All the chiefs.

The only thing people are talking about this week?

Well, we found some other things, from politics to personalities to protests.

It's the week of the big workplace dilemma.

Thousands of federal workers in the metro at old leave will be fired.

Now Lucas delivers his state of the city address and date more for Kansas governor.

Week in review is made possible through the generous support of Dave and Jamie coming Bob and Marlese Gourley, the Courtney as Turner Charitable Trust, John H. Mai and Bank of America Na Co trustees.

The Francis Family Foundation through the discretionary fund of David and Janice Francis and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Hello and welcome.

I'm Nick Haines.

We are taking you on a whirlwind journey this week through the most impactful, confusing, and most talked about stories around our metro hopping on board the wicked review bus with us this week is a Yvette walker who leads your Kansas City Star editorial board from the prime time anchor desk at KMBC nine news.

Chris Ketz Pete Mundo tracks the week's big stories behind a microphone at 95.7 FM, KCMO Talk Radio and former star reporter and editorial writer Dave Helling is with us.

And what is a super week in Kansas City?

We going?

no.

Soon enough, whether history is going to be made here, can the Chiefs do the unthinkable?

Win three Back-To-Back Super Bowls, a feat never achieved before?

We can talk a lot about politics on this program, but is that the biggest story in town this week?

Beat.

Of course it is.

I mean, you talk to business owners as well.

It's a huge week for them.

You talked to a lot of restaurant tourists.

They'll say up until Valentine's Day it was a pretty dead time of year.

And now they've got a ton of Chiefs business.

It's good for the economy.

And it is the story in Kansas City.

that is one of the top people without Kansas City Star.

I was shocked we were able to get you this week.

I was expecting you to be in New Lowell, New Orleans, in a skybox of some kind.

What happened?

Well, we're not in Nola, but I have to say, Dave Kelly and I did something pretty fun this week.

We were able to collab with Philly writers about which city is better, which quarterback is better.

We had a lot of fun.

So we're not in New Orleans, but, check that out if you haven't had a chance to see that.

I'm assuming we also have the best Philly Shake sandwiches right here in Kansas City.

Actually, my favorite Super Bowl story comes from you, Chris.

You were it was a previous Super Bowl.

You were going through Miami Airport and a man starts running after you shouting, Michael Mahoney, we love you.

I get that a lot.

it is the biggest story of the week.

it's maybe the biggest story of the year.

And the television stations in Kansas City responded accordingly.

I will just tell you, we have as we sit here recording this program, we have 13 people in New Orleans right now and adding two more this weekend.

Yeah, it's been thin on the ground.

Show in Kansas City.

We have lots of other things to report, Dave, including the fact that if the Chiefs, beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, expect the victory party to look a whole lot different in Kansas City.

Multiple sources now confirm there will be no public rally after gun violence disrupted last year's event, and even the proposed parade route is being modified to minimize security risks.

How will the parade be different?

Dave?

Well, I think there will be more, security around to make sure that they don't have a repeat of the incident a year ago.

And my guess is it's just a guess, Nick, that there will be fewer people attending.

Because I do think while all of the observations here are 100% accurate, you do get just the hint of Kansas City is becoming a bit blasé about their team in the Super Bowl.

You know that all third time in a row.

Do I need to throw another party or or go out and buy more chips and more guacamole for the neighborhood?

I also think, too, it's interesting if the reporting on this has been accurate and there's no reason to believe it, it hasn't been.

The parade route itself will gather, by Union Station and will travel north away from Union Station.

I think, in an attempt to try to minimize those crowds and kind of take the steam out of any sort of a public gathering, as we've seen in the past.

Does that make sense to do that, given what happened last year at this time when we had the parade and the violence that took place and what we've seen since then, including in New Orleans.

Yeah.

You know, I don't know if if the change of the parade route is going to make that big of a difference.

But I think it's interesting that at least people are our leaders are realizing we've got to do something different.

We cannot just do the same thing all over again.

And I see that not only is it going to be, as Dave pointed out, a lot more security police they're at, if they win it.

but that route will be moving, as the mayor says, a lot faster than it has done before.

They're going to get on busses at Crown Center, allegedly.

And then move to sixth week of a different route than they've done before.

Before.

Well, you kind of spread people out if you just have a parade route.

There's no mass gathering.

We had a lot of people who would call our show last year and say, last year in particular was a special kind of mess, whether that's because of alcohol, excitement, whatever.

But you had people running down the parade route to get to the rally point at the finish.

This allows them to finish, hop on 70 and probably just head back to Arrowhead.

and it gives the Chiefs a lot more control.

I don't think you'll see players jumping off of busses, high fiving, you know, bottles to the face.

There was a lot of that last year that was that was, frankly out of control and would have been the story had the tragedy not overtaken that I did see on the channel nine weather forecast, Chris Katz, that, Tuesday and Wednesday, though, snow showers in the forecast.

Do we know what day it would actually take place?

If they do?

Indeed.

It might be a little bit later in the week.

I think you might be looking at Wednesday or Thursday, possibly, but, weather could also be a factor in terms of turnout.

And I was thinking, Dave, when you say about, you know, we become blasé.

We've done it so many times.

Will some schools say, you know, we're not going to be closing, on.

so I think each district is making a different decision.

But one of the things to keep in mind, Nick, is that the leagues require these parades or celebrations to take place relatively quickly after the game.

so that it's not strung out over two weeks later or whatever.

So that's why that planning has to be, take place now, and why everybody is getting ready for whatever they assume is going to happen on Sunday.

Now, speaking of sports, Royals owner John Sherman has finally broken his silence, nearly a year after voters rejected a tax that would have funded a new downtown ballpark during the team's annual Royals rally event at Kauffman Stadium.

Sherman says the club hopes to have some certainty about future stadium plans by mid-year.

Hopes to have some sort of certainty by mid-year.

There's a lot of conditional language.

Could you be less specific?

Oh, no.

No, and that is the problem.

We've been talking so long that, we need specifics.

We need there needs to be more transparency.

How can we make really decisions?

And the voters probably gonna be left out of it this time around.

But still, how can we be happy or comfortable about a decision that we just don't know anything about?

It changes if the if the Royals wait until mid-year to make their opinions known, it changes the posture of both state legislatures, which will be out of session by that point, which means that they may be pointing to 2026 as the year of action.

But even if it was June or July, would that still allow something to be on the ballot in August?

no.

You've got to be 60 days before August.

So, and again, there is some idea that maybe they could do this without a ballot.

I think what's happening, Nick, I don't have any reporting, but it's just a guess that the owners of the Royals and the Chiefs, for that matter, are finally figuring out that this is one expensive project and that there is, you know, billions of dollars are involved.

And in a community of our size, building one such facility is always going to be a heavy lift.

Building two or refurbishing one and building another is an enormous undertaking.

And I think they're just trying to figure out how to make all the numbers end up at the.

Bottom in the new stadiums that are out there right now.

They're starting at 2 billion.

Was there any news from John Sherman, or was he simply just kicking the can further down the road?

Pete?

Well, I think he's he's got to say something at some point.

I mean, like he said, we're almost 12 months from the vote.

This is what time we heard from.

And it's better he gets ahead of it now, you know, spring training a couple weeks away, if that.

So people are wondering what's next.

And also he's got a moment here to take advantage of.

They're coming off a run to the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade.

He's got some goodwill behind this team and the entire franchise.

So now's the time to strike while the iron is hot.

But it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

And they've also blown through deadlines in the past.

So it's not out of the realm of possibility.

That isn't it isn't that just quickly?

Isn't it also possible they don't know what they want to do?

I mean, that that was the problem a year ago in April.

They weren't completely clear on what they wanted to do, which is a.

Little scary to think about given how.

And now, a year later, they still don't know.

I'm not sure the Chiefs know the Chiefs have said and said, well, maybe I'll buy the legends now.

Maybe we'll refurbish our stadium.

I'm not sure the teams know precisely what they want to do.

That's what the legislators and politician will tell you, that they need to know what what the teams are asking, and they don't have that information yet.

But will the winner after Sunday?

Well, well, we were going to hear more talk about this.

Chiefs are going to win I'm confident.

Oh well let's just we'll replay the next week.

That's right, that's right.

Yeah a bill in Missouri that would pay citizens a $1,000 bounty to turn in undocumented workers and families, brought Kansas citizens out onto the streets this week to protest from.

Seven years ago.

Anybody who's here illegally or even, like, with a visa, but scared that they're going to be sent back, that's that's exactly who we're here for.

Well, these are scenes with the Country Club Plaza.

In addition, many Mexican restaurants in the metro shuttered their doors to protest the measure.

But just because something is proposed doesn't mean it's going anywhere.

Didn't the new speaker of the Missouri House state, John Patterson, say this week it's chances of passage is slim to none?

And if he says that, he's probably accurate, is he's the speaker of the House?

I do think that there will be other efforts on the immigration front, frankly, in both Kansas and Missouri this year.

At the legislative level, it's very performative.

you know, the important work is being done, with the Immigration Service, of course.

And then the debate over birthright citizenship, which is a real thing and will be decided in the courts.

It's interesting, though, Pete, in the Missouri legislature got Missouri governor bigger majorities of Republicans in the House and Senate.

But yet that bill was considered a bridge too far.

Well, because of what they've said, it's largely performative.

You get, you know, especially some new people in there want to make a name for themselves.

They want to introduce a bill.

And trust me, they'll they'll reach out to me.

Hey, talk to me about this.

Bill introduced.

Well, if there's a 0% chance of it passing, why why would I waste my listeners time with that?

but that's what it is.

I think it's a lot of attention seeking, and it's largely held and taken care of at the federal level.

Yeah.

If that if you go on social media, you see all sorts of reports and things that are said.

Many of them walked back and canceled and and deleted right afterwards.

But have we seen any specific action in Kansas City with regards to any immigration policy, whether it be at the state or federal level at this time?

Well, last week and maybe even the week before that, we began to hear so many, calls about Ice and coming into Casey K in particular.

And, you know, it was difficult to find whether or not that actually happened.

But the fear is there.

There's so much fear in these neighborhoods.

And so I just think that we just have to to continue to protect as, you know, our citizenry here, because we're here in Kansas City and there are beautiful people here, and they are doing good work here.

And I hate the fact that they're so fearful.

And in fact, when I come into work every day as somebody who came from Britain, I do wear a fake mustache and glasses as I try to get still recognizable.

immigration families aren't the only ones running scared.

This week, thousands of federal workers in Kansas City have been told to return to work this week or prepare to be fired.

They were given a Thursday deadline by the Trump administration.

Many federal employees continue to work from home, nearly five years after stay at home orders were put in place at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Workers have been told if they resign this week, they'll be paid through the end of September.

If they don't, they risk being fired.

We've been hearing from a lot of federal workers this week right here at the station, including one who says they change their party affiliation from Democrat to independent to try and avoid being purged, as they call it.

And as we record this program, the deadline of whether to accept or decline these offers is hitting, so far, the reporting seems to indicate maybe as many as 40,000 federal workers nationwide may go ahead and take the deal.

The exact numbers we don't know.

And like the issue of birthright citizenship, this is also another issue that is and will be hashed out in the courts.

If you wipe out big sections of the federal workforce, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the way people live their lives.

For example, there was, a lot of hand-wringing last week over the plane crash over the Potomac.

And let's hire more air traffic controllers.

Well, you're just wiping out the federal service.

Except for air traffic controllers.

I mean, how about food inspectors?

I mean, they're OSHA and people who come into the workplace so that folks don't get hurt.

So it'll have an impact.

Now, just a couple of things.

The exact details of the separations, recommendation are not clear.

You know, we'll pay you maybe through September, but maybe the Congress won't allocate the money there.

You talk about the unease, you've had among the immigrant community.

Federal workers are on, pins and needles as well.

Well, there's $36 trillion in debt.

There's a $1.8 trillion deficit.

this is how the private business operates all the time.

I mean, we're in media outlets that have all shrunk in recent years.

If you can't make your budget, you got to make cuts.

If it's the government were insistent that somehow the world's going to end well.

Yeah.

I'm not going to push back, though.

If there starts to be, you know, you know, you have to you have to cancel your vacation because you couldn't get your passport in time.

Well, you got to work ahead of time.

I don't know what to tell you.

I mean, you know, it's not easy to get a passport right now.

And something tells me that when you find the fat through Dodge across the federal government, it's not going to be the guy that's issuing you your passport.

And we're starting to see some of that come out in recent days.

I just think that slimming down is what private business does when you can't meet your budget.

And why should we not expect our government to do the same thing with our tax dollars?

I don't think that there's anyone that would not say that there's a certain level of red tape and bureaucracy in the federal government, but what I'm not seeing, I'm seeing I'm seeing trigger.

I'm seeing, not a lot of plan what's going to happen there?

It's happening too fast.

And I don't think there's really any transparency about, once these government agencies are slimmed down or maybe closed altogether, what the plan is to take care of what they were doing in the first.

And the other thing to keep in mind is it's all being done by someone in the private sector who's not elected to any office.

And the Congress has been written out completely, of any decision making, you know, you can eliminate departments.

It happens all the time.

But you go to Congress and say, hey, how about if you vote on this and then proceed?

But this has been done in a very dictatorial way.

It frightens a lot of people.

And the first time someone dies of food poisoning or, dies in the workplace, folks are going to say, well, what happened to everybody?

And they're going to find out the reality.

Well, before boarding a plane for New Orleans for the big game, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas delivered his state of the city address from City Hall.

This is supposed to be the time the mayor delivers his vision for the next year, but it's also a time to reflect on what he has done in leading our metro's largest city over the last year.

Can he declare that the state of the city is good?

Well, the timing of the speech is interesting.

It tells me he doesn't really have any interest in Kansas City, and watching it, to be honest, because he's doing it the Thursday before the Super Bowl when there's a ton of hype around, this game that will largely overshadow his his speech, I think he can claim the city feels good, and it's largely because of things he doesn't control, like the chiefs.

But listen, homicides did come down last year.

He can point to that.

And there's a lot of people that would say right now, the city's in a good place.

He got reelected by a wide margin with really no contenders.

So he can make that claim partially because of things out of his control.

Chris, given what has happened this week, though, is it advisable for the man to stay clear of saying we've made progress when it comes to crime?

We just hand out over the weekend, three women dead in a triple homicide.

The murder count, by the way, is now at 18.

It was just five at this time last year.

And we've also surpassed where we were in 2023, which recorded the highest number of homicides in Kansas City history.

I think there are an awful lot of people in this city who don't feel safe for a variety of reasons.

And I think it's not that they feel that city Hall isn't aware of the problem, but that City Hall is incapable of addressing it in a positive way.

And these are issues, obviously societal in many different ways and perhaps out of the reach of government anyway.

But, but there's a I think there's a fundamental concern in this city that I haven't seen in an awful long time.

If that is crime, the mayor's biggest weakness.

I think so people were already talking about, the fact that there's not going to be a rally.

Where are you talking about the fact that, people are concerned about safety in what should be a celebratory event?

I think that that still tells a story right there.

Dave.

I mean, it's easy in this program.

We often focus on problems.

What has he done?

Well, I think Kansas City does show some signs of progress.

We're going to open the streetcar extension.

We some people see that has progress.

I think they're working on housing and doing a little bit better in that regard.

But let's be frank.

Nick, the most forgotten event in Kansas City politics every year is the state of the city address.

I mean, it's literally, forgotten 24 hours after it's delivered in early in my career, it didn't exist as a thing.

You know, when Dick Berkley was mayor, you didn't even have state of the city.

And then Emanuel Cleaver.

Well, pomp and circumstance.

So, but one other quick note on crime, however, with the mayor, remember, it's a state controlled police department.

And to blame him or the council for, crime alone is inaccurate.

Now, the mayor may have a great opportunity to win over a big friend this weekend, because I see that President Trump is going to be the first sitting president to be at the Super Bowl.

He's had an opportunity for Quinton Lucas to win him over, possibly coming back with a huge bucket of cash for Kansas City.

No, I don't think that's going to happen.

I think it's more likely that Taylor Swift and Donald Trump have some great Kumbaya.

but, you know, listen, I think right now for Quinton Lucas, he and we've talked a lot about this just nationally, his party is in a very unpopular place, arguably the most unpopular it's been in a very long time.

Quinnipiac poll that had the party 26 points underwater.

I know that stuff ebbs and flows, but I think he actually is somebody who is willing to engage in conversations across the aisle.

He does a good job of it, and if he's part of that solution for his own party going forward, it could be interesting to see how it develops.

Every big project that we try to do in Kansas City requires a lot of federal cash, at least at some point.

That's going to be harder to come by now.

I agree, but I just have to say this, he if he has a great interaction with, with the president, that's wonderful.

but when it comes to loyalty, Donald Trump isn't very high on that.

Okay.

All righty.

over the years, you may have seen T-shirts and bumper stickers that say things like Bill sell for governor or Bill Snyder for governor.

Sports figures are increasingly jumping into politics.

But what about Dayton Moore for governor?

The former Kansas City Royals president has consumed.

He's on a fact finding trip around Kansas, weighing a possible run to succeed Laura Kelly.

Sports play is a big how much of a profile Chris Katz does Dayton Moore have?

Two years after being fired from his Royals leadership job?

I think Dayton Moore obviously gets points for things like the see you in the Major Leagues Foundation and his role in starting all of that and the positive impact that he's having that the Foundation is having on young lives.

And maybe this maybe this exploration of a run for governor is perhaps an extension of that.

But I just politically find it hard to believe that this is something that's going to have legs here in a few months.

You are breaking news on this because he appeared on your program and that was that launched the that launched the whole story telling with regards to him running, running for governor.

Well, just to clarify, because a lot of ports that followed this up didn't say what political party he would be running for.

He'll be a Republican, he would be a Republican.

And he was not on my show.

I just broke the story.

He's been a friend for a long time that he's looking at this.

And, you know, I think for him, it's it's all about leadership.

It's about the see you in the Major Leagues foundation that he still has here in Kansas City.

He lives here at home.

And our friendship started with him being very interested in just the political scene.

what's going on on the Kansas side of the state line?

I never thought we'd be talking about this potentially today, but, here we are.

And listen, I think he's he's a great leader.

he's well-liked.

And when it comes to name ID, it's really more about, does he have more name ID than his opponents?

And right now there's only Scott Schwab in the race.

The he is Kansas secretary of state.

No one knows the secretary of State.

If he were to poll Kansans, maybe 10% know they're secretary of state.

So he will have more name ID, I believe, than anyone else in the race, probably.

And that will give him a little bit of a leg up.

I disagree with that.

I don't think people pay attention to the front office of the Kansas City Royals.

Once you get 50 miles west of Kansas City, and he will face stiff opposition, particularly in a Republican primary where you could have several Republicans with legislative, experience on the on the ballot.

That makes his, his path a little more difficult.

And he would have to raise a lot of money.

Now, if he does win the governorship, perhaps he could trade Kris Kobach to Colorado or Minnesota or somebody, maybe for a draft choice or some cash.

And in that case, I get support.

I should point out, by the way, Laura Kelly cannot run again.

She's term limited.

She's going to be out of office in 2026 anyway.

But is there a, is it really a slam dunk, though, for a well-known sports figure to be elected?

I think it's possible.

But is he as well known as he would need to be for that to be a slam dunk?

And the other thing is, it's easy to be in a public figure like that in sports and talk about the decisions made there, but you know, when then he's going to be interjecting himself on, you know, should care be given to transgender minors.

He's going to get involved in a lot of thorny issues.

And your popularity may change.

It can but what I would just add, when it comes to date more and whether or not he can be governor, you know, you look at some of the people that are likely to run against him.

What are their ties to a Brownback administration, which Democrats have run very effectively against Republican primary voters like outsiders, they like people who have not been in politics right now.

He has not done any of that.

And that will be potentially highly appealing.

And go to the plumber door run.

And he didn't do very well.

And Kris Kobach was the nominee last time.

He's not exactly a neophyte in Kansas politics.

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?

Women's basketball phenom Caitlin Clark in town at the T-Mobile center event.

She gives her endorsement for a WNBA team in Kansas City, so there will be no quick resolution, after all, to the most beleaguered piece of land in all of Kansas City.

The star reporter may take a yearlong legal trial to settle the future of the Michigan Gateway Project team was once home to a thriving shopping mall.

It was torn down nearly 20 years ago, and they still haven't figured out what to do.

Johnson County is getting serious about the World Cup despite complaints from citizens about high taxes.

The county is now spending $1.5 million on leasing a massive fleet of busses to pick up soccer fans at KCI, take them to their Kansas hotels and ferry them to Arrowhead Stadium every 20 minutes during the month long tournament.

And while companies and governments are walking back D-I programs, the Kansas City Royals are putting their cash behind Black History Month.

They're paying for everyone to visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for free.

You can walk into the 18th and find attraction without a ticket.

Now through the end of February already.

Did you pick one of those stories or something completely different this week?

Something completely different and not a major story.

But as we look ahead to Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans, it's going to be a little different without George Toma there.

this is it kind of ran afoul with the league a couple of years ago.

Somebody who has had extensive experience, obviously in Kansas City and nationwide when it comes to big events like this.

And he's just a really good guy and a Kansas City, and I'll miss him.

That.

Something else.

So, we'll, we'll see whether or not Casey Pet Project still has control of animal welfare.

Frankly, I think that there needs to be, for lack of a better word, perhaps a private public partnership between the City and Casey Pet Project to look after to protect our animals, but also to keep us safe.

Dave.

Josh Hawley and, Bernie Sanders have joined together.

Amazing.

It's great.

That's right.

to propose a bill that would limit credit card interest rates to 10%, phased in over time.

Some credit card companies, as you know, charged 28, 29, 30% interest on on purchases.

I don't think this bill has a great chance, at least in its present form of passing.

The banks are too, opposed to it, but some limit on credit card fees, maybe in the future.

Pete.

this week, a, Kansas City radio host was, potentially nearly carjacked downtown.

It ties into our earlier conversation around crime.

Nicky Beavis as her name used to be a colleague.

She's now with another, group here in Kansas City.

But it really does, unfortunately, highlight this happens far too frequently in downtown to too many people.

this happens to be person of somewhat, you know, local notoriety.

That's why it got some legs, but certainly a big story.

And it does highlight what is still going to be a major problem for the city going forward and potentially for the future of these stadiums and where they're going to be located.

And on that, we will say all week has been reviewed courtesy of the stars of that Walker and Pete Mundo.

6 to 10 weekdays on KCMO Talk Radio, 95.7 FM.

From the anchor desk at KMBC nine news, Chris Katz and Kansas City news icon Dave Helling.

And I'm Nick Haines from all of us here at Kansas City PBS.

Be well, keep calm and carry on.