The countdown officially on in Kansas City, marking one year till the World Cup.

It's finally passed the Missouri Legislature greenlighting an ambitious stadium rescue plan.

But now what?

It's a week of big protests and some strange storylines.

Stick with us.

Your week reviewed next week in Review, is made possible through the generous support of Dave and Jeannie Cummings, Bob and Marley's Gourley, the Courtney as Turner Charitable Trust, John H. Mai and Bank of America Na Co trustees.

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Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

We are back following our on air membership drive last week, and we've come back in the nick of time.

It's been a heck of a Newsweek tracking the most impactful, confusing, and downright head scratching local news stories from 95.7 FM, KCMO Talk Radio, Pete Mundo from our Metro's newest newspaper.

Next Page KC Eric Wesson, writing for the Beacon and a nationally syndicated columnist for the Tribune News Service.

Mary Sanchez and former star reporter and editorial writer Dave Helling.

Now, for the first time in months, we actually have real news to report on the ongoing saga over Kansas City sports stadiums.

The Missouri Legislature this week sending to the governor about an ambitious plan to pick up the tab for up to half the costs of new or improved stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals.

It's about jobs, and it's about moving Missouri forward.

Most of the people in my district can't afford to take it to either sporting event.

They are more concerned about putting food on the table and fuel in their tank, and paying their rent and paying their taxes, which in the corporate world there are people who say, oh well, they won't go, they won't go.

Yes they will.

Just a snapshot from the debate there in the Missouri legislature this week.

So what happens now, Pete Mundo, do John Sherman and Clark Hunt join the governor for a splashy news conference and say we're staying in Missouri?

Doesn't seem that way.

Based on the statement that the Chiefs put out when this came down on Wednesday, it was a very, mushy statement that had a lot of nothing in it and says, now we continue to consider the state of Missouri.

So now we've got this two week deadline, more or less until June 30th, when the Kansas Star Bond offer ends.

But Kansas could extend that up to another year.

Senate President Tim Masterson, on Kansas a side insists that they don't really want to play this game.

But when push comes to shove, we'll have to see.

So it's not done yet.

Royals and the Chiefs saying this is an important next step.

But no commitment Dave.

Yeah, mushy statements have been the rule rather than the exception for the last two years, particularly from the teams.

It is an important step though.

Now Missouri's cards are on the table.

assuming the governor signs it, which of course he will.

Kansas cards are on the table.

I talked to a state senator in Kansas this week who said, the state is unlikely to really change the terms of its offer based on what Missouri has done.

This is kind of it.

And so it really is up to the teams to make some decisions sooner rather than later.

And there are advantages and disadvantages to the Missouri plan and the Kansas plan.

And it's going to take some effort to sort all of that out, because billions of dollars are involved, and it's the biggest public works project in regional history, public works project.

And so it's going to take some time to get it figured out.

You know, the news out of Jefferson City comes as our local TV stations report pushback in Overland Park over plans to build a Royals ballpark there.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star reporting that Kansas City's new city manager has put his thumb firmly on the scale of building the new baseball stadium at Washington Square Park next to Crown Center.

It's interesting to his reasoning.

He cites the multiple home staff parking lots that are now barely used, which could be the footprint for the Royals entertainment district, he says it's on the streetcar line and close to Union Station, and he says it would tie into a commuter train service on game days from the suburbs.

Have you heard any suburbs talking about bringing trains into Kansas City if they build it a downtown ballpark?

No, I haven't heard of any of that.

I know the recent talk from a city Councilwoman Patterson has the league is to have the streetcar now going up and down 18th Street.

That's the only streetcar commuter conversation that I've heard.

I guess that's off the table with everybody focusing on Washington Square.

Is that now the the preferred site?

Pete, John Sherman has made it very clear he wants to be downtown.

I mean, he tried to get that crossroads deal and that was an utter mess leading up to the vote.

So it's been pretty evident that from a Royals perspective, that is their first option.

And even the North land deal, a lot of people think that's got some potential.

But the Royals and you talk to folks in Clay County, they don't know much about it.

It's kind of there but not there.

But maybe they did have to in the crossroads plan that failed, that voters actually voted on.

they were displacing businesses and some housing.

That would not be the case at Washington Square Park.

So they argue this would be a much easier site to actually make happen.

That's part of the sweet spot for that.

you know, that location there a lot.

You know, it's is used to serve houseless people quite often.

You know, they gather there for some meals, but you could certainly shift that.

And hopefully, you know, we'll soon have a new mental health facility built, that was also approved during that legislative session.

So that will help.

And, you know, that kind of pushback that just really got generated strongly wouldn't happen with that Washington Square Park.

The other important thing to keep in mind many important things.

But one of the things that's part of the Missouri package, Nick, is do you need voter approval, presumably for a local component for both the Chiefs and the Royals?

The Chiefs are kind of easy.

Jackson County could put a tax on the ballot, early next year.

And, you know, sort of fill out the financing for that stadium.

But the Royals, it isn't clear where the local contribution is coming from.

Now, Quinton Lucas has suggested you might be able to do it without a vote.

I think that would really irritate a lot of people.

If it is Kansas City, that would include Kansas City north of the river.

They might have some problems with it.

The state legislation, if you won't, they if you read it carefully, says that it has to be a sufficient, local contribution.

Doesn't say how where who gets it when.

and so those questions remain very, very much up in the air.

Probably won't be answered in two weeks.

We'll see.

But I think the key part of this whole equation is getting the Chiefs and the Royals ownership of defense.

Do we want to be here?

the 10%, Tiff makes it 60% for the Missouri, contribution to it.

But again, what do the Chiefs and the Royals want?

Nobody knows.

Are they still shopping deals in other cities?

You know, I think they need to kind of step up to the table and say, this is what we want.

This is what we're looking at.

Let's do it like this.

Because these tables, those stadiums are very expensive.

We've need that.

We've needed that for two years.

And the Royals and Chiefs refuse to step, to the table and say, this is precisely what we want.

You know, heck, if the Chiefs go to Kansas, the Chiefs themselves will have to pay $1 billion over 30 years, plus another billion in interest.

Do they want to invest $2 billion in a stadium in Kansas?

We just don't know.

And I think to with the with the Kansas offer, I've always thought it was a fairly hollow deal because the idea of a star buying district is you have to generate the revenues to pay off the bonds.

The state's not backing the bond.

If it's a junk bond, no one buys the bond.

I don't know why it, but the interest rates will be 910%.

Yeah.

So then it's like, okay, what does it look like?

How big does the Star Bond district have to be to pay off $2 billion of a $3 billion stadium?

And no one's ever shown that math.

No one's ever shown that map.

And, you know, the folks in Kansas say we're not going to put together and let them put together a ridiculous star bond district.

That doesn't actually make any sense.

So I don't know if the math for a job of this size actually works.

In Kansas, this week marked a big milestone in Kansas City.

The World Cup is now officially one year away, and our local leaders hosted a splashy news conference at Union Station to reveal new join countdown clocks that will be displayed in prominent places around the Metro building.

Suzy ASM for the global soccer event.

And the countdown clock right here.

It could be the biggest sporting event in the history of humanity, and to be able to host that is an incredibly rare opportunity.

I feel very confident about where we are today and where we're headed.

Everything from transportation to coordinating experience on the ground to FanFest.

We're hitting all the right blocks at the right time to get there.

It's fair to say that we will not have an event as big as this again in the metro region, at least in our lifetime.

Okay, other than the countdown clock, Mary and the long list of sponsors that they announced that we're going to be part of the making this happen in Kansas City.

I was surprised they didn't have anything else that they were revealing at this event.

I was expecting something more.

You're expecting something more because part of the rollout push made it sound like there would be something more.

But as far as, again, it's almost like the issues with the stadiums, anything super concrete is just not there yet.

I'm like you, I'm not sure.

We learned a lot about the countdown.

Other than that there will be a countdown, but I'm not sure what.

There is more.

I mean, they're going to play soccer.

It's going to be at this stadium.

We don't know what teams are coming until.

They don't know what teams are coming.

I'm not sure what other information they get.

Okay.

There were a couple of the other news notes, though unrelated, on the World Cup this week.

Did you see we're now advertising on London double decker busses to try and lure British travelers to Kansas City to see the games.

City leaders are feeling the pressure to put on a positive face for the swarms of international visitors.

They're expecting the city council just unveiled a plan to fill empty storefronts ahead of the World Cup.

Did you see that by giving would be business owners up to $25,000 to cover the lease costs?

We have been sitting vacant for years.

why not figure out how we can put these businesses in prime locations where the tourists are going to be so that they can find them.

They can sell, even if it's just for a short amount of time.

How will that work, Eric?

And is that a great use of, city money?

it looks good and sounds good, but it still does.

It feel what is needed transportation, lodging and food and restaurants.

Those are the three things that you look for.

But I don't want to say this because Dave said this several months ago about the World Cup.

And if you watch the immigration issues that are going on, is that going to be, curtailed during this period?

Because if I'm from another country and I don't want to come in here and get stuck or arrested or anything like that doing that, well, I will say that I am a very close watcher of all global news relating to the World Cup.

I really do watch it all, but I, you know, the head of FIFA is, very chummy with President Trump.

I know a lot of efforts will be made behind the scenes to try and make sure that we get the people coming here, and they will be exceptions.

What do you think, Pete?

Well, yeah.

I mean, let's be honest.

Let's remember, President Trump under his first term is the one who got the World Cup here.

And he's been pretty active the last few weeks in putting this committee together and making sure this thing goes well.

But this thing in Kansas City feels very forced to me right now.

It's very popular with politicians and Chamber of Commerce folks, and there's no doubt a big soccer fandom here that will be excited by this.

But we don't know the teams.

still a lot of questions.

The store front thing's a total joke.

I may open up a weed shop just for a month to see if I can make some money while I'm down there.

I mean, this is supposed to be something that makes the city money, and we're already talking about spending, what, a million and a half dollars on empty storefronts, on businesses that if they could open their own storefronts, they do it.

So this this is there's a lot of question.

A lot of people are trying to cash in on this.

Did you see, look no further than our local MP and B owners, in our area, channel 41 reports a three bedroom in midtown that's jacking up the price three times.

If you want to stay during the World Cup midtown, a three bedroom home is listed for $525 for two nights in 2025.

Next year, it jumps to $1,761.

That's more than three times the price.

Wow, this is an opportunity then, Mary, perhaps, you know, you've heard about federal budget cuts, potentially for public broadcasting.

Perhaps we could open up our parking lot, and I could be standing there during the World Cup and make some money off of this.

I would love to see that.

Okay.

I even helped supply sleeping bags myself.

And then as a business, it's not only paying your rent, you have to have employees.

You have to have inventory.

You have to have a lot of things.

It's not just, well, you're going to get a year's worth of free rent to move down there and fill up these vacant buildings is a lot more to being a business owner than that.

It's kind of interesting.

All of these storylines now coming together about this World Cup.

Did you see?

Also, the city has now just held a groundbreaking for a new 500 vehicle parking garage at the 18th.

And vine does Dot Jazz District, which they say will be open in time for the World Cup.

No, Eric, how many people are they expecting?

Is the 18th and Vine Jazz District going to be inundated with soccer fans?

it's going to be bombarded.

It's going to be so many people that park it's going to be morgues will be full overnight.

it depends on whether or not they get out.

The other businesses that are going on online and up and running, because most of those, venues down there are vacant.

So how they're going to get people in there is going to be up to the city to figure out a way to do.

It's going to be a tough strategy down that when the story emerged about renting space and empty business fronts, I'm reminded of the movie that was made in Kansas City back in the 80s and 90s, where they went down to 18th and vine and painted all the storefronts and put up fake yeah, logos and bars and decorations.

Some of those are still there, you know, 20, 25 years later, you know, roofs will last for a while.

But after a time, people understand they're being faked out a little.

Now, one top elected leader who was noticeably absent from the World Cup news conference on Wednesday was Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas.

Do you know why he's in Germany leading a five day trade mission to Stuttgart?

Munich and nestled off?

The mayor has been swiftly racking up the air miles.

Three weeks ago, he was in there as part of an economic conference heavily funded by the guitar government.

Are we getting much business out of these trips, Pete?

That remains to be seen.

Right?

Clearly not.

If we got off for 25 grand for empty storefronts.

I mean, I guess that's the first.

But we could have some German companies coming in and that would be great.

And, you know, if we end up with one of these monster teams here, it will be a smashing success.

And that's the thing.

I think the politicians and the Chamber of Commerce folks thinks that they'll determine whether or not this is a success.

So much of this will be determined as to whether or not it is a success based on things that we don't control.

And I agree with that.

And say, if it's a big team like a Germany or an England who come here or Spain, they'll be here weeks in advance, training, and they'll be mobbed by fans, well, even before the tournament even begins.

By the way, even though he's in Germany, the man has not been shy this week about wading into contentious issues far from Kansas City.

With lots of protests now underway in Kansas City, Lucas condemns Donald Trump for sending National Guards onto the streets of L.A..

So, by the way, did Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, why did he feel he had to wade into that issue at all?

Eric Wesson because he's going to Lucas.

And, he felt that his voice needed to be heard.

And, you know, if they do it to California, they'll do it in Kansas City.

And it kind of looks like it's an issue with Democratic mayors.

So it might snap in here.

So he's.

Yeah.

Is that the worry that he thinks that somehow, by staying silent, you know, in the near future, we could see National Guard troops on the streets of Kansas City.

Not a mind reader.

I have not asked Quinton Lucas.

You haven't?

Okay, no.

Which press?

I should have, but, a little preemptive just to put a stake down and say this is what we stand for.

It is somewhat standing behind our local law enforcement, too, and saying, you know, look, we can handle things here, which is what the mayor, the chief of police in LA is saying as well.

And I think they had more than 400 arrests last night.

It was just taking care of.

It's a very small portion of the city that is having the violence and having the problems.

They say they have it under control.

So he wanted to do the same and say, hey, we can handle these types of things here.

And in the protest, it just happened there.

There weren't any issues.

This was on Tuesday night.

Now the big ones will be coming up after we take.

Yes, we're going to have more for later this weekend and they will be all around the city.

I do know within some suburban areas, the organizers in Overland Park have been in contact with over park police.

They've told people how many they they think will be there, in terms of the protesters.

So there is that coordination that is occurring.

All right.

When back when President Trump was elected, Quinton Lucas made a point of saying, though he wouldn't be leading the opposition to him, he's not going to be part of that.

He's got his own work to be done.

Was that a shift in tone this week?

No, I you know, I think that, to Eric's point, he just likes to share his opinions, publicly.

And that's really all this was.

I don't think it does him any, good politically.

There's maybe not a lot of harm to it either for him.

But, you know, I think about this, too.

And one thing he did say on my show this week is that he will not be partaking in this weekend's protest because he's in Germany.

But, is he not back by now?

He's, is Canada said that he was a threat for the rest of the week, so that might be an easy target.

That may have been an easy dodge then.

Either way, I find it interesting that the protests that have already taken place this week, Congressman Cleaver, Congressman Davids and Kent Lucas apparently don't have any interest in being a part of them as far as we know.

Right now.

You know, about a month ago, I was on the plaza and took some pictures, about democracy.

And there was literally thousands and thousands of people on the plaza by the fountain over there.

And I saw not one police officer over there.

And people were maintained in their area.

They made their point.

It was in a lot of confusion, badly.

but Governor Laura Kelly in Kansas was involved and put out a statement as part of the, I think, the Democratic Governors Association criticizing the action in California.

Illegal immigration is a much bigger issue in Kansas, really, than it is in Missouri, particularly western Kansas, where a lot of, manufacturing and beef, processing plants use, immigrant labor.

and, President Trump today put out a tweet where he said or put out a statement on whatever social media he uses now that, the farmers are being hurt by this immigration, crackdown.

Some hotels are being hurt and that changes are coming.

I think the way, is the way he phrased it.

So there may be some adjustment in the next couple of weeks.

And our approach to immigration, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to news stories this week, threats of government shutdowns, you know, have become a frequent occurrence in Washington.

But did you know Jackson County has been in a budget standoff for six months with no budget passed?

It means everyone from the prosecutor's office to the Parks department have been starved of cash for half a year.

But finally, an agreement this week.

And yes, okay, we have passed a budget this year.

Some people are scratching their heads wondering how this happened in the first place, what was the snag and what ultimately led to the compromise?

Eric, I think one of the things that led to the compromise was the possibility of a recall and, possibly to County executive wanting to get out the front page of newspapers and news stories.

So he went along because there wasn't really a whole lot of difference in what was proposed in the first budget to the budget that they passed.

I think they got like six more million dollars for, nonprofit agencies to go out and do their work.

Didn't, didn't they make some changes to the property assessment process?

Very little.

But I think they did that before the budget because they said that they were going to follow the state law and cap it at 15%.

It wasn't a slam dunk.

Amid new drama at the Jackson County Courthouse as county legislature, Manny Abarca is charged with battery and his wife puts on out a missing persons report on their young son.

Some are calling for Abarca to resign.

County executive Frank white said Abarca should have recused himself from voting.

I did speak since some other legislators who tried to have a censure vote against Abarca, they couldn't get the votes to do that.

But aren't we all innocent until proven guilty?

Well, yes.

And, in domestic disputes particularly, you have to be.

I just say this as a former reporter, you have to be very, very, very careful that you understand as best you can, all of the facts involved before you reach a conclusion.

Either way, you know, the presumption is that the victim in this case, has some presumption of believability, but you really do have to pay a lot of attention.

And that's why all the arguments against A may have fallen apart, Mary.

I think so as well.

I think most people found I personally did a little bit tragic to see someone's personal life having to play out in the media.

Most media did hold off until there was actually the order with an arrest that he had taken his child against the court order.

That is a real issue.

But as de saying, there's so many nuances to these cases and I think let's just let the courts manage it and make sure that, you know, children are safe, that families are safe.

That's what matters most.

When you put a program like this together every week, you can't get to every story grabbing the headlines.

What was the big local story we missed?

How many do we need?

The Kansas City current announcing it's building a second soccer stadium, this time on the north side of the Missouri River.

They say the 2000 seat venue will be ready for the World Cup.

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley grabbing national news headlines as he introduces a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour coast to coast.

It's a position that aligns him with the most liberal members of Congress.

The head of Bishop High School placed on leave amid concerns over his ability to keep students safe.

Who says there's no development around the stadiums?

The different Cococay Water Resort next to Arrowhead Stadium opens this week as a new Mecca for pickleball.

It's also the new home for Casey's pro pickleball team, the Stingers.

You mean you didn't know we had one?

After 20 years?

It's the last symphony in the Flint Hills this weekend.

And we're marking ten years of boulevardier this Saturday at Crown Center.

And if you're looking for something more chill, a new 500 seat beer garden is now pouring its first pint right next to the Missouri River.

At downtown's Berkeley Park.

You'll find two birds, one stone next to the KC current stadium already.

Eric Wesson, did you pick one of those stories or something completely different?

I picked something completely different.

My first thing was that the police are are contemplating blue light cruisers, for their police cars modeling after other cities.

Chicago was one of them.

So they just keep the blue lights on all daytime regardless of what's happening.

Right?

And that's not really working in any of those cities because their population is different.

But one major thing I thought about was you getting a warrant ready that talk show host of the century.

Okay.

Congratulations to you.

All right.

He's talking about the best news anchor in Missouri Missouri broadcasters awards.

Hello.

Thank you, Eric, for the shout out Mary.

Well that's wonderful.

Thank you.

It was unexpected at the Marguerite of Ville resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Yes.

We'll chat later.

Okay.

It's interesting.

I actually picked something that will be going on on Saturday.

It's the association of the US Army always has.

This annual birthday celebration was the 250th of the Army.

And the celebration this year, it'll be in Overland Park.

They always have a dinner.

They bring in people who are the sort of people that we usually make movies about.

Medal of Honor winners.

It is the U.S. Army in all of its history that I think most of America, you know, is very proud of.

and that will be occurring on Saturday night.

So it's not just the big parade in Washington that the celebrating 250th birthday.

We got big people right here in town going on.

Okay, then.

That sounds good.

Dave, Cindy Holsinger today and declared her candidacy for governor in Kansas, the first Democrat to officially get into the race.

She is not well known outside of our area, but Cindy Holzer is smart, hardworking.

She is a very credible candidate and someone to watch.

And by the way, related to that, Lieutenant Governor Dave Toland is heavily involved with the negotiations with the Chiefs and Royals and the star bond package, for both teams that could play a role in the governor's race if he decides to run for governor.

And the team's decision, a to Kansas, credit.

And he's the lieutenant governor right now under Laura Kelly.

Pete Mundo will go with the, Josh Hawley, $15 an hour.

Bizarre minimum wage proposal that came out of left field and exclusive to CBS news.

And, he got roasted pretty bad for that by most on his side of the political aisle.

I think Josh Hawley has got a bit of an identity crisis right now.

He's not in the MAGA inner circle.

He's not an establishment.

He's trying to find his lane.

And he swung.

And he missed this week.

And the last thing I'll say is, if you're winning, what awards for what talk show.

Well, it was it was anchor.

News anchor.

That means one thing, Nick.

What?

You're getting old.

oh.

Ouch.

All righty, I on that.

We.

Thank you.

week has been reviewed courtesy of Eric Westin of networks page Casey and news icon Dave Helling.

Nationally syndicated columnist Mary Sanchez.

And 6 to 10 weekdays on KCMO Talk Radio 95.7 and FM Pete Mundo.

Still feeling like a teenager here I'm Nick Haines from all of us at Kansas City PBS.

Be well, keep calm and carry on.