He was street superintendent, county marshal and eventually a member of the city council. In the 1930s, his machine is rolling. Politics in Kansas City in the 1930s blend into self-survival, loyalty to a benefactor and obligation. Tom Pendergast, assured he will control jobs and his concrete business will prosper, rolls out the vote, and the bond issue passes. The parking plaza in front of Union Station explodes in gunfire as Pretty Boy Floyd, Adam Richetti and Verne Miller kill Frank Nash, two federal agents and two policemen.
Hoodlums shoot four persons to death at or near polls during the county election.
Justin Bowersock is chased by them back to the Star building. It also brings paper rationing. The Kansas City Journal , the only remaining daily competitor of The Star , folds. Worried by paper shortages that began in the war and continued afterward, The Star's board of directors buys a Wisconsin paper mill. Although it guarantees The Star a steady stream of newsprint, the mill also is a heavy polluter.