A Black Friday Romp Through the Metro’s Shoplifting History

exterior of old metcalf south shopping center

Not long ago a woman walked into an Oak Park Mall bath and body store carrying two shopping bags. She lingered for two hours, examining the scented candles. Then the phone of Detective Byron Pierce of the Overland Park Police Department buzzed. The caller was an employee of the store.  “Everything okay?” Pierce asked. No.…

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A Better Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City | Part III

A view of the Big Blue battlefield now that parks and recreation has cleared it.

Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. The engagement on the Big Blue Battlefield was pivotal in the larger Battle of Westport, an October 1864 clash that effectively ended organized Confederate military operations in Missouri. As the years receded,…

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A Better Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City | Part II

Photo in Kansas City Star of battle of westport veterans gathered in Kansas City

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. In the mid-19th century, overland trail teamsters driving wagons west sometimes followed a branch of the Santa Fe Trail out of Independence, using the shortcut to reach fields where the animals used…

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A Better Big Blue Battlefield | Part I

Among those dedicating new interpretation panels during an October 3 ceremony at the Byram’s Ford Battlefield near Swope Park were (from left) U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Kansas City Mayor Pro Tem and Fifth District Council Member Ryana Parks-Shaw, Kansas City Parks and Recreation Director Chris Cotten, and Fifth District at Large City Council member Darrell Curls.

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. It was cold for late October in Kansas City. In 1864 Lt. Patrick Henry Minor, then leading an artillery battery against Confederate forces, would die the following March, from what likely had…

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