Sometimes just hearing something can make you keenly aware to your surroundings more than you are used to being.
Years ago, my parents got a sky blue Ford Taurus. Not quite a North Carolina blue, but I liked it. At the time, I thought it was pretty cool and unique.
Then all of the sudden as you drive around towns and highways you see them EVERYWHERE.
Cody Thorn
That same phenomenon occurred to me recently at a few visits to local retail stores.
Last month I attended a luncheon for the Park Hill Community Alliance for Youth in Parkville.
At the meeting Park Hill South students Rachel Francis, Erin Rippy and Alyssa Miller spoke and provided a lot of good facts.
The members of Youth with Vision, made up of students from Clay, Platte and Ray counties, noted they will talk to members of the state legislature about raising the age to purchase tobacco and vaping products to 21 years old. There are a number of towns in the Kansas City metro area that already have a Tobacco 21 policy, but towns like Riverside, Northmoor and Platte City do not.
What really caught my attention was the numbers and discussion that followed with teenage driving. In a survey of Park Hill School District students, 11 percent of ninth and 28 percent of 12th graders said they have drank alcohol in the last 30 days.
Six percent said they drove after drinking and 17 percent rode with someone that had been drinking.
When asked why, 47 percent say easy access; 35 percent don’t believe alcohol will hurt them and 22 percent just do it to be cool.
The Youth With Vision students then showed those in attendance how prevalent alcoholic placement is in local stores.
There was a photo of a local Target of the cereal aisle. Colorful boxes everywhere on both sides and then, at the end of the aisle on the back wall was shelf after shelf of hard liquor.
At a Platte County HyVee, the students went to the bakery section and next to brownies was a display with wine. Also at HyVee was a photo taken of Truly Hard Seltzer, a can with fruit on it located in the produce section. More than one adult there admitted they thought it was just like the sparking water that is a sudden craze.
Kinda, but with a 5 percent alcohol by volume punch.
Children between the ages of 11 to 14 see an average of 1,000 alcohol ads per year the group reported. Add in what they see at grocery stores, there are plenty of places to pick up alcohol throughout the store.
One suggestion is putting alcohol in just one part of the store instead of spread out everywhere.
When I went shopping for groceries last week, I saw alcohol for sale in a lot of places I guess I hadn’t really noticed before.
Kind of like that sky blue Ford Taurus.
At the checkout counter at a local gas station I stopped at on NW Barry Road, you can pick up a small shot bottle for a dollar.
“I encourage connecting and talking about alcohol,” said Laura Bruce, a community prevention specialist for Tri-County Mental Health Services. “I tell my five year old all the time not to drink but I tell him why. The connection can’t start at 18 years old when they are already drinking to start that connection. Do it when they are young; be open and honest.”
MATHENY ERA
I often write about baseball here, so here it goes again, just not as long as usual.
The Royals finally hired Mike Matheny as the new manager to fill the void left by Ned Yost’s retirement.
It was a move that almost everybody could see coming. There was an outside chance Pedro Grifol would get the job but I felt with a team that could be two or three years away from contending, it would be good to have someone with some experience guiding the team.
I thought the moment the Royals hired him as an advisor, he would be the next manager.
Based on my Twitter timeline almost everyone in the world hates the move.
I called a few of my friends that are diehard Cardinals fans and all said the same thing: he never played the young guys enough.
Well, fortunately or unfortunately, that is all Kansas City really has. So, maybe his hands will be tied with that issue from his previous job.
I was impressed with him from his press conference. He maybe will be a better manager the second time around. Yost was better with the Royals than he was with the Brewers.
Joe Maddon was better with the Cubs than the Rays. Joe Torre won more with the Yankees than the Cardinals. But for every one of those, you look at Buddy Bell with the Royals after managing the Rockies or Don Baylor with the Cubs after being with the Rockies or Don Mattingly with the Marlins after guiding the Dodgers.
I’m excited to see what he can do with this club. I’ll give him a shot before I put too much thought into hating this hire.
HEY, IT'S A DEFENSE
How many of you thought the Chiefs were headed to a fourth straight loss at Arrowhead?
I will raise my hand on that one.
After falling behind 23-20 and then punting to the Vikings, I was ready for Minnesota to go down the field and put the game away.
I’m sure everybody in the stadium thought so too as there was nearly as much purple as red in the stands.
But something happened to change that. The Chiefs defense made plays. Yes, the same one that struggled to stop many teams during the home-losing streak.
After the Vikings got the ball back, they ran three plays for zero yards.
Then, after the Chiefs went down to tie the game at 23-23, the Vikings had another chance to win it.
With 2 1/2 minutes left the Vikings were at their 25 yard line but went backwards from there. Two incomplete passes and a pass for minus-7 yards led to a punt.
“We were fortunate enough to get the win and execute on defense,” Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones said. “Now we have to execute next week.”
Defensive back Tyrann Mathieu added, “We knew what kind of defense we could be with the talent we have. I think it is all about going from play to play, situation to situation and understanding the circumstances. It starts in the front end to the back end, whether it is in the run game or the pass game all 11 guys have to be on the same page. I thought, for the most part, we did a good job of that.”
The Chiefs dodged a bullet when Matt Moore fumbled and Damien Williams recovered. Two first-down passes later, Harrison Butker hit the game-winning field goal.
THIS AND THAT
Time for a lot of quick hits on things that I have noticed over recent weeks.
I read where the Kansas City Royals were the 30th and final MLB team to feature a Pride Night. Money from ticket sales — $5 — from the promotional ticket went to the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City. However, as a friend of mine noted that was at the game, it was the first time he remembered the Royals not doing a kiss cam during the game.
Was that a coincidence or oversight?
Fiat Chrysler is paying a $40 million fine for misleading investors on sales numbers from 2012-2016.
NFL commissioner Roger Gooddell said the new pass interference review rule is working. As of last week, 44 plays were challenged and only seven were overturned. Who is that working for? Every time I see a replay on what I think is an obvious pass interference, it never is. So maybe I need my eyes checked?
Did anyone follow the issues with Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis. If not, Google the work of my buddy, David Kvidahl, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Any thoughts on the umpiring on the World Series? There were definitely some calls on balls and strikes I questioned. The play with Trea Turner at first base was crazy and I still don’t see what he did wrong.
Finally, I was relieved to see Casey’s General Store in Platte City brought back the Pepsi recycling bins.