Archives: May 2024

Last-ditch push to ban child marriage in Missouri must overcome resistance in House

With legislation outlawing child marriage stuck in a House committee, backers hope to add it to a separate bill before lawmakers adjourn on Friday.

Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, presents a resolution on the Senate floor Feb. 12 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent) Lawmakers trying to ban child marriage in Missouri hope a last-minute push in the legislative session’s final days can overcome opposition from some Republicans that put the bill’s chances in doubt. A bill outlawing 16 and 17 years old from getting married stalled in…

Eat This Now: Miami Ice

Miami Ice // Photo by Sarah Sipple Just like the balance of getting a sunkissed glow but avoiding a burn, finding the balance between wellness and “little treats” is heightened in the summer. They’re not mutually exclusive in a well-adjusted worldview. But I’d argue that shaved ice on a hot day, with a loved one, maybe enjoyed on a walk,…

Cosmic country crooner Daniel Donato comes to KC

Courtesy of All Eyes Media Talk about immersion therapy! To hear him tell the tale, singer Daniel Donato cut his proverbial country chops growing up in Nashville. As a burgeoning teen performer, Donato was surrounded by scores of talented musicians—a proverbial who’s-who of veterans who helped him hone his craft within an inch of its life.  A mere decade later,…

Local Natives discuss songwriting and fatherhood ahead of Wednesday’s Truman show

Taylor and Ryan of Local Natives reflect on the early days of their career and their evolution as a band.

Local Natives. // photo credit Elizabeth Miranda Alternative rock band Local Natives are currently on tour in support of their latest projects: Time Will Wait for No One and But I’ll Wait For You. Ahead of their show at The Truman on Wednesday, May 15, we spoke with members Taylor Rice and Ryan Hahn about their early days as a…

Inside the Bottle: Never Say Die rises to its legendary lore

Never Say Die // Photo by Mike Dahlor It was a dark, stormy night.  While that may sound like a cliché introduction, it is the actual setting for what became one of the most incredible stories behind any whiskey I have ever heard.  In 1951, on Pat Madden’s family horse farm in Hamburg Place, Lexington, KY, a foal was born…

Keep Them Coming: DIY during International Masturbation Month

Keep Them Coming with Kristen Thomas. // Photo by Nicole Bissey I’m not going to beat around the bush—Well actually I am because May is International Masturbation Month. We have Good Vibrations—A San Francisco-based sex toy retailer to thank for this 31-day solo sex-positive extravaganza. International (FKA National) Masturbation Month was founded in 1995, after the firing of Surgeon General…

Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin on Super Magick and Kansas connections ahead of Friday’s Uptown bash

Better Than Ezra. // photo credit Robbie Klein Alt-rockers Better Than Ezra had some of the biggest hits of the ’90s, with “Good” and “Desperately Wanting” still finding their way onto radio nearly 30 years later. However, while the band’s been regularly touring ever since, it’s been ten years since their last full-length, All Together Now. That all changed with…

“Sound Minds Day” returns to 90.9 The Bridge on May 15

Courtesy The Bridge 90.9 90.9 The Bridge’s Sound Minds Day will return to the airwaves on May 15. The annual special, held every May to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month, features an entire day’s worth of songs requested by community members—specifically, music that has gotten them through difficult periods.  Sound Minds Day also features special guests, including local musicians and…

KC Monarchs prepare to take flight in 2024 season with strong returning roster

Kansas City’s other professional baseball team, the Monarchs, are set to start the 2024 season tomorrow. The Monarchs have won four championships since moving to Kansas City in 2003. One of those championships was in the now-defunct Northern League in 2008. The rest were in the American Association in 2018, 2021, and most recently, 2023.  Now, the team is preparing…

Missouri governor celebrates signing bill ending Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson prior to the State of the State address on Jan. 24, 2024 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent) Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has announced he will sign legislation limiting Planned Parenthood’s ability to serve low-income patients at a ceremony in his Capitol office Thursday. The new law, which will go into effect Aug. 28, will end Medicaid reimbursements to any…

Kansas City police jump-started a missing persons unit. Now they need to build trust with Black families

Community complaints that the Kansas City Police Department wasn’t taking the disappearances of Black women seriously prompted the revival of a missing persons unit.

T’Montez Hurt went missing on Feb. 1 at a Greyhound bus station on Troost Avenue. The 19-year-old’s disappearance has become a rallying cry for better police cooperation by family members of missing people. (Mili Mansaray/ The Beacon) T’Montez Hurt had just started working at a Price Chopper in Grain Valley to save money after a semester away from Missouri Western…

Creature Feature: Meet majestic Molly

Photo Courtesy of Prairie Paw Animal Shelter Maggie was found as a stray in Aug., 2023, quickly taken into a home for two short months. The owners surrendered her to Prairie Paws Manhattan in Sept., due to territorial issues in the home with their other dog. Maggie played very well with the other dogs outside, but was nervous inside because…

I Saw the TV Glow drizzles VHS sleepovers and Buffy re-runs over an existential crisis

The filmmaker opts for a "nowstalgia"—where it's fun to look back on the past, but there's no desire to return to that time and place to live forever; no concept that 1996 was the height of existence. Whatever Stranger Things wants to make you feel about an era's fandoms, this is the opposite.

I Saw the TV Glow. // Courtesy A24 Jane Schoenbrun’s premiere with A24 has been one of our most anticipated feature films, leaving us dangling in wait for several years since the first announcement. The writer-director’s breakthrough flick We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is one of those difficult-to-describe pieces of magic—a horror isolation adventure born of the pandemic,…

The Grisly Hand share the lessons they’ve learned ahead of Saturday’s farewell show

Someone overheard one of our housemates talking about the Grisly Hand: “Man, that band…. they just wake up and start yelling."

After 15 years of making music, Kansas City’s countrified rockers the Grisly Hand will play a farewell jubilee at the Ship this Saturday, May 11. The show will feature over a dozen guests, including all past members of the band, and looks to be a joyous way of celebrating a band we’re sad to see go. Ahead of the band’s…

Cloak And Dagger: Cocktails from Clandestino are telling stories through their elaborate drinks

Photo Courtesy of Clandestino When you think of Westport, you probably aren’t envisioning a speakeasy-style craft cocktail bar with elaborate presentations. Subverting those expectations is exactly what Raul Valencia sets out to do with Clandestino, located inside the Latin-American restaurant Brix. Valencia serves as the Director of Operations and Head Mixologist there, where telling stories through his drinks is the…