Five or 3 to 1.

Kansas is not a flyover state.

We are a touchdown state.

Get excited.

It's our annual year and with the addition of the program and the city, are you.

Ready to run?

At least four businesses were broken into over the weekend.

All three of my locations have been broken into several times.

I really believe.

They do have confidence in me doing this job after after ten years, and I feel good about the work to be done here.

Something you might recognize a year out.

88%.

Yes 11%.

No relief has come.

What it says is that the people are ready for change.

They are embracing Emanuel Cleaver from Congress.

I don't think we're pushing them out.

I think we are trying to provide the representation that more adequately reflects the voters in the state of Missouri, and that is conservative representation.

It makes no sense.

This is based purely on politics.

Former Missouri Governor Kit bond has died.

I think our voices matter, and sometimes it feels like all we can do is vote.

At the moment, Swifties have been desperately waiting for.

This half hour.

We look back at the year's most memorable local news stories and newsmakers, and we break out the crystal ball to predict what you can expect in Kansas City.

In this brand spanking new year.

Call 2026.

Oh yes.

He's done it.

Week in review is made possible through the generous support of Dave and Jamie Cummings, Bob and Marlese Gourley, the Courtney S Turner Charitable Trust, John H. Mize, 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.

What happens when you record your biggest show of the year?

Just as the biggest news story of the year is breaking.

Was it you who asked Santa to move the Chiefs to Kansas this week?

Did you really want him to leave lumps of coal in the stockings of Missouri officials, from the mayor to the governor?

Of course, so much is still unknown about the chief's decision to move to a new domed stadium near the Legends in Wyandotte County.

And it's going to be weeks and months before we get all those questions answered.

And did you notice Missouri officials, including the governor, still think they have a shot at winning them back?

But this is as good a stopping point as any to revisit all the other joyous and painful moments of 2025.

And we do it all in game show style with us on this yuletide romp is 50% of Dana in Parks on KMBC radio.

Dana Wright.

The best dressed man in Kansas City.

Media from next page K.C.

Eric Wesson, former Kansas City Star reporter and editorial writer Dave Helling.

And from behind the microphone at KCUR News Brian Ellison.

Well, it was a year that saw the Chiefs season crumble.

12 months of never ending talk of stadium moves.

It was the year we all became cartography experts.

Redrawing maps became one of the surprising headlines.

And don't forget, it was the year the streetcar finally expanded and voters ousted Jackson County leader Frank white.

And I'm voting to oust you because of my taxes.

And then there's 341 there.

Why?

Why do you think I'm here?

Let me just go vote.

I don't need to.

But Dana Wright complete this sentence.

I know the Chiefs are now the 800 pound gorilla headline, but the story that had the greatest impact on Kansas City in 2025 was blank.

We will get to Frank white and those poor homeowners in a moment.

I think I spoke to a friend of mine in the small business community who said, looking back, it has been a devastating year for small business owners, for families, certainly because of inflation.

We have had, stores shuttered on the plaza for small businesses recently shuttered in downtown Overland Park.

She says their businesses are down around 30 to, in some cases, 60%.

All of that is going to trickle down.

Rents are too high, and people are not spending what they need to spend to make the math work.

And you saw all of those break ins.

That was a big part of the story line for the entire.

Family did not help.

Absolutely.

Eric, what did you put down?

Snap benefits and the dread and the delay with the Snap benefits?

I think we'll all agree that ultimately the Chiefs and Royals decision will be the most impactful story of this year and next year.

Until that, controversy is finally settled and hammers are swinging and and steel is being installed.

But the most impactful local story was actually the national story of the federal government.

Under the Trump administration, with the layoffs, the government reduction, the, all the way through the shutdown and just the general sense of chaos, remember, the federal government is the largest employer in the Kansas City area.

Many people's lives were affected even if they kept their jobs.

The sense of.

But if you weren't a federal worker or you weren't on the Snap program, how was your life really impacted?

Well, I think the the impact on the community morale, the uncertainty, the sense of chaos, the way that that story consistently drove the narrative.

It was what we talked about every week, even if our own lives weren't affected.

I think that had a profound impact on the community.

Eric, complete the sentence for us.

The news story Kansas City would most like to forget in 2025 was blank.

I said, the sports teams, oh my goodness.

I mean, it took up more news ink than anything else.

Than anything else.

Dana, what's going on?

The loss of character, integrity and grace in politics and in our highest office.

When you have someone normalizing calling women.

Peggy, attacking reporters, mocking murder victims, I think history is going to look back and say, how did we get here?

How did we allow this?

Attacks on our Jewish friends are up on our Hispanic friends, and I think history is going to look back at this time and say, we were so lost.

Brian, on a lighter note, I think a story that I think a lot of constituents would like to forget this year is also sports, but not the stadium debate.

The sports on the field after this long row of successes across many sports.

The Chiefs after three Super Bowls, missing the playoffs for the first time, the Royals showing some signs of hope but falling short.

Sporting KC the worst team in the league.

KC current the best team in the league but exiting the playoffs early.

Pretty disappointing sports year for Kansas City.

And that's a before we even start talking about the state.

It was a great year though for our professional darts team the Red arrows.

But Dave Helling, what did you put down as the story we most want to forget?

The, firing dismissal of Brian Platt, the city manager in Kansas City, Missouri, after spending several hundred thousand dollars to, use him on down the road.

The management of Kansas City doesn't seem to have missed a beat at all, at least for most of its residents.

So that was a lot of sound and fury, signifying very little.

And it cost the city a lot of money.

Absolutely thousands of dollars.

But we're back where we were.

Brian Ellison, a multiple choice question for you.

Time magazine just named the architects of Guy as its person of the year.

If I were picking Kansas City's Person of the year, I would choose Pam Kramer, who's in charge of delivering the largest event in Kansas City history, the World Cup.

Or would it be the man now leading Jackson County after voters ousted Frank white?

Crystal Watson, who has just a bigger job as the new mayor?

Wyandotte County Travis and Taylor, who got engaged this year and probably got more news in Kansas City than anybody else.

Oh, was it chapel?

She may be from down the road in Springfield, but how many people got a car wrap on a life size mural in their honor?

And a back to back sellout?

Constance was used as evidence that downtown really can handle the crowds of a new ballpark 81 days a year?

Or was it John Sherman, the Royals owner who was never out of the headlines and yet managed to say absolutely nothing?

It could have been any of those.

Okay, but I went with Tom Jarrard, the executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority.

The rollout of the Main Street streetcar extension on time, under budget seems to be well-regarded.

People are writing it.

I just took it last night.

It was full of people on a on a weeknight, with the completion of the riverfront extension coming up early this year, I think he gets a lot of credit.

I think he's going to get a lot of appreciation for that.

And I think he makes a strong case for person of the year.

Dana, your person of the year was blank.

Start naming everything after Kansas Governor Laura Kelly.

There's a lot of reporting out there that looks like Kansas could steal both of those teams, if that happens, it will go down as one of the biggest stories in the history of Kansas and Missouri.

All of the work that went in prior with the sports gambling.

I don't think you can overstate the importance of Missouri losing possibly one, if not two, of its sports teams.

Eric.

Cynthia.

No, some is a news was a former news anchor.

She's a.

41.

Action 41.

They've been dealing with breast cancer every since I can remember and then had brain cancer.

And every time you see her, she has a smile on her face and you would think absolutely nothing is wrong with her.

As always, I try to remember the people we've lost to during the past year, in this segment.

So I'll mention three quick names.

Jack Kraft, who was a lawyer extraordinaire in Kansas City for a quarter century, involved in virtually every civic, issue, in the community.

Alice Kitchen, who was an activist in Kansas City.

Former chair of our own advisory board.

And heavily involved in women's issues in Kansas City for many, many years, and not hesitant to call your local reporter and give you a piece of her mind every once in a while, she will be missed.

And then finally, Sarah Milgrom, the young lady who was so savagely killed in Washington, the Kansas City native, you know, all three are a reminder that there are people whose names you have never heard who are working so hard to make this a better community.

And at a time like this, they need to be recognized.

And I like to do that.

Brian, fill in the blank for us.

The biggest winner in Kansas City this year was blank.

Well, I'm going to take a cue from Dave Helling.

Answer earlier and say it was Brian Platt.

Believe it or not, Brian Platt after being terminated for cause, after telling reporters, telling the city staff it was okay to lie to journalists, after losing the city, $900,000 in a wrongful termination case got himself a payout of half $1 million and seems to have landed on his feet.

So I'm going to say that makes him the biggest winner.

And that's fair enough.

Dana, who did you put down was the biggest.

Women's sports, the Kansas City current already been mentioned.

We had a women's rugby breaking and attendance record at CPAC.

We hosted women's national soccer, women's final four of soccer, and then Kathy Nelson was the Kansas City and of the year.

Obviously, with all of her work heading in to the World Cup.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention Caitlin Clark started the year by saying Kansas City is the obvious choice for a WNBA team.

All right.

Dave, who did you put down as the biggest winner?

Well, I put down the streetcar, community and streetcar supporters in a battle with bus riders and finding a permanent way to keep the busses rolling is proving problematic.

Not so with the streetcar.

It remains popular.

But it's working.

But isn't.

It isn't easy when something is free and you have to pay for a bus ride.

Exactly right.

And that changed.

Absolutely, said.

Streetcar.

Eric, the biggest winner.

I say Crystal.

Watson, of course, in Kansas City, Kansas, limited resources financially, came from the backside of the race to come up to the second place and then eventually the mayor.

But better chance of success than Tyrone Garner.

Absolutely.

Yes, absolutely.

She's got a clear vision, and she's the kind of person that gets people involved around her.

And I think that that would be the biggest difference between her and Tyrone.

Dana Wright complete the sentence.

The person, group or institution who lost the most in Kansas City this year was blank.

I don't know how anyone could choose anything other than Frank white for this.

I'm guessing that's what everybody chose.

What a year and what a resounding get out!

From the voters.

Second only to, as those who lost the most people that lost their homes, we still don't know.

And I'm hoping there is an audit specifically with this.

And I talked to a vote about this a couple weeks ago.

How many people actually lost their homes when those rates went up?

How many people lost their businesses when those rates went up 400%, 500%, 800%?

Without question, it is Frank white.

And you could say the entire white family because his son was running the bus service, and now they've got rid of him as well.

Right.

So not a good Christmas over there at the white House.

So you're laughing there, Eric?

Yeah.

Was that your answer?

That was that was going to be my answer.

But I changed because we were all talking about it before the show.

I said to people and the 30,000 prospect area that lost that son for us, they lost US grocery store there.

There was a lot of people around that area that depended on the store.

The city had a, situation go on there that they just didn't respond to fast enough.

And now those people are now looking for a grocery store.

And that became a national story in the race for New York City man who wanted to have more publicly subsidized grocery stores.

This was viewed as an idea of, oh, that's why it doesn't work.

Yeah, but.

You got to respond to it.

You can't wait years later and when people are saying, hey, there's people walking down the street naked, there's people doing this and that, and then you wait three months later or three years later to respond to it.

Dave, people walking naked.

I didn't know about this.

No, I didn't, that's why we do the urine review show.

I'm glad it was dark that night, is all I can say.

The biggest losers, obviously, are the Republicans.

Excuse me?

In Missouri, who routinely and repeatedly reject the people's right to initiate laws, circulate petitions, or vote on issues important to them.

The Republican Party in Missouri seems to believe that they can give their middle finger to voters over and over.

They did it on prop eight.

They're doing it on abortion.

The redistricting map, lawsuits, obfuscation, delay.

It's a mess.

And they're the biggest losers in my mind.

Ryan, go back where we started to Frank White, you know, 85 to 90% votes to recall are pretty remarkable.

Almost unheard of.

But but but there's another loser that's connected to that.

And that's the people of Jackson County who who did elect Frank white to that role?

Just a couple of years ago, and instead now we'll be governed by a county executive who they did not elect for the next year and a half.

Filiberto.

We'll see how he does.

But but the the reality is that is a that is a loss for the whole community.

It's a sign of a breakdown of our system somehow.

It's not just Frank white that loses Eric Wesson.

To fill in the blank question for you, the most over reported story in our metro this year was blank.

I know people are going to throw rocks at me.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey engagement, where they're going to get married and it's going to be out there.

Royals I mean, Chiefs Stadium are where I mean, okay.

So you had enough of that story.

Yeah, I've had more than enough of that story.

Yeah.

Dave, I have not had enough of that.

So I want to see what happens next year.

He is a swiftie.

I realize that I'm not.

He may not see naked people in grocery stores, but he is a swift album.

I won't go there, but, the most over reported story.

With all apologies to my good friend Nick Haines and my colleague is the World Cup preparation.

So I think we will see in 26 whether we're ready or not.

It's impossible now to say whether transportation is going to work, whether housing is going to work, whether security is going to work.

I just think it's too early.

I think competent people are in charge of those preparations, and we'll know more as we get closer to.

The Ryan, I'm actually saying the stadium story for this, because it's about the proportion of reporting into actual information that's good.

What was that you most over reporters.

One and I tied with Taylor and Travis and I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan.

But I would only remind you the reason all of that reporting exists is because it's also the most clicked on.

Yes, absolutely.

News is a business.

It is the most monetized content out there.

By the way.

Our viewers say you're all wrong on the most over reported story, Gina, as it was, any stories about construction getting underway on Kansas City's first bucket store?

And Paul says it's any story about the opening of 1587 prime.

The new Mahomes and Kelce Steakhouse now place.

To eat now.

All right okay.

Oh there you are.

You eating at the.

You okay.

This okay Dave you get to go first on our next question which we call pick a gift.

It sounds simple enough.

You're responsible for giving a gift to one metro area public figure this holiday season.

But who would receive the gift?

And when he or she hastily breaks open that shiny wrapping paper, what would the gift mean?

I think Crystal Watson in the unified government in Kansas City, Kansas, needs a gavel, a big gavel, one that she can bring down on the table when the members of the commission over there get unruly.

That's going to be the most important challenge she faces, one that previous mayors have not been able to solve and that is the members of the of the legislature, the local legislature, going in about 40 different directions at once.

If the chiefs and or the royals go to Wyandotte County, her leadership will be critical in making sure that local taxpayers are protected and can benefit from the construction of that facility out of the legends.

And so I give her a gavel to make that happen.

Ryan, I would say to John Sherman and the Royals, I would give a magic eight ball, which will help make a decision about where to go.

I've heard they may already have one, but it's stuck on ask Me Again, I do.

I do think we may be heading the right direction here as the as the season.

Maybe they've already been given the magic eight ball.

But but I think it's the uncertainty that has driven so much of our conversations, as well as the uncertainty in the region and your gift.

I want to give the gift of knowledge in a time where Nick, a lot of young people.

It's scary.

The percentages are getting their news from influencers and from TikTok.

That is a very scary thing if you think about it.

Right.

I want to give unlimited resources to places like Kansas City Public Television who help educate our community every single day, and the knowledge of the lawmakers to understand why journalism is important and the only career mentioned in the Constitution.

There is a reason for that.

Eric Al Green song, How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?

After the Kansas City Chiefs do not make the playoffs after over a decade, what are we going to do in January?

We've been used to and we've been spoiled about.

We are very spoiled.

And then to have a season like this again, Patrick Mahomes, I've said it here years ago, he needs an offensive line or he was going to get smashed.

And what happened?

He's out there with a bad.

All righty.

Well coming up next we break out the crystal ball to get our panelists predictions.

What we can expect together in this new year.

Call 2026.

But before we do, let's take a quick look back at how well our panelists did in forecasting the future.

Oh, last year.

Here we go.

I think by the end of 2025, we will for once had some clarity.

When it comes to the Royals and.

Chiefs.

I said continued appropriate conversation about the dumpster fire that is the health care system.

I said that the city of Kansas City will finally repave all of the streets and the urban core.

2025 voters finally approve a new downtown ballpark for sports.

Oh, wow.

Swift and Travis Kelce getting engaged.

Put a ring.

On it, baby.

True.

Okay, Kansas City is a new WNBA franchise.

True, true.

Quinton Lucas announces he's running for Jackson County executive.

But I'm going to stay true to that.

I'm using some.

What a nest of vipers the Jackson County Courthouse is.

And that's not the kind of place that Quinton Lucas would be successful.

Why would that be considered, though?

A step up.

The county runs a jail, collects taxes, and that's about it.

And praises profit.

By the way, Frank white, how can you mess up something that's so simple?

And yet he's found a way?

What do you think?

Do they get a passing or failing grade?

Well, let's see what their predictions are for 2026.

We're going to start with you, Dana.

Complete the sentence.

I don't own a crystal ball.

But if I did, this is what I'd see happening in Kansas City next year.

I think, number one, the Chiefs and the Royals are headed across state line to Kansas.

And number two, I would like Dave Helling to buy me in 2026 a new pair of glasses because mine just broke and now I can't see.

And he tried to duct tape them in an engineer.

You are not a. Failure again.

Do I?

And your prediction for 2026?

Nick, I am.

First of all, I'm glad it wasn't your last year to make all those mistakes that these guys did.

Yes.

Neither Missouri nor Kansas will end up redistricting their congressional maps.

And in Missouri, I think it will go to the voters.

It might take a court order to do that.

But the voters will turn it down.

Kansas will.

The Republicans will not have the votes to override Governor Laura Kelly's veto.

And as a result, both Sharice Davids and Emanuel Cleaver will be reelected.

Dana Wright will buy a new pair of glasses and break them almost within days because she has hands of iron, absolute iron, and will destroy them before the receipt is in the, pocket.

I think a couple of things.

There will be an interesting race for governor in Kansas.

We ought to really pay attention not just to the Republican side, but there are good candidates on the Democratic side.

We'll want to watch that, of course, and then keep an eye on the courthouse, because there will be lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit filed on all sorts of things, including potentially the teams moving, but also on access to the ballot language on the ballot.

The maps, if and when they come into fruition.

It's just going to be a very litigious year.

I think.

Eric.

That Kansas City will build a lot of housing, that people will not be able to afford.

To move.

Into.

You know, one of the things about Mayor Lucas is, is he wants to leave a legacy of housing and fixing the housing problem.

But I don't see people being able to afford a lot of the housing that they're building.

So I think that problem is still going to be a problem.

All righty.

Before we end our show, it's a fast pace to a false round until the buzzer blows.

And this is a chance for our panelists to redeem themselves from what they said last year.

True or false?

The royals announce a move to the new site, new stadium in overland Park.

True, true.

False false.

Why is that false?

Because I think they're worried about the roadblocks that might be put in their way out in Overland Park.

And because Kansas City will throw the, pocketbook at them.

Yeah.

Okay.

The Chiefs.

Cody.

So this is not the end of the story.

Andy Reid retires after Chiefs fail to meet playoffs for the first time.

No.

All right.

Yeah.

He wants to go out of winning.

All right.

True or false.

Kansas City defies the critics by hosting flawless World Cup.

I think that's.

True.

I think it's.

Going to be flawless because it involves people.

This is a very high standard okay.

But I think it's going to go well.

I do think that that's a positive.

True or false.

Voters approve a new regional tax for busses.

True false.

True.

They got to.

Well it got to but they still haven't done it.

All people willing to support that out of their pocketbooks to do well I don't know.

I mean the the free bus experiment apparently failed.

And, I think enthusiasm on the Kansas side for a regional bus transport is not.

It never has been.

But something we haven't mentioned, which is going to be on the ballot in August, which is Kansas voters.

True or false?

Approve the direct election of Supreme Court judges.

I think that's true, even though I think it might be a mistake, but it is.

I think it's going to be positioned in a way that, that it seems like it's a step toward democracy.

Just quickly, I disagree with that.

I think that Kansas voters have repeatedly shown us, you know, there was a big, effort to oust judges about two years ago after the abortion decision and all the judges were reelected.

So I think Kansans are pretty protective of the current system in the courts and understand the courts are a backstop to the excesses of the law.

You can see who's right, by the way, when we replay that next year.

True or false?

Taylor and Travis disappoint fans by marrying on East Coast.

True.

True.

Actually.

Already true.

Yeah.

Yes.

Because I'm going.

You know.

Okay.

True or false?

Steamboat Arabia museum announces move to Michigan gateway site.

That closing next door what it was it was originally dug up out of a field of mud.

So it actually would be right at home, right?

Right.

I think it's been more than 20 years.

We have been reporting on what is going on that site.

All right.

On that one then.

True or false?

Steamboat Arabia announces move to a superior campus.

Overland Park residents complain it'll lower property values and cause traffic chaos.

And it'll be next to the Royals Stadium.

How about Royals find remains of Steamboat Arabia on site as they dig pilings for new stadium?

All righty.

We will say we are out of time.

Boy, have you been great sports at all for zero pay and a lousy cup of coffee.

She is 50% of data and talks weekdays from 2 to 6 on KMBC radio.

Dana.

Right, and he is Kansas City news icon Dave Helling.

Yes.

I request an leads our metro's newest newspaper.

Next page KC yeah.

We get to but in Ivory.

Ryan Allison tracking our region's top political stories for KC one news.

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

Happy New Year to you all.

And just to make sure your week is complete, be well, keep calm and carry on.

We'll see you in 2026.

Everyone.