Archives: July 2016

Edgar J. Palacios, senior director, resource development and community engagement at Connections to Success, talks the streetcar, the school board

Twitter handle: @ejpkcHometown: Miami Beach, FloridaCurrent neighborhood: Lee’s SummitWhat I do: I build relationships and connect people to the resources they need to be successful.What’s your addiction? Coca–ColaWhat’s your game? Monopoly. I always win.What’s your drink? Vodka press/white RussianWhere’s dinner? Pierpont’sWhat’s on your KC postcard? The view of downtown when headed south on 169 before crossing the Broadway Bridge.Finish these…

Calibration Brewery’s Pat Sandman talks recalibrating, Torn Label releases Oscar pilsner, Double Shift throws a parking-lot party and more

Pat Sandman sits at the bar at Calibration Brewery (119 Armour Road, North Kansas City). His rubber boots and scruffy beard give him away, although today he’s not wearing his usual Royals hat. He’s bellied up, finishing a late-afternoon lunch, less than a week after Calibration’s mid-June opening.Calibration owner Glen Stinson hired Sandman away from 75th Street Brewery earlier this…

Fringe’s hundred-plus shows offer (almost) too much to choose from

The 2016 KC Fringe Festival could be an exercise in distraction or frustration, with its smorgasbord of 108 or more acts spread over eight (alphabetical) categories: cabaret, comedy, dance, film, music, spoken word, theater (with the largest number of offerings) and variety. How to choose? As Fringe executive producer Cheryl Kimmi commiseratively said at one of the recent previews, you…

Lawrence faces an arts threat, Michael Schliefke games you, and the KCAC’s Colette and Jeff Bangert retrospective closes

The sad new just keeps streaming out of Kansas.Last week, I reported in this space that the state had lost its eligibility to receive funding and programs for the arts from Mid-America Arts Alliance. Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget provides only the bare minimum to keep the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission in existence, with less than $200,000 for the year…

Concert Calendar: Drake, Future, Duran Duran, Dr. Dog, Chipotle Cultivate Festival, Culture Club, Indigo Girls and more

Drake and FutureDrake might be the world’s most sensitive, self-conscious rapper. He’s probably the only person who could take albums filled with lyrics so fixated on his own shortcomings and doubts (see: Views) and turn them into global hits. Why do we listen to this guy, anyway? Maybe it’s his gleaming smile, letting us know that he’s all right, even…

Once led by a player on the Christian right, Tri-City Baptist Church in Independence downsizes

On July 26, 2015, Kevin Williams preached his last sermon as the senior pastor at Tri-City Baptist Church in Independence.Williams, who was leaving for a similar position at a church in Edmonton, Alberta, acknowledged Tri-City’s delicate financial position in his parting message. He told the worshipers he was was excited to watch the flock “as you look to the Lord…

Democracy loses, but Kris Kobach stays winning

Even against the yardstick of his own scary achievements, Kris Kobach is having quite a month.He just finished stamping his hate-filled brand of conservatism onto the national Republican Party Platform. The fantasy of a wall along the Mexican border, an ongoing resistance to same-sex marriage, the insistence on unrestrained access to assault weapons — these Kobachian hallmarks are on their…

Bread & Butter Concepts abandons Westwood, Blue Koi recovers from a fire, and this week’s other restaurant news

Bread & Butter Concepts has dropped its plan to open G. Berto Cucina in the Westwood Development at 47th Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard. The restaurant company, which is completing the buildout of its upcoming Stock Hill Steakhouse on the Plaza as well as developing the Cherry Hill events center in the Crossroads and a new BRGR Kitchen and Bar in…

Mikey Wheeler leaves his mark at Mercy Seat, and on the Crossroads

By Ron KnoxOn a recent Friday in the Crossroads, Mikey Wheeler executed his usual high-wire act. Performing with his band, Coward, he switched between two not particularly similar instruments, drums and guitar. In close-knit DIY music scenes, it’s not uncommon to see one musician switch instruments between sets — playing bass in one band and drums in another, for example….

Mission Farms’ new Enjoy talks smoothie to me

There’s something aggressively good for you about Enjoy Pure Food + Drink, the new health-conscious café in Leawood’s Mission Farms (10573 Mission Road). The name alone is more directive than proper noun: You will sit down, you will eat this baby kale drizzled with house-made balsamic vinaigrette and you will damn well like it.Vibrant and well-lighted, the cozy space feels…

JAZZ BEAT: Kyle Turner plays the Blue Room Saturday night

The Texas Tenor follows a jazz tradition of a rich, full-bodied tenor saxophone voice embraced by musicians from the Lone Star state. Recall Arnette Cobb, David “Fathead” Newman, and the Count Basie Orchestra’s Buddy Tate. Add to this list Houston native Kyle Turner, who may not be a household name, even in jazz circles, but whose blues-inspired, smooth sound floats…

Teens fired by Legends pizza shop invited to speak at Democratic National Convention

Jensen Walcott and Jake Reed, the Bonner Springs high school students who became heroes for equal pay after being fired from a pizza shop for discussing their wages, will speak at the Democratic National Convention on the same night as Hillary Clinton.Clinton’s campaign released a list of “everyday Americans” who will take the stage at the convention in Philadelphia next…

Central Standard Theatre’s Invasion imports some must-see works

The Invasion — Central Standard Theatre’s annual international festival — is starting to wind down, with Fringe Festival about to open. But there are some winning shows among these collaborations from England, Northern Ireland, Canada, France and the United States. Three of the six are reprises, so audiences have a second chance to see performances that can be inventive, smart,…

New York Times calls Kris Kobach a ‘blight’ on democracy

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is a “blight on true democracy,” according to a New York Times editorial published Monday. Titled “Kansas Zealot Helps Shape the G.O.P.’s Right-Wing Platform,” the unsparing editorial notes Kobach’s efforts to write “extremist positions” on immigration, guns and same-sex marriage into the Republican party platform. The Times also criticizes Kobach for recent actions that may…

Gavin Long of Kansas City identified as Baton Rouge shooter

The police tape was removed, and traffic moved freely along the street where Gavin Eugene Long, the 29-year-old ex-Marine identified as the man who killed three police officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lived in Kansas City, Missouri.Investigators say Long, who was killed by police, was targeting police officers when he opened fire near a shopping center…

Bullseye’s Jesse Thorn talks the changing face of public radio; show auditions today on KCUR

In a recent Wall Street Journal piece titled “Public Radio’s Existential Crisis,” journalist Ellen Gamerman discussed the aging of public radio’s listener base, as well as its most popular show hosts. Carl Kasell stopped being the announcer on Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! in 2014, Garrison Keillor recently retired as host of the long-running A Prairie Home Companion, Diane Rehm…

Kansas City Star rejects ad from abortion-rights group

The Kansas City Star this week rejected online advertising from a group that works to protect abortion providers from harassment and violence.The Feminist Majority Foundation has launched a campaign in response to anti-abortion activism that will take place in Wichita in the coming days. Operation Save America, a Texas-based Christian fundamentalist group, has planned a week of activities to mark…

Voting for the 2016 Best of Kansas City awards is now open

Admit it: You don’t always like everything about KC. But you still know what you love about our landlocked metro, and this is the time of year when we at The Pitch ask you to help your fellow citizens remember those things. It’s time to vote. You know who makes the best pizza, who cuts your hair perfectly, which local…

The White House is getting ready to ‘Salvy splash’ the Kansas City Royals

This morning, the White House announced that it has invited the World Series champions Royals to visit with President Obama and the White House staff on Thursday, July 21. The White House issued the announcement via social media this morning, in a video starring Kansas City native and White House press secretary Josh Earnest. It’s kind of everything.%{}% Categories: News…