Archives: September 2015
A deadlocked WyCo Commission to vote Thursday on whether to approve funding for a trail to Kaw Point Park
Wyandotte County, which often ranks at or near the bottom of the list of healthy Kansas counties, can’t agree on whether to add $250,000 to the tab for a bike and pedestrian trail connector to the historic Kaw Point Park. Last week, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, Commission couldn’t break a tied vote on spending a total…
Festival of the Lost Township, Cinder Block deck party, Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest release and more beer events
%{}% A couple of things you need to know about Saturday’s Festival of the Lost Township. Though Crane Brewing is hosting the Labor Day–weekend beer festival, the Raytown brewery won’t be pouring its beer. (Crane received federal approval of its brewer’s notice too late to pour.) And the fest won’t be taking place at the still-under-construction brewery but at E….
Modest Mouse sweat and screamed with an intimate audience last night at Liberty Hall
Modest Mouse Liberty Hall Tuesday, September 1 “I used to spend a lot of time in Lawrence, Kansas,” Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock told his audience, about 30 minutes into the band’s nearly two-hour set last night at Liberty Hall. Brock smiled, a bit like he was surveying a room of old friends, and noted: “I don’t really remember what…
The Pitch‘s Best of Kansas City second-round ballot is now live. Vote!
We were a little overwhelmed by the response to the first round of voting in The Pitch’s annual Best Of Kansas City awards. So it took a little longer than expected to count the results. But they’re in. So who made the cut? Find out the top three (or more, depending on ties) as the second-round ballot is now live….
West End Salvage sets up shop inside Good Ju Ju’s West Bottoms space
%{}% Don Short still isn’t used to people asking for his autograph. Two years after his reality show, West End Salvage, began appearing on HGTV and the DIY Network, he often notices people noticing him, as well as Joe and Hal Davis, the two brothers who work with him at his 50,000-square-foot antiques warehouse, West End Architectural Salvage, in Des…
Three ways to show your love for the Royals
There’s something mystical — and weird — about America’s pastime. It’s one of the few sports that inspires grown men to earnestly discuss “the baseball gods” on a live radio broadcast or openly admit to wearing the same pair of yellow pants to every home game in order to please said gods. Even talking about luck and jinxes can be…
Luke Lisi talks the Guides being among the best new games on iTunes, Carl Sagan and more in The Pitch Questionnaire
Name: Luke Lisi Twitter handle: @lisidesign Hometown: Denver, Colorado Current neighborhood: Westport What I do: I’m a designer with a focus in typography and illustration. Sporting KC, Rally House and KC FilmFest are a few local brands I’ve helped develop. I also have a passion for all things cryptic. What’s your addiction? Gummy bears. Lots of them, all the time….
Spinning Tree delivers a passionate West Side Story
I confess I’m biased: I’ve always loved West Side Story. Fortunately for me — and for anyone else who cherishes the 1957 musical — Spinning Tree directors Andy Parkhurst and Michael Grayman do, too. They met while appearing in a European tour of West Side Story in 1998. Grayman had worked under original choreographer and director Jerome Robbins (who won…
Music Forecast 9.3-9.9: Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds, Lauren Krum, Monzie Leo and the Big Sky, Wishbone Ash, Brent Best and more
%{}% Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds Brooklyn’s Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds have enough members to comprise the rhythm section of a high school band. Though each player is excellent, one stands out: lead singer Arleigh Kincheloe, who conjures a powerful mix of retro soul and blues. Her voice is reminiscent of a scratchier Amy Winehouse, and she…
Jazz Beat: Peter Martin, and the Jackie Allen Quintet, at the Blue Room
Thanks to the Arts Midwest Conference in Kansas City this week, the Blue Room offers a rare Wednesday-night show that features a couple of conference guests — including the esteemed pianist Peter Martin, who regularly travels with Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves as music director. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, the New York Philharmonic and at White House…
The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle opens up
%{}% John Darnielle is a storyteller. Yes, he is also a bandleader — having fronted the Mountain Goats since founding it in 1991 — and a novelist whose Wolf in White Van was nominated last year for a National Book Award. But foremost in each of these pursuits is a commitment to characters, to filing away intricate details, which makes…
Chris Garibaldi revives his Lotuspool Records
%{}% I’m a few minutes late meeting Chris Garibaldi at Parkville’s Bentley Guitar Studios, on that river town’s idyllic Main Street. Garibaldi — lead singer, guitarist and occasional trombonist for the local rock band Suneaters — is perched on a bench inside the shop, teasing chords from an electric guitar. He isn’t one to wait idly. We move into Bentley’s…
As Cerner and other businesses use TIF to ensure their growth, Kansas and Missouri keep squeezing their poorest citizens
Editor’s note: KCPT Channel 19’s September 4 episode of Kansas City Week in Review focuses on corporate welfare and the fraying social safety net. On the program, the Hale Center for Journalism’s Mike McGraw and The Pitch’s Steve Vockrodt discuss their reporting in the stories here (which also appear together at flatlandkc.org). CERNER’S TIF TRANSPLANT By Steve Vockrodt Neal Patterson…
Royals Aim To Lock Up Home-Field Advantage In Playoffs In Season’s Final Month, Tickets Only Rising
Many people questioned whether the Kansas City Royals were legitimate last year, when they mowed through the American League side of the playoffs, before narrowly falling in seven games to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Entering September, it’s quite clear that the Royals are for real, owning one of baseball’s best records, while being on the verge…
Pee Party: J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain
Pee Party is an irregular column in which we investigate places in town where people urinate. It’s September 1, and of course you know what that means: It’s the birthday of Phil McGraw, the psychologist and talk-show host better known as Dr. Phil. Happy Birthday, Dr. Phil! Here’s to many more years of Dr. Phil, the successful, long-running television program! September…
Howard’s Grocery, Cafe & Catering opens on Wednesday
Craig Howard thinks he makes the best cheeseburger in Kansas City. It’s too soon to say, but I can tell you that it’s very good. And Howard has put in enough hours to justify some bragging. The 34-year-old entrepreneur has spent most of a year turning the long-vacant former auto garage at 1708 Oak into a combination market, lunch café…
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