Son of Fallen KC Firefighter Speaks Publicly About Doubts Over Trial

James M. Kilventon, left, and Tracy

All James and Tracy Kilventon want is for justice to finally be done. After almost 30 years of investigations, a trial, guilty verdicts, unsuccessful appeals and continuing questions, they say, justice still eludes them. But the recent release of one of the defendants convicted in the 1988 death of James Kilventon’s father and five other…

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No Public Inspections for Our Rail Bridges

The Buck O'Niel Bridge, left, and Second Hannibal Bridge, right, span the Missouri River.

The old Broadway Bridge, built in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower was president, is “structurally deficient,” according to publicly available reports, and needs critical repairs. But right next to it stands a much older bridge for which detailed public records are not available. The rusty, century-old Second Hannibal Bridge, finished in 1917 when Woodrow Wilson was…

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Suspended In Time

Suspended In Time A Box of KC Mafia Documents Makes Its Way to Special Collections Story by: Jonathan Bender, Jesse Howe and Mike McGraw Anthony “Tony” Gizzo mug shot. (Kansas City Public Library) “That’s quite a pair of shoes that Tony Gizzo has on…do you remember him?” Flatland Special Projects Reporter Mike McGraw asks, looking at…

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The State of Our Metro Bridges? May Not Want to Shut Your Eyes

A Missouri Bridge

When it comes to the sorry state of Kansas City bridges, City Manager Troy Schulte says the one that keeps him up at night is the old Broadway Bridge over the Missouri River. But a Flatland analysis of bridge inspection data reveals that there are enough problem bridges in the metropolitan area to keep Schulte…

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Coming to the Tipping Point

As a reporter for The Star, Mike McGraw examined the federal prosecution of the 1988 explosion that killed six firefighters in numerous articles. He retired from The Star in 2014 and is now a special projects reporter for Flatland. What finally pried the cell door open last week for Bryan Sheppard, one of the defendants…

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