place to work. We happen to work here at Corporate Woods. But that being the case, you still have things you can improve on dramatically. There are still things that in Overland Park, you've got to look at, and this seems like one of them, where if you're new to town or you're driving through town and you get off at 435 in Metcalf, does that suddenly look like the eighth best place in America to live? Because when I'm getting off there, it doesn't look like that to me. It doesn't. And that's where it, listen, you've got a police department. I'm not saying you want to jail these people. That's like, I'm not saying that. I want them to find help. I genuinely want them to find help. Obviously, my preference will be through the private sector, through great organizations that are out there helping people every single day who are homeless here in Kansas City. Whether it's, you know, city union mission, you can go on down the list. Whether it's churches that obviously have, you know, footprints around town that have places that individuals can go who are, you know, in very difficult times. There's Eden Village and KCK. I mean, there's a lot of really good places where if they want to get back on their feet, they can. I want that for them. But if they're not going to make that decision, you can't just have them hanging out on the side of the road on Metcalf because, by the way, you get one bed interaction and you have a problem on your hands. Okay, you can, that can happen very quickly. And sometimes you'll drive through Overland Park, at least, you know, certain parts of it off the interstate, and it'll be worse there than even driving through certain parts of Kansas City. But you'll have, you'll have upwards of half a dozen people in and around 435 and Metcalf easily. And I can't think of the last time I was driving through Kansas City. I mean, you know, the parts of town that I'll be going through, let's say, getting off at Southwest Boulevard off 35, there might be one guy there under the bridge, you know, you might get a couple of people up and around that area. But it's not like what you'll see at 435 and Metcalf. It is a problem. And the city's not doing anything about it. 913-408-7957. Pete, it's every intersection 435 east of Metcalf. See, I don't really see it at Nall. I don't really see it at Roe. You'll get it at 435 and State Line. But I don't know, for some reason, I feel like it's Metcalf. And then you go to State Line. But in between, I don't really see them at Nall and Roe, at least, you know, when I'm getting off at those places. Well, to your point there, that may be the difference in the jurisdictions, policing those particular areas, because I think maybe to the person's point, it's prevalent beyond Metcalf. And so I was sighting 49 and 150 in Missouri, South Canne City there, Graham, but also 49 and Red Bridge Road. So any of us pull off, I'm sure 23rd Street down here in front. No, that kind of thing. On the text line, Pete, I talked to one of those beggars one time. He had a house that was his job, or he had a house. This was his job. Said he makes an average of 60 to 80 grand a year. And guess what? Tax-free. 60 to, I mean, do the math on that. If he's out there 365 days a year, he's clearing 160 bucks a day. I mean, I'll take your word for it on the text line. I don't know if I believe it, to be honest, but I'll take your word for it. Let's go to Mark. He's in Overland Park. What's up, Mark? You're on KCMO. Good morning, Pete. Saw a new low in Overland Park a couple of weeks ago at 91st Metcalf. I was a stoplight southbound, and I saw a guy with all his belongings in the median. And the light changed, and he ran across to the corner over by the AT&T store, dropped his drawers, peed, then ran back, stood by his stuff. Have not seen that on Metcalf before. And then the other thing at 75th and Metcalf, on the on Saturday mornings, they're having competition with this No Kings rallies. Those guys are facing out the homeless to cutting into the homeless business because the No Kings rallies are taking up their spot. So the No Kings protesters and the vagrant population are at odds is what you're telling me. Yeah, if they're pushing them somewhere else, you go on a Saturday morning and I drive down Metcalf only one way. And if I'm coming back, I go over to Lamar and they go another way. I don't want to see them. Wow. Boy, that's a weird spot for the No Kings protesters, too. I mean, you know, these are the people that they're trying to help, I guess, but they're bumping them out of the way. Right, John? There's a Duncan right there at 75th and Metcalf, though. Exactly. It's like a coffee shop. Yeah. And that Duncan has a sign in the bathroom for all the customers only can use the bathroom. Wow. That's a telltale sign. When you get the customers only sign for the bathroom, you know you're in a spot where you've got a problem. Let's be honest. No doubt. Wow. All right. That's good intel there, Mark. Thank you. Also on the text line, a lot of you saying the Northland has been getting worse as well on this front. Yeah, Pete, I've been running Door Dash this year, never seen beggars on the street corners east of Holmes. The grift doesn't work there for some reason. Well, yeah, ask yourself why that might be, right? 913-408-7957. The grift works off of any interstate because you can be from any part of town when you exit there. So that's true. That's true. Maria is in Overland Park. Hi, Maria. Good morning. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? OK, good, good. Yeah, I've seen him over there recently. I mean, I just moved back to Overland Park in September of last year. And so if they're doing this for a living, then why don't the police cite them and give them some kind of a loitering ticket and then give them a fine and threaten them for whatever after? Well, you would think, you know, we've got obviously a better judicial system and we've got a great prosecutor in Johnson County and Steve Howe. And I don't want them spending all day, you know, dealing with cases like this. But to your point, get the message out, right? I mean, if it quickly gets out there that this is not going to fly in Overland Park, it's it's over. It's done with you've largely solved the problem. They will go somewhere else. I hate to say if they don't want to get help right now, but they won't be loitering around Metcalf and 435. Yeah, they need to get the cops together and have a little meeting and say, listen, we're going to start giving them tickets because here's what happens. They'll start moving here from Lawrence, like they all move from California to Lawrence right at the outset of when the lockdown lifted, because I live there and I moved here from LA. I was there for I was in Laguna Beach for 20 years. I was in LA for like two. It was gnarly crime. Wow. You know, these homeless people are on every corner in LA. It's so sad. They are really desolate. And you see them with needles sticking out of their legs right on the street. They're dump taking a dump in the middle of the road. And the, you know, the government did nothing. I mean, basically they said the government knew some gave them the opioids so that that was their population control to get them off the street because they were dying face down in the gutter. And I guarantee you these people will start moving here from Lawrence. They're going to start moving here from California. And they'll just take over the place when they hear it's a good city to live in. That's I didn't think about that. I mean, I guess word can spread fast because they all also have iPhones, which I don't understand either. It's like, what's going on here? They don't all have iPhones, but I guess talking about that are doing this for a living on 95th and make up probably. Yeah. I mean, if you're clearing 60 K a year, you got yourself a phone. I mean, I see them. Yeah, like what's going on here? Guys get a better pair of shoes that I've got on. What's happening? What's wrong with this picture? Thank you, Maria. So great to have you back from California. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be home. All right. Good deal. There you go. Maria and Overland Park on KCMO 9134087957. The NFL draft presented by Bud Light is coming to Pittsburgh. And it's your chance to witness the future of the game for free from April 23rd to April 25th. Feel the energy of the NFL draft. See the Vince Lombardi trophy and Super Bowl rings. Meet NFL players and legends. Enjoy interactive games and live music performances and be there as the future of the NFL takes center stage. The NFL draft starts April 23rd. Register for free entry at nfl.com slash draft access today. Hey there. I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible. Joe, you know what's been great about being a saver for money in the bank. And that money over the past couple of years has made a pretty good yield pre pandemic money was making zero. Now it's actually making something, but that's starting to go down, down, down. 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We said 10 K, right? 10 K. All right. We probably bet more than all the other golf channels, right? 10 K. Nine holes. Those guys bet for like cookies. So I'm going to shank it. This guy's been trading like a Navy seal when it comes to golf. I'm very, very excited. You excited? Yeah. Full send golf. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Hey there. I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible. Joe, you know what's been great about being a saver? For money to make. And that money over the past couple of years has made a pretty good yield. Pre-pandemic, money was making zero. Now it's actually making something, but that's starting to go down, down, down. I love how we can play the fact that inflation's been really high as a positive. But if you're a saver, you know what that means? Cha-ching. Sover lining, Joe. Sover lining. Afford anything. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.