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Update II (2:21 p.m. September 7): I just received the Star's press release about today's layoffs, which included a statement from publisher Mark Zieman that "The Star won't die, but this recession will." Comforting. Here's what we learned from the release: * The week-long furloughs are "for all senior managers and most employees" and it's "necessary." * Revenue numbers at the Star are "encouraging, but the company is pressed by a continuing economic slowdown." * Employees getting the pink slip will get "a transition package that includes severance pay and job placement assistance." And here's Zieman's full statement from a...

As if things have not been ugly enough at Kansas City's leading newspaper in the past, the word now is that on Monday (and possibly Tuesday) the latest newsroom layoffs at the Kansas City Star will be greater than the three previous news layoffs---combined. The word is there have been very heated arguments in the newsroom involving Managing Editor Steve Shirk over who which journalists will be let go and which ones will be retained. One source close to the situation reports about 67 people will be affected in the newsroom, which will impact the news product even more dramatically...

Sen. John McCain on Thursday renewed his call for a “brief” gas tax holiday — and quickly ran into a political fender-bender with his new Missouri campaign chairman, Sen. Kit Bond. The Republican told an estimated 1,200 people at Union Station that suspending the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel would help put millions of dollars into the hands of businesses and lower-income Americans. Such a holiday, he later told The Kansas City Star, could be justified by cutting wasteful spending: “The most pork barrel-laden aspect of everything we do are the highway bills.” One of the most vocal...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sat, Sep. 11, 2004 MISSING METTLE Bush has the guts that Kerry lacks to take America through these difficult times CONNIE LYNNE CARRILLO DICK WRIGHT/Tribune Media Services DICK WRIGHT/Tribune Media Services Sept. 11, 2001, was an epiphany for President Bush. We witnessed him digging deep, gathering strength and rising to the occasion. He courageously blazed a trail against a terrorist, rogue nation harboring al-Qaida. He rid the world of trigger-happy, homicidal maniac Saddam Hussein and his bloodthirsty dynasty of lunatic successors. Cut-throat Gadhafi is on his back, all fours in the air, begging for mercy. The world...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sat, Sep. 11, 2004 Has swing state Missouri already swung? By DAVID GOLDSTEIN and STEVE KRASKE The Kansas City Star WASHINGTON –– Missouri has long been a pivotal swing state in presidential elections, but political pollsters, strategists and activists wonder if it might be swinging the Republicans' way. Recent events hint that Sen. John Kerry's camp is acknowledging that by pulling back his efforts here and shifting resources elsewhere. His campaign — surprisingly — did not include Missouri with the 14 other competitive states where it plans to run its latest round of television advertising. “It's hardly...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sun, Sep. 05, 2004 One person, one vote? Not always Some cast two ballots in a single election By GREG REEVES The Kansas City Star In today's often tight elections, every vote counts. But a Kansas City Star investigation has found that for some people, locally and across Missouri, their vote counts double — because they voted twice in the same election. Some vote in Kansas, cross the state line and vote again in Missouri. Others appear to be voting in two different Missouri counties. Either way, it's a crime. In Missouri, casting two separate ballots in...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sat, Sep. 04, 2004 Democrats' ties to 527s incite legal challenge GOP questions rivals' compliance with campaign laws By MATT STEARNS The Star's Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON — Ties between Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and President Bush's allies outraged Democrats when the veterans group ran attack ads against Sen. John Kerry. Critics, however, charge that there are more and closer ties between Democratic Party operatives and similar independent groups working to defeat Bush. And, they say, it is the Democrats and their allies who — through the aggressive use of such groups to fund campaign activities —...