Archives: May 2015

News, Politics

Russ Johnson, chairman of KCMO’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, seeking a job with companies that put business before that committee

Steve Vockrodt,

Outgoing Kansas City Councilman Russ Johnson needs a job. His second term as a Northland councilman comes to an end in August. Johnson’s professional background includes having a one-half ownership stake in a software company. He once reported the value of that investment at a mere $18,000. In the grand tradition of Missouri politics, Johnson now wants to hook up…

News

The World Series Of Barbecue Is Coming To Arrowhead

Nick Tranfaglia,

It was announced on Tuesday that the World Series of Barbecue will be coming to Arrowhead Stadium. The event usually held at the West Bottoms will move to the Arrowhead Stadium area this year because the demand has gotten too big to fit in such a small space. This year’s event will be held from October 1-4. For the past…

Morel mushrooms: We scour the woods for the elusive fungi

Angela Lutz,

It’s easy to lose track of time in the woods while hunting for morel mushrooms. We hiked uphill and wriggled our way through dense brush and prolific thorn bushes for what felt like several hours before we found our first fungi. “Do you see it?” asked Ron Cook, my guide for the afternoon. He has been hunting mushrooms in the…
News

Carolyn Anderson, Visit KC social-media manager, talks running, restoring the Cosby Hotel and more in The Pitch questionnaire

Justin Kendall,

Name: Carolyn Anderson Occupation: Social-media manager, Visit KC Hometown: Blue Springs Current neighborhood: Downtown KCMO What I do: I create and curate social-media content to build excitement for Kansas City as a destination for leisure and business travel. What’s your addiction? Social media and sea salt What’s your game? Texas hold ’em. I love playing with new friends and trying…
News

How Ann Murguia came to rule Wyandotte County’s Argentine neighborhood

Steve Vockrodt,

Ann Murguia places her left hand on a Bible that’s held by her eldest son and raises her right hand in the air. Murguia, wearing a white dress and white necklace and an iridescent corsage, is taking her oath as a Unified Government of Wyandotte County/KCK commissioner. She stands opposite her husband, Carlos Murguia, who is also dressed for the…
Music

Music Forecast 5.7–5.13: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rick Springfield, Bob Dylan, the Lone Bellow, Action Bronson

Natalie Gallagher,

Ray Wylie Hubbard The Ruffian’s Misfortune finds Texas singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard sliding into complacency as he nears his 70th year on this planet. The reflective wisdom of “Too Young Ripe, Too Young Rotten” and “Barefoot in Heaven” is a far cry from the malcontented man of previous Hubbard releases. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Hubbard’s voice retains…
Music

Howard Iceberg & the Titanics are unsinkable

Natalie Gallagher,

Howard Eisberg is spoken of with a certain degree of reverence in the local music scene. And he has earned it. His most well-known release, Howard Iceberg & the Titanics’ Welcome Aboard, was also his magnum opus. The seven-disc boxed set, which came out in 2011, was composed of 105 songs that Eisberg had written over the previous eight years….
Music

The Ants revel in imperfection

Natalie Gallagher,

The Ants aren’t concerned with perfection. This is a point that the five members want to make clear as they spread out in drummer Sean McEniry’s Lawrence basement. Each of them grasps a can of Hamm’s and lights a cigarette. They celebrate the “warts” of the band, McEniry says. Screen-printed and photocopied show posters — some dating back to the…
Food & Drink, Restaurant Reviews

Alex Pope’s Local Pig offers Westport a choice cut

Charles Ferruzza,

Earlier this year, Alex Pope finished transforming the prime Westport address formerly known as Bridger’s Bottle Shop, a beer retailer and bar — with a minimalist kitchen and sandwich counter, also created by Pope, called Preservation Market — into the full-service restaurant Local Pig. The midtown venue shares its name with the East Bottoms butcher shop that Pope opened three…
A&E

Glenn Kaino parks his dazzling Tank at Grand Arts

Tracy Abeln,

Billy Clubs. X-Lunar Destroyer. Time Machines and Poker Chips and Lava Rain. Reverse Gorilla Nipples. Ultimate Warrior and Tickle Me Pink. Albino Blizzard Zoa and Utter Chaos. Also: Space Monsters, Long Lash Angel, Taylor’s Holy Grail, Rastas, Wham’n Watermelon, Chameleon People Charmer, Baby Got Back, Sexy Crickets, Lanthanide Star, Arctic Ice, Slimeria, the Shiznit, 5-Colors Rainbow, and Chief Wiggum. The list sounds like a roundup of party DJs or the hot sellers at a Colorado marijuana dispensary, but…
A&E, Stage

Bob Paisley brings a president closer in Bill Clinton Hercules

Deborah Hirsch,

Bob Paisley sometimes takes center stage — not unlike Bill Clinton, whom he portrays in the single-actor show Bill Clinton Hercules. It’s a role he debuted in Ireland and Scotland, where the former president’s “reputation is pretty high,” Paisley says, and many have met him. Paisley, co-founder of Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre and director of Central Standard Theatre, brings his political…
A&E, Stage

The Unicorn gets the most out of a hard Cock

Liz Cook,

Those underwhelmed by last weekend’s tentative Mayweather-Pacquiao fight (or appalled by a serial domestic abuser racking up a nine-figure payday) will find a far grittier skirmish on the Unicorn Theatre’s stage.  Cock, a bareknuckle script by Olivier Awards darling Mike Bartlett, throws a hell of a semiotic punch. The brawl begins when John, recently separated from his boyfriend (the script refers to him only as “M”), falls in love with a woman (“W”).   So he’s not gay, M contends. Or…
A&E, Stage

UMKC Theatre’s Freedom Rider: a powerful chapter in an ongoing story

Deborah Hirsch,

“This is not new. We shouldn’t pretend that it’s new,” President Obama said of the “slow-rolling crisis” surrounding race relations and recent protests in Baltimore, which couldn’t help but come to mind during a preview of UMKC Theatre’s graduate production of Freedom Rider. Based on actual events, the deeply affecting play, taking place in 1961, draws on this country’s long,…
Music

Drink this now: Maibowle at Affäre (for a limited time)

Natalie Gallagher,

Now that spring is in full swing, plenty of local bars and restaurants are taking advantage of the expanded seasonal offerings. Every so often here on the blog, we’ll be highlighting a few of the more interesting concoctions. This week: Affäre’s take on the traditional German May punch, or maibowle.  “Maibowle is essentially a white wine infused with sweet woodruff and…

News

Match-Up With Dodgers Highlights Cardinals Top Priced Tickets In May

Nick Tranfaglia,

The St. Louis Cardinals currently sit atop the National League Central, but will have to play on without their ace, Adam Wainwright. Wainwright tore his left Achilles tendon last week and will miss the rest of the season. It’s a devastating blow for a team that has World Series aspirations. St. Louis does have a very deep and talented roster…
News

Boys Beware, the old ‘guidance film’ that got a Ray-Pec teacher suspended, still hilarious after all these years

Charles Ferruzza,

Yesterday, KCTV Channel 5 reported that a veteran teacher at Raymore-Peculiar High School, Ken Simon, had been suspended for showing students in his law-enforcement class a 10-minute film from 1961 called Boys Beware. The KCTV story quotes Simon as saying that the film was “made in 1959 as a PSA by Inglewood police.” The Inglewood police helped, but the film was…
News

The American Royal is moving its annual barbecue to Arrowhead Stadium

David Hudnall,

Following a contentious year in which the American Royal struggled to justify a $60 million ask of Kansas City, Missouri, taxpayers to tear down Kemper Arena and build new facilities for the American Royal, the organization announced today that it is moving its biggest event — the World Series of Barbecue — to the Truman Sports Complex this fall.  “We’ve…
News

Crossroads Summer Block Party lineup announced

Natalie Gallagher,

As your summer calendar fills up with concerts and weddings, make room for one more sweet event: the annual Crossroads Summer Block Party. The event is free, and is taking place at its usual location at the corner of West 19th Street and Wyandotte Street on Friday, June 5. This year, the mostly local lineup features eight delightful acts, including…
News

New Belgium Clips of Faith is coming to Theis Park later in May

Justin Kendall,

There’s not much better than watching a movie outdoors under the stars. OK, there is — watching a movie under the stars while drinking a beer. New Belgium Brewing Co. is going to take care of the movie and the beer when its Clips of Faith film tour stops at Theis Park (533 Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard) Thursday, May 21. The…