Trending News:Double Shooting at 300 Block of Wabash Ave.Double shooting sends two to the hospitalLow Barrier Shelter ordinance stalled – againNortheast fun fact: Earth day ‘The water wars are coming’: Missouri looks to limit exports from rivers and lakesFamily ties keep custom truck in NortheastNeighborhoods In Northeast: Pendleton heightsAnnual Multicultural Festival at Frontier Schools returns for the 8th yearFestival Multicultural Anual en las Escuelas de Frontier regresa por ano ochoDrumming up healthy activities at Don BoscoCommunity CalendarClassifiedsSee Kansas in style, along the new Kansas Turnpike! Remember this?332: Public Health Coordinators with the Mattie Rhodes Center & Upcoming EventsCharges Filed in March, Officer Involved Shooting on Gladstone Blvd.Mattie Rhodes CenterNortheast fun fact: Della C. LambNeighborhoods In Northeast: Columbus ParkPlans for Soccer Complex to be presentedPH Coffee’s Annual Customer Appreciation Day: A Blend of Coffee and Community Healthy Kicks this weekend with the Mattie Rhodes CenterEl programa Junior Achievement aporta experiencias del mundo real a los estudiantes de Northeast High SchoolJunior Achievement program implemented at Northeast High SchoolClassifiedsCommunity CalendarThe fabulous Walking WoolfsRemember this?331: Columbus Park Community Council With Kate BarsottiSolar eclipse to darken KC on April 8Northeast fun fact: PH OrchardDown in flames: new Stadium Proposal trounced at pollsChapter 8: Geography of the Solar EclipseCapítulo 8: Geografía del eclipse solarA Celebration of Early Learning with Della Lamb Community ServicesIn case you wondered…?Late withdrawals mean more time to file for lieutenant governor, other Missouri officesDr. E.O. Smith, Skin and Cancer SpecialistRemember this?New Portable Mural Program Aims to Unite Northeast NeighborhoodsCommunity CalendarClassifieds330: Creative City KC, UNESCO, Cultural Tourism, & The World CupKC Tenants Hosts Stadium Community ForumsAvenue Angels Complete Narcan Training CertificationEssig Family McDonald’s$3 million slated for 9th & Van Brunt soccer park improvementsLocal Hispanic small business selected to receive $10,000 in grant moneyPequeño negocios Hispanos locales son seleccionados para recibir una ayuda de $10,000Letter to the Editor: Bring Soccer Back to the CommunitiesFiber Arts Workshop is sew fun!School playground equipment destroyed in weekend fireHealing House opens new family facilityRemember this?Empress Theater once a hotspot for VaudevilleGrime, Crime & ChimeUnleashing Happiness: The Healing Power of Pets on Our Mental HealthCultural Tourism & the World CupClassifiedsCommunity Calendar329: Youth Services Division, D.A.R.E, & First Impact Teen Driver TrainingChapter 7: Solar Eclipse Language ArtsCapitulo 7: Eclipse solar Lengua y LiteraturaPoolside on The PaseoSound Off! Keepin’ it real on The AvenueErin’s House to open this Friday Guadalupe Centers Breaks Ground on Affordable Housing InitiativeGrime, Crime, and ChimeCascio’s CornerRemember This?ClassifiedsCommunity Calendar328: Growing Community Papers with Erica LittleUpdate: Kansas City man convicted in East Bottoms double homicideLexington Avenue traffic calming discussion tonightManaging EditorIntern ApplicationThe Northeast News recognized by the Missouri Press AssociationCounty rolls out new property tax freeze program for area seniorsSix Plex to be demolishedFeast of St. JosephLatinx Education Collaborative celebrates the 2024 Latinx Educator Awards Latinx Education Collaborative celebra los Premios al Educador Latinx 2024 Northeast Fun fact: Parks and RecreationNortheast Fun FactChapter 6: Cultural Legends about Solar EclipsesCapítulo 6: Leyendas culturales sobre eclipses solaresGrime, Crime and ChimeCommunity CalendarClassifiedsRemember this?Aye, ‘Tis a grand St. Paddy’s Day to ye!UPDATED. Two dead in convenience store shooting327: Introducing the Newest Northeast News Staff!County announces public hearing on new stadium development in Crossroads Art DistrictSpecial Edition Podcast: Committee Against New Royals Stadium Taxes #SaveTheKRemember this?Fairyland Park: The working man’s amusement parkOpinion: Don’t be Bullied, Keep the K at Kauffman.
Trending News:Double Shooting at 300 Block of Wabash Ave.Double shooting sends two to the hospitalLow Barrier Shelter ordinance stalled – againNortheast fun fact: Earth day ‘The water wars are coming’: Missouri looks to limit exports from rivers and lakesFamily ties keep custom truck in NortheastNeighborhoods In Northeast: Pendleton heightsAnnual Multicultural Festival at Frontier Schools returns for the 8th yearFestival Multicultural Anual en las Escuelas de Frontier regresa por ano ochoDrumming up healthy activities at Don BoscoCommunity CalendarClassifiedsSee Kansas in style, along the new Kansas Turnpike! Remember this?332: Public Health Coordinators with the Mattie Rhodes Center & Upcoming EventsCharges Filed in March, Officer Involved Shooting on Gladstone Blvd.Mattie Rhodes CenterNortheast fun fact: Della C. LambNeighborhoods In Northeast: Columbus ParkPlans for Soccer Complex to be presentedPH Coffee’s Annual Customer Appreciation Day: A Blend of Coffee and Community Healthy Kicks this weekend with the Mattie Rhodes CenterEl programa Junior Achievement aporta experiencias del mundo real a los estudiantes de Northeast High SchoolJunior Achievement program implemented at Northeast High SchoolClassifiedsCommunity CalendarThe fabulous Walking WoolfsRemember this?331: Columbus Park Community Council With Kate BarsottiSolar eclipse to darken KC on April 8Northeast fun fact: PH OrchardDown in flames: new Stadium Proposal trounced at pollsChapter 8: Geography of the Solar EclipseCapítulo 8: Geografía del eclipse solarA Celebration of Early Learning with Della Lamb Community ServicesIn case you wondered…?Late withdrawals mean more time to file for lieutenant governor, other Missouri officesDr. E.O. Smith, Skin and Cancer SpecialistRemember this?New Portable Mural Program Aims to Unite Northeast NeighborhoodsCommunity CalendarClassifieds330: Creative City KC, UNESCO, Cultural Tourism, & The World CupKC Tenants Hosts Stadium Community ForumsAvenue Angels Complete Narcan Training CertificationEssig Family McDonald’s$3 million slated for 9th & Van Brunt soccer park improvementsLocal Hispanic small business selected to receive $10,000 in grant moneyPequeño negocios Hispanos locales son seleccionados para recibir una ayuda de $10,000Letter to the Editor: Bring Soccer Back to the CommunitiesFiber Arts Workshop is sew fun!School playground equipment destroyed in weekend fireHealing House opens new family facilityRemember this?Empress Theater once a hotspot for VaudevilleGrime, Crime & ChimeUnleashing Happiness: The Healing Power of Pets on Our Mental HealthCultural Tourism & the World CupClassifiedsCommunity Calendar329: Youth Services Division, D.A.R.E, & First Impact Teen Driver TrainingChapter 7: Solar Eclipse Language ArtsCapitulo 7: Eclipse solar Lengua y LiteraturaPoolside on The PaseoSound Off! Keepin’ it real on The AvenueErin’s House to open this Friday Guadalupe Centers Breaks Ground on Affordable Housing InitiativeGrime, Crime, and ChimeCascio’s CornerRemember This?ClassifiedsCommunity Calendar328: Growing Community Papers with Erica LittleUpdate: Kansas City man convicted in East Bottoms double homicideLexington Avenue traffic calming discussion tonightManaging EditorIntern ApplicationThe Northeast News recognized by the Missouri Press AssociationCounty rolls out new property tax freeze program for area seniorsSix Plex to be demolishedFeast of St. JosephLatinx Education Collaborative celebrates the 2024 Latinx Educator Awards Latinx Education Collaborative celebra los Premios al Educador Latinx 2024 Northeast Fun fact: Parks and RecreationNortheast Fun FactChapter 6: Cultural Legends about Solar EclipsesCapítulo 6: Leyendas culturales sobre eclipses solaresGrime, Crime and ChimeCommunity CalendarClassifiedsRemember this?Aye, ‘Tis a grand St. Paddy’s Day to ye!UPDATED. Two dead in convenience store shooting327: Introducing the Newest Northeast News Staff!County announces public hearing on new stadium development in Crossroads Art DistrictSpecial Edition Podcast: Committee Against New Royals Stadium Taxes #SaveTheKRemember this?Fairyland Park: The working man’s amusement parkOpinion: Don’t be Bullied, Keep the K at Kauffman.
By MICHAEL BUSHNELL Northeast News January 18, 2013
If you’ve taken the Paseo entrance ramp to I-35 northbound any time recently you’ve no doubt noticed the blue and green tarps in the woods and the seemingly endless parade of foot traffic along the east side of the entrance ramp to the top of the hill where someone “flies the sign” to garner spare change, food, water and the occasional free beer or half pint of hooch. This morning however, acting on citizen complaints, workers with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department along with Police Officers eradicated the encampments, discovering a number of “hot” portable meth-labs in the process.
“It really was a pretty sophisticated kind of layout” said one Parks Department worker as he stood in the middle of a “courtyard” of sorts that was once ringed by tents, tarps and shanties. “This one here” he said, pointing to a holed out area in the ground, ringed by large stones. “This was a huge tarp that had separate sleeping quarters, a latrine and even a kind of patio area.”
The area is accessed only by a complex network of paths and walkways cut through the woods. Like cul-de-sacs off a residential street, tents and tarps were arranged around a central courtyard of sorts, all with separate cooking areas, latrines and clothes lines. Each latrine consisted of a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat on top. When the bucket got “full”, it was removed to a ditch a short distance away and a new bucket was secured and the process started all over again. Each cul-de-sac area off the main path housed five to seven tent “spots” much like a modern campground. Farther down the main path, in a secluded hollow, a makeshift cabin crafted from pallets, lumber, tarps and stolen street signs had been erected by an enterprising person. Complete with windows and a port for cooking fire smoke to escape. Clearly, there’s a pecking order even among the homeless. At one of the primary points of access to the encampments, there was even a small bulletin board wedged in to a tree where printed messages could be left to occupants, reminiscent of the hobo camps of old with their own communication signs. It is estimated the complex network of trials and living areas along the hillside housed upwards of 200 people at any given time.
Police and FBI officials accompanied the Parks Dept workers in case any resistance was encountered by squatters and to deal with the hazards that come with portable methamphetamine labs. “We picked up one of those piles and liquid just squirted out all over the place” said one Parks Department worker who was clad in a white safety suit. “We found about five hot labs up here and another five or so down over the hill” he said, pointing to an area farther in the woods toward Guinotte Ave.
Police made no arrests but Drug Enforcement Units from the department systematically cleaned up the labs eliminating the bulk of the hazard to Parks Department workers who were responsible for the clean-up. “It’s a never ending cycle” said another Parks Dept. worker. “We’ll be back here in six months and it’ll be built back up, probably better than this”.
admin
The Northeast News is committed to serving our community in the best way we can. We welcome feedback from our neighbors and community members. Our team is here to report on the often untold stories, advocate for your community and tackle all the complex issues here.
Please reach out to EllieAna Hale – our new community engagement intern for spring 2024. She will be working on a new and exciting project called “Northeast Narratives”. The project…