Illustrated by Katelyn Betz So, you were looking at videos on the internet the other daaaaaay … might’ve been watching too many episodes of Letterkenny and having one (five) too many Puppers, thus resulting in a list of music videos mislabeled. Fucking embarrassing! How are ya now? Not so bad, but it’s best time to pitter patter, bud, and get…
Courtesy of Google Maps. If you find yourself commuting to downtown or visiting the Kauffman Center often, chances are the vintage Denny’s at Truman and Broadway has become a landmark. But like many other landmarks Kansas City has been accustomed to seeing, days are numbered for the 1600 Broadway Denny’s location. Last Friday, a demolition permit was issued for the 50-year-old building….
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 local Adopt an Animal features Ember, a 1-year-old Domestic Shorthair. She resides at the Kansas City Campus for Animal Care at 7077 Elmwood Avenue in Kansas City, MO. Where you can adopt her, she’s been there since March…
It’s about time to update your cell phone contacts. Instead of dialing only 10 numbers, Missourians will soon need to dial 11 numbers to make a local call. Starting April 24, adding a one in front of area codes 314, 417, 660, and 816. Seven-digit calls can be completed until October 24, when 11-digit calling will become mandatory. Any calls…
Photo by Mink Mingle In addition to speaking with Eric Spiztnagel about his book Rock Stars on the Record: The Albums That Changed Their Lives, we reached out to some of our favorite local musicians to see which albums or songs really grabbed them by the ears and blew their heads open to the possibilities of music. Glenn Robinson of…
Photo courtesy Up-Down The Up-Down arcade bar is introducing their “Tokens for Poke’ns” rewards program to thank metro area adults for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. When a completed vaccine card is shown the customer will receive 20 free game tokens. Tokens // Photo courtesy Up-Down “We want to thank everyone for taking this step to help keep our community safe,”…
Lamin Pereira // Photo by Tom Styrkowicz/53TOM LLC Lamin Pereira pirouetted into the spotlight at the Kansas City Ballet as an award-winning ballet dancer from Rio de Janeiro. He has performed in many countries around the world including Russia and Finland. Pereira says he never thought having a darker skin tone would stop him from achieving his dreams in dance….
Photo by Austin Pacheco A cyberattack forced the Park Hill school district to cancel classes Monday and the FBI is currently investigating the extent of the attack. “Our technology team has worked for more than 24 hours to try to restore our systems and we are working with national experts, including some from the FBI, to investigate this issue and…
Alvin Sykes testifying on June 12, 2007 // Screenshot from CSPAN Kansas City activist Alvin Sykes, who was best known for his work in pursuing justice in unsolved civil rights murders, died Friday at 64. He passed at Merriam Gardens Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Shawnee, KS according to a facility nurse. Sykes suffered a fall at Union Station two years…
Harry Shum Jr. in Broadcast Signal Intrusion. // Courtesy Queensbury Pictures Broadcast Signal Intrusion would be a good film to double feature with Censor, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Both deal with obsession and grief, with the main characters fixating on something they see in a film. These digital ghosts are the catalysts for each character’s confrontation…
Photo by The Creative Exchange Krispy Kreme is the first nationwide chain to offer an incentive to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Starting today, customers can get a free Original Glazed donut after showing their vaccination card every day for the rest of 2021. It sounds too good to be true. The deal is valid at all 369 Krispy Kreme shops…
The ninth annual Panic Fest will be two weeks filled with horror if your 2020 was not scary enough and you need more of a thrill. “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer Panic Fest as both in-person and virtual experiences,” says Panic Fest co-founder Adam Roberts, “It’s important that we allow for all comfort levels and situations. The prospect…
In a year where the Kansas City community has faced unique circumstances and challenges, so have the nonprofit organizations who serve them. // Image courtesy of KC Pet Project Beginning in mid-March of 2020 and spanning out over the course of the following months, one might recall a dramatic pandemic-induced pet boom in the United States. Throughout the last year…
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…
Author Eric Spitznagel Author Eric Spitznagel’s new book, Rock Stars on the Record: The Albums That Changed Their Lives—released last month by Diversion Books—continues the writer’s exploration of how just one album or song can change the course of someone’s entire life. 2016’s Old Records Never Die: One Man’s Quest for His Vinyl and His Past saw Spitznagel tracking down…
Witch Hunt. // Courtesy SXSW What if the hysteria-driven violence of the Salem witch trials endured well into a contemporary America, where witches really did exist? That’s the intriguing premise of Elle Callahan’s sophomore feature, Witch Hunt, and it’s a shame that such an ambitious idea is ultimately marred by muddled worldbuilding and concerning appropriation of all-too-real discrimination. At first…
Monster Closets is a randomly-regular column where Brock Wilbur takes a trip back through the highs, lows, and generally bizarre elements of the survival horror video game genre. This is exceptional niche writing but hopefully funny to the outsider by the nature of just how sheerly unhinged some of these works of art come. Please enjoy. One of the great…
On March 18, the Heartland Presbytery released a letter calling for the KCPD Board of Commissioners to fire Chief Smith. The Presbytery includes 81 congregations, 11 worshiping communities, and 173 ministers in western Missouri and eastern Kansas. Email from Heartland Presbytery, representing 81 Presbyterian churches, calls for removal of KC Police Chief Rick Smith. "We are asking the Board to…
A photo of Reimler from the Capitol insurrection.// Courtesy FBI’s Most Wanted A ninth Missouri resident has been identified and charged with his part in the Capitol insurrection Jan. 6. An investigation from The Kansas City Star revealed documents that show Nick Reimler, a 2014 MU grad living in the St. Louis area, inside the capitol on the day of…
Courtesy of Focus Features Several years ago, a friend and I started sharing curated playlists back and forth. Or rather, he sent me oodles of awesome music I’d never heard, and I responded with stuff I’d found that I thought he might not know. In August 2014, he sent me a song I loved. It was childlike, but smart and…
This week on the Streetwise podcast we discuss festival fever, enjoy a reading of J.M. Banks’ Fashionably Late, check out Flora from Kansas’ track “Better Off Alone”, and talk political shop with Rep. Ashley Aune. 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 news and events. Jason Klamm read our…
Nikiyah Crosdale poses with her book. // Photo by Anna Patrice Photography Nikiyah Crosdale is passionate about children’s mental health and writing, and recently, she decided to combine the two. Crosdale spent three years working in KC area education, and learned a lot about how mental health and academic performance go hand-in-hand for students. “I wrote The Thought Jar because…
Photo cap: (Caption: Alexis (Jasmin Savoy Brown) experiencing synesthesia. // Photo by You Know Films/No Office Films For too long, filmmakers have mostly been confined to one of three directions when it comes to making slasher movies: by-the-numbers, a reinvention or intensely meta. It turns out, all you needed to do to get blood flowing through its veins was simply…
Photo by Alexander Mils A northwest Missouri county is free of video games that offer cash prizes to players following the successful prosecution of a convenience store owner. Mohammad Saqib, owner of The Junction in Andrew County, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of a gambling device, a Class A misdemeanor. Saqib received a suspended imposition of sentence and was placed on…
