When KSHB Channel 41 investigative ace Russ Ptacek packed his microphone for a job chasing ne'er-do-wells around the Beltway in Washington, D.C., we wondered who would fill his running shoes. Well, this one turned out to be simple. Ryan Kath, Ptacek's understudy on the accountability beat, has emerged as a hound on the way to making his own big name. And he's already making the city a better place to live in. In February, he broke open a shady Kansas City Public School District construction contract, resulting in the end of the $32 million deal and a school executive's resignation. And for May sweeps, he tracked down some of the city's biggest parking deadbeats, finding that at least 160 people and companies had 10 or more tickets. One guy had ignored more than 80. Doing what the cops hadn't done, Kath caught up to him on his way to lunch, thereby putting scofflaws on notice that they'd better start brown-bagging it.
