What happened last week in Midtown Kansas City?

Last week in Midtown Kansas City, a town hall meeting on Syria tells Congressman Cleaver “Hell no”… the Secretary of Transportation says Kansas City is making great progress with its streetcar system…and preservation efforts on Armour Boulevard continue.

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Congressman Emanuel Cleaver told a town hall audience that the vote on whether to take military action against Syria would be a historic debate, and offered residents the chance to offer input.

The Secretary of Transportation came to Kansas City and helped the mayor celebrate the $20 million federal grant for the downtown streetcar system, the largest awarded for a single project. At city hall, a council committee on Thursday voted to advance the construction management contract for the downtown streetcar system, despite the fact that some leading labor unions, a rival contractor, and some council members opposed the contract.

In other transportation issues, a city report showed that bicycles are an increasingly important source of transportation.

The Old Hyde Park neighborhood’s effort to save several buildings on Armour Boulevard continued, as MAC Properties hopes to demolish the buildings and put up new market-rate apartments.

We celebrated local history with a look at historic paintings that are on display at the newly-renovated Jackson County Courthouse.

At city hall, the city began discussing a new policy intended to fight junk food through a model vending machine policy. The police chief gave his input into the issue of local control of the police department, and the council got an update on the growing popularity of urban gardening.

Also, we reported that if the Jackson County health sales tax passes, the Hall family and the Hall Family Foundation will donate $75 million to build the county Institute for Translational Medicine.

Finally, as Google Fiber installation continues in Midtown, the Midtown KC Post started a forum (just click on Forms on our home page) where our readers can share experiences and help each other understand the new system. Readers are sharing information about the mechanics, what they’re doing with their telephone landlines, and how Google Fiber is working for them.