Before Commander Cody became a household name for his saloon-stomping, country-rock jams in the ’70s, the man behind the moniker had a career in art academia as George Frayne. In the late ’60s Frayne was plying his MFA in sculpture toward teaching at the Wisconsin State University in Oshkosh when he decided to move to San Francisco in 1969 with…
Two allegedly vengeful former employees are accused of poisoning the salsa at Mi Ranchito in Lenexa. Husband-and-wife duo Arnoldo Bazan, 30, and Yini De La Torre, 19, are accused of mixing a Methomyl-based pesticide into salsa and serving it to customers at Mi Ranchito’s Lenexa location. Court documents allege that Bazan and De La Torre plotted to poison Mi Ranchito’s…
Standing at the front of the stage before Old Crow Medicine Show went on, I counted the following: 3 banjos, 3 acoustic guitars, 3 fiddles, 1 electric guitar, 1 electric bass, 1 stand-up bass, 1 organ, and 1 drum kit. That’s a lot of instrumentation. Specifically, that’s a lot of stringed instrumentation, and it’s those strings that hamstrung OCMS over…
A 20-year-old man is in critical condition after he was shot by a Kansas City police officer, KSHB Channel 41 reports. Police told KSHB that a man wanted for a couple felony warrants agreed to surrender at a house near 7th and Spruce around 6:45 p.m. But the suspect pointed a shotgun at an officer when he exited the home….
1. Would you believe it’s already First Friday again? The second-to-last of the whole year, even. Go to the Crossroads! And see, among other wonders, artist H. Stewart “Legally Naked” at the Slap-n-Tickle. 2. Lawrence filmmaker/KU associate professor Kevin Wilmott’s movie The Only Good Indian starts a run at Liberty Hall tonight. 3. Take an autumn stroll. There’s a new,…
This week’s feature story, “Stop Hugging Us,” looks at how research from the nearly 30-year-old Hyatt collapse is affecting treatment of post-traumatic stress treatment today. Turns out, it might be best to leave people alone, instead of making them talk about their feelings. Like any good research, there was more than one test case, and this time that second group…
I never knew how much ice could matter until I was given the choice of crushed or cubed. After that, my eyes were opened to the possibility that the solid in my drink mattered as much as the liquid. Bartenders have apparently come to the same conclusion, and a simple thing like an ice machine is starting to seem passe….
Debate about the Power & Light District’s controversial dress code is moving from City Hall to the Jackson County courthouse. Standing near the entrance to the KC Live! block, members of an extended African-American family described the discrimination they felt they encountered on a visit to the downtown entertainment district in August. The family is represented by superlawyer Arthur Benson,…
Well, we’re a little behind on this news, but it bears mentioning nonetheless: Kansas City pop-dance act Queens Club signed to Tooth & Nail, home to MxPx and Underoath, among others. And, not only did Queens Club sign to Tooth & Nail, they just released their debut recording for the label, the Nightmarer EP, which dropped back in September. They’ve…
Maurice West was the man shot and killed near 116th and Holiday Wednesday afternoon. Kansas City police identified West, 20, as the the victim of the homicide. Officers responding to gunshots found West’s body in the street around 4 p.m. Witnesses told police that they a man shoot West and then run north on 116th Street. Police say there are…
Former Magic Pan employees will reunite Saturday at the RecordBar Back in the early 1980s, Tom Damico was a waiter, serving crepes at the old Magic Pan restaurant in Seville Square on the Country Club Plaza. One of his Magic Pan co-workers, Sherri Blades, later married Bob King and a few years later, Tom, Sherri and Bob all worked together…
If Kansas City kicked back on a shrink’s couch for psychoanalysis, this church would definitely play a role in its most repressed, battle-scarred memories. That’s something I learned Tuesday night at a lecture by Dr. Jacob Wagner, a professor at UMKC who teaches Urban Planning and Design. In front of a diverse sprinkling of folks at the ScionLAB, Wagner discussed…
Soup is the ultimate comfort food in winter. There’s something about a warm bowl and cold weather that just feels right. Perhaps it stretches back to the days when Julia Child used to make primordial soup. So, Jonathan Bender and Charles Ferruzza set out with their soup spoons in hand in an effort to find out bowls were worthy…
Have you ever picked up a slim volume of prose, looked at it, and uttered the words, “This should be a quick read”? That’s what I did with David Lehman’s A Fine Romance: Jewish Songwriters, American Songs. I was sadly, sadly mistaken. Lehman covers quite a lot of material in the course of A Fine Romance. He manages to keep…
KMBC Channel 9 is reporting that a body has been found, and authorities believe it’s missing woman Carol Thomas. Fox 4 says it has confirmed that Thomas was killed, and her body was found in rural Ray County. Fox 4 also reports that three men have been arrested in connection with Thomas’ disappearance. No word on a cause of death….
The Central Library has made a Flickr gallery of the ragtime/early-20th-century sheet music covers held in the Missouri Valley Special Collections, and boy is it a hoot! Locally themed compositions like “The 12th Street Rag,” “Kansas City Blues” and “Somewhere Along the Missouri Tonight” are displayed alongside quirkier offerings, such as “Oh, You U-Boat!” “The Tickler” and the racially specific…
Earlier this week, in honor of National Sandwich Day, we asked where one could find the tasty Monte Cristo sandwich pictured above. All the guesses were correct — it’s the sandwich at the new Fran’s Classic Diner in the Power & Light District (although when Realist commented that I had written about the Monte Cristo at Fran’s before, he was…
Flags across the state of Kansas are flying at half-staff today after the death of former William H. Avery. Avery died yesterday at age 98. Avery was born August 11, 1911, in Wakefield. He was a 1934 graduate of the University of Kansas’ law school. In 1950, the Republican was elected to the Kansas state Legislature. After four years, he…
Anthony Spino III, who with his brother Vito runs the family’s Italian restaurant, Anthony’s, at 701 Grand, has a deal for you this month: Bring twenty bucks and a packaged mix (brownies, cakes, biscuits, muffins) or board games and/or personal hygiene products to the restaurant on Wednesday, November 18 and get a dinner and wine tasting to benefit ReStart Inc., an…
Philadelphia’s A Sunny Day In Glasgow — that phrase is just as cumbersome to type as it is to say aloud, trust you me — are touring in support of their new release, Ashes Grammar, on Mis Ojos Discos. They bring their sunny pop to the Replay on November 24. Burger Kingdom opens. MP3: A Sunny Day In Glasgow, “Ashes…
No one has told Kansas City Royals outfielder Mark Teahen that he’s been traded to the Chicago White Sox, but several reports say he’s gone. The New York Daily News gets credit for announcing the deal: Teahen to the White Sox for second baseman Chris Getz and third baseman Josh Fields. Getz told ESPN’s Chicago branch that so far it’s…
