Archives: July 2022

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Politics

Financial disclosure reports released for organizations lobbying around Kansan Aug. 2 abortion amendment

Lauren Textor,

Abortion ban protest in Lawrence on June 4, 2022. // Photo by Chris Ortiz Kansans for Constitutional Freedom and the Value Them Both Association filed their financial disclosure reports with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission July 18.  These statements keep donors to each organization and their amounts of monetary donations transparent. Over the past six months, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom…

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Culture

Four Inane Questions with Elite Comics’ William Binderup

Michael Mackie,

Courtesy William Binderup Pow! Bam! Zap! When William Binderup opened Elite Comics back in 1993, little did he know that Marvel and DC Comics would be taking over the cinematic meta-verse. (Or maybe he did?) Now—almost 30 years later—the small comic book store (with a larger-than-life owner) is known as a Midwest mecca for anything and everything comic-related. Over three…

Cafe Ollama
Food & Drink

Dish & Drink KC: Mexican soda flights at Ollama, summer Italian flavors at Lazia, and the Amaizing Sweet Corn Festival

Tyler Shane,

Mexican soda flight at Café Ollama. // Photo by Tyler Shane Café Ollama serves Mexican Soda flights Coffee flights have taken the Kansas City coffee scene by storm as more coffee shops serve their own miniature sets of specialty drinks. Café Ollama, a Latin coffee shop located in the Crossroads Arts District, was one of the first to offer the…
Politics

Anti-Greitens PAC tops spending as Missouri U.S. Senate race cost approaches $30M

Television ads for Senate, state Auditor and Congressional primaries consume bulk of spending as election approaches.
Rudi Keller,

Candidates for U.S. Senate and PACs backing them have combined to spend almost $30 million in advance of the Aug. 2 primary. // Rudi Keller of The Missouri Independent The biggest spender in the Missouri Senate race is a political action committee that won’t disclose its donors until Wednesday. Show Me Values PAC, which is running ads opposing former Gov….

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Politics

Cruel Intentions: Missouri keeps going back to an abusive relationship

Barbara Shelly,

Eric Greitens and his dumb machine gun. // Courtesy Greitens campaign Six years ago, Missouri handed a madman the keys to its governor’s office. After things went wrong, the voters who elected Eric Greitens could at least claim some measure of plausible deniability. They had not known, back in November of 2016, about the woman he had terrorized in his…

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Culture

Powell Garden’s 25th annual Festival of Butterflies lands July 21 to Aug. 7

Lauren Textor,

Thousands of butterflies create a natural spectacle at the annual Festival of Butterflies. // Courtesy Powell Gardens. Powell Gardens celebrates its 25th Festival of Butterflies from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 21 to August 7.  This year, the festival features over 50 species of butterflies and moths native to Madagascar as well as species native to the Midwest. Three new…

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Music

Electronic duo Boy Harsher on their experimental horror film and album The Runner

Sophia Johnson,

Boy Harsher. // photo by Courtney Brooke Boy Harsher, most known for their amorphous darkwave and new industrial sound, has been creating devilishly danceable music for over eight years. Since the band’s 2014 hit “Pain” off their Lesser Man EP, Boy Harsher has represented universal human experiences through raw lyrics and brooding electronic beats. The Northampton duo, composed of vocalist/lyricist…

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Culture

Britt Frank’s Solve for Stuck answers your questions about post-pandemic dating, work, and mental fog

Britt Frank,

Logo by John Alvarez Welcome to Solve for Stuck. Whether or not you identify as someone with lifelong mental health challenges, we’ve all been slammed by the events of the past few years. Whether it’s sex and relationship issues, career conundrums, family struggles, or compulsive behaviors (doom-scrolling anyone?), there’s no area of life that’s immune to stuckness. The good news? There’s a reason we…

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Culture

Charlotte Street Foundation’s Free Community Block Party celebrates organization’s 25th anniversary

Lauren Textor,

The Emotional Value Auction at the Charlotte Street Foundation’s 25th-anniversary block party asks participants to exchange written statements of value instead of money. // Photo by Ana Textor The Charlotte Street Foundation has been located in its headquarters at 3333 Wyoming Street for a year now. While Charlotte Street is known for its considerable calendar of events, the staff’s original…

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Culture

A better future in KC as seen in some of our cultural icons

Tim Sweeney,

Downtown KC skyline. // Photo by Steph Castor. Processed by Filmxlab A local woman from Kansas City graduates from an out-of-state university from which she earned a scholarship due to her great talent and hard work at Kansas City’s Central High School.  In her first job a few months after college, she finds herself in Athens, Greece standing in front…
Culture

Four Inane Questions with interior designer Troy Moore 

Michael Mackie,

Courtesy Troy Moore Forget triple threat—renaissance man Troy Moore is more of a sextuple threat. The award-winning custom home builder and interior designer is also a prolific actor, model, singer, and ever-present emcee. If you haven’t seen his glam-posh (posh-glam?) KC houses featured on HGTV or in various national architectural design publications, you’re missing out. Think home porn—but, you know,…

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Culture

KC Cares: KC Shepherd’s Center

Beth Lipoff,

KC Shepherd’s Center. // Courtesy KC Shepherd’s Center “You are not alone.” That’s the message the KC Shepherd’s Center is sending with their long-running senior companion program and the newer Phone Pal program to keep older adults happier and more engaged. The idea behind the senior companion program is that seniors can aid other seniors living nearby. Both participants have…
Movies

Killing the guilt in Neon Lights: a confusing, ambitious journey of family trauma

Caroline Rose Newman,

Neon Lights. // Courtesy Momentum Pictures Neon Lights, directed by Rouzbeh Heydari, is simultaneously a moody, slow-burn slasher and an exploration of psychotherapy and traumatic family relationships. Writer Dana Abraham also stars as Clay Amani, the CEO of a successful healthcare startup. After a disastrous television interview, Amani decides to retreat to his rural estate for an off-the-grid getaway with…

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Movies, Music

A film nearly 20 years in the making tells the story of Wichita’s The Embarrassment

Legend of the Prairie Punks
Abby Olcese,

The Embarrassment. // Photo by Doug Hitchcock Once upon a time in Wichita, there was a band called The Embarrassment. In 1979, guitarist Bill Goffrier, vocalist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus, and drummer Brent “Woody” Geissman formed a quartet that, over the course of five years, went from playing shows in backyards and a studio in Wichita’s now-abandoned Flatiron Building…

Hrabko
Music

Inside The Wonderful World of Scott Hrabko

Nick Spacek,

Scott Hrabko. // Courtesy the artist Musician Scott Hrabko released his debut solo album, Gone Places, in 2013 at the age of 53. Nearly ten years later, he’s put together a double CD set called The Wonderful World of Scott Hrabko & The Rabbits. When we speak with Hrabko by phone just ahead of the album’s release, we started by…
Politics

Eric Schmitt hopes Trump-style politics will win him GOP nod in Missouri Senate race

As a state senator, Schmitt valued cooperation over confrontation. As he campaigns for the U.S. Senate, he says he’ll be a ‘disruptor’ blocking President Biden.
Rudi Keller,

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is sworn in on Jan. 11, 2020, for a full term as attorney general. // Photo courtesy of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office There’s an old joke around Jefferson City that AG stands for aspiring governor. And there’s a lot of truth in the jest. Five of the 12 most recent attorneys general have run…
Culture

Streetwise podcast gets weird with Tim Heidecker, has a bittersweet symphony with Emily Cox

Brock Wilbur,

This week on the Streetwise podcast we hang art, enjoy a reading of Emily Cox’s story on Social Symphony, jam to Cuee’s track “Man Now,” and interview musician/comedian Tim Heidecker ahead of his KC show. 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 magazine…

Jo Mackenzie
Music

Jo MacKenzie on the sound fiscal policies of radiance, girl

Nick Spacek,

Jo MacKenzie. // Photo courtesy the artist We’re big fans of musician Jo MacKenzie here at The Pitch. Be it her work as part of the duo Baby and the Brain with Dia Jane or her many solo releases, she’s a musician for which we’re always excited when there’s new music on the horizon. Her latest EP, radiance, girl, is…

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Music

C.E.D. Studios refresh the hip-hop scene by honing in on the craft

Hannah Scott,

The individuals that make up C.E.D. Studios. // Courtesy of Tony Olivieri Kansas City has held a diversity of music throughout the years, but Tony Olivieri knew that one particular space needed some change. When feeling frustrated that the hip-hop scene in the city often felt the same, he decided nobody could do it better than himself. With these goals…

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News

Resettled Afghan refugee Rezwan Kohistani found dead in rural Missouri, vigil tonight in KC

Lauren Textor,

Rezwan Kohistani’s family continues to fight for answers to the 14-year-old’s death. // Courtesy KC Muslim Civic Initiative After fleeing Afghanistan in August 2021, the Kohistani family was resettled in Webb City, Missouri by the U.S. government.  Less than a year later, their eldest son 14-year-old Rezwan, was found hanged at Webb City High School May 5, 2022.  Tonight, the…
Movies

West Bottoms film brings new life to its location

Hannah Scott,

Behind the scenes from “West Bottoms.” // Courtesy of Gregory Sheffer It can be easy to lose a dream after you think you have moved on, but Greg Sheffer decided that he didn’t have to leave his passions behind as an adult. Sheffer started his career in video production but had hoped he would eventually make a feature-length film. Now…

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Music

Intrepid singer-songwriter Nicole Springer beats the odds

Ron Lamendola,

Nicole Springer. // photo credit Scott Bosworth Singer-songwriter Nicole Springer has been riding the crest of a new resurgence of live music venues, new material, a new band, and a newly recorded five-song EP. She’s, to this point, lived a life of momentous personal defeats and pivotal triumphs. In the fall of 2021, Springer was invited to play on the…