Archives: August 2020

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Politics

‘VICE News Tonight’ highlights KCPD’s empty reform promises

Vice's "Kansas City Is Trying to Reform Its Police Department, but Black People Keep Getting Killed" is something you need to see.
Abbey Higginbotham,

Screengrab via VICE News Tonight With protesters in Wisconsin asking why the officers who shot Jacob Blake couldn’t de-escalate the situation without violence, VICE News went to Kansas City and spoke with our police department to see whether or not training could lead to real change. What they found was that KCPD failed to reform after promising modifications. This has…

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Culture

Tales of the eccentric and odd from Anne Kniggendorf’s Secret Kansas City

Anne Kniggendorf,

Dickey Mansion. // Photo by Anne Kniggendorf Anne Kniggendorf is a local writer (currently working with KCUR and assorted freelance gigs, should you want to hire her) who is releasing a new book on odd, eccentric, and unexplained stories from around the Metro. “Secret Kansas City” is a delightful read that releases tomorrow. We have all these places around town—some…

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Art

Live events team light-up KC bright red, bringing awareness to #RedAlertRestart

Allison Harris,

Darvick Ventura Fairgrounds lit up red. // Photo courtesy of WeMakeEVents Local live event workers and performers will be lighting up buildings downtown and around the city in the color red on September 1st. The buildings awash in red light will be to raise awareness for a movement called #REDALERTRESTART. The RESTART bill that will fund small businesses and the…

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Music

The Pitch’s guide to Record Store Day 2020

Allison Harris,

RSD logo. // Courtesy Record Store Day Record Store Day is finally upon us, after being (understandably) postponed since April. The first day of exclusive releases will be tomorrow, August 29th. Two other Record Store Days will be in September and October, allowing for smaller drops on each Saturday. Five Kansas City-area record stores will be participating: Records With Merritt…

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Movies

Fantasia Fest: A Mermaid in Paris is a cinematic French pastry

Let this whimsical fairy tale be your reward for surviving the hell of 2020.
Abby Olcese,

A Mermaid in Paris. // Courtesy Fantasia Fest It’s easy to pigeonhole a genre film festival like Fantasia as being only horror-centric. It’s true that there are a lot of films devoted to that aspect, but for all the kaiju and slashers and undead, there are also genuine fantasy-based delights that have no trace of scare in them at all….

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Politics

KC Voices: A local community college athlete stranded in Paris

Samba Gnokane,

International student Jessy Zieta. // Photo courtesy Samba Gnokane We’ve been asking members of the KC community to submit stories about life under quarantine, protests, politics, and other subjects that provide important opinions. If you’ve got a story you’d like to share, please send it to brock@thepitchkc.com for consideration. Today, Samba Gnokane shares the story of a local community college…

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Sports

Take me out to the ball game, take me out of the crowd

Joseph Hernandez,

Empty on the inside. // Photo by Joseph Hernandez The last time I went to a Kansas City Royals game, I saw an absolute moonshot come off the bat of the opposing team’s player. The time before that, I was blessed to see my friend destroy himself with $13 Boulevard beers. Before that, I won a bet for free ice…

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Culture

Quixotic hosts socially-distanced ‘Twilight Soirée’ August 28-29

Allison Harris,

Photo by Jeff Evrard Quixotic will be hosting another round of their Twilight Soirée Variety Show this Friday and Saturday at the Westin Hotel in Crown Center. These events follow the sold-out Twilight Soirée shows from the previous weekend. The Kansas City-based performance company has creatively incorporated social distancing measures into their performances. The Twilight Soirée is hosted outside, on…

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Music

Jazz trombonist Brian Scarborough on his debut album, Sunflower Song

Nick Spacek,

Brian Scarborough // Photo Credit: Andy Newbegin Earlier this month, trombonist and composer Brian Scarborough released his debut album, Sunflower Song, through Outside in Music. The nine tracks on Sunflower Song are beautifully-composed, fully-realized jazz numbers which continue to further Kansas City’s jazz scene, while fitting solidly within its traditions on tracks like the groove of “Ok, Here We Go,”…

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Politics

Kansas City receives $51 million in federal funding for streetcar extension

Joseph Hernandez,

KC Streetcar. // Courtesy KC Streetcar The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration would allocate a total of $400 million to four transit infrastructure projects across the country on Wednesday. Receiving some of that sweet money is Kansas City, as the streetcar extension gets $50.8 million to help extend the route from Union Station to UMKC. The project is…

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Savage Love

Does the person I’m looking for exist?

Dan Savage,

Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: I’m a cis male in my late twenties. I’ve recently become consumed by a specific fantasy I fear is unattainable, a fear that has been made worse by several failed attempts to research it. A little background: except for a couple dates and make-out sessions with other men, my sex life has always been…

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Movies

Fantasia Fest: Class Action Park shares tall tales of theme park horror

The HBO documentary details the rise and fall of a lethal family attraction.
Abby Olcese,

Class Action Park’s slide. // Courtesy Fantasia Fest Remember Schlitterbahn? The water park by the Kansas Speedway made headlines for building Verrückt, the world’s tallest waterslide, in 2012. It made them again four years later, after a ten-year-old park guest was decapitated on said waterslide. The abandoned skeleton of Schlitterbahn still haunts the Legends stretch of I-435, a dark memorial…

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News

KC Pet Project rescues 61 cats from a single apartment; now seek forever homes in barns and breweries

Brock Wilbur, Abbey Higginbotham,

One of the 61 rescues this week. // Courtesy KC Pet Project Earlier this month Kansas City’s KC Pet Project hosted a claw-some event for furry feline friends and their owners appropriately named ‘Caturday House Party.’ Caturday is an annual event that is put on to raise money for the shelter to help ensure that their staff are able to…

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Movies

Kevin Willmott’s The 24th asks us to reckon with our assumptions

The Lawrence-based director’s latest films takes on an overlooked historical controversy
Abby Olcese,

The 24th. // Courtesy Netflix Kevin Willmott’s latest film, The 24th, currently showing at the Screenland Armour theater, and available to view on demand online, tells a true story that’s difficult to know how to reckon with. Written with star Trai Byers, Willmott’s movie tells the story of the all-Black 24th U.S. Infantry and the Houston riot of 1917. It’s…

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News

Overland Park was the unusual site of last Friday’s peaceful police protest

Jim Nimmo,

Peaceful protestors on Aug 21 in the yard of a considerate Overland Park resident. // Photo by Jim Nimmo The summer of 2020 will be remembered for protests. Not since the late ’60s have so many Americans taken to the streets to protest everything from election interference and mask orders to racial injustice. And as this long summer has run…

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Politics

Mayor Lucas proposes sweeping changes at Board of Police Commissioners meeting

Joseph Hernandez,

Taken from the Board of Police Commissioners meeting. // Official stream on Aug. 25 Earlier this summer, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced several measures to implement immediate reform for the Kansas City Police Department. Tuesday saw him offer several key change measures for debate during the August Board of Police Commissioners meeting. The measures are as follows: Codifying an officer’s duty…

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News

‘COVID Loneliness Squad’ assembles to combat sadness of local seniors

Allison Harris,

A Loneliness Squad member brings a smile to a senior. // photo courtesy of SYNERGY Homecare The COVID-19 pandemic has devastating effects on the mental health of all people, especially seniors living alone or in nursing homes. Luckily, SYNERGY Homecare has put together a ‘squad’ of sorts to identify loneliness in elderly people and help them feel engaged and active….

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Politics

Kansas House candidate with history of bullying and revenge porn reverses decision to step down

Allison Harris,

Aaron Coleman. // Screengrab from Coleman’s election ad Aaron Coleman, 19, is back in the race for the Kansas House of Representatives after dropping out earlier this month. Coleman has admitted to the use of revenge porn, blackmail, and harassment. These events took place five years ago when he was 14. Coleman defeated seven-year Democratic incumbent candidate Stan Frownfelter by…

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Movies

Fantasia Fest: Anthology horror film The Mortuary Collection solidifies Clancy Brown’s king status

The visually impressive indie horror anthology gives a beloved character actor his due.
Abby Olcese,

Do not come at the king. // Courtesy Fantasia Fest Clancy Brown belongs to that special echelon of character actors who have done so much for cult entertainment that they deserve a lifetime achievement award. Granted, in Brown’s case his contributions are pretty broad—he’s got just under 300 credits to his name—but for genre fans, he’s more than just a…

Ruby Jean's Kansas City / Photo Travis Young
Food & Drink, News

GIFT nonprofit takes action to save Ruby Jean’s Juicery

Three months after founding, G.I.F.T. hits the ground running with its debut $10,000 donation to Ruby Jean’s Juicery
Hanna Ellington,

Ruby Jean’s Kitchen and Juicery located on 3000 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO. // Photo by Travis Young. What started as a Facebook post may have saved one area juicery from closing its doors forever. Generating Income for Tomorrow, an organization founded after a Facebook post in May, announced its first $10,000 donation to Ruby Jean’s Juicery on August 11. …