Archives: August 2016

A&E

Tommy Dreamer plans to bring the fight to the stands Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark for Metro Pro Wrestling

Justin Kendall,

Tommy Dreamer made his name in the blood-soaked rings of ECW. Dreamer was the Philadelphia-based wrestling group’s everyman underdog, known for taking an extreme (that’s what the E in ECW stands for) amount of punishment.These days, Dreamer is running his own wrestling promotion, House of Hardcore, and touring on the independent wrestling circuit. He makes a special appearance Saturday night…

News

Demolition of Grand Boulevard bridge to close I-670 this weekend

David Martin,

The south side of the downtown loop will close at 8 p.m. Friday so workers can demolish the Grand Boulevard bridge. Traffic along Interstate 70 will be diverted to the north leg of the loop.I-670 will reopen on Monday morning, though lanes will be closed as construction begins on a replacement bridge. The new bridge, which is expected to open in…
A&E

Eight things to do in Kansas City: Paris of the Plains, Kansas City Wine Opener, Bacon-Fest, Metro Pro Wrestling and more

The 13th Annual Kansas City Wine Opener6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 25Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd.KC Improv Festival7  p.m. Thursday, August 257, 10 p.m. Friday, August 265, 7, 10 p.m. Saturday, August 27Kick Comedy Theater4010 PennsylvaniaWet Hot American Summer: The Party7-11 p.m. Friday, August 26RW2 Productions, 1621 LocustRhythm ’N Balloons3-11 p.m. Friday, August 27Noon-11 p.m. Saturday, August 281-9 p.m. Sunday,…

News

Why do George Brett and other former athletes like Donald Trump?

David Martin,

On Sunday, George Brett’s Twitter account featured photographs of his dogs wearing “Make America Great Again” hats.%{}%In a blog post on Monday, Kansas City Star writer Pete Grathoff wondered if Brett’s support for Donald Trump was perhaps tongue in cheek (or muzzle). It wasn’t. The Hall of Fame third baseman’s conservatism is well-established. He’s friends with Rush Limbaugh, endorsed U.S….

A&E

‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan brings his two-by-four and flag to Metro Pro Wrestling’s show Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark

Kari Williams,

Though initially brought into the fold for safety, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan’s trusty two-by-four has become a staple of the WWE Hall of Famer’s All-American persona — a persona that will have fans chanting “USA! USA!” throughout the CommunityAmerica Ballpark when he makes his way to Metro Pro Wrestling on Saturday.Duggan and hardcore-wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer will be the featured attractions…

A&E

Triumph returns, The Strain tries to catch on, and Heat is around the corner

Thursday 8.25You’ve probably already seen the glorious viral video clip in which outrageously offensive fake Trump ads are tested on his real supporters in a focus group, but you may not have known it was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog behind the prank. The man behind the poop — Robert Smigel — was Emmy-nominated for his spring election special on…
Art

Charlotte Street welcomes its new curator (and takes out the trash), and other art events this week

Tracy Abeln,

From her home base in Miami, and lately working in New York City with Creative Time, Lynnette Miranda has coordinated art conferences at the 2015 Venice Biennale, the Boys and Girls High School (Brooklyn) and Park Avenue Armory (for ART21). Now she’s the Charlotte Street Foundation’s new curator-in-residence. Over the next 18 months, she’ll assemble five exhibitions at La Esquina…
Art

Glove story: feeling new fascinations at this year’s Artspace Flatfile

Annie Raab,

I did something different this year at the H&R Block Artspace Flatfile exhibition. Instead of pulling on the white-cotton gloves and immediately snatching up art by my local favorites, I selected large portfolios by four artists whose names I didn’t recognize.Such is the beauty of this every-other-year event. For one thing, you touch the art: remove it from its berth,…
A&E

RH Leawood is so big and so pretty that I had to sit down — on the Cloud

Angela Lutz,

After visiting RH Leawood, Restoration Hardware’s new Town Center Plaza gallery, one of only five such behemoths in the country, I have a new life goal: I need to own the impossibly plush sofa known as the Cloud.Prior to a ribbon-cutting ceremony there earlier this month, as I toured the 56,000-square-foot space with several Restoration Hardware employees in town for…

News, Politics

The Medicaid 23’s sham trial could finally give Missouri health care its day in court

Barbara Shelly,

Shortly before police in the Missouri Capitol politely arrested 23 faith leaders and escorted them out of the Senate galleries in 2014, the group had treated lawmakers to a melodious version of “Amazing Grace.”Two years later, Missouri has crafted an amazing disgrace — the spectacle of nearly two dozen mostly older, mostly black pastors put on trial and convicted of…
Politics

Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax in the country. Why does a tobacco company want to raise it?

David Martin,

Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California–San Francisco, is a veteran anti-smoking researcher and activist.In 1994, the Brown & Williamson tobacco company sued the California Board of Regents in an effort to keep Glantz from making public the sensitive company documents he had received from a whistleblower. The university prevailed,…

Food & Drink

Happy hours at Howard’s, Paris of the Plains returns, Crown Point Tavern and C.Frogs open, and this week’s restaurant events

April Fleming,

Good news for anyone who can’t make it downtown for lunch — or anyone who likes great food, really — Howard’s Grocery and Café (1708  Oak) plans to start staying open until 7 p.m. for happy-hour service sometime this fall.Chef Craig Howard explains that the regular café menu will be available, including his must-try cheeseburger (with house-made American cheese), as…

Food & Drink

New Prairie Artisan Ales releases hit KC, Rock & Run’s Kearney tasting room opens and more beer events

Justin Kendall,

Keep a lookout for new beers from Prairie Artisan Ales on store shelves now. Among the Tulsa, Oklahoma, brewery’s latest releases: Prairie Weisse (Berliner Weisse) and Prairie Ace (a candy-sugar saison with Sorachi Ace hops). And look for this big beer on tap: Paradise (a 13-percent ABV imperial stout with coconut and vanilla). In other news: Jolly Pumpkin’s collaboration with…
Music

Jazz Beat: The Charlie Parker Celebration wraps up this weekend

Larry Kopitnik,

Kansas City’s 10-day Charlie Parker Celebration, honoring this area’s most influential musical son, concludes this weekend with club dates, a historical tour, a graveside salute and a chicken feed.Festival artist-in-residence Tivon Pennicott is recognized nationally as one of jazz’s young standouts, playing tenor sax with harmonic verve and imagination descended from Parker. Thursday night he performs with bassist Micah Herman…

News

Youth services may push local sales taxes to new heights

David Martin,

In November, voters in Jackson and Clay counties will consider new sales taxes to pay for services for at-risk children and youth.As The Kansas City Star reports, the proposals follow the recommendations of a 2014 Mid-America Regional Council plan to use a new sales tax to fill in the gaps in services that keep kids in school and away from harm….

Music

Puff Daddy cancels Sprint Center concert, cites shoulder surgery

April Fleming,

In better-late-than-never news, Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Reunion Concert, scheduled for Wednesday, August 31, at the Sprint Center, has been canceled. The tour, which was to feature Puffy, Faith Evans, the Lox, Mase, 112, and Carl Thomas, will now begin in Chicago on Thursday, September 1. In a press release, the promoter cites scheduling conflicts as well as Puff Daddy’s recent…

Music

The Dillinger Escape Plan’s farewell tour is stopping in Lawrence in October

April Fleming,

After nearly 20 years together, the members of Dillinger Escape Plan announced recently that they are hanging up their guitars after their fall tour. The tour coincides with the release of Dillinger Escape Plan’s last album, Dissociation, due October 14. It turns out that Lawrence will be one of the last lucky towns to see the band while it’s still together,…
Music

Lucinda Williams delivered solace to the Crossroads last night

Mike Warren,

Lucinda Williams with Buick 6Crossroads KCSunday, August 21, 2016Lucinda Williams’s songs are often litanies of the things she needs—and doesn’t need—from the people who love her. On Sunday, she needed a few extra songs to get things squared away, and an adoring audience gladly spared her those moments. They were rewarded with a spontaneous and comforting two-hour show. Williams opened…
News

KSHB reporter Kacie McDonnell’s announcement that she’s leaving KC brings out predictable sexist response

April Fleming,

KSHB Channel 41 personality Kacie McDonnell announced today that she is leaving Kansas City for an as-yet-unnamed gig on the East Coast. The response to this has been, well, predictable. McDonnell, you see, has dated two athletes in two years, making her a total slut.So say, you guessed it, people on Facebook and Reddit:Were McDonnell’s ex-boyfriend Eric Hosmer to leave…

A&E

Shock Treatment opens its third room tonight, so get ready to ghost hunt. Plus, plans for a spooky speakeasy

Justin Kendall,

There’s something seriously wrong in Apartment 1B, and you’re going to figure it out. Yes, you, a newbie ghost hunter with S.T.R.A.N.G.E. investigations, will enter this New York City studio apartment and unspool what’s spooked Mr. and Mrs. White.This is the latest interactive horror experience at Shock Treatment (1735 Swift, North Kansas City), and it opens tonight. I was one…