And We're Off...
Due to the calendar, this season has proven particularly troublesome for The Luminary.
The Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holiday dictated that the newspaper go to press two days earlier than usual, putting a serious strain on our limited resources. I know, I know what you’re thinking…why don’t we just plan ahead. Well, it’s not always that simple in this business. As any small town publisher can tell you, a weekly newspaper is sort of like a daily newspaper that comes out once a week. The stockpiled stories get stale real quick and besides, part of the nature of this business is to look for “new” stories. (That’s why they call it “news,” see?)
Luckily, holiday editions of weekly newspapers are a little light on “hard news” anyway, and the end of year edition allows columnists to do a wrap-up, or take the opportunity to look into the future.
All things considered, 2009 was an interesting – some may even say pivotal – year for Parkville and Southern Platte County.
Locally, it was critical that Gerry Richardson win the mayoral race, even though he’s poor column fodder for crusading country editors. And Southern Platte County elected an able commissioner and community servant in former Parkville Mayor Kathryn Dusenbery.
Next week, we’ll run our annual “Year in Review,” a convenient wrap-up of the highlights (and corresponding lows) of the year’s news.
Which brings us to the future.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the recession will continue to impact Parkville and her citizenry. The trickled down effect traditionally impacts the Midwest long after it’s affected others in other regions, and typically, it tends to last here a little longer, too. Sooner or later however, I suspect a lot of the folks who have been well off for the past few years or more will realize that they’re still well off and they will begin to loosen the reins on their wallets once again. If the credit situation improves, I bet a bunch of people will use the vacuum to make impressive investments for the future.
While the rest of the town’s major institutions strive to “connect,” under the Kuhns Cartel, downtown Parkville will continue to have problems and retailers will have to endure more bullying and bafflingly immature behavior at their hands. This is a story that we’ve covered with increased vigor in the past year, mirroring the amount of complaints we’ve received regarding their shortsighted and self-serving actions. Unless changes are made on the downtown Community Improvement District board, the taxpayer funded “Bank of John and Carol Kuhns” (in which John serves as the treasurer for his Main Street Parkville Association President wife) will ensure bleak economic prospects for the downtown. The spirit of contentiousness that dominates the Kuhns’ philosophy – the whole “us versus them” thing…be it the city government, Parkville Commons, the economic development committee, the Luminary (it’s on), the Chamber of Commerce…they even turned Taste of Parkville and Christmas decorating into a contest – represents nothing more than arrested development. Their relentless pursuit of an outdated and failed strategy of trying to trap tourists from Johnson County instead of catering to the locals will serve as a drag on this hardworking town and her merchants.
Serenity now.
On the positive tip, Park University and the Park Hill School District will continue to provide winning teams and, particularly in the case of Park, provide local citizenry with more bang for their buck. The arts at Park University – something we’ve become major boosters of – are really something you should plan on taking in this year.
And, as always, thanks for taking The Luminary.