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 According to a Kansas City Star article; “Every one likes wine with character.” Especially when the $50. variety, both red and white, will sell for $20. with five dollars of each bottle sold going to further literacy through the Room to Read program.
Room to Read’s mission is to partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls.
All based in San Francisco, Twitter, Room to Read and Crushpad a facility that allows enthusiasts to create their own barrels of wine without owning a vineyard. Crushpad provides grapes, storage, bottling and their expertise.
What started as team building activity at Twitter may someday become “the largest social wine making project in history” according to Crushpad founder Michael Brill. A Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will be released in the summer of 2010. You may purchase the wines now by following this link and follow the progress of the wine making by following the Twitter project here.
Kansas Citians may get involved by purchasing the wines; there will be ‘Tweetups’ throughout the country and wine tastings will be announced. Current Twitter members may follow progress @fledgling.
 You read it right, you may now step out of line at the Johnson County DMV’s (Department of Motor Vehicles) by reserving your place in line on the Internet. The Johnson County system, according to Qless, is the only motor vehicle office in country with an online reservation system. The only system close according to the KC Star article is one in New Hampshire but it does not text messages to users.
Here is how it works: Go to the DMV site – look for GET in LINE at DMW then click on the city link you plan to visit (782 N. Ridgeview Road in Olathe or Mission at 6000 Lamar), click on YES to agree to the terms of use, choose your language and you will be told how long the estimated wait is then enter your cell number, click Next and your place in line is secure. You may then click continue and you will be sent to a printable confirmation page.I tested the system and my wait time was initially 9 minutes at 7:30 when the Mission office opened this morning. I received my first text message almost immediately after entering my cell number then another three minutes later, then another three minutes later which suggested I should think about returning to the DMV office. The next text said, “Sorry, we still haven’t heard back from you, so we had to give your spot to someone else. You have nine hours to rejoin the front of the line – reply with “J”.The system is available during business hours which are 7:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday excluding holidays. According to the Star article, officials from the DMV say the system will ease the pain of waits up to 2 hours when renewals are due at the end of each month.
Kudos to Johnson County!!
In their book, Connecting to the Net.Generation, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa found in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
• 97% own a computer
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use Instant Messaging and social networking sites.
• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
• 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 75% of college students have a Facebook account
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.
The complete title of the book is Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today’s Students and was written in 2007. All the percentages are undoubtedly higher today.
Still think Facebook and Twitter and all those other ‘darn social whatever you call them things’ are just a waste of time? The X and Y generations (born 1965 – 1985) combined make up a demographic (over 100 million) larger than the baby boomer generation (born 1946 – 1964 – approx 75 million) .
There is just something majestic about deer. Perhaps it’s memories of our youth and dreams of Donner and Bliztzen carrying their ever so important cargo. BTW what is the difference between a reindeer and a regular deer? Put away your thoughts of Comet and Rudolf for a moment if you read the rest of this post.
Beginning as early as this Friday and continuing until November 30th the killing of deer in Shawnee Mission park will commence. I had heard that the shooters/killers were to use bow and arrow but according to a Kansas City Star article, the shooters will use ’sound’ suppressed rifles. Does that mean Cupid and Vixen will not hear when Dancer and Prancer are shot?
I don’t know about you but I really enjoyed setting out for the park a little before dusk and enjoying the docile creatures getting ready to bed down for the night. Back to reality…apparently …all shots will be taken at short range and the deer will be baited to a secluded area of the park where all shots fired will be directed toward the interior of the park.
According to the Star article, the park district wants the deer population (try not to think to think Cupid and Dasher here) to be reduced to 50 deer per square mile. Wildlife experts estimate there are currently about 200 deer per square mile in the park. The park is 3.5 square miles. Yikes do the math, that is 525 deer, right? 525 times say an average of 50 pounds per Donner, I mean reindeer, I mean deer is 26,250 pounds or over 13 tons of meat.
What is done with all the meat? Can’t we at least feed the meat to the needy or have a huge barbeque or a free venison give away? I’ve had venison before and I do not remember it as remarkable but it is supposed to be lean (or is that Bison) and I think it tastes like chicken (or is that rattlesnake).
Owners of nearby real estate received letters from the park district this week and were assured that the work by the reindeer killers/shooters would be done safely. I am not a dog owner but if you live nearby you’d be well advised to keep your dogs inside beginning this Friday and thru November 30th.
According to the 2008 census many are moving to the suburbs and away from Kansas City’s downtown areas. The population of Kansas City, MO. gained approximately 2% since 2000 whereas Spring Hill, KS. was up 92%, Gardner, KS. was up 86%, Olathe, KS. was up 29%, Desoto, KS. was up 19%, Lenexa, KS. was up 16% and Overland Park, KS. was up 15%.
What does all of this mean? My guess is the prospect of a light rail system in the near term is comatose if not dead. As much as the Sprint Center and the Power and Light district have created a reason to go downtown, apparently it is not enough to motivate people to m0ve there.
According to a Kansas City Star article ”…employment in Johnson County exploded 70.7% from 1990 to 2008 compared to Jackson Counties’ scant growth of 2.3% job growth. In the Star article Doug Davidson, president of CERI, said “Johnson County is a desirable place to live and raise a family.” “It has great school systems. Its adult population is one of the most highly educated in the nation. Employers that want highly educated workers are attracted to Johnson County.”
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The only thing worse than an abandoned, overgrown and vacant property with foot tall grass and old newspapers littering its driveway is two abandoned, overgrown and vacant properties or three or more. The Kansas City metro area recently topped Forbes magazine’s list of America’s Abandoned Cities.
Take heart fellow Kansas Citians – according to Forbes, San Francisco is the second most most abandoned city and Tucson, Arizona is number three. If you have ever had an unkempt house in your neighborhood, you know you would do almost anything to improve its state. Abandoned and foreclosed real estate attracts vandalism, vermin and worse – they lower the value of every nearby property.
Although I am not sure how the program would work within Missouri’s statutory right of redemption – according to the Kansas City Star editorial - the proposed Kansas City ordinance would allow the city to appoint a receiver for an abandoned property. The receiver could do what they want with the property. They could tear it down, repair it or sell it if the owner refused to act.
The rub is apparently some neighborhood advocates want only non-profit CDC’s (Community Development Corporations) to be eligible for receiverships. Seems to me it only makes sense to encourage the use of private capital to fight the blight in Kansas City. Any group qualified, whether non-profit or for profit should be allowed to aggressively pursue receiverships and the sooner the better. Have an opinion on this subject?
Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace email to: info@kansascityehomes.com or visit http://www.kansascityehomes.com
 It's NOT all about Winning Benton High School (St. Joseph, Missouri) freshman football player Matt Ziesel was all smiles at the attention on his touchdown run on Monday evening in St. Joseph. Ziesel, who has Down’s Syndrome, ran for a score and a video on YouTube is turning Matt into a celebrity. The complete story in the Kansas City Star may be found by CLICKING HERE.
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Consumer Confidence
The confidence of the American consumer regarding near-term and longer-term expectations rose sharply in August, following less-than-exciting data the prior two months. A more confident consumer is a key to longer-term U.S. economic performance as consumer spending still represents two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, rose to 54.1 in August, up from 47.4 in July. Consumer views as expressed in the Present Situation Index rose, reflecting some improvement in the nation’s job market. The Expectations Index rose sharply to its highest level since December 2007, tied to a brighter economic assessment by consumers.
While rising confidence is a positive sign, we have a long way to go. The 54.1 August measure compares to an average of 57.9 during 2008. In addition, levels near 90 to 100 signal consumer expectations of strong U.S. economic growth…..still a good sign.
Home Values
Yes, prices were down an estimated 14.9% when compared to the second quarter one year ago. Note, however, that first quarter home prices were down a more painful 19.1% when compared to the same quarter a year ago.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index has been one of the more negative measures of home values in recent years. The Index suggests that the average American home value has plunged roughly 32% since peaking in the summer of 2006.
As one might expect, the sharp decline in home prices has led to more people being able to buy a home…if they still have a job. The combination of sharp home price declines and historically low mortgage interest rates, when compared to average family incomes, now suggests the highest level of housing affordability in a generation. Numerous housing markets are seeing much stronger levels of buying interest, particularly in California…
…another good sign
Budget Deficits
Spoiling the party is the latest estimate of budget deficits during the next decade, which are simply scary…
We can live with budget deficits averaging $150-$300 billion annually…as bad as that is…we have done it for years. In my view, we cannot live with deficits averaging $1,000,000,000,000 EACH year.
The White House now says the projected deficit over the next 10 years will reach $9.05 trillion, roughly $2 trillion higher than its estimate earlier this year. The culprits are a more serious economic downturn than expected previously, higher joblessness, and less aggressive forecasts as to future U.S. economic growth.
One piece of good news in the report, as well as found in a similar estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, is that the projected deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30, is now “merely” $1.58 trillion, down $263 billion from the projection in May. The reason is $250 billion included in the earlier estimate for an additional bank bailout is no longer needed…
…at least that’s a good sign
Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace email to: info@kansascityehomes.com or visit http://www.kansascityehomes.com/
“Reprinted with permission from the “Tea Leaf” by Jeff Thredgold. Copyright, 2009, Thredgold Economic Associates, LLC. To subscribe to Jeff’s free weekly email update, visit www.thredgold.com.”
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According to the Citizen’s Utility Board of Illinois (CUB) – users of Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular could save as much as $331. per year if they switched to plans with fewer minutes and rid themselves of unnecessary features. A subscriber to any of the top 5 cell providors may use a FREE ONLINE TOOL ** to determine how much they can save. Although the service was originally created for Illinois citizens, I spoke to a representative at their Chicago office this morning and she said the program is open to anyone. Any questions about the service should be directed to (312) 263-4282.
**BTW – before you click on the FREE ONLINE TOOL link, you may wish to check your computer’s volume setting as the site by default automatically plays a video with sound that explains how the free service works.
Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace email to: info@kansascityehomes.com or visit www.kansascityehomes.com
OverlandPark approved the sometimes controversial financing plan for a large scale development slated to go in at 135th and Nall. It will feature the nation’s first museum for hosting traveling exhibitions of New York’s American Museum of Natural History.
As quoted from the Kansas City Business Journal:
Related attractions proposed for the 56-acre Prairefire site include wetlands, an interpretive walk and a hike-and-bike trail to celebrate the state’s prairie heritage.
Also proposed are 350,000 square feet of retail space, which is crucial to the sale and repayment of the STAR bonds; 300,000 square feet of offices; 750,000 square feet of residential space; and a 100,000-square-foot hotel.
When completed this developement can only lead other nearby commercial and residential developements into a new era for Overland Park real estate. I say congrats to Overland Park and Kansas City in general. it will bring tourists to the hotels and diners to the area restruarants.
RE/MAX Best Associates – Commercial Division is affiliated with RE/MAX International.
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