If you live downtown, your ass was probably woken up by a lightning strike followed by a whole lot of sirens just before 7 this morning. By the time I threw on some clothes and went outside to check it out, the firetrucks were just starting to pull away from the Majestic steakhouse at 10th and Broadway. Firetrucks had been…
Raul Ortiz-Caseres admitted abducting a 25-year-old Kansas City woman because he was taking her to New Jersey to marry her. Problem is she didn’t want to marry him. That’s how the woman ended up locked in a Fairview Heights, Illinois, McDonald’s bathroom to escape her captors. Ortiz apparently wouldn’t take no for an answer. He called the woman, who he…
Wyandaotte County prosecutors charged 36-year-old David J. Como yesterday with five counts of arson. Como is charged with five of the 15 recent arson fires in Kansas City, Kansas, dating back to February. Some nights, firefighters were fighting two to three fires. The targets had reportedly been vacant homes until April 19, when an occupied home was set ablaze at…
Ryan J. Alexander told police that he thought Michael Wilson just wanted to know where he could buy a joint. The 20-year-old claimed he had no idea Wilson wanted to commit a robbery. So Alexander took Wilson to apartment 204 at 400 East Armour Boulevard on Sunday. Wilson claimed that Wilson knocked on the door and kicked it when it…
Sen. Claire McCaskill is stuck between a rock and a hard place. A dirty rock — coal — makes Missouri a major culprit in global warming. But hard times make it tough to tell residents that they’ve got to give up their dirt-cheap energy prices. The dilemma confronts McCaskill on a recent Wednesday morning in Harrisonville.* It’s the first week of the…
Patio openings confirm that spring has arrived — although not all outdoor spaces are created equally. Fat City’s Charles Ferruzza and a panel of food critics are set to talk about some of the city’s best outdoor-dining spots on The Walt Bodine Show (KCUR, 89.3 FM) from 10 to 11 a.m. tomorrow. Weigh in with your opinion at 816-235-2888. …
The Independence police executed a search warrant Wednesday at the New Hope Baptist Church on East Lexington Road as part of the homicide investigation of Randy E. Stone. Independence police say the warrant was issued as part of the ongoing investigation of Stone’s death, and persons of interest are being questioned by police. Stone, 42, was discovered at his Farmer’s…
Local performers Darren Sextro, John Rensenhouse and Melinda McCrary had a patio date at Julian Nights can still be a little chilly in April and May and there’s always the possibility of rain, but after one of the longest and coldest winters in Kansas City (at least it seemed that way), it’s a distinct pleasure to be able to dine…
There’s no shortage of KC radio stations fighting for your ear. But if you had to chose a station based solely on the look of its official wheels, you might find yourself listening to nothing but talk radio or the Spanish language station. For your consideration, we present the top nine radio rides in the metro. We didn’t do 10,…
The Emo Diaries, Deep Elm’s long-running series of compilations, recently began accepting submissions for the twelfth installment. Chapter 12 has yet to be subtitled, although Chapter 11 was “Taking Back What’s Ours,” so expect something else inscrutable. The series “is open to any artist, signed or unsigned, throughout the world,” and you can find all details regarding submission requirements right…
Kansas City police are investigating a fatal shooting at an apartment building at 3200 Linwood. View Larger Map Police arrived on the scene around 11:40 a.m. and discovered a black man dead inside an apartment. Police say a shooting victim showed up at a local hospital, and they are investigating to see if there is a connection between the shootings….
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s KC office director, Geoff Jolley, was supposed to find a date in May for Cleaver to host a town hall meeting for sick workers at the Bannister Federal Complex. For a week, though, he didn’t return calls. Maurice Copeland, the ex-KC Plant worker whose connections made this feature story possible, wasn’t going to sit around and wait….
The French pop band’s sold-out show at the Uptown displayed Phoenix at their bouncy best. Locals Roman Numerals started off the night.
%{}%Bubble tea is a bit of a tough sell in Kansas City. Exhibit A? The bluetooth-enabled collared shirt behind me in line at Tea Drops’ downtown shop. “What’s in bubble tea?” asks Bluetooth. “It’s a tea drink with tapioca balls,” begins the barista. “Just stop right there,” says Bluetooth, who proceeds to order a black tea. Apparent texture obstacles aside,…
Kurt Vonnegut’s portrait of an asshole. Let it inspire you to better things. Some people don’t know the difference between good attention and bad attention. This is often the type of loser you see auditioning for reality shows, assuming that they “tell it like it is and some people don’t like it but whatever, I’m gon’ be me.” They think,…
Music geeks, rejoice! Rush is coming to town, on Thursday, July 1, and this tour has them playing their 1981 album, Moving Pictures in its entirety, for the first time ever. How sweet is that? You are 100% guaranteed to hear “Red Barchetta,” which makes me happier than I can possibly express in words. Hell, the fact that I got…
Update (12 p.m. April 22): The Lawrence Journal-World reports that David Freeman, the Lawrence developer sentenced today to 18 months in prison for a bribery case, answered questions by authorities leading to the investigation of the University of Kansas’ athletic ticket office. The LJW quotes Carl Cornwell, Freeman’s attorney, who says Freeman got “screwed” in the sentencing. ***Another high ranking…
Greil Marcus’ compendium of punk writings, In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992, is the sort of book that everyone needs on their bookshelf — or, more accurately, in the bathroom itself. It’s a collection of mostly short and pithy columns from the front lines of punk, which have unfortunately been rewritten. According to Marcus’ introduction: Most of…
Calm down, Missouri Tiger fans. The Big Eleven Ten won’t be expanding for another 12 to 18 months. At least that’s what the most popular man in college athletics, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, told reporters yesterday at the BCS meetings. There was a lot of talk — including a Chicago Tribune story over the weekend — that the timeline…
Fill up a plate, Italian-style A “Mixerini Bar” sounds like something where alcoholic beverages are prepared and consumed. It’s booze-free at Crown Center’s Milano Italian Dining restaurant, but if you’re hungry and budget-conscious, it’s a potent deal. The Mixerini Bar is what Milano’s calling its express lunch bar, where different Italian dishes — squares of panini sandwiches, slices of freshly…
Thomas Mars would like for you to dance. But only if you want to. “This is a dance one, if you guys don’t mind,” Mars said between songs, shaking his hair out of his eyes. Mop-topped and dapper in a baby blue button-down, Phoenix’s frontman is earnest and puppy-dog sweet. (And he’s got that swoon-inducing French accent, to boot.) But Thomas…
The only burger left at Metcalf’s Fuddrucker’s is the door handle. Update: (April 22, 10 a.m.) Yesterday Fat City gave a send-off to the only Kansas location of the Fuddruckers burger restaurant at 87th and Metcalf; see the entry below. Now (a week after the Kansas City Star reported that the Fuddruckers restaurant in Overland Park had closed because “lease negotiations…
You had me at no cellphones and no dogs, Z’s Divine Espresso & Coffee Roasters (10 E. 9th St.). The faint keyboard taps of a half-dozen people hunched over laptops also let me know that this is a Lawrence coffee house for the working set. Z’s uses organic and fair trade coffees and is a small batch roaster. The iced…
