Archives: November 2016

News

Citing cost, Hy-Vee ends sponsorship deal with Royals

David Martin,

The Kansas City Royals’ recent success allows the team to command more lucrative sponsorship agreements. Hy-Vee has decided the price is too high.The Iowa-based chain of grocery stores announced Wednesday that it was unable to reach a new contract with the Royals. In a news release, Hy-Vee said it would be fiscally irresponsible to meet the club’s terms. Hy-Vee had…

Jazz Beat: the People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City

Larry Kopitnik,

The People’s Liberation Big Band is home again. For more than seven years, on the first Sunday of each month, a big band unlike any other in Kansas City took the RecordBar’s stage. In most such outfits today you’ll hear five saxophones, four trombones and as many as five trumpets. The instrumentation of PLBB mimics a classic 1930s Kansas City…

Arts and Crafts’ slate includes the must-see Hunter Gatherer, and of course it’s time to watch Elf again

Thursday, December 1 In a President-elect Trump world, movies that have long seemed mere fantasy have suddenly become relevant in unexpected ways. So it is with a heavy heart that, for new reasons, I recommend Paul Verhoeven’s misunderstood 1997 satire, Starship Troopers.%{}%More than a sci-fi action movie, it’s a clever adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s pro-militaristic novel that takes the opposite…
News

Cass County judge who ordered transgender teen to submit to a mental evaluation exceeded his authority, Court of Appeals rules

David Hudnall,

In July 2015, a fourteen-year-old transgender individual sought a name change in Cass County Circuit Court. The teenager, birth name Natalie, identifies as male, and wanted to change his name to Nathan. His biological mother, who filed the petition, testified during a hearing that her child had gone by the name Nathan for approximately two years and was known by…

I grew up in Mexico, Missouri, but the election makes me wonder if I ever really knew it

Traci Angel,

To the extent that outsiders know it, Mexico, Missouri — seat of Audrain County and hometown of Christopher “Kit” Bond, the former governor and senator — they know it for its saddlebred horse training and its long-closed firebrick plants. More recently, they might recall that Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue gave a shout-out to the town amid the celebration…
Beer & Spirits

Boulevard’s non-ballet Nutcracker returns, Arts and Crafts pours 200 beers in NKC, and Martin City’s stout teamup with Alchemy Coffee arrives

Jonathan Bender,

The year’s last major beer festival arrives this weekend, with the fourth annual Arts and Crafts Festival at Screenland Armour (408 Armour Road, North Kansas City). Once again, it’s a mash-up of music, film and beer programming: a three-day marathon of eight bands, 18 movies and more than 200 beers to try. The party kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday,…
A&E, Stage

The Kansas City Ballet’s international cast comes together to perfect The Nutcracker — again

David Hudnall,

The Nutcracker is the cash cow of modern ballet companies — at the Kansas City Ballet, the show’s holiday-season run will account for roughly 60 percent of all tickets sold this year. Which means you’d be hard-pressed to find a dancer who hasn’t logged hundreds, or even thousands of hours stepping to its classic Tchaikovsky score.Amaya Rodriguez, playing the Sugar…
News, Politics

Chris Koster lays his last egg as Missouri’s AG

Barbara Shelly,

First Missouri voters, then a panel of West Coast judges — November was brutal for Missouri Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Chris Koster.The more obvious defeat was Koster’s thunderous loss to Eric Greitens, the mugging Navy SEAL who channeled the Call of Duty vote and was last seen ordering surround-sound speakers for every room of the governor’s mansion. But the…
Food & Drink

Centering myself at Brioche Pastry Shop

Angela Lutz,

There’s no wrong way to eat a cinnamon roll — but some methods are better than others. When I stopped by Brioche Pastry Shop, a Jefferson City transplant that moved to its Main Street location about a month ago, I observed at least three different techniques for devouring the bakery’s sumptuous centerpiece item.The woman to my left cut into her…
Food & Drink

Mighty Tamales serves big comfort in Lawrence, Stock Hill opens December 1, plus the week’s restaurant events

April Fleming,

Tamales are to Southwestern stomachs what barbecue is to the bellies of Midwesterners: comfort food that takes hours to create and much practice to perfect. It is immediately apparent whether a cook has any business messing with this labor-of-love dish: In the wrong hands, they can come out dry or gluey, their shredded meat or veggie fillings underseasoned or desiccated.Kristy…

John Prine coming to Kansas City next March

April Fleming,

Discovered by Kris Kristofferson, compared to Bob Dylan and audible as an influence over many of country’s greats, John Prine has for decades been known as a legendary songwriter. Next spring, he is making his first Kansas City appearance since 2004, at the Midland on March 11. While Prine’s catalog speaks for itself (“Angel From Montgomery” is one of the…
News

Fight for $15 movement to hold protests in Kansas City on Tuesday

David Hudnall,

Not everything that occurred on November 8 was terrifying or demoralizing for working-class Americans. Four states approved minimum wage hikes. In Colorado, Arizona, and Maine, the minimum wage will hit $12 per hour by 2020. In Washington, workers will make at least $13.50 per hour by 2020. Many other states and municipalities have passed similar increases. Here in Missouri, the state…

News

On Twitter, local media fail to challenge Trump’s voter fraud delusion

David Martin,

The Twitter accounts of The Kansas City Star and two local television stations mishandled Donald Trump’s outburst on Sunday.Apparently agitated about efforts to recount the vote in Wisconsin and other states, Trump promoted a dumb conspiracy theory that he’d lost the popular vote because of massive fraud. The president-elect made a baseless claim on Twitter that he would have won…
Music

Black Friday at KC’s record shops

Nick Spacek,

KC’s record shops were a busy delight Friday morning and afternoon. The Black Friday installment of Record Store Day might not inspire the sort of fervent capitalistic enthusiasm of its better-known April counterpart, but this particular cold gray morning seemed to keep people at home drinking coffee a little longer than usual.It’s a shame, because coffee was on hand as…

Henry Rollins delivers a talking cure, Yellow Claw spins a party, and David Ramirez brings you back down in time for the rest of this week’s shows

Natalie Gallagher,

Henry RollinsWhen punk legend Henry Rollins appears at the Uptown, it will not be in a musical capacity. Those hoping for a Black Flag–heavy set or a Rollins Band reprisal may be dismayed, but they are probably not surprised: Since disbanding the Rollins Band, in 2003, the man has declared himself done with music several times. His current tour centers…

Jazz Beat: Westport Jazz Jam at Californos

Larry Kopitnik,

A fresh weekly jazz jam has sprung up in Westport, anchored by a trio of musicians from Kansas City’s new jazz generation. Pianist Eddie Moore, winner of the 2016 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Arts Award, leads the group. With his ensemble the Outer Circle, Moore plays original compositions that turn personal experiences into music with uncommon depth and soul, sparked…
Music

Longriver’s David Longoria explains how the great outdoors made it onto his album

Nick Spacek,

Austin musician David Longoria’s recordings under the name Longriver are more than just standard singer-songwriter fare. The Longriver album features instrumentals, found sounds and poetry, all flowing together like its aqueous namesake. Longoria’s voice and guitar playing are clear and clean, yet the record is by no means antiseptic. The music is instead warm and inviting. I spoke with Longoria…

Katie Holmes, Jeff Daniels, Chris Pine and Warren Beatty are among your dysfunctional relatives this Thanksgiving, but you can leave the house for Anna Kendrick

Thursday, November 24Celebrate the holiday with an overlooked 2003 film about a punky young woman (Katie Holmes, utterly charming) hosting her estranged family for Thanksgiving dinner. Patricia Clarkson got an Oscar nomination for playing an acid-tongued mom dying of cancer, but she’s not the only one with great dialogue.%{}%Yes, Pieces of April is a dysfunctional-family dramedy, but the film’s low…
News

Prison Broke: The Missouri Department of Corrections can’t escape its own worst habits

Karen Dillon,

Each day, as she prepared herself to work another shift at the Missouri Department of Corrections prison, Lashonda Reid knew to expect one thing.It would be bad. Reid had been called a “nigger,” a “token nigger,” “sexual chocolate.” She had been complimented on her lips — made for “sucking dick.”Maybe this would be one of the days when the psyche-destroying…
Questionnaire

Amanda Graor, of the Mid-America Regional Council, cheers soccer and asks for book recommendations in The Pitch Questionnaire

David Martin,

Occupation: Principal planner (transportation and environment), Mid-America Regional Council Twitter handle: @angraorHometown: Livonia, MichiganCurrent neighborhood: Downtown Kansas City, MissouriWhat I do (in 140 characters or less): Work every day to make our corner of the world a happier, healthier place to live, work and play, through projects, outreach and education.What’s your addiction? Coffee. Specifically, almond-milk lattés. I can’t seem to…
Music

The Grisly Hand, Heidi Lynne Gluck and other Black Friday musts

Nick Spacek,

With Black Friday just around the corner, we know you’ll find yourself beginning to seek out cool and interesting gifts for friends and family. Rather than buying another iTunes gift card for that stocking stuffer, we suggest you head out to one of the many excellent local record shops to buy an actual physical release from a local act. Whether…