Photo by torbakhopper Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day dedicated to honoring and empowering the lives of those who are transgender and nonbinary. Rachel Crandall, a Michigan-based transgender activist, founded the holiday in 2009. Crandall, the Executive Director of Transgender Michigan As transgender and gender-nonconforming people face risks every day this holiday emphasizes the importance of transgender advocacy…
Photo courtesy of KC Streetcar Authority Thanks to a federal grant, The Kansas City Streetcar Main Street Expansion Project will be fully funded. Nearly $91 million of American Rescue Plan funds, as well as a $24.7 million Capital Investment Grant, will support transit projects in the Kansas City area. This was announced Tuesday by Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Sharice…
Theatre in the Park’s new virtual show, “Songs for a new…Now”, will highlight the musical talents of 14 regional musicians. // Image courtesy of Theatre in the Park A new cabaret, “Songs for a New…Now”, will soon virtually show off Kansas City’s musical talent. The show, Theatre in the Park’s first of the 2021 season, features the original music of…
Trent Green speaks // Photo courtesy SevenDays Although former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green did not win a Super Bowl, he has won what some could say is an even bigger award. Green is the first recipient of the Ripple of Kindness Award which is given to someone who has had a great impact on the community with no…
Courtesy Rawstory.com This report originally ran at Raw Story. White supremacists on Telegram are organizing a series of simultaneous rallies under the banner of “White Lives Matter” in major American cities scheduled for April 11, with active participation and promotion in some locales by members of the Proud Boys. The rallies mark a rare instance of overt white nationalists openly mobilizing in…
House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, left, watches floor debate on state spending with Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold. (Tim Bommel/Missouri House photo) The Republican majority in the Missouri House on Tuesday beat back every attempt by Democrats to restore funding for Medicaid expansion to the budget for the coming fiscal year. The House spent more than seven hours debating the 13…
Image courtesy of Knuckleheads KC Knuckleheads Saloon is preparing to reopen and take another shot at giving Kansas Citians a chance to enjoy live music in their space again. This time, they have set new rules that guests must follow at their venue going forward in live music’s new normal. Our locally-owned music venue @Knuckleheadskc is gearing up to reopen,…
Sabertooth Thomas is one of the artists featured in Spring Break // Photo on @sprayseemo Instagram and taken by Diana Guadalupe Gonzalez @loopsvisuals Spring has sprung and this upcoming First Friday will celebrate the grand reopening of Upper Level Gallery featuring the Spring Break exhibition and DJ Sheppa. Many visiting and local artists will be featured in Spring Break, a group…
Six years after being convicted for the deaths of three, the man who drove to Overland Park looking to kill Jews is asking the Kansas Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence. // Image courtesy of Faith Always Wins Foundation In 2014, Aurora, MO resident Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. drove to Overland Park looking specifically to kill Jews. He killed three…
Courtesy of Google Maps. Bob Wasabi Kitchen at 1726 W 39th St. is a staple for sushi-lovers. But sadly, due to leasing issues, the restaurant will be closing. “Our lease has ended, and the landlord has other plans for their property,” says a Bob Wasabi Facebook post. “However, we are looking to relocate by the fall.” The restaurant will close…
Courtesy SXSW The Spine of Night, written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, blends fantasy and magic for its own creation myth, exploring the genesis of human suffering, corruption, and heroism. Its ultra-violent nature can be a bit much at times, but its core story is a fresh take on good versus evil. The film’s narrative structure…
Photo by Lauren Pusateri Riley Brain has always been an artist. In fact, before starting her business of making and selling smoke accessories, she was an elementary school music teacher. But in 2018, she left her career as a teacher, created a small studio in her basement, and started what is now Wandering Bud; now she uses her artistic side…
Happily is an odd duck. The kind of film that will spurn the advances of so many of my friends, yet land too close to home for others. It’s almost toxic, except for a specific brand of folks in relationships who can only see it as aspirational; and a different set that will love it for the satire reeking from…
New legislation would introduce measures that would make it difficult for new wind farms to be built in Kansas. // Image courtesy of Windpower Engineering and Development Kansas is home to many wind farms. Wind has in fact become the state’s #1 power source, and since 2001, wind projects have created over 9,000 new jobs in Kansas. But the benefits…
House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith. // Photo by Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications Near the end of last week’s marathon House Budget Committee meeting, state Rep. Peter Merideth tried to add $3.6 million to the Office of Public Defender to clear its backlog of cases awaiting attorneys. He targeted two funds for the money — the cash operating expense fund,…
We’ve teamed up with KC Pet Project to host a weekly “creature feature” on a lovable and adoptable animal here in the KC Metro. This week’s KC Pet Project featured pet is Charlie, an 8-year-old English Bulldog/Boston Terrier mix. Charlie is available in a foster home, and you can email foster@kcpetproject.org to meet him. “Charlie here! My foster mom tells me I’m such…
Jackie Nguyen of Cà Phê // Photo by Travis Young Enough is enough. Kansas Citians gathered outside of Cafe Cà Phê to pray for the eight Atlanta shooting victims and stand in solidarity against anti-Asian crimes Sunday. Jackie Nguyen, the owner of Cafe Cà Phê, says she is tired of feeling like “the other”. Growing up, Nguyen wished she could…
Online biography database Historic Missourians has been given a new look and updated for accessbility. // Image courtesy of Historic Missourians Preceding Missouri’s upcoming bicentennial, the State Historical Society of Missouri has given Historic Missourians a sleek new makeover. The website, an educational tool by the SHSMO full of stories about notable Missourians, has been updated to use modern web…
Sometimes a film is lucky enough to time up fortuitously with world events. Other times, it can land at precisely the wrong moment. Then there’s The Fallout, a movie that falls between all of the above. Unfortunately, in any given year, a mass shooting is bound to occur in America (there were, in fact, three between the time The Fallout…
Photo courtesy Whataburger Two years after Patrick Mahomes’ tweeted for Whataburger to open a store in the midwest, it’s finally happening. I just want a store in Kansas City! https://t.co/1kjZHw5KRv — Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) November 16, 2018 The Texas-based chain has plans to open four locations spread out between Kansas and Missouri. Locations 1450 Douglas St., Lee’s Summit, MO…
Courtesy The Truman Library Institute As part of its TRU Events series, The Truman Library Institute is hosting an event on racial justice in the time of President Truman. The online event, called The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, focuses on the 1946 event. In 1946, a Black Army sergeant named Isaac Woodard was on his way home to South Carolina…
This movie is absolutely awful. Just the dumbest thing y’all ever did see. An incomprehensible mess. Borderline incompetent. And yet: a monkey and a lizard are very large. They fight. They fight several times. When they fight, many buildings explode, and they keep fighting. They continue to be large and they continue to do fights. Measured by the standard of…
The Pitch has partnered with a local political awareness organization called Loud Light. Their goal is to engage and empower individuals from underrepresented populations to build community power. And impact decision-makers. Each week of the year that the Kansas statehouse is in session, they release a short video recapping what the legislature is up to. Knowing the nitty-gritty of what’s happening with your…
Courtesy WWI Museum and Memorial Changes to the school boards and budgets of most Kansas City area schools are coming. The April 6 School and Special Election will determine the school board directors across much of Kansas City and Jackson County. Voters will choose the school board directors for Kansas City (subdistricts one, three, and five), Hickman Mills, Raytown, Grandview,…
