Eric Zahnd Suicide Brings Up Several Tough Conversations and Questions That MUST Be Discussed | 9-18-26

0:00Saturday, September 26, two of combat sports most dangerous strikers collide. Bear Knuckle. Liverpool's own down in the Gorilla Till goes to Moore with Cuban Powerhouse, Joel Soldier of God Romero. Plus the Bear Knuckle Midowit Championship of the world is on the line. When the rating champ Dave Varedneck Mundell defends against undefeated British challenger, Jack Demeek Cleaver-Colin, BKFC 94, Till vs Romero. Watch it live only on the zone. Sign up now at Dizone.com. Well, we are mourning this morning the loss of Erich Zahn, the Plac County prosecutor who died by suicide yesterday at the Plac County Courthouse. Today's 604 on a Friday morning here on KCMO, TAC Radio, 957 FM in Kansas City, 102.9 FM in Topeka. And it's an absolute tragedy. The guy was 53 years old. He announced his retirement plan here earlier this year was not set to run for re-election.

1:05There was an enormous amount of drama in front of the cameras in Plac County and very much behind the scenes in Plac County as well that led to what was really a tumultuous last several months of an election cycle. That's due to primary fighting, infighting insider versus outsider battles going on. There was a lot of that that was happening over the last few months in Plac County. And unfortunately politics is a nasty game. It is filled with a lot of people who are in it for the wrong reasons and people who get caught up in it and they get motivated and driven by all the wrong reasons. For money and ego. That's it. It can be an absolutely terrible business to be in. Especially if you're not in the right frame of mind. Especially if the politics leads you to a place where suddenly you're defining yourself

2:10based on your own political beliefs or your political stature in a way that it's never intended to be. These jobs are intended to be about public service. That's it. Not power ego and money. But as people get involved and then stay involved and it becomes a defining quality of who they are, they get addicted to the race. They get addicted to the game. And Eric Zahn had been the Plac County prosecutor for the better part of two decades. He was first elected in 2002 and you may recall, you know, how things went down earlier this year at the 11th hour. He decides he's not going to run for reelection. He had someone lined up to replace him. And that followed a month's long battle with the Plac County Commission about the funding of the Sheriff Department and the prosecutor's office. Now I'm not sitting here telling you that any of those things led to the tragedy of yesterday

3:11at the courthouse. There is more that's going to come out. I'm not going to sit here and do that on the air right now. There are already people who are upset or bothered by the fact that I've reported on the cause of death for Eric Zahn. I think that's entirely unfair. I think we need to talk more about this stuff. We need to have the conversations around mental health instead of pretending like it doesn't exist. And I find it personally fascinating that many of the same people who have insisted that we need to take Lindsey Clancy's psychosis very seriously are now like don't report on a suicide because it might lead to a copycat. In the meantime, they are obsessed with turning Lindsey Clancy into a victim and we have had sadly copycats of Lindsey Clancy in the wake of that tragedy that's garnered an incredible

4:13amount of national attention over the last few months. So I really don't have any sympathy for that excuse or that reasoning for why we don't talk about what happened yesterday. And I know others in Kansas City media maybe don't want to do that. That's fine. That's their prerogative. You know, yesterday I was at a whistle ball game. We had a team Mondo versus team Keatsman, whistle ball game on behalf of our friends at the battle within. Now proudly say that for the first time in four years, team Mondo got a win. Woo. That's right. Finally got some ringers. My buddies over at CMP construction, Chris Van Horn gave me a couple of sluggers had some political friends as well. Jack Allen, Dustin Morris, a couple of their buddies and it was all because of the defense by the way. That's why we won the game 25 to 21. I've got a and thank you to the little red foundation here in town for supporting us

5:16for spending thousands of dollars on that game to send at least two veterans through the battle within program. I bring that up yesterday or bring that up today because my phone started to blow up when we got done with the whistle ball game yesterday about this tragedy involving Eric Zodd, the Black County prosecutor who died by suicide yesterday at the county courthouse. And I was literally just playing a whistle ball game, which raises money for veterans and first responders dealing with PTSD to try to prevent them from harming themselves, to give them the opportunity, literally the lifeline to go out there and get the help that they need before something like this happens. So yesterday afternoon, I'm doing this and obviously the whole time we know why we're there. We're raising money for veterans and first responders.

6:18And by the way, every veteran or first responder who goes through this program with the battle within, which is a Kansas City organization. We've done a veteran show day with them for the past seven years. We'll do another one this year that'll be year eight. It impacts over 120 people in each of these individuals lives. That's what the battle within does with each person who goes through that program, which costs about $3,500. And the Little Red Foundation, ponied up seven grand yesterday for my team to take on Keatsman's team in this great charity event. And then I find out literally as the games wrapping up, sitting there eating a cheeseburger, talking to the team, celebrating our big win that Ericsson had died and that had been by suicide. And I believe that that is part of the story that needs to be told to try to get people help. Now I'm not going to get into the details.

7:18I could do that. I agree. And you know, it's it's recommended by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to not really go down the road publicly and reporting how something like that goes down. I agree with that. I think that's a fair guideline to have, but acting like these things don't happen. Acting like, you know, we can't talk about that because God forbid somebody else might do it. No, we need to talk more about it. We need to have those conversations. We need to figure out why, by the way, Ericsson's not the first person in Missouri politics and recent memory to do this to himself. These are real conversations that need to be had, whether it's in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas or across the country, instead of just burying it. And the media acting like it's important enough to prevent people from committing these tragedies to themselves. No, you know, if the media wanted to actually do its job, if the media actually wanted

8:22to have the real conversations, talk about it and figure out how to get people more help because we had, we did see from the year 2000 up until right before COVID, a 30% spike in suicide rates in this country. So if the media's guidelines, the big media guidelines would have go out there and to not talk about this when it happens to somebody either famous or not, because well, we don't want to leave the copycats. We're not doing a very good job because maybe this issue is tied to deeper psychological issues. Maybe these issues are tied to deeper mental health problems that we're not talking enough about. Maybe that's what it's really about. Media gets so sanctimonious on things like this and it's not how it's supposed to be. We're supposed to be having open, honest conversations. There's no better platform for that than talk radio. There's a lot of things that I believe are going to come out around this tragedy with

9:26Plac County prosecutor Eric Sond, who took his own life yesterday at the courthouse. I have an immense amount of sympathy and empathy for what his family may be dealing with right now. I can say that on one hand. I can also say the final few months of his 10 year in office were not pretty. He tried to take a lot of very good people down. And the motivation for that to me is still unclear. Whether it was the power, the ego, the money, I don't know. I have speculation. I won't go there this morning. But there are two sides to every story. In this case, there are more than two sides. There are several angles. That conversation in Kansas City, I believe, will be had. That information will come out. And as we sit here at 614 on a Friday morning, you're hearing about it first on KCMO talk

10:28radio. And we can have that conversation with you on and off throughout the morning as well. At 913-4087-957. That is how you join us here on KCMO talk radio. Coming up, there is a lot that we are going to get to from last night. I finally got to sit down last night and take a breather after a wild week. And man, I saw something last night. I was like, what am I looking at here? What sport is this? What is going on? What are they singing? We'll get to all of that. Plus you on a Friday morning in Kansas City on KCMO. It is 620 Good Morning on a Friday in Kansas City. It's great to have you here on KCMO talk radio. We are really mourning and trying to get understanding behind the loss and the suicide of Eric Zahn, the Plac County prosecutor who took his own life yesterday at the courthouse here in Plac County. And he was the longest serving prosecutor in Plac County history.

11:30He was set to leave office early next year. He announced this year he was not running for re-election. I saw Eric most recently in, I guess that would have been late March early April at Nathan Willett's kickoff event for Congress, which I am seeing. And it was a weird time. He had come on the show a few weeks prior. He had made the case that the Plac County prosecutor's office and the sheriff's department was being defunded because they were only getting a 2.5% raise, which I vehemently disagreed with him on. I didn't think that characterizing that as a defunding was anyway reasonable. And we had a robust back and forth about that on this show. He then announced that the last minute he was not going to run for re-election. There was a lot going on up there in Plac County, but no one could have ever predicted this. However, there were things happening in recent months behind the scenes that may have made Eric's on feel like he was helpless, but you're never helpless.

12:36And as someone who's dealt with severe mental health issues in my own family and friends, I know it's a personal issue. And I know there are people who are like, the media should not report on a suicide. I completely disagree. I think we need to have the conversation instead of the media pretending like, oh, we don't report on that because of some made up guidelines that somebody handed them at some point. I completely and vehemently disagree with that. We have a caller on the line who would like to remain anonymous. Call her. Good morning. You're on KCMO. Hey, good morning, Pete. And I am being really, uh, being able to agree with you that this needs to be talked about because the core, like, I guess, a backstory back in 2013 in my 40s, I attempted suicide. And it wasn't a cry for help. It was an actual go for it. Dark moment.

13:37And the isolation and self-loading and ego that got me to that point is what it is. If this other isolation where you carry all this weight on yourself, you don't let anybody know that. I mean, I was a very, I am a very, very, very, very, a guy. So I'm always smiling, glad handing, just being just this jovial human. Nobody around me knew what was going on inside me at all. And you just get to the point where it's like, uh, the Germans use the term Belchmerch where it's your world and how you perceive the world is not, is not what it, what you would hope to be type thing. And you feel helpless. You do feel utterly helpless. And your only act of like power that you have is to take your own life.

14:41That's a fascinating description. Now, when you say the ego because there's an element to this where I think people perceive those who do this or attempt to do this as being weak, but in some ways to your point, there's actually an ego side of this where you get so wrapped up in your own mind, you think you need to do this. Am I interpreting that correctly? Correct. Like, you believe like that is your, that is your last act of power that you have. Yes. Yes. That's it right there. Yeah. And let's be honest. Sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no, no. No, you believe that your crimes. So you build up a list of crimes in your mind. And then you're being that are unforgivable in your mind and that the only person who can judge you is yourself.

15:42And you are your worst critic. And so you take it upon yourself and you look at it as an act of love because you can't do this to these people like you can't continue to live. You don't look at that you're, you're trying yourself and that your suicide is going to harm them. You look at your death is going to release them from your own craft. Yeah. Well, you know, when you say there to the power, there was a massive political power struggle in Plac County. And if you feel like the walls are closing in, the last way for you to control the narrative, control the power structure and really in your own mind, wins, so to speak, is by doing this. And by the way, it's not a coincidence to me that it was done at the courthouse. That is a message being sent when you do something like this at your place of work when there's been a lot of drama publicly in Plac County over the last few months around

16:44the political power structure in that operation. Is an act of violent? So it's almost okay. So this is kind of the weird thing. I went through therapy, of course. So there's a little bit of this kind of kind of kind of kind of come out in that because you know, we deep dove in all this. Yeah. But after I attended, there's like, and it's an act of terrorism in a way. Do you want to shake the world around you? Yeah. That's that is that is a great interpretation. Thank you, Collar. Appreciate it. Thanks for checking in. I'm glad you're here to share your story. I'm glad you're here to share your story. You do, man. It's a beautiful world. Yeah. It's going to be a beautiful day, a little sticky, but it'll be a beautiful day. Oh, yeah. You know, we'll live. Yeah. We'll get through it. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. That Collar in the wake of yesterday's news that Plac County prosecutor Eric Zond has

17:46taken his own life at the county courthouse. On my ex at Pete Mundo, I have this from Jeff Jeff writes to me Pete, as a dad who lost a son to suicide two years ago, you are absolutely right to talk about the manner of Eric Zond's death. Talk about it more, not less. Hashtag 988 Suicide Hotline. I mean, that's that's exactly it. All right. I shared this yesterday as a news item on my Facebook page. It was just the news reporting it from my sources at that point. And still as of this morning, no one in law enforcement has confirmed publicly the manner of death for Eric Zond. I thought it was important to share that. Okay. That was my decision to share that. I did not share the details of how it happened and how he took his own life, which I also know that's not something I'm going to do because I do think that is a bridge too far.

18:50But talking about these things, having the conversation as someone who has been very close to severe mental health in my life, I believe is important. And I think that that's something that needs to be talked about, not sit here with the big microphone or if you're running a newspaper or a TV network or station and be like, shush, shush, there might be a copycat. No, have the conversation. And if that call that we just got helps somebody get the help they need today, that's what it's all about. Just like our veterans that we help every year and we were playing with football for yesterday. Coming up, lightening up on a Friday with something bizarre that happened on Thursday and I football next. It's been quite a week. A lot of news happening around Kansas City. We had our big America 250 event on Wednesday night and yesterday was just a jam packed day. And by the end of the day, I just wanted to admittedly kind of take my mind off of it as much as I could.

19:51We had a reaction show from Wednesday night. Vince Colinay's did a show here yesterday. He then had to shoot right to the airport. Guy Benson left at six in the morning. McGraw-Neill Haven was here yesterday. And then he shot back to St. Louis at about 11 o'clock and then I'm trying to, you know, do some other stuff. Obviously it's part of the job before I've got to go over to KCK to their home field spot and do the Whiffleball game against team Keatsman, which we won 2517 or 2521. Excuse me. First time I won that game against Keatsman in the four years. We've been playing each other, raising money for the battle within a veterans organization here in Kansas City. Then I get home, Claire and I go to soccer practice. We got soccer practice in 98 degree heat from six to seven. Come home, get the kids to bed, mother and laws in town. So we got a lot of things happening here. And then I sit down and watch a little football, Bill's Lions Thursday night, Amazon Prime. And I didn't see it live, but as I'm taking a breather watching the game, I see that they

20:57played the Canadian national anthem before the game last night in Buffalo. Now in sports, here's the tradition. If say the royals are playing the Toronto Blue Jays in honor of Canada, Toronto will play the Canadian national anthem, right? I mean, that's, that's, I understand that, John. I was at the, I guess next to last game of the Montreal X-France. Oh, we're at the K and they did that. Yes, and I'm totally fine with that, right? When the American teams go to Toronto, go to Montreal, play the Canadian anthem, play the American anthem, all good. Last I checked if the Detroit Lions are playing the Buffalo Bills, there is no reason to play the Canadian national anthem. I don't think Canada has tried to annex Michigan last I checked or upstate New York. I could be wrong, but I don't think those soy boys in charge up there would know what

21:57to do anyway when it comes to trying to do such a thing. So why are we playing? Why are the Buffalo Bills playing the Canadian national anthem? And by the way, it sounded horrible. Bear naked ladies did it. Listen, it's not a good anthem. We've got the best anthem hands down best anthem right here in the United States. But what are, what are the bear naked ladies doing? These guys stink, I haven't heard them in probably 30 years at this point. To honor Canada, performing the national anthem, please welcome Bear naked ladies. Right. Oh Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love, in all of us coming. I ain't stop big and stop. It sounds like a bunch of drunk guys at karaoke, I did 2 a.m.

22:58Well, I mean, that's the bear naked ladies. The only song I can think of as of theirs is that one week song that was probably from all I don't know. That's got to when you look at me. That one. Yes. Just looked it up. 1998. So we're going back nearly 30 years to the last time I even thought about the bear naked ladies until last night. The old DJ thing to say is I played that when it was a current. And when I was first working at Java Jose Peppers and Olathe, that was one of the songs that would play, you know, one of every 10 songs that played over and over. Yes. They would just play on loop there because they have. Yeah. But good alls. I love I'd see those guys tomorrow if I could. Oh, they're great. They're awesome. You'll hear bear naked ladies doing the theme to Big Bang Theory every night. Yeah. On TV. So that's them. That's them. Okay. Stick to that and singing one week for the people that are like, you know, older millennials at this point who want to hear that song. Because the national anthem was not good from bear naked ladies last night.

23:58That was pathetic. And I don't know if the Buffalo bills are out there trying to prove that they are, you know, allies with Canara as this back and forth continues between the Trump administration and the Canadians. And I do think listen, I think Trump's been a little goofy. And it comes to randomly terrifying hockey sticks because he's mad at Canara and renaming great lakes to tick off Canara. I think it's all goofy. At the same time, I don't want to be playing their national anthem at NFL games for no reason. It's not like the Padres are playing the Mexican national anthem or anything. It's like, it's like, they're of course Buffalo's like neighbors are close to Canada, but why do they need to play it? Exactly. Okay. Great. So there might be some Canadians who are bills fans. If I go to an expo's game or, you know, when they were the expo's, if I go to a blue J's game, I don't expect to, if they're playing, say, a Canadian team, which they theoretically would not, I wouldn't expect them the cater to me.

25:01I'm in their country. They have their culture. They have their national anthem. And they have every right to have that. Say the Edmonton Oilers are playing the, who Ontario centers to Canadian teams up there, right? NHL Ottawa. Thank you very much, John. I'm not a big hockey guy. I don't sit here and say, you know what we need to do? We need to play the American anthem. No, it's two teams in your country. I would not expect that. I wouldn't. But now the NFL, nothing more Americana than the NFL is catering to Canada. Why? Harry Sisson, who was a left wing online troll, he wrote last night on social media. The Buffalo bills played the Canadian national anthem at their game last night. And Maga is losing their minds over it. Total snowflakes. It was great to see Canada is our friend.

26:01See they're, they're showing their ass when they say stuff like that. I really are. All these false narratives. Exactly. I'm not losing my mind over it. I think it's disrespectful to this country. That's what I think it is. Not about Maga. I mean, it should be something that Republicans and Democrats and Independents agree on. Sports events in the United States with two American teams do not need the Canadian national anthem. Okay. It just, it doesn't need that at all. 913 4087 957. And I just need to get the stench and the stink of O Canada out of my ears. So I'm only going to take this caller if he sings the Canadian anthem. Mike and Kansas City will you sing the Canadian anthem? Well, I don't know. I know the extinct version of it, but are they playing, do they play these long fight version? Can you sing? Can you sing? Can you sing? I only want to hear you sing. That's all I want to hear at you. When you start singing, please. Yeah, something like home Canada, where a bunch of wolves live in the shadow of America.

27:05You know something like that. That's good. That's good. Life. That's good. You did it. You now just a little more oomph to it. Okay. Can you just belt it into the phone, please, on a Friday morning? I don't. I got a lot of talents. I got a face for radio and I cannot sing. I didn't ask if you could sing. I asked if you would sing. That's about to extend my screen. Can give me one more time. One more time. One more time. Just let it belt at 6.42 in the morning on a Friday. It's just you and me talking. Just let it rip. Please. Okay. Oh Canada. Our new map. Our new model is our Akbar. Okay, Mike. Goodbye. Okay. Geez. You give a guy just enough rope and he figures out how to. He did it. You know, yeah. So he did it. He's was bringing up a good point yesterday about the purpose of the national anthem in the first place to be played at sporting events and it's to honor veterans.

28:07Mm hmm. Got nothing to do with the other team. Yeah. It's irrelevant. Right. And so we lose focus of that. Absolutely. That is, that is absolutely true. 913408 7957. Maybe someone will sing a little more than Mike was willing to sing here on a Friday morning. Come on. He's got to let it belt. Campy worse than the bear naked ladies last night. To honor Canada. Performing the national anthem. Please welcome bear naked ladies. Oh Canada. Our home and native land. True patriot love. In all of us. Come. No. Stop. Oh Canada. Josh Allen is our friend scoring touchdowns. Now we will stand with him. Thank you. Thank you very much there.

29:09Mark, that is, that is well done. How about a round of applause? A guy willing to sing on the air. He sings at church. He sings on the air. I mean, these guys, these bear naked ladies, boy. They sounded like people that you don't want in front of a microphone at church, but who think they're really good, you know, that's what it is. McGraw-Bill Hannon was here, of course, with Vince Colinace and Guy Benson this week for our America 250 event. Thank you to the 200 plus folks that showed up for an awesome, awesome program on Wednesday night at Boulevard Brewing. We had a fantastic time. Brankados did a great job with the catering. It was a lot of fun. So yesterday, you know, it was a crazy week where all these guys are here. Guy came in Monday morning, did his show Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday because we went out to Arrowhead Stadium Monday night. Vince came in Tuesday night. He did his show from Kansas City yesterday, or I guess Wednesday and yesterday. I'm lucky. I know what city I'm in right now.

30:09I just can't keep track of this week. And then McGraw was here. He just came in and came over from St. Louis on Wednesday for the show, stayed on Wednesday night, went home yesterday. But before he went home, he came to the studio and we had him on yesterday for the 9 o'clock hour, which was a lot of fun. That's up on the podcast. If you want to listen back to that, he stayed in studio for an hour. It was a blast. And then when he was done, he had to interview Bill O'Reilly for his show America at night, eight to 10 on KCMO. Bill's got the new book out confronting America. We had Bill on the show on Tuesday, which was the day the book went to publish and went out. So McGraw had the interview with Bill yesterday. So he's using one of our side studios here. We've got a bunch of different production studios in the building. So you can record interviews and do what you have to do, right? So before he has the call with Bill, we're talking about Bill and he said, hey, you know Bill a little bit, right? I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, Bill's a professional friend, I guess you'd

31:11say at this point and Bill and I have the opportunity to hang out every summer. And he's like, what's that about? Bill never invites me to hang out. And I said, well, it's a long story. But yes, you know, for the last six years now, Bill and I have spent a summer afternoon hanging out on his porch, talking shop, talking business, talking life. It's all good. It's great. So McGraw and Bill get set to record the interview yesterday. Bill calls in to record this thing down the hallway from where I'm at right now. And before they start recording the interview, you know, there's always a little banter back and forth, right? Before you say, all right, Bill, you good to go. Let's do three, two and one. You have a little conversation beforehand if you have to record the interview, which is fine when you're doing a book tour because you're not really doing something that's super time sensitive. So McGraw gets done with the interview. He calls me into the studio and he goes, you got to listen to this back and forth with Bill. It's not going to air.

32:13It was part of their pre-interview banter. And here's what it sounded like. McGraw millhaven here. I'm standing here with your dear friend Pete Mundo in KCMO in Kansas City. Is that right? Don't get too close to Mundo. He'll take your wallet. Yeah, no kidding. I appreciate that he gets all the invites to your house. Nothing for me. Well, you live in the ironic circle. They call me, right? Don't get too close to Mundo. He'll take your wallet. I don't know where Bill got that from. Okay. I've never asked him for anything. I've never asked him to buy me anything. All we do is sip a bottle of water on his back porch. He's not buying me lunch here. I'm not sure where that comes from, which by the way, maybe I got to start showing up with something at the house or sandwiches. I don't know. Because apparently you think some some kind of a freeloader here. This is very concerning now. Should hit a thrift store and just bring him a bag full of walls. Sorry, dude. I could help myself. Maybe it's the hand cramps he got from autographing books for our listeners, right?

33:17Donate the money for us. Yes. He does do that every year. He donates or he signs 10 copies of his latest book. And of course, if you're one of our 10 biggest donors for our children's miracle network, a miracle day of hope show in December, you get one of those signed Bill O'Reilly books. No, it's a New York thing. If you get picked on your end, right? I think that's what it means. It's an endearment. That must be it, John. But now Mark, we have a new drop for the show. Don't get too close to Mundo. He'll take your wallet. Thank you, Bill. I'm grateful for that. She is. As if I needed to sell my reputation anymore around here. I guess Bill O'Reilly just did it for me. So yeah, now we got that going for us. Do with that what you want. I do have some good news before we get to Nick Haynes, Kansas City PBS coming up just after the bottom of the hour. And our good buddy Patrick Tui is not going to like this. JD Power, they do a survey every year for top airports in Kansas City.

34:19The Kansas City International Airport ranked number four in the country on the JD Power Survey. Uh oh. Where's my man, Patrick Tui? Can you put a price point on that big man? Well, like him, I will question the criteria, which that was judged. That's fair. That's fair. And I haven't done the deep dive into the questionnaire and everything else. But I'll assume the convenience is relatively close to what it may have been. Yes. I complained about not being able to park out front, but you can drop off out front and park in the right, right across the street. Absolutely, John, you can do that. And I will add this as well. You know, part of it is to how on time your flights are. Kansas City does a good job with that. So between being on time, having pretty solid amenities, Vince Colin A.C. yesterday was like asking on the air during his show, I got to get barbecue before I leave. It sounds like the guy was eating peanuts the whole time, which if I knew that, I would hook them up. But I get it.

35:19We're all busy. It's been a wild week. But a lot of people said, hey, you got meat mitch up there at the airport. There's a couple of good spots to get some barbecue. Now, you know, you're not going to get the best food at the airport, but it's pretty darn good. So you've got the convenience, your flights are on time. Like that's you got decent amenities. Outside of the all gender restrooms, there's really nothing to complain about up there. I really isn't. Even the moving sidewalks, the girls love that. The moving sidewalks are fun for my kids, you know, they're younger than yours, but it's kind of like a, it's like a game, right? Trying to get on and get off. All right. Correct. Yeah. They're all about it, man. If they start running down the walking sidewalk, though, then we have a problem. Last thing I need is them plowing through people trying to, you know, get to their gate. That's not a good scene. But yes, Kansas City International ranked number four on the JD power survey for airports around the country, not too shabby. Yeah, it certainly has that feeling still. I mean, I hope this is the last Friday we sit here and pretend like it's summer.

36:22Technically still is, of course, until early next week, but we're going to be hitting the 90s once again today. The feel likes are going to be near 100 degrees. So as we roll out the eight o'clock hour on a Friday morning, I'm thinking a lot about the death of Eric Zahn, the Plack County prosecutor who took his own life yesterday at the Plack County courthouse. It is an absolute tragic ending for an individual and a career that in large part was very positive. In large part was really good for Plack County. But it got squirrely, it got strange over the last several months. And now it comes to this really tragic ending. Now I see that Tony's Kansas City this morning has written this piece, headline critics drag

37:24Kansas City talk host Pete Mundo over Eric Zahn's self-harmed terminology. Because yesterday, when this news broke, I reported on how Eric Zahn passed based on talking to several sources across Plack County. And I know that other folks in Kansas City media probably knew what happened, but for whatever reason, they chose not to report it. Because there is some belief in certain corners of media that well, when it comes to dying this way, we don't talk about it. We don't report it. Do you really think you're that important? Get over yourself. In fact, I think it's more important to talk about it, not the details, okay? Like, I do happen to know that. I agree that would be inappropriate to share. But talking about the how, I think is a valuable conversation to have.

38:30And yesterday, I found out this news, my phone started to blow up on this news as I wrapped up a whistle ball game up in KCK on behalf of the battle within the veterans organization that we've done work with now for eight years here in Kansas City, where they helped the veterans and the first responders with PTSD. They have a five day program here in Kansas City. It started out as just Kansas City veterans and Kansas City first responders going through this five day program as they start their PTSD journey and try to get back on track for family, friends, loved ones, co-workers, everybody involved in their lives. And we'll talk more about that bottom of this hour with Mitch Wheeler at 830. But I find out that information yesterday about the Plac County prosecutor and what he did to himself yesterday, right when I finished up this whistle ball game that is raising thousands of dollars, along with Kevin Keatsman, for veterans and first responders who were

39:33struggling with their mental health. So I thought it was important to share that, to have the conversation out in the open. And to Tony's point here on Tony's Kansas City, he is right. I mean, you know, listen, I shared the news. It went viral on Facebook and some people insisted that you can't share those things. Well nobody told me that. And in fact, I believe the opposite. I think you should share those things. The details are not important. I agree with that. But talking about these things, having the conversations, I think that matters. And I said that as somebody who has been, you know, impacted by folks with severe mental health issues in my personal life, family, friends on down the board. You don't hide it. In fact, hiding it is only making things worse. I agree because I saw the word incident and I immediately start speculating in my head. Exactly.

40:33What could it be? And, you know, most people are going to come to the obvious conclusion here on what it was. But the fact that media is not supposed to report this. How self-important do you think we are? No, talk about it. Have the conversation. That's what matters. That's what we should be doing. We talk about it with veterans. We say we've got to get this stuff out in the open. We've got to help our veterans. But then what if it happens to a public political figure? Hush, hush. Don't say anything. I disagree. Now, what exactly has been going on here? There's a lot going on behind the scenes. Some I can't share right now, some I can. What I do know and what I can't share with you is that there was an ongoing Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation into the Plac County prosecutor.

41:37That was ongoing for at least the last several months. Now, how connected these two things are? I don't know. Obviously, you can't just say, well, this was happening. Therefore, this took place. I will not alleged that. I will not go there. You never know what's going through somebody's mind when they make a decision like this. But there has been an ongoing investigation from the Missouri Highway Patrol into Plac County prosecutor Erickson and things that were going on in that office. And where that investigation now goes from here is very much up in the air. So I don't know where that's going to lead at this point in time. But the prosecutor's office has been, frankly, a weird, jumbled mess for the last several months. There were political wars that were being waged publicly. As you well know, and we talked about extensively on this show, especially earlier this year,

42:38you had the Plac County Commission going up against the Plac County prosecutor's office. You had a prosecutor who wanted more money for the sheriff's department and his department. And the commission was saying, we don't have the money right now. We gave you guys big raises the last few years. We've got to slow that down a little bit on behalf of the taxpayer. You had then the prosecutor in the sheriff claiming they were being defunded when they got the cost of living increase. There was a lot going on, a lot of, you know, finger pointing. And then in late March, early April at the 11th hour, the prosecutor decides to not run for reelection. And Erickson was the longest serving prosecutor in the history of Plac County. He was first elected in 2002. And then of course, he passed away yesterday at the age of 53. So he had been the face of really law enforcement and the law enforcement arm in that community for well over two decades, the most prominent person in that community for well over two

43:40decades. And then this comes to a very tragic ending yesterday at the courthouse, which as I understand it is still closed today. But I think it's important to discuss these things, to have these conversations for civilians and for law enforcement folks and for veterans who are coming back home. And you know, we heard this amazing story yesterday before we got set to play our whistleball game. And finally, by the way, I got a win. I had a couple of ringers there from CMP construction here in Kansas City. So appreciate them showing up. Finally got to be Keith's been kicking my button this game for the last three years. So I finally got a W on the board. And 2521 I think was the final score. But we heard this story before we now played our whistleball game. It came courtesy of the executive director of the battle within Justin Hoover. And he said he was talking with a veteran here in the last couple of weeks who got sent

44:42home from one of the Navy ships overseas as they've been dealing with the war with Iran. And this guy has amazing guilt right now over the fact that he was sent home and then his friend was sent overseas in the Middle East and his friend recently lost his life during this war. And he says the guy that he was talking with has an incredible amount of guilt over the fact that it should have or could have been him. He's struggling tremendously right now. And the battle within in Justin Hoover is trying to help that veteran and help that member of the military, you know, kind of get himself back on track. And those stories are happening every day in this country. And we're not talking about it and we need to talk about it. So you can't sit here and say, well, yeah, it's good to talk about that stuff with veterans. But when it comes to a political figure, a public figure, and some other line of work,

45:45we don't have the conversation. I could not disagree more hiding it is how we end up with these situations getting worse. Being hush, hush about it is how we end up with these situations potentially getting worse. And the same people I believe who have been all in on turning Lindsey Clancy into some kind of victim are now like, oh, don't, don't talk about this in Kansas City. No, we need to be talking about these things, John. Yeah. And we just come off the observance of the 25th anniversary of 9-11. And so some of the first responders experience the same thing, the guys who got out of the building or their unit, everybody but them, etc. Exactly. There is an immense amount of guilt with some of these people and it impacts them mentally for in the case of 9-11, 25 plus years at this point. And hiding that doesn't do anybody any good, suppressing that does nothing for anybody. But politics unfortunately is a, is a dirty game that can lead people to be troubled

46:53and motivated by all the wrong reasons. They get hung up on power and ego and money and I, you know, doing this, I see it all the time. I really do. It's a dirty game. And if people hang around too long, what happens to them? I think they oftentimes get corrupted. And I don't mean just like corrupted legally, I mean emotionally and spiritually oftentimes corrupted because they get caught up in their bubble. And that can cause politics to be a terrible business to be in. And I think that's part of the story that has to be told as it does unfold with Plac County prosecutor Eric Zahn, who did take his own life at the Plac County Courthouse yesterday. Coming up next on KCMO talk radio. There is this story on a Friday morning, there is real concern on the other side of our state line about one of these races on a Friday morning that has now the nation turning

47:54its attention to Kansas. We'll tell you why and who next on KCMO. We got news happening on the Kansas side of the state line that has the entire nation looking at the sunflower state. We'll get to that coming up here on KCMO. We have you at 913408 795 7 Eric Zahn, the Plac County prosecutor dying yesterday, suicide at the Plac County Courthouse tragic shocking news across Kansas City yesterday. And we did break that news and share that with Miranda Conor Miranda's right, which is now wrap it up its first week, four to seven PM here on KCMO. Stoos and Rosedale, Stu, go ahead, you're on KCMO. Yeah, Mongo, I just want to say something about suicide. You know, when you say he took his own life, that's kind of imparts a nobility to the acts that the act does not deserve, you know, a barring that perhaps he was, I don't when I say that though, I don't perceive that to be a noble way to frame it.

48:54I'm not not criticizing you, but, but as a figure of speech, because unless the guy was suffering from an inturable disease, okay? But otherwise, it's a supremely selfish and insensitive act, and especially when committed in public like that. And it's it's it's done to punish the living. And this was probably even punishes people. I mean, the people who had to clean it up left the witness that had to clean it up, you know, it's just a supremely selfish and irresponsible and insensitive act. And there's no nobility to it. It's a it's a narcissist last way of saying, hey, look at me or hey, I'll show you. Well, I will I will say this. Listen, that's an impressively confident opinion about something you've never experienced. That's what I would say. But our caller of the day at 930 is somebody that you will hear from that called into the show very early at six this morning, who attempted this praise God failed and explained the

50:02mindset of somebody who does attempt to do something like this. So I hope you'll listen for that at 930 on KCMO. All right. I hope you will 913408 795 7 John just John Tony real quick Parkville. What's up? Hi, Pete. I wanted to call and just share some information. I do critical incident responses for different things of a mental health guy. And for the callers out there and the listeners out there, I just like to say, you know, understand the 988 resource in our community. If you're alone, you can call that line and they will walk you through how to get help. But also, if you're an employee of most companies in the modern era and have insurance coverage and different things, you often have access to what's called EAP or employee assistant program.

51:02A lot of people don't know that they'll work for companies and I'm amazed at how many people don't realize they have this resource. But you can get free mental health assistance. Sometimes anywhere from 3 to 6 sessions, you can go and talk to someone for free. And then just an awareness of all of us for the red flags that point to suicidal ideation. The reason being, oftentimes it's not verbal or vocal. Most times you will not know that someone has a plan to do this. Sometimes the ones that are talking about it the most, it's more a cry for help versus those that really have an intention of doing it. They don't talk much about it. And you know, that's been my 15 years of experience doing this. Thank God I've had it happen one time in my practice and that person left my office seemed like they were doing great. And 14 hours later I got the phone call.

52:04So just know those resources, 988, know that you have EAP resources. Hospitals, the emergency rooms will help if you go in with ideation to hurt yourself, to harm yourself. The help is out there. You just need to be willing to reach out. Thank you Tony. You want to make sure the listeners know that. Absolutely. Well said. Thanks so much my man. Quick. All right. Real fast because I got a guest coming up. I got to get to the story. Glenn, go ahead real quick. Pete, I was a corpsman in the 80 after Vietnam. So a lot of Marines that committed suicide and usually it was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I disagreed with your previous caller. I think a lot of times people have demons whether they're real or not and they're dealing with those. Like your last caller said a lot of times you don't even know that somebody's considering

53:05it. Yeah. Thank you Glenn. Well said. Appreciate the call. Appreciate the call. We have some new polling here. Emerson poll. Now listen, you take polling with a grain of salt. We've seen this before in the state of Kansas. And these polls have been dead wrong. But right now there is an Emerson poll dropped yesterday, likely voters. Adam Hamilton leading Roger Marshall 45 to 43. What's interesting is that in the governor's race, Ty Masterson is leading Cindy Holcher 51 to 44. So this weekend, John Kennedy, the Louisiana center, you know, the guy who's the funny man on Fox News, he's going to be here. And Mark Halperin, who is one of the sharpest political minds, he does his own podcast. Now he used to be on Fox News called two way. Here's what he said yesterday in his analysis of Kansas and where the US Senate could be

54:06going, given the uphill climb, the GOP seems to have right now. So I could end up being those things kind of cancel each other at and we do end up with the same numbers. But I'm sending to lean now out towards Feast or famine for both sides. It's going to be a wipe out and Republicans are going to lose Kansas and South Carolina and 30 house seats or James Blair is going to execute this plan. Who is James Blair? Mark, you might just give me a minute here. James Blair is Trump's top political guy who's got access to a billion dollars to spend on this midterm. Now I keep hearing and Trump keeps saying he's going to spend the money. My question is when there's 45 days to go. Roger Marshall appears to be in a very close race with Pastor Adam Hamilton. All I see is Adam Hamilton all over TV. When is that money being spent?

55:07If you got a billion dollars and Trump says he's going to spend it to try to hold the house in the Senate, which why wouldn't he, his political future is at stake here, let's go. I mean, they're in this predicament because of this administration's decision with Iran. So let's go. And if you had to do it, help save your guys and gals. I mean, put the pressure on. You know, put the darn pressure on. Get moving, guys. This is my sanctuary of hope story. I almost didn't keep my baby. I was young, broke and terrified. Then I found sanctuary of hope. They gave me a safe place, medical care, counseling. Sanctuary of hope believed in me. They helped me finish school and taught me how to be a mom. They gave my baby a chance at life. Today, when I look into my child's eyes, I see a future I almost lost. You can be that someone.

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57:10You want to try an Olympic sport but think you're too old, too out of shape, too busy, or that those sports are just too unsafe? Think again. Fencing is taking the nation by storm and it's a safe, fun, engaging sport that's perfect for everyone. Any age, any skill level. Classes are safe, active, engaging, and community driven. No experience needed and most clubs offer loader gear for beginners. Learn more and find beginner classes near you at tryfencing.org. This January Bear Knuckle Fighting Championship takes over the ocean. The inaugural Bruce Crew sells for Miami to the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Three straight days with pool deck Bear Knuckle fights in the Caribbean. Mess of parties. Beach events. DJs. Sagar's. To kill the tastings and non-stop action. The lineup reveals coming soon. Cabins are disappearing fast and the prices won't stay this low. Reserve your spot with just $200 down at BKFCSEA.com. Never wanted to try an Olympic sport but think you're too old, too out of shape, too

58:14busy or that those sports are just too unsafe? Think again. Fencing is taking the nation by storm and it's a safe, fun, engaging sport that's perfect for everyone. Any age, any skill level. Classes are safe, active, engaging, and community driven. No experience needed and most clubs offer loader gear for beginners. Learn more and find beginner classes near you at tryfencing.org. The news moves fast but the truth should not get lost in the chaos. I'm Sean Farish, host of Sean Farish Live. Each episode of my show brings you the biggest political stories of the day. We're grounded in common sense analysis. A little bit of sharp humor. Now if you're tired of the spin. The fake news. The phone is in the losers. And you're ready for informed entertaining commentary that gets straight to the point you are in the right place. You can watch the show live on Rumble Weekdays at 1pm Eastern Time and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts. This January, Bear Nuckle Fighting Championship takes over the ocean. The inaugural Bruce Crew sells for Miami to the Bahamas aboard the Norwegian Jewel.

59:18Three straight days with pool deck Bear Nuckle fights in the Caribbean. Mess of parties. Beach events. DJs. Segars. To kill the tastings and non-stop action. The lineup reveals coming soon. Cabins are disappearing fast and the prices won't stay this low. Reserve your spot with just $200 down at BKFSEA.com.