Hometown: Pratt, Kansas
Current neighborhood: KCMO
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? Wanted to be a cop ever since I was a kid.
What was the last local restaurant you patronized? Houlihan’s
Favorite place to spend a significant portion of your paycheck: I’m a bargain hunter, so anywhere there is a huge sale or somewhere that has issued a great coupon. Two-for-ones at dinner are a favorite of mine.
What is your favorite place to take out-of-town guests? Guy & Mae’s Tavern in Williamsburg, Kansas. Liberty Memorial. Drinks at the top of the Hyatt Regency (or Sheraton).
Favorite local arts organization: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I had no idea that a bronze of Rodin’s “The Thinker” was sitting out on a lawn there until a friend pointed it out. It amazes me.
Finish this sentence: “Kansas City screwed up when it …” Ignored the illnesses and deaths uncovered by one of our investigations at the Bannister Federal Complex.
What TV show are you embarrassed to admit you watch? Lately, a new channel has me watching 1960s- and ’70s-era TV. Today it was Cannon, then The Streets of San Francisco, followed by Gunsmoke.
What movie do you watch at least once a year? I seldom see a movie twice, but if I was to choose, it would be the Italian film Life Is Beautiful.
Celebrity you’d like to take on a gondola ride: Madonna
Favorite person or thing to follow on Twitter: Other KC news reporters
What subscription — print, digital, etc. — is your most cherished? The New York Times
What is your most embarrassing dating moment? Introducing my date to an important contact using the name of someone I’d previously dated.
What was the most important thing you learned in school? I fell in love with reporting and asked a KU journalism professor whether he thought I’d be a good newspaper man. He said no. That’s when I went into TV.
“People might be surprised to know that I …”: Eat out a lot by myself.
Describe a recent triumph: I’m proud of the compensation our work has gotten Bannister victims, and I’m proud of the politicians who’ve resigned or are currently under investigation because of what I’ve uncovered.
William Norris, the Clay County auditor investigated by Ptacek, resigned last week.
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