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Kansas City News Today Kansas City Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in Kansas City. |
KANSAS CITY NEWS TODAY - Sunday, January 27, 2008 City Launches Good Neighbor Award to Recognize Residents KANSAS CITY, (kansascityfrontpage.com), January 27, 2008 - The City of Kansas City, MO, 3-1-1 Action Center, a division of the City Manager's Office, and the City's Neighborhood Community Services Department are co-sponsoring the Good Neighbor award to recognize city residents for works that benefit the community. The award will be given quarterly. "We hope this award will encourage a greater sense of community and pride in the neighborhoods in our city," said Earnest Rouse, 3-1-1 Action Center manager. "We want to let residents know that we appreciate the work they are doing." The inaugural award recipients are: - Essye Bethel - Bethel has paid to keep an alley in her neighborhood mowed and cleaned for the past 20 years. - Joseph McGee - Joseph is a 12-year-old resident who anonymously cuts his neighbor's lawn. The neighbor said she just thought her grass wasn't growing. - Dr. Henry Johnson - Johnson initiated and organized the Benton Boulevard Revitalization project. - Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Danzy - The couple maintained a vacant lot in their neighborhood for an entire summer. The award is a nomination-based program that relies on input from residents. Nominations can be sent to ncs@kcmo.org or to actioncenter@kcmo.org, with a subject line of "Good Neighbor Award." The idea for the award came from former 3-1-1 Action Center Customer Service Specialist Venessa Wates, who is now with the Neighborhood and Community Services Department. St. Louis Fed Analyzes Economics of Unilateral Divorce KANSAS CITY, (kansascityfrontpage.com), January 27, 2008 - Some economic studies suggest that divorce may have led to an increase of the number of mothers in the labor force and a decline in the level of girls' educational attainment, and may also have reduced spousal violence. Researcher Kristie M. Engemann and economist Michael T. Owyang surveyed several studies for the January issue of The Regional Economist, the quarterly journal of business and economic issues published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Statistics indicate that the number of divorces rose steadily from 1960 the early 1980s, but has declined since then. "This rise in the divorce rate coincided with the time when many states modified their laws, allowing divorce to be initiated unilaterally," said Engemann and Owyang. One study found that unilateral divorce laws contributed 17 percent of the increase in the overall divorce rate from 1968 to 1988. Another study found that the adoption of unilateral divorce raised divorce rates in the short term but not in the long term. Surveying economic literature, Engemann and Owyang noted one analysis which found that a married woman in a unilateral divorce state with a community-property law (meaning all marital property is divided in half upon divorce) was more likely to work outside the home than a woman in a state without unilateral divorce. On the other hand, a woman in a unilateral divorce state that had a common-property law (meaning she would retain only her own property) became less likely to work in the labor market. Yet another study found that married women with young children responded most to a change in divorce laws and became more likely to enter the labor force. Engemann and Owyang also studied the common concern often discussed about divorce: the potentially negative effect on children. One analysis using data from the 1980 census suggested that educational attainment is negatively affected, more so for girls than boys. In addition, while women's wages were negatively affected by increased exposure to unilateral divorce laws, men's wages were not significantly different. One economist who studied the potential relationship between divorce and spousal abuse found that the adoption of unilateral divorce did not cause a significant change in the number of husbands who killed their wives. He did find that the number of wives who killed their husbands, however, increased by 20 to 26 percent. In contrast to these studies, they found research which suggested that adults' wellbeing - the rates of both domestic abuse and suicide - improved after states adopted unilateral divorce laws. Rental Registration and Inspection Program Up and Running KANSAS CITY, (kansascityfrontpage.com), January 27, 2008 - As the City of Kansas City, Mo., starts the third week of its Rental Registration and Inspection Program, the Neighborhood Preservation Division has received more than 800 online applications and 70 paper applications. "The response to the program has been on target with what we expected," said Daniel Schmelzinger, manager of the Neighborhood Preservation Division of the Neighborhood and Community Services Department. "The willingness of landlords to be compliant with this program is critical to its success." The following information provides answers to some of the most common questions the Neighborhood Preservation Division staff has answered about the program: -- All owners of rental property located within the City limits of Kansas City, Mo., now must register their properties with the City's Neighborhood and Community Services Department. -- This registration program applies only to dwellings, not commercial properties. -- For this program, a rental dwelling is defined as one that contains a living area or rooming unit that is being offered for rent or is being rented or occupied by any person who is not the owner of the premises. However, property occupied by a child, grandchild, mother, father, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law or grandparent of the owner is not considered rental property. In addition, duplex dwellings in which one of the units is owner-occupied are not considered rental dwellings for purposes of this program. -- Registration of properties is required even if the property owner lives in the metropolitan area. -- Before filling out the online application, it is important to read the online instructions in the pdf document and refer to the instructions during the application process. This registration is the result of the passage of ordinance No. 071046 in October 2007. Registration may be done anytime during the month of January without incurring a registration fee. However, failure to register a rental dwelling before Feb. 1 will result in the issuance of an administrative citation fine of $50. For each month (or portion thereof) that a rental dwelling is not registered, an additional $50 fee will be assessed. For example, a rental property not registered until August will be assessed a fine of $350. Registration is required on a calendar-year basis and will expire each Dec. 31. Online registration is available at www.kcmo.org/neigh. Applications also will be available on this site that can be downloaded and submitted by mail or in person. Copies of the application are available at the Neighborhood Preservation Division office at 4900 Swope Parkway and at City Hall at 414 E. 12th St. on the fourth floor from the Neighborhood and Community Services Department. For more information about the Rental Registration and Inspection Program, visit www.kcmo.org/neigh or call the Neighborhood Preservation Division, (816) 513-9010.   The Kansas City Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Kansas City area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 2007 - 2008 Moore Design Group. |
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