JANUARY
Jan. 4 – Northland business America’s Auto Auction donates $2.1 million to charity over nine years; A 41-year-old Kansas City woman – Jill Buxton – died on southbound I-29 at the Tracy exit on Wednesday, Dec. 28, forcing the closure of the interstate for several hours; The Platte County Commission meetings return to Platte City after two years in Kansas City at the Platte County Resource Center.
Jan. 11 – Hunt Midwest contributed $2 million to the Platte County R-3 School District’s planned new Northland Career Center; The City of Riverside planned to ask voters to approve a sales tax on recreational marijuana in April; Platte City and Parkville, as well as Hunt Midwest, were set to receive funds through the governor’s cost sharing transportation program; Judge Dennis Eckold announced his retirement.
Jan. 19 – Construction was well under way on the new Platte City Hall and police station off Marshall Road. The nearly $6 million facility was expected to be completed in the summer; The governor’s cost-sharing program opened the door to development on Platte City’s east side, including a four-lane Highway 92; An open house for new KCI terminal was set for Feb. 18, 2023; In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, fifth graders at English Landing Elementary School arranged a display using cutouts of their feet.
Jan. 25 – Before winter break, Platte County High School celebrated 26 seniors who graduated at semester with a small reception, cake and photo opportunities; Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Missouri airports discovered a total of 215 firearms in travelers’ carry-on luggage in 2022, with KCI second in the state for most guns; Despite an unexpected increase in sales tax revenues, the proposed county budget remained conservative in projecting growth for 2023; The Platte County R-3 School District Hall of Fame inducts three new members – Phil Dorman, Joyce Hisel, and Dr. Jay Jones.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 1 – In a press conference, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas announced the new one-terminal KCI would open for business on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023 with all airlines switching operations to the new facility; A community prayer vigil was held in Parkville to call for justice and the return of a historic stained glass panel taken from the Washington Chapel CME Church after vandals damaged the Dr. John McAfee Memorial Window at the historic Black church; When Betty Parrott began working as a teller at Wells Bank in 1999, she didn’t imagine she would end her career at the bank as Assistant Vice President in 2022.
Feb. 8 – Former Kansas City Chief, and local resident, Keith Cash – who is now vice-president and financial advisor at Central Bank – was ready to support the Chiefs in the 2023 Super Bowl; A Platte City physician – Dr. Jonathan Philippe – was convicted by a jury of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl; Platte County Commissioners tabled – on a split vote – the authorization of a special warranty deed to the Platte County Health Department Board of Trustees; Kansas City police were investigating a shooting at the Platte County Walmart.
Feb. 15 – The new one-terminal Kansas City International Airport opened for testing on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, with volunteers checking out the workings of the new $1.5 billion facility before it opened to the general public; In celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 12, most area school districts canceled school on Wednesday, Feb. 15; The Platte County Health Department director responded to comments made by Platte County commissioners last week regarding their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and ownership of the Platte City facility; Fetterman’s Deli opened in Platte City; The Parkville Board of Aldermen approved the addition of the former Bank Liberty into the Downtown Parkville Redevelopment Plan, allowing tax abatement for the project.
Feb. 22 – Riverside mayor Kathy Rose and her husband Randy received a special behind the scenes tour of the new Red X in Riverside; Rural areas of the county including those along Interurban Road and in the Hoover area would see road improvements in 2023 through the county’s annual road resurfacing program; Columnist Bill Graham chronicles the history of hemp cultivation in Platte County; Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker responded to the Platte County Health Department’s letter issued last week, while commissioner Joe Vanover spoke out in support of the health department.
MARCH
March 1 – Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas and a slate of notables including Gov. Mike Parson, former Kansas City mayors Sly Stone and Emmanuel Cleaver as well as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg were on hand Monday, Feb. 27 to cut the ribbon on the new one-terminal KCI Airport; Matthew Bonsignore helps Platte County R-3 band programs flourish; A Farley man pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually assaulting a 3-year-old victim; Parkville entered into a Mid-America Regional Council stormwater abatement partnership.
March 8 – The Kansas and Missouri departments of transportation came together to educate the public on the plan to replace the Centennial Bridge on Highway 92, which crosses the Missouri River and connects Platte County to Leavenworth, Kan.; Platte County will partner with Platte City for improvements to Highway 92 east of Interstate 29. Highway 92 will be widened and modernized from I-29 east to Interurban Road; After a month’s delay, commissioners unanimously approved the authorization of a special warranty deed to the Platte County Health Department’s board of trustees; Louis Smither looked back on a long career.
March 15 – A typically non-partisan election has garnered much polarized attention this election cycle, with eight candidates vying for three positions on the Platte County Health Department Board of Trustees; Google Fiber announced it was coming to Parkville after a decade of petitioning by city officials; Platte City Friends of the Arts enrich lives through art; Short-term vacation rentals were back on the city’s agenda in Parkville.
March 22 – Platte County commissioners heard a report from Evergy on ongoing power outages in Platte City; The Platte County Prosecutor’s Office We Care team volunteered at Hillcrest Platte County; The Platte County Commission authorized an agreement with a consultant for an updated jail study; In a recent audit, county auditor Kevin Robinson found a county commissioner’s recent comments accusing the Platte County Health Department of seeking to profit off the COVID-19 pandemic to be groundless.
March 29 – Voters prepared to head to the polls, with the most buzz surrounding what is usually a quiet election – the Platte County Health Board. Eight candidates are on the ballot in that race, vying for three open seats; Along with a handful of municipalities seeking approval of a sales tax for recreational marijuana – Kansas City, Riverside, Northmoor, Weston – Parkville was seeking to bolster its law enforcement through a ballot measure; Platte County R-3 parents question plan to relocate special needs students.
APRIL
April 5 – Egg hunters spent a chilly morning in Platte City on Saturday, April 1 at the annual hunt held near the Platte County Community Center North; Three new faces were elected to the board of trustees for the Platte County Health Department – Michael Shafe, Susan Cole and Kim Swaney won seats on the board; A grand jury convened to assess Platte County’s facilities needs has found the Platte County Detention Center to be overcrowded, outdated and understaffed; The Platte County Sheriff’s Office received federal assistance to add virtual courtroom facilities to the county courthouse.
April 12 – R-3 robotics students made the world finals; As cremation increases as an alternative to body burial, there is now another choice that is gaining in popularity around the world, called aquamation, or alkaline hydrolysis; Residents turned out in opposition to a short-term rental in The National in Parkville; The Platte County Commission appointed George Butler Associates to represent the county during upcoming American Rescue Plan Act projects.
April 19 – Students at Platte County High School in Platte City participated in the Arrive Alive program, designed to raise awareness about distracted driving; Bill Graham reflects on the new and busy construction season bringing urban sprawl to Platte County; Harold Searcy of Dearborn recently celebrated his 100th birthday; The Platte County Health Department prepared to move to its new unified facility in Kansas City near KCI Airport.
April 26 – Platte County Sheriff’s Office authorities were on the lookout for an inmate accidentally released from the detention center in Platte City; The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign in Weston puts the fun in fund raising; Platte City Friends of the Arts held its Fairy Tale Tea in Tracy; The public was invited to attend the 16th annual Victims’ Rights Luncheon hosted by the Platte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
MAY
May 3 – Platte County senior defensive end Chandvian Bradley and Park Hill senior quarterback Kendrick Bell were two of six senior athletes from the Kansas City area who were chosen to stand on the stage in the first round of the NFL Draft at Union Station; Platte County’s top judge told county commissioners that the county not only needs a new jail, but an entirely new courthouse complex; The Kansas City Police Department’s Career Criminal Task Force received the 16th Annual Sara Andrasek Memorial Award; Cinco de Mayo returns to Rapidos in Platte City.
May 10 – The annual event Wings Over Weston took place at Weston Bend State Park; Platte County Parks and Recreation’s annual Tails on the Trails event was held at Barry Platte Park in Kansas City North; Wells Bank, headquartered in Platte City, filed an application to change the bank’s name to Connections Bank; Gov. Mike Parson appointed Amy R. Ashelford as Associate Circuit Judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit.
May 17 – The Farmers House held its annual talent show at the Central Platte Fire Protection District headquarters in Platte City; Consultant finds Platte County Detention Center to be ‘maxed out’; Weston became 92 acres larger due to the actions of the Platte County Commission to give up the future West Platte Park; Ground was ready to be broken on the new Riverside Mid-Continent Public Library; Park University dean Adrian James recalls her adventures in Qatar.
May 24 – Joshua Clark was accused of threatening a shooting at Platte County High School and remained in the Platte County Detention Center on $100,000 cash-only bond; The Platte County Senior Fund relocated to a central location; Racism in the Northland was still a concern, according to columnist Bill Graham; The Highway 45 Spur was closed for repaving work.
May 31 – Platte City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4055 and the City of Platte City hosted a memorial day ceremony at the Platte City Cemetery; Platte City Public Works Director Brad Wallace was honored last week as a recipient of the Patriot Award from Major General Levon Cumpton, the Adjutant General for the Missouri National Guard; Catholic faithful astonished in Gower by the incorrupt body of Sister Wilhelmina; A drunk driver struck and killed Stephen Anderson, a 33-year-old male from Country Club Village, who was weed eating in an adjacent yard.
JUNE
June 7 – Phillip Frazier of Northmoor was in custody charged with the murder of a man in an apparent road rage incident at a Northmoor strip mall; NAME Mitchell-Locke, the fugitive accidentally released from the Platte County Jail in late April was apprehended, not far from where he started; The Platte County Steam Engine Show was seeking new blood to keep its traditions alive; The Missouri Department of Conservation closed the shotgun-only target range at the Platte Falls Conservation Area east of Platte City.
June 14 – The 18-year-old accused of threatening a shooting at Platte County High School in May was out of jail on house arrest; Deputy Richard Wood got his fight on in Guns N Hoses; Platte City Friends of the Arts invited musicians to make music in observation of International Make Music Day; County historical document digitization project began.
June 21 – As Ben Ferrel Platte County Museum celebrated 140 years it included recognition of four of the area’s centenarians, including Martha Brenner Noland, who has worked at the museum as a volunteer for decades; The Platte County Commission formed a committee to look into options for dealing with the overcrowding at the Platte County Detention Center; City celebrated City Administrator DJ Gehrt, who retired at the end of the month after nearly a decade of service.
June 28 – Hunt Midwest and Gov. Mike Parson celebrated the groundbreaking of KCI 29 Logistics Park and I-29/Mexico City Avenue interchange improvements; One of the oldest structures in Platte County got a new lease on life thanks to a partnership between the University of Missouri Extension and Platte County; Park Hill South wrestler Maddie Kubicki bucked the stereotypes as an honored female wrestler; MDC, USDA offered land management assistance and advice.