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THIS WEEK: Friday, May 10, 2013 @ 7:30 pm
(Rebroadcast Sunday @ 11 am )
Photo Credit: KansasCity.Com

CLEVELAND ABDUCTION TO KC CLOSET: The Cleveland abduction case in which three women were locked away for a decade before being finally liberated this week brings with it questions about how this can happen, for so long, without anyone noticing? But they happen more often than we care to acknowledge. Just this past week, the files on a 10 year-old Kansas City girl locked in a closet for years are finally released by the state. The files reveal how a whole community including neighbors, school and social service workers missed repeated opportunities to rescue the girl who was forced to live in her own urine and feces. The 10 year-old known as LP weighed just 26 pounds, the size many babies reach at 18 months.

OTTAWA HOMICIDES: Sometimes citizens aren’t willing to take no for an answer and are willing to press forward with their gut feelings. In Ottawa, KS this week, it took the relentless pursuit of friends and not the police to uncover what ultimately turned out to be a triple homicide. This ongoing crime story has brought with it a number of bigger public policy questions including controversy over when law enforcement should trigger an Amber Alert.

MISSOURI PASSES FIRST INCOME TAX REDUCTIONS IN 90 YEARS: Big cuts in corporate and personal income tax rates are sent to the Governor’s desk. Missouri lawmakers also approve a new 50% deduction in business income reported on individual tax returns. The tax cut could reduce state revenue by an estimated $700 million a year. Is the move simply a game of catch-up with Kansas? And will the Governor sign the cuts into law?

SHOULD TEACHERS BE GRADED ON A YEARLY BASIS AND THOSE THAT FAIL BE FIRED? Wealthy St. Louis businessman Rex Sinquefield is actively pushing a statewide measure that would do just that after an effort in the Missouri legislature to impose yearly evaluations on teachers narrowly fails. The bill would have assigned teachers one of four ratings: highly effective, effective, minimally effective or ineffective. At least 33% of the evaluation would be based on the academic achievement and growth of students.

SHOCKINGLY LARGE PROPERTY APPRAISALS DROP INTO MAILBOXES: In Jackson County, some of those home appraisals were 5 times as high as last year’s. The Kansas City Star reported on one resident who saw her 3-bedroom home on the rolls at $48,000 last year be appraised at $229,000 this year. Roughly 70,000 Jackson County residents are getting the new appraisals delivered through their mailboxes this week.

THIS WEEK’S NEWS REVIEWERS:

Stacey Cameron
KCTV5

Mary Sanchez
Kansas City Star

Scott Parks
KMBZ 98.1 FM

Dave Helling
Kansas City Star