“The Trio”. From left to right, Kirby Clause, Alec Rodgers, and Ori Solomon. // Bek Shackelford As of this week, Betty Rae’s Ice Cream is under new ownership. This has provided a collective sigh of relief from Kansas Citians who were perplexed or outright gobsmacked by a series of odd events, which had all-but doomed the frozen culinary chain. Today…
Kansas City, we are beyond excited and humbled to announce the reopening of Betty Rae’s this spring under new ownership…. Posted by Betty Rae’s Ice Cream on Monday, February 22, 2021 As of this week, Betty Rae’s Ice Cream is under new ownership. This has provided a collective sigh of relief from Kansas Citians who were perplexed or outright gobsmacked by…
MU Health Care opened a mass COVID-19 vaccination site in the Walsworth Club at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo. on Monday, Jan. 25, 2020. (Photo courtesy of MU Health Care) Darlene Davis has been searching for an available vaccine appointment in the Kansas City area at least three times a day. In her search, Davis, a 77-year old nurse who…
Photo by Ergita Sela The Kansas City Public Library has issued its support for the University Press of Kansas amid its uncertain future. An independent review of the UPK was sent by its trustees due to financial challenges. Richard Clement, an external consultant, is conducting the review and is expected to submit a recommendation by March 1 according to the…
Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. // Photo by ©Walter Bibikow Government transparency advocates celebrated a victory in late December when a Cole County judge ruled the Missouri governor’s office was illegally redacting information from public records. Two weeks later, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem withdrew his ruling with no explanation. And on Monday, Beetem issued a new…
One of Snake Bar’s speciality cocktails, the grass snake. // Courtesy The Big Rip Brewing Co. The Big Rip Brewing Co. is changing up its annual Snake Saturday celebration. Typically, the North Kansas City brewery’s event aligns with the annual Snake Saturday parade in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. But since that’s been postponed this year, Big Rip made it…
This week on Streetwise we celebrate the sun’s return, listen to a reading of J.M. Banks’ profile on Bryan Shannon, jam to Nan + The One Night Stands’ track “Lion”, and reflect on our missing year of live concerts with Adam Turla of Murder By Death. Streetwise is hosted by Brock Wilbur, editor in chief of The Pitch. Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify. Subscribe to…
Sav Rodgers with magical moving picture device. // Photo by Michael Ori A recent report by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative—the leading think tank studying diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry—notes 2019 was a record-breaking year for transgender representation in film. Out of the top 100 highest-grossing films of that year, a whopping three featured trans characters, who collectively accounted…
After making the transition from church to furniture showroom, Westminster Congregational Church may soon be demolished after structural damage. // Image courtesy of Historic Kansas City The building that once housed Westminster Congregational Church has been on the corner of 36th and Walnut since 1904. It holds a place on both Kansas City’s and the National Register of Historic Places….
A mass vaccination clinic in Leopold, MO operated on a first-come-first-serve basis yesterday due to overallocation. By 4:40 p.m. yesterday, 648 people had been vaccinated in a town of only 65. // Image courtesy of leopold.k12.mo.us Gov. Mike Parson allocated almost 2,000 vaccines for the clinic. The Bollinger County town’s population of 65 did not fulfill that allocation, leading the…
Roughly 550,000 will soon be eligible for vaccination as part of the next phase of Missouri’s vaccination rollout. // Image courtesy of Gov. Mike Parson Missouri will soon enter Tier 3 of the state’s first phase of vaccine distribution, according to an update from Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday. This phase will begin on March 15, allowing approximately 550,000 more…
“Mix Tape” by David Ruggeri. // David Ruggeri When St. Louis resident, David Ruggeri, isn’t working as an associate teaching professor of health sciences at the University of Missouri, he’s painting. Ruggeri, who began painting when he was around 3 years old, has made time for art no matter what he is doing. Over the years he has worked as…
Today’s City Council vote could put more financial support toward schools and libraries after reducing tax breaks for luxury development projects. // Image courtesy of KCMO.gov Since 2016, Kansas City developers have received substantial tax reductions on projects. That could change today. The Kansas City Council is set to vote today on a new policy reducing tax incentives for…
Illustration by Jack Raybuck Dear Dan: I know you and other sexperts say that kinks are ingrained and not something you can get rid of, but mine have all vanished! Ever since I started on antidepressants my relationship with my body and how it reacts to pain, both physical and mental, has completely changed. I used to love getting bit…
Book cover. // Courtesy Kansas City Black History Project Black history feels palpably now. We’ve been witness to more than 8,000 multi-generational, multi-racial demonstrations for Black lives since this summer. Our nation’s first Black female Vice President now lives in the White House, and the Deep South just sent its first Black U.S. Senator to Congress. We’re in the midst…
Courtesy HITIDES Coffee Check it out: HITIDES Coffee in the Crossroads Among the finest things in life (and probably in this order): ice cream, coffee, doughnuts, and bagels. And in what can only be described as a win for all of us, all of these things can now be found in breezy, tiki-inspired environment in the East Crossroads. With the opening…
A view of the Missouri Senate chamber from the visitor’s gallery. // Courtesy of the Missouri Senate SB 55 includes an amendment requiring written parental permission before teaching material related to human sexuality. The amendment from Sen. Mike Moon would also require permission before providing any course materials or instruction about sexually transmitted infections. Senators had attempted to change their vote about…
Illustrated by Katelyn Betz This roundup of videos has something we haven’t seen in a minute: positivity. Eight of these nine videos (more about that ninth later on) will lift your spirits, buck you up, and just otherwise make you feel better than you thought possible. It’s always a pleasure to round up the best for Cine Local, but something…
Virginia Vann (left) at an SEIU Local 1 event.// Courtesy of Ankur Singh We’ve been asking members of the KC community to submit stories about life, beliefs, and the future. if you’ve got a story you’d like to share, please send it to brock@thepitchkc.com for consideration. Today, Virginia Vann, a Kansas City janitor who has been working on the front…
Ashley Bland Manlove. // Courtesy of Bland Manlove Campaign. Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chair and Missouri State Representative, Ashley Bland Manlove of Kansas City has requested information from the Parson administration on its plans for COVID-19 vaccine outreach in Missouri’s Black communities. Bland Manlove claims that she and her caucus members need to know how the Department of Health and…
COVID-19 cases are gradually declining in Missouri, but recent data is giving more cause for concern. Wastewater testing—conducted by the Coronavirus Sewershed Surveillance Project—shows that there are more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK COVID-19 variant than originally believed. The first B.1.1.7 COVID-19 case in Missouri was reported Feb. 6. The case came from Marion County in Northeast Missouri, but contract…
Photo courtesy Westport Ale House Westport Ale House and The Fall will be reopening after voluntarily shutting their doors due to COVID-19. They closed on November 16, 2020, to proactively protect staff members and the community. “When they were moving 3 a.m. licenses to 10 o’clock for the bar business, the most responsible decision was to close down,” says partner…
Some of the donations to the period product and clothing drive.// Courtesy of Julissa Gillig. The owners of Midtown Kava, a CBD shop on W. 39th St, are doing what they can to give back to the community. A Femme for Femme clothing swap and feminine hygiene product drive is happening at their shop through March. You can bring in…
Beginning this weekend and every weekend for the next six weeks, over 3,500 eligible Kansas Citians residing in zip codes with the lowest life expectancy will be vaccinated. Walmart will host these vaccination clinics at a Kansas City YMCA, utilizing a vaccine allowance given to Walmart by the federal government. The vaccines distributed at the clinic will not take from…
