Followers of the News-Dog will remember back in our September 18th edition we caught an illegal dumper in our alley after coming home from a leisurely Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride.

After leaving a voicemail on the city’s illegal dumping hotline (816-513-DUMP) we received a call early Monday morning from Allen Ashurst, one of the city’s illegal dumping investigators.

We gave vehicle descriptors as well as suspect descriptions to Ashurst in the hopes of quickly apprehending the suspect and getting the offending mess cleaned out of our alley.

The gears of justice, however, grind slowly.

After an early sighting of the vehicle on Independence Avenue near Hardesty following the offense, the trail went cold.

The license plates and vehicle registration go back to an individual who lives in Kansas City.

Last week however, a lead was received as to the whereabouts of the vehicle.

On October 9th, the vehicle was located near 8th and Chestnut Avenue where it was abandoned in the middle of the street.

Kansas City, Missouri Police Department responded, towing the vehicle to the city’s tow lot off Front Street and I-435.

The tow report shows the vehicle not to be stolen so the investigation remains ongoing.

During a visit to the world headquarters of the Northeast News, Ashurst indicated that this case is farther along than many illegal dumping cases he investigates.

Some of the reasons for that was the good information that was forwarded to his office at the time of the violation.

Many cases result in a dead end due to lack of verifiable information on suspects and ownership of the dumped rubbish.

Ashurst also told the Dog that illegal dumping in Kansas City is at epidemic proportions.

This critical-thinking News Hound would agree. As was noted in a KSHB interview we did with Nick Starling last week at the scene of our crime, over the last decade the city of Kansas City has made it more and more difficult for citizens to get rid of their trash.

Brandon Ellington’s legislation to lift the ridiculous two bag limit and return bulky item pick-up to a route-based system instead of an appointment-based system are two steps in the right direction.

The imposition of a $2,500 first time fine for those caught illegally dumping trash would be a good deterrent as well.