By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
November 6, 2013

“Oh, you work in the ghetto.”

That’s a common phrase I’ve heard in the past when I describe where Northeast News is located.

Actually, I work in the melting pot of Kansas City, where I can sample authentic cuisine from around the world, immerse myself in another culture and hear life stories of true grit.

It’s unfortunate the number of misnomers associated with Historic Northeast, but as a community newspaper, we’re tenacious and work to break those stereotypes and warped views of the Northeast.

We’re here to highlight the good. Events that come to mind include the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Taste and Tour, which attracted so many attendees this year that the Chamber is already searching for a larger venue. A few weekends ago, the Northeast Kansas City Historical Society (NEKCHS) hosted its annual homes tour, highlighting never-before-seen homes ranging from a Queen Anne to an American Foursquare. Not only is it amazing to view ornate craftsmanship, it’s also fun to get decorating ideas. In case you missed the NEKCHS tour, the Pendleton Heights annual Holiday Homes Tour is coming up Dec. 7. Speaking of Pendleton Heights, not only did they receive an award from the city for going green this year, they also received recognition from This Old House magazine. This Old House named Pendleton Heights as one of the “Best Old Neighborhoods” in the Midwest. We completely agree.

While we like to highlight the good, we don’t forget about our role as a watchdog for the community. Bunny the Newshound as well as Publisher Michael Bushnell and Managing Editor Leslie Collins have their eyes on the Kansas City Museum and Union Station. We expect the divorce between the two to be less than amicable, to say the least. And we know the dispute over ownership of the collections will be a bitter battle. As for the extreme delay of the audit, which would reveal how Union Station has spent the museum’s mil levy, we refuse to allow city officials to leave the public in the dark. Taxpayers have a right to know how those funds were spent, and we’ve hand-delivered an open records request to Union Station Kansas City, Inc. to find out those very facts. We’ll see how soon they respond.

On another note, we’re proud to say that Northeast News garnered nine awards in the Missouri Press Association’s 2013 Better Newspaper Contest for entries published in 2012. Northeast News staff earned second place in the Best Special Section category for the annual back-to-school issue.

Political Cartoonist Bryan Stalder secured second place for Best Editorial Cartoon which centered around the Chick-fil-A anti-gay controversy. Bushnell earned a third place for his community service story about shaving his head to honor his wife, Chris, who was undergoing treatments for breast cancer.

Collins secured several second place awards, which included: Best Business Story (A hippie and some weird stuff); Best Story About Education (Whiting makes students dream bigger and bolder); and Best Investigative Reporting (Don Bosco tightens purse strings). Collins also earned a third place in the Best News/Feature Series category for her feature series on the Grace United Community ministry in Northeast to help those with drug addictions and earned an honorable mention for Best Investigative Reporting for “This payday loan is half-baked.”

Collins and former Art Director Erica VanDee took third place for Best Photo Package of the annual Northeast Chalk Walk event.

As Bushnell likes to say, “We’re one of the last independently owned newspapers in Kansas City,” and we’re not going anywhere.