Archives: June 2023

Photos: Shinedown gets intimate at J. Rieger & Co.

Shinedown. // photo by Mike Dotson Shinedown J. Rieger & Co. Monday, June 5 The next time hard rockers Shinedown hit Kansas City at the T-Mobile Center on Monday, September 4, they’ll be playing to far more people than they did on Monday evening when some folks were lucky enough to catch the band perform at J. Rieger & Co.’s…

Thinking outside the box with ketamine

K-Hole Sun, Won't You Come?

Illustration by Cassondra Jones It has been a month now since Missouri began approving licenses for dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana, and the state’s 200 dispensaries have already outpaced Illinois in recreational sales.  Medical marijuana has been legal in Missouri for three years now, and the legalization of recreational marijuana speaks to a certain validation or curiosity in its redemption…

Dish & Drink KC: Pad Thai at Noodle Bar and curry at Lulu’s

Massaman curry at Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop. // Photo by Lauren Textor Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop becomes a triumvirate in the KC foodie scene Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop has added a third location in Overland Park, along with a new cocktail menu that features the Noir Sour, a pinot noir/Mezcal hybrid with lemon and demerara syrup.  The Wild Mushroom curry…

Lawmakers lament failure of bills aimed at addressing Missouri teacher shortage

A bill with myriad proposals, including raising minimum teacher salaries, fizzled as the Senate derailed in the finals weeks of session.

Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, and House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, walk into the Senate president pro tem’s office in the midst of closed door negotiations May 4. Stacks of amendments pile up outside the Senate copy room during the last days of the legislative session (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). After a blue ribbon commission spent much of 2022 crafting possible…

Kansas abortion rights groups file lawsuit against junk science ‘abortion reversal’ law

Plaintiffs also challenge 30-minute wait time, bureaucratic regulations on abortion forms

Protestors carry signs at a June 24, 2022, rally in Kansas City, Missouri, after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated abortion rights. (Margaret Mellott/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Kansas abortion providers filed a lawsuit combating an “abortion reversal” law based on a debunked study, calling the state’s tightened abortion regulations increasingly “inaccurate” and a violation of bodily integrity. The lawsuit was filed…

Drink This Now: Krispy Girl at Servaes Brewing Company

Krispy Girl by Servaes Brewing Co. // Photo by Sarah Sipple At Servaes Brewing Company, fluidity is the name of the game. There are no flagship beers at this family-owned brewery in downtown Shawnee. Experimentation and reinvention are paramount to the Servaes team. Flowing from the rainbow taps are a variety of New England India Pale Ales, plus novelty, barrel-aged,…

Pitch Pop-Up: Jacomojito

Jacomojito. // Photo by Steph Castor Get ready for another sweltering Midwestern summer. With upcoming block parties, backyard BBQs, and lazy days at the pool—we know you’re filling that tumbler with some kind of liquid. We’d like to suggest slugging some of these easy-to-make, thirst-quenching bevvies while the days are still long. Jacomojito Summer hack: Buy some seedless grapes. Wash…

Radkey’s Radfest Vol. 1 delivers homegrown crowd its latest dose of delicious rock noise

The Ugly Cowboys, Drop A Grand, The Many Colored Death, and The Phantastics led off five hours of rock, June 3, at Lemonade Park.

Radkey. // photo by Tyler Schneider From the West Bottoms’ Lemonade Park, under the sun-stained silhouette of the Kansas City Livestock Exchange Building, Radkey returned to their home turf on June 3 with some of their favorite tourmates and regional friends in tow for RadFest Vol. 1. The showcase brought The Ugly Cowboys of Oklahoma, the Columbia trio The Many…

Solve for Stuck: Myth busters (mental health edition)

Solve for Stuck logo by John Alvarez In a world where mental health information is sourced from TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, it can be helpful to pause and sort fact from fiction (though to be fair, social media often provides more accurate information than many licensed professionals). In honor of Mental Health Awareness, here are my top five mental health myths—and…

Photos: America kicks off their tour in KC at Ameristar

America. // photo by Chris Ortiz The evening was hot and muggy, with more rain on the way, when the band America took the stage at Ameristar Casino in Kansas City on Friday. Celebrating 53 years of touring, they decided to kick off their most recent tour in Kansas City with a show that started a little past 8:30. As…

Float on ’em: Sensory deprivation is anything but

Illustration by Cassondra Jones I read a lot of harangues about how the internet has fractured our collective attention span. So I was surprised when a friend told me that every couple of weeks, he forks over $75 to be alone in a dark, wet room with his thoughts.  By “room,” I mean a sensory deprivation tank—also known as an…

Report shows Black drivers in Missouri more likely to be ticketed, arrested

The report is the 23rd consecutive compilation of police statistics that show Black drivers are stopped at higher rates than their share of Missouri’s population.

Of the 39,302 Black drivers stopped by the patrol in 2022, nearly 35,000 were issued a citation, or 89%, with almost 7% of stops resulting in an arrest. // Adobe Black motorists stopped by Missouri law enforcement are much more likely to end the encounter with a citation or in a jail cell than whites, according to the latest state…

Chef Katie Liu-Sung shows her personality through street food at Stray Kat

Stray Kat. // Photo by Kyle Wisecarver Chewology has been rumored to bring world-class Taiwanese food to their spot in Westport. Head Chef and Owner Chef Katie Liu-Sung run the show, serving small plates and dumplings. They also offer a special menu during their regular business hours that change frequently, and it’s called Stray Kat. To experience the special dining experience,…

Sparta brought Wiretap Scars to recordBar in a 2002 time travel experiment

Support acts included Zeta and Geoff Rickly of Thursday with an intimate solo set.

Sparta at recordBar on June 3, 2023. // Photo by Brock Wilbur June 3rd at recordBar saw KC gifted with an experiment in tunneling through time, as returning champions of yesteryear screamo turned out in force for a receptive crowd of devoted followers. Venezuelan post-rock outfit Zeta brought their trio of percussionists and their memorable wall of sound to kick…

Jim Ward of Sparta on the hurt and healing in revisiting Wiretap Scars 20 years later

June 3, 2023 at recordBar, Sparta will swing through with opening acts Geoffrey Rickly (of Thursday) and Zeta. The emo rock group is touring to celebrate—and recreate—their debut LP, 2002’s Wiretap Scars. There are a lot of elements that celebrate this tour from your typical anniversary album tour. Mainly, that Sparta—and frontman Jim Ward—have sort of always existed in a…

Heartland International Fashion Week celebrates culture, team efforts for third runway season

HIFW brings a fun, lively experience to fashion while showcasing international and local talent.

Michael Mora wearing Studio Rae, Kameo Lewis wearing Creative House, and Ariana Noah wearing S. Nicole // courtesy Eric Miles Heartland International Fashion Week completes its third season on the runway at the Firestone Event Space. Connecting with crowd members and their team, HIFW provides an opportunity to celebrate fashion and diversity.  HIFW is a fairly new fashion show with…

Sav Rodgers on Chasing Chasing Amy’s Tribeca premiere and the multi-year process behind his debut feature

"I made a choice to listen to the people around me and make the most compelling version of the movie, even if it wasn’t what I set out to do."

Rodgers and Kevin Smith. // Photo by Bill Winters When Sav Rodgers was 12, he saw a movie that changed his life forever: Kevin Smith’s 1998 romantic comedy Chasing Amy. The movie, in which Ben Affleck plays a comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian woman only to learn that he’s not the only man she’s been…