Perhaps the most remarkable thing about The Crucible is this: Decades after the McCarthyism that inspired it, the play — an Arthur Miller witch-hunt drama that’s ingrained in our culture — remains absorbing. Its four long scenes start slowly but surge, each resolving ideas and action in dramatic situations no less arresting than back when the world was black and…
Even in a crowd of people who know him, R. Crosby Kemper III is easily overlooked. He’s a rich, connected man whose name is branded across the metro. His family has made its Kansas City-founded bank, UMB, one of the nation’s most stable, with 135 branches in seven states. His face has been in newspapers and business magazines. His hand…
The gray Pontiac pulled into the Thrifty lot before 6 a.m., leaving John and Molly Williams plenty of time before their 9 a.m. flight departed Kansas City International Airport. It was September 6. The couple was about to embark on a long day of travel. But the Williamses entered Terminal A knowing that the fourth and final airport they would…
Dicking Around in WyCo The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities wants its own briefing on Chief Administrative Officer Marc Conklin, who has been indicted on charges of stealing $400,000. After a grand jury investigation led Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman to file the charges last month, BPU General Manager Don Gray said the board had hired an…
Dear Mexican: In a column some time ago, you mentioned the Aztec prophecy that claimed “their descendants would reclaim ancestral lands in the southwest U.S., and guess what.” I’d appreciate it if you shed a little light on this statement. This is the mythical state of Aztlán you’re referring to, right? What are its “borders”? How many Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Central…
Feature: “A Picture of Hope,” November 6 Badass, Good Words Jason Harper is a pretty badass dude. I don’t know if it’s acceptable — if you’re technically not supposed to e-mail the folks who write nice things about you and say thank you — but I have very little time for worrying about the technicalities of anything anymore. My darling…
Alvin Ailey pre-party
%{}% By CHRIS PACKHAM Assume the position, internet: How long does The Kansas City Star think it can get away with publishing “Kansas City-area Business Briefs,” a blatant, clumsily-titled Daily Briefs rip-off compiled by Mark Davis and David Hayes? Did they think I wouldn’t notice? The fact that they refrain from the use of colorful filth-language and substitute dry AP-style…
By CHARLES FERRUZZA I’m always thrilled to celebrate culinary ingenuity, which is why I couldn’t be more impressed by the concept of the Jasmin Restaurant in beautiful downtown Eudora, Kansas — a city named after the first baby born in this quaint hamlet in the 1850s. I was only passing through Eudora when I stumbled on this little treasure, so…
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI In contrast to the parades, poetry readings and laying of wreaths commemorating Veterans Day around the metro, a small, somber group gathered yesterday in a dim lounge at Avila University to call attention to soldier suicide. “The War Within: The Veteran Suicide Epidemic” included an exhibit that gave stark representation to the number of Missouri and Kansas…
By JUSTIN KENDALL Who could spit in this face? Or kick her off a Kansas prairie? Not me, but Larry “King Pink” Johnson allegedly hacked a loogie in Ashley Stewart’s face at Blonde. Jay-Z’s boy allegedly added that he would also like to kill Stewart’s boyfriend. I guess this wasn’t the best pick-up line ’cause Stewart is now suing Johnson,…
By OWEN MORRIS Extra Virgin’s Web site says the original mid-October opening date has been pushed back to early November. Since it’s almost mid-November, I stopped by to see how it was coming along. Categories: Dining, Food & Drink Tags: extra virgin, Michael Smith, restaurant openings
By CRYSTAL K. WIEBE Marilyn Manson, Pantera, Republic Tigers, Super Black Market and James Bond. So goes the shortlist of musical acts and fictional British secret agents for whom video editor Brian Hicks has worked some visual magic. You can read all about Hicks in this week’s Buckle Bunny column. Mentioned briefly is the Beautiful Bodies video that Hicks and…
By ANDY VIHSTADT Mark Lanegan’s been keeping his voicebox well oiled for the past few years. Along with his partnership with Greg Dulli in the Twilight Singers and Gutter Twins, he’s paired up with the Soulsavers, Queens of the Stone Age, and former Belle & Sebastian songstress, Isobel Campbell. The duo’s second full-length collaboration, Sunday at Devil Dirt, was released…
New Kids on the Block November 11, 2008 Sprint Center Better Than: A Skid Row show. By BERRY ANDERSON No Photos, Sorry For photos & review from the St. Louis show, go here. A few weeks ago, when I was granted the opportunity to review New Kids on the Block in Kansas City, I thought manna had fallen into my…
%{}% By OWEN MORRIS In the words of Ice Cube, “better check yourself before you wreck yourself.” When it comes to checking out food, Lunch Spots has a good primer to keep from wrecking yourself. From our sister blog in St. Louis, a link about who Obama might choose as his personal cook or his chef-of-staff if you will. Wondering…
By JUSTIN KENDALL Ex-General Motors executive George Turner started his investigation of the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities today. Yesterday, Unified Government Mayor Joe Reardon announced Turner’s appointment as special master to investigate the BPU’s business practices. Turner’s 60-day “fact-finding mission” comes in addition to the Unified Government’s legislative auditor reviewing the BPU’s procurement and payment processes and…
By JUSTIN KENDALL Adrian Peterson In a Johnson County courtroom on Monday, a powerful sports agent made a plea deal that saved him from going to jail. Bill Henkel is the sports agent for Adrian Peterson, the Minnesota Vikings running back. He’s also the managing partner of 10 Sports Management, a sports marketing firm with offices in Overland Park, Kansas,…
By DAVID MARTIN Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt made two mistakes when he condemned the comments of the St. Louis University political scientist who said rednecks swung the state for John McCain. Blunt issued a statement two days after the election in which he attempted to repudiate Professor Ken Warren’s “assertion that Missourians who supported John McCain are racists.” Warren, in…
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI Just a few hours after President-elect Barack Obama told tens of thousands of people in Chicago’s Grant Park that his victory proved the United States was still a land of opportunity and equality for all its residents, voters in California came down on the other side of history. The passage of Proposition 8 — a ballot initiative…
