Northeast News
October 15, 2014

This past weekend, Kansas City’s Westside lost a powerful advocate for community based policing and representation.

Westside Community Action Network [CAN] director Lynda Callon passed away on Sunday, leaving a void at the 20-year-old CAN Center that was home to a number of advocacy programs for Kansas City’s undocumented immigrant population. This news-canine butted heads with Callon on a few occasions, but always admired her tenacity for the goals and mission of the Westside CAN. She was just as comfortable in the boardroom as she was clearing brush and litter from an urban hillside and made as many friends as she did enemies, but her passion for the CAN concept is what persevered.

This news-pooch has already heard some off-the-radar chatter about moving the CAN Center to Northeast where the city’s Latino population continues to flourish and grow. While such speculation is premature, it sure would be a welcome sight to see real police officers dedicated to the Avenue instead of the rent-a-cops that more oft than not ignore the ongoing vagrancy this doggie has railed about since day one.

That aside, however, before those talks take place, this pooch says let’s pay our respects to Ms. Callon and express our heartfelt gratitude for the huge positive impact she had on the city’s Westside.