By Paul Thompson
Northeast News
December 7, 2016
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – From the heartwarming to the heart-wrenching, the Northeast News has remained committed to providing thorough, unbiased news coverage to the Historic Northeast community in 2016.
It’s been a busy year, as a litany of vital redevelopment projects are in various stages of completion. Among many other projects, the Kansas City Streetcar was opened; the Independence Avenue and Benton Boulevard intersection improvements were completed; the Concourse Park embankment slide was installed; the new Independence Avenue Overlay Plan was approved, and the Paseo Gateway Plan continues to progress.
At City Hall, funding was secured for renovations and redevelopment of the 18th and Vine District; hundreds of dangerous buildings (including the former Manchester School on Truman Road) were targeted for demolition; the Intercontinental Hotel was deemed blighted; plans to build a single terminal airport were introduced and subsequently tabled; and just last week, an ordinance was passed to establish a citywide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
We covered the hopeful: the partnership between Sheffield Place and Hampton Inn to provide jobs to young mothers; a group of teenagers who braved flash floods to save drivers from stalled vehicles on Truman Road, and the many service organizations who volunteered their time and energy to make the Northeast a better place.
We also covered the tragic: incidents of senseless violence in one of the most deadly years in recent memory, and the emotional re-opening of Snyder’s Supermarket following the deadly October 2015 fire that took the lives of Kansas City, Missouri firefighters John Mesh and Larry Leggio. The Northeast News was also instrumental in creating and unveiling a permanent black granite memorial to honor the fallen firefighters.
Looking ahead, the city will be pursuing an $800 million General Obligation bond for the April 2017 ballot; work will continue to proceed on the Pendleton Flats and Pendleton ArtsBlock housing developments; the vacant Royale Inn is expected to be demolished; streetcar expansion plans will keep getting bandied about, and Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) will continue its march towards full accreditation under first-year superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell. There are many more stories yet to tell, and we’re proud to be the voice of the Northeast community.
This year, the Northeast News was also honored for its hard work at the Missouri Press Association convention held in Branson, MO. Art and Creative Director Kirstie Mulligan and former Managing Editor Joe Jarosz brought home a second place award in the Best Photo Package category for weekly newspapers for their outstanding coverage of the Kansas City Royals World Series parade. Publisher Michael Bushnell captured third place honors in the Best News Photo competition for his pictures and coverage of the tragic Independence Avenue fire that claimed the lives of John Mesh and Larry Leggio Oct. 12, 2015.
Honorable Mentions were given to Mulligan, Jarosz, Bushnell and freelance photographer David Remley for the funeral processions of the fallen firefighters and the subsequent memorial service at the Sprint Center last October. The two awards are truly bittersweet given the price that was paid. Last but not least, Cartoon Satirist Bryan Stalder netted an Honorable Mention for his cartoon on EBT restrictions that parodied the uproar over an individual who was pilloried on social media for being able to buy lobster with food-stamps.