Archives: April 2011
Steven Smith stabbed to death in argument with landlord
%{}% Steven Smith was stabbed to death in an argument with his landlord, who also happened to be his roommate. Smith, 50, was found dead in the doorway of the apartment at 38th and Fuller Sunday morning around 2 a.m. The landlord was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He was questioned and released, pending further investigation, the…
Fleet Foxes add new dates to their sold out tour — including Kansas City
In less than a month, Seattle’s dream-pop darlings Fleet Foxes will release their much anticipated sophomore album, Helplessness Blues. In support of that album, they’re heading out on a North American tour that begins in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the end of April. It was originally set to end on May 21 in Pennsylvania. However, those shows are almost all…
Republican politicians tell birther David M. Shultz to shut up
When it rains Kansas-bred birther madness, it pours. This week has seen two Sunflower State conspiracy theorists float fiction as proof that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States, but only one was rejected by the Kansas quasi-birther Secretary of State Kris Kobach. First, famed Kansas birther Jack Cashill gets busted using a doctored photo, and now Wichitan David…
Karma Vision’s Bobby Sauder on Pizza Power, Lawrence’s DIY venue
Home shows are a blast. Just ask Bobby Sauder, Karma Vision member and booker extraordinaire. After a bout of touring, he and fellow psych-poppers decided to rent a house in Lawrence that’s only a stone’s throw from the Replay Lounge, and to host DIY pizza parties and shows. The Pitch: When did Pizza Power get up and running? Bobby Sauder:…
Do we really need valet parking on the Plaza?
The five o’clock rush-hour traffic was crawling by the young man in the blue polo shirt as he kept looking for something. A Volvo turned on its right blinker, so the young man half-raised his arm, moving slowly away from the curb. But the driver waved him off, and the young man once again took up his post at the…
Larry Johnson’s spit-absorber gets $100,000 payday
Could this be the last time we have to post anything about ex-Kansas City Chief Larry Johnson? Deadspin is reporting that a tipster sent them proof that Ashley Stewart, the woman who sued Johnson for allegedly spitting a drink on her at Blonde in 2008, has agreed to drop the suit for $100,000. The letter, dated April 11, 2011, was…
The816 has a drinking game to accompany NPR’s pledge drive
There’s a subtle art to the NPR pledge drive. The hosts cajole and gently chide listeners to dig deep and make a pledge. Blogger Chris Riebschlager, the author behind The816.com, thinks he may have found a way to keep the membership drive from getting stale — the “NPR Drive Pledge Drinking Game.” So turn up the radio, grab a case…
Over one hundred KCMSD teachers get the ax — including our source
Last Friday, 115 teachers with the Kansas City, Missouri, School District received notice that their contracts would not be renewed for the 2011-12 school year, district representatives confirm. One of the axed educators, English teacher Amy Smith (not her real name), was interviewed as part of this week’s feature story on Southwest High School. Categories: News Tags: Andrea Flinders, layoffs,…
115 KCMSD teachers get the ax — including our source
Last Friday, 115 teachers with the Kansas City, Missouri, School District received notice that their contracts would not be renewed for the 2011-12 school year, district representatives confirm. One of the axed educators, English teacher Amy Smith (not her real name), was interviewed as part of this week’s feature story on Southwest High School. Categories: News Tags: Andrea Flinders, layoffs,…
Port Fonda has one reservation available in its rolling dining room
Your first chance to sample the regional Mexican cuisine at Port Fonda likely won’t be on the street but inside the retrofitted airstream trailer itself. Chef and owner Patrick Ryan is taking reservations for El Comedor — the one-table, six-person dining room inside his mobile food truck. And the last one available during the first weekend of reservations is on…
See Hearts of Darkness at Starlight for a cheap $10
Starlight is booking a slew of nostalgia acts this summer, and the latest installment is Huey Lewis and the News. That’s all well and good, but here is what’s more important: It’s a super-cheap way to see local Afrobeat extraordinaire Hearts of Darkness rock Starlight’s gigantic, killer sound system. (Of course, you can also try to figure out how that…
The Fresh and Onlys rumble Lawrence’s Jackpot tonight
These days, record labels aren’t categorized by the physical location of their studios (think Motown or Sun) but by the stylistic leanings of their artists. The Fresh & Onlys stand next to Thee Oh Sees, Wounded Lion and Cheap Time as some of the best in modern garage. On tour in support of its upcoming EP, Secret Walls, the San…
Jack Cashill’s latest Obama conspiracy contained ‘egregious error’
Jack Cashill, the Kansas City-based conspiracy theorist, believes that Barack Obama’s political career is built on a pack of lies. He’s suspicious about the birth certificate, of course. He thinks Bill Ayers ghost-wrote Obama’s autobiography Dreams From My Father, an idea that Donald Trump has taken out for a test drive. He doubts that Barack Obama Sr. is the president’s…
What band’s fans would you least like to have sex with?
As AV Club reports, a poll conducted by dating site Tastebuds.fm has recently proved that — as we all have long suspected — Coldplay fans are actually prudes. (So are fans of Adele, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kings of Leon, the Strokes, and Radiohead. Or maybe they’re just sensitive, ya know?) On the other hand, fans of bands that are…
Talib Kweli boots sponsor Colt 45 Blast from 4-20 Lawrence show
Talib Kweli and Billy Dee Williams are about to have beef, yo. According to the rapper’s Twitter feed (@RealTalibKweli) he didn’t approve of Colt 45 Blast’s sponsorship of his upcoming show at The Granada in Lawrence. Categories: Music Tags: Blast, Colt 45, Industry Ears, Talib Queli, Works Every Time
Sam Brownback signs anti-abortion bills as part of so-called ‘culture of life’
%{}% Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed into a law an anti-abortion bill requiring doctors to get permission from both parents before performing an abortion on a minor. The other ceremonial signing (because Brownback already signed the bill last week) puts further restrictions on abortions after 22 weeks, on the disputed notion of “fetal pain.” Really, with a Republican-led Legislature…
Frank Martin would listen to Miami if they called, but the Hurricanes aren’t interested? (updated)
UPDATE: Tommy Amacker is staying at Harvard, according to ESPN. Miami’s basketball coaching job is still open, but the Hurricanes did hire an athletic director. Still, if you’re wondering why the ‘Canes haven’t called Kansas State’s Frank Martin, there’s this nugget from Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman: “Dan Parker Search Firm showing how clueless it is yet again. All it takes…
Take a peep at different options for Easter Sunday dining
It’s true: There’s an actual “Peep Show” going on at the historic Phillips Hotel at the corner of 12th Street and Baltimore. But not the same kind of peeping that one might have found during the 1960s and the more bawdy days of 12th Street. One of the ground-level windows facing 12th Street has a 4-inch by 3-inch “peep” view…
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