Everyday of the year is special to someone, somewhere. I am sure that there may be thousands of folks who can claim a special meaning for December 13th. I will touch on four of them.
December 13th of the year just past (2023) was the second anniversary of my heart attack, which resulted in my needing a quadruple bypass. I learned a few things. First, a quadruple bypass is annotated in one's medical records as CABG x4 (spoken as cabbage times 4). No it's not something that goes in salad. Coronary artery bypass graft times 4. Also, I would have to change my dietary regimen. I've lost a person (110 lbs) and weigh just 5 lbs more than the day I went into the army, 29 Oct 64, and feel great. Actually, some folks I've known for years have walked past me, not recognizing me, until I spoke.....apparently I have a distinctive voice......LOL
Many folks were born on December 13th. Two of them have a local connection. One is Taylor Swift, soon to be known as Mrs. Travis Kelce (my prediction, engaged by summer 2024 and married within two years of now). The other one is our very own Dr. Mike Kemmling, currently a councilmember in Ward II here is Shawnee. Happy belated birthday Dr. Mike.
The fourth event that I want to touch on just happened on December 13th, 2023, nineteen days ago. The city held a reception for former mayor Michelle Distler. I have submitted a KORA request to ascertain how much the reception cost the city. Actually, it doesn't cost the city anything. The city has no money. The money comes from us, the taxpayers. We all know the story. Distler was arrested and charged with felony perjury. She eventually was given diversion. What is diversion? It's a court approved plan where an individual performs various acts of what can best be described as punishment, and if completed successfully charges are dropped. Or, as some would say, do the time and then forget about the crime. Two things about the reception really bother me. First, she never publicly apologized to the person whose name she used when performing the falsification that caused her to be charged with the felony perjury. Me!!! But more importantly she never apologized to the citizens of Shawnee. She has said many times how much she cares about Shawnee and it's people. Actually, she kept saying how much she loves the city and its people. She's a damned liar. If she cared about the people she would have apologized to them, especially to those who voted for her, twice, to be mayor. And, if you are really interested in how much of a liar she is, ya need to read the DA investigator's affidavit for her arrest warrant and see how many different stories she told the investigator.
So, that's my take on December 13th.
