Archives: April 2000

Pitch Forks

WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS, WHITNEY HOUSTON?Kansas City-born rap star Solé failed to appear for her scheduled performance at the 4th annual Klammies Awards, leaving a venue full of the city’s musicians speculating about an explanation. After the no-show, Solé’s management claimed that it was because of the clause in her contract that stipulates that at all times she…

Kory goes public as Oz faces increased opposition

After many months of studiously avoiding the public limelight, Oz developer Robert Kory must have felt it was time to change that strategy. The Oz development, after all, is in trouble. So when Kory stepped behind the podium at the Lenexa Chamber of Commerce luncheon on March 22, the crowd quieted. The business and civic leaders in the audience expected…

Kansas Latinos up their political visibility

Back in the 1960s, when he was a child migrant worker picking peas for 50 cents per 100-pound sack and living in fear that his Mexican-born parents would be deported, Elías García never imagined that one day he would be a leader of Latinos. And he never foresaw a time when the Latino culture would enter mainstream America with white…

The Klammies Go Uptown

  “I’m sorry, Ricky Martin is not here tonight,” announced Comedy Central and Mad TV funnyman Pablo Francisco, saddled with the task of warming up the crowd by giving it some yuks during the preshow, now a requisite part of any awards program and a trend that has spread even to the Kansas City/Lawrence Area Music Awards, a.k.a. Klammies. “Neither…