Artwork by current KCAI student Cooper West Walker (Junior, Painting) // Photo courtesy of KCAI With Mayor Lucas’s most recent COVID restrictions in place, Kansas City Art Institute is adapting to continue to provide art to the community. This month, the Institute will host two virtual exhibitions celebrating alumni and current students. The first-ever Alumni Showcase features a visual career…
Illustrated by Katelyn Betz We’re about two weeks out from Christmas, so why not de-stress from trying to shop and get things shipped by digging into this vast array of visual musical entertainment while you’re the fifteenth person in line at the post office? Listening to some quality local hip hop—of which we have lots—beats listening to that dude arguing…
Photo by April Fleming. The salsa that is going to come in and upend your condiment and hot sauce rotations is less reliant on summer vegetables and more on the humble, wonderful peanut. This is salsa macha, and this Veracruzan specialty most often features chile de arbol peppers, roasted peanuts, garlic, olive oil, and sesame seeds. Thick and spicy, it typically…
Mario Lopez and Justene Alpert in A Recipe for Seduction. // Courtesy Lifetime Television It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Time to gather in front of a cozy fire with loved ones, sip hot cocoa, and watch the best/worst movies known to mankind: holiday romcoms. Time to follow along as the beautiful, young lawyer/real estate agent/baker who hates…
Roger Suggs // Photo courtesy Toyota As we head into cold weather with overcast skies, along with ever-rising Covid infection rates and death, it’s really easy to start to think that the world is a nightmare shit show and people are horrible. Thankfully, there’s a ray of hope emanating from Roger Suggs. Suggs, the man behind TRUTH (“The Reason U…
Image by Kelcie McKenney This week on the Streetwise podcast we discuss chasing Hanukkah, enjoy a reading of Joseph Hernandez’s “Goof Grief”, check out Billy Goat’s track “Old School”, and chat with CBS’s SWAT showrunner Aaron Rahsaan Thomas. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Subscribe to the Streetwise newsletter, a weekly meditation on Kansas City…
Build Power MoKan calls for end to utility shutdowns // Photo courtesy of Build Power MoKan On Dec. 10, Build Power MoKan, a coalition of Kansas and Missouri organizations dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression created by the utility industry, held a Zoom press conference discussing the need for monopoly electric companies to reinstate disconnection moratoria. The pandemic has brought…
Eric Schmitt. // Courtesy MO AG site After Joe Biden won the presidency, prominent politicians took to the courts on claims that the election was rigged. Current President Donald Trump has tweeted multiple times that the election actually ended in his victory and wanted people to “STOP THE COUNT.” His crewmates share the same sentiments and spread the same heavily…
KJ Apa stars in Songbird. // Courtesy of STXfilms There’s certainly something to say about a film’s timing, and Songbird misses what should be obvious—don’t release a film about an apocalyptic pandemic to an audience currently in the middle of one. Directed by Adam Mason, written by Mason and Simon Boyes, and produced by Michael Bay, Songbird was made in…
Heidmann Art Salon Presents “Santa Cause” // Photo courtesy of Heidmann Art Salon’s website Though Christmas is just a few weeks away, Heidmann Art Salon reminds us that it’s not too late to participate in holiday cheer. Through their project “Donate to Santa Cause, Random Acts of Kindness,” participants can donate food and toys in support of Operation Breakthrough, socks…
Anna Knipfel of Mexico is supported by other protesters while waiting for medics to arrive, after getting hit by a car during a protest June 1 in Columbia. Knipfel suffered injuries to her ankle, wrist, hip and abrasions to her head and face. She returned to the demonstrations the next night in a wheelchair. // Photo courtesy Madeline Carter/Columbia Daily…
Getting rid of last year’s junk to make way for the promise of a new year (when everything, including you, will be better! Really!) is one of those perpetual clichés that never really takes. As with most things relating to 2020, however, this year is different. We don’t just want a fresh start, we desperately need one. The only appropriate…
Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: Something is bothering me and I don’t know where else to turn. I’m a bisexual man. I’ve been married to a great guy for the past six years. Despite COVID we gathered safely for an outdoors Thanksgiving dinner with my family. My mom, my brother and sister-in-law, and my adult nieces and nephews and…
Taylor Swift gonna sue someone over making her lyrics this corny. // Screenshot from KCPD presentation A cartoonishly disconnected document has been making the rounds on the internet today: a 2018 presentation from KCPD’s Public Relations Specialist Sarah Boyd on how to handle the “haters” on social media. The slideshow is action-packed with memes, baffling design choices, and information on…
Mayor Michelle Distler at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. // Courtesy JCSO Shawnee’s Mayor Michelle Distler was released this morning from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office after paying a $2,500 bond. Distler has been charged with perjury, stemming from filing a complaint under someone else’s name, way back in March 2020. What was the situation that resulted in a local…
Joseph’s mother and her two kids. // Photo courtesy of the Alaniz family Being in a small space for an extended period takes a toll. There are only so many television shows, movies, books, video games, Zoom happy hours, and neighbor walks someone can do before it stops giving them the serotonin they desire. With a lack of new stimulus,…
Courtesy of the Campground Check it out: Christkindlmarkt at the Campground Chris Ciesel and Cristin Llewellyn started the Campground (now located at 1531 Genessee) out of their ultra-cozy backyard shed, which had been fashioned into what looked and felt like a tiny bespoke lodge out of a Wes Anderson film. Their latest efforts at Covid-safe hospitality mark somewhat of a…
Stars of the US women’s national team celebrating a transfer to KC back in 2012. It’s been quite some time, but women’s soccer is finally back in the Soccer Capital of the United States. The National Women’s Soccer League announced in a press release Tuesday that its board of governors approved an expansion team in Kansas City, where it’ll begin…
Godmothered. // Courtesy Disney The new Disney+ film Godmothered takes its inspiration from Enchanted and Elf, but still finds ways to set itself apart from its predecessors. Starring Jillian Bell and Ilsa Fischer, this holiday fairytale sets romance aside and embraces the importance of friendship and familial love. Eleanor (Bell) is the youngest Godmother recruit in Motherland, the land where…
Wornall location is closed. // Photo by Brock Wilbur David Friesen, the owner of Kansas City staple Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, faces allegations regarding his actions and behavior in business practices and personal life. Court documents show he was arrested in early November on assault charges, stemming from an allegedly attack on his wife, Mary Thao Nguyen, who has helped…
Venues in Kansas City are desperate for federal assistance. // Photo courtesy of The Truman As coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country, live music and entertainment have been devastated by a lack of federal assistance. Last week, the Missouri Entertainment Alliance sent a letter to Mike Parson and other state legislators for help staying afloat. The letter to…
Comedian Jeremiah Watkins. // Photo courtesy of Family Reunion When Jeremiah Watkins saw his entire family sitting directly at eye level at his show at the Kansas City Comedy Club, he was horrified. “Wow. This is weird, there’s so many people I know in one room,” he says, laughing, within the first 20 seconds of his performance in his new…
An aerial shot of the Aspiria campus. // Image courtesy of Occidental Management. Occidental Management has announced that the former Sprint World Headquarters in Overland Park will henceforth be known as Aspiria, following Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile. The management company alluded to the headquarters getting a new name by the year’s end, but that the public would not see the…
This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2020. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. ♥ Six months ago, if…
