The diseases of bad eating – obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension,  etc. – are skyrocketing and taking up an ever greater share of our limited health care resources. The presence of a McDonalds in the Truman lobby is an especially bad symbol because Missouri ranks very high for these diseases, and they hit Truman’s poor and underserved population disproportionately.

For a hospital serving the poor and located in the middle of food desert, it’s especially important for them to set a good example and use their food service operation to provide healthier options.

Sadly, the Truman McDonalds is an all too common eyesore in the US.  In a climate of shrinking government resources, many hospitals and schools are turning to fast food as more affordable alternatives to traditional food service operations. KC taxpayers approved a property tax increase for our public health care provides in 2005, but health care costs continue to outpace tax revenues.  Ironically, a lot of rising health care costs come from people without access to healthy food options. Hopefully Truman can begin to break this downward spiral by replacing its McDonalds withe a healthier option.

Gigaom: Why Chattanooga represents broadband’s future.

Kansas’ increasing liberal, urbanizing county has final had enough of the evolution debates, Fred Phelps associations, Wizard of Oz references, and Governor Brokeback jokes.  The straw that broke the camel’s back was the Kansas Legislature’s continued assaults on the county’s precious public schools.

By moving to a smaller central government state like Missouri, Johnson County will have much more freedom to run its own affairs.  In particular, JoCo school districts will be able to raise taxes as high as they want, ensuring gold-plated lockers and Waterford Crystal science beakers for the foreseeable future.

This change in state boundaries is still be subject to approval by both state legislatures and the US Congress, but it should be a smooth process.  The Wichita City Council has already issued a resolution saying “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out”.

The only small matter is the existence of Johnson County, Missouri.  The home of Warrensburg and UCM announced they are happy to change their name to Johnson-East County after agreeing to a deal where JoCo gives them 7 strip malls and 3 subdivisions of McMansions.

Learn more about what Google Fiber will mean for KCK’s residents, schools, businesses, etc.

It’s not surprise be we have one of the lowest cigarette taxes that voters refuse to raise and elected officials refuse to lead with the bully pulpit.  Plus, we’ve squandered most of tobacco settlement money to balance state budget instead of investing it in smoking prevention and health care, like most states have done.

The Troost line dividing the East Side from the City’s Southwest corridor and Johnson County is clearly visible. So are the metro’s only real large melting pots – southeast KCK with lots of Latinos and African-Americans, and Old Northeast KCMO with a broad mix of whites, blacks, Asians, and Latinos.  You can also see a few areas where red and blue mix.  It shows the black middle class migration into white working class areas in western KCK and to the southeast in Hickman Mills, Ruskin, and Raytown.

It’s also interesting to see the areas with little population, industrial zones and river valleys.  It’s very apparent how much Johnson County is a physical extension of KCMO and areas to the east and north are much more physically separate.