Archives: January 2025

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Movies

Valentine’s slasher Heart Eyes bleeds sincere rom-com adoration across 2025’s first great horror comedy

We are, yet again, crushing so goddamned hard on director Josh Ruben.
Abby Olcese,

Heart Eyes. // Courtesy Sony Pictures Picking a date night movie is a tricky process at the best of times, but it’s even harder on  Valentine’s Day. You and your partner may have totally different tastes. Picking something to watch together that won’t bore or turn off the other person is a balancing act that almost guarantees one of you…

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Culture

Eat This Edible: Bubby’s Baked is helping Show-Me State consumers get scrumptiously stoned

Joe Ellett,

Photo Courtesy of MariMed Baking can be tricky for anybody. Infuse your confection with THC and the process gets even stickier. For Bubby’s Baked—an edible brand under Massachusetts-based cannabis company MariMed—being perfectly baked is the name of the game.  After entering the Missouri market this Winter, Bubby’s Baked makes the cannabis industry here in the Show-Me State even sweeter. With…

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News

Smoke Show: Missouri cannabis struggles to balance investment against investigation

Joe Ellett,

Art by Keegan Hudspeth Throughout the year, Missouri’s cannabis microbusiness license program has been scrutinized for allowing outside investors to use predatory practices against Missourians looking to own a business within the market. The state and Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Division of Cannabis (DCR) have taken the matter seriously. Days before Christmas, the DCR announced that, after…

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News

No survivors found in crash between military helicopter and jet over Potomac River near DC

Ariana Figueroa, Ashley Murray,

WASHINGTON — An American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday near Reagan National Airport in Virginia just across from the District of Columbia, plunging both aircraft into the Potomac River. “Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,” Jack Potter, head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said during a…

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Politics

Threat of federal funding freeze panics KC’s nonprofit health care community

Community health clinics and other nonprofits that rely on tax dollars to provide health care and other services are scrambling. They believe funding cuts are inevitable.
Suzanne King, Josh Merchant,

President Trump’s federal funding freeze threat caused worry for nonprofit health care organizations. (Suzanne King/The Beacon) For Wil Franklin, chief executive of KC CARE Health Clinic, Tuesday began with a blizzard of texts and emails. A sweeping plan to freeze federal grants and loans affected $5 million that his community safety-net clinic relies on. The online portal that community health…

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Politics

Ruby Jean’s Juicery makes national news with sudden elevation to highest taxed property in Jackson County

Paige Eichkorn,

Photo by Paige Eichkorn Ruby Jean’s Juicery owner Chris Goode has appealed a 657% property tax increase and plans to sue Jackson County if state representatives aren’t successful in defending his business. Ruby Jean’s is now the single highest-taxed property in Jackson County and has made national news. The reason it’s so high is that the previous owner of the…

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Culture

Author TJ Klune’s The Bones Beneath My Skin is the sci-fi action queer romance you didn’t know you wanted

Nick Spacek,

TJ Klune. // photo courtesy Tor Books Author TJ Klune’s latest book, The Bones Beneath My Skin, is not his newest. Originally released in 2018 as a self-published novel, it’s found a deep and rousing fanbase, and on Tuesday, February 4, it’s getting an official release via Tor Books. By turns hilarious, weird, heartrending, and exhilarating, the novel sees disgraced…

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Art

Gallery Bogart bridges the international arts scene by rep’ing artist Héctor Dorantes at Mexico City Art Week

Sophia Lail,

  Héctor Dorantes creates art through a variety of mediums, such as photography, painting, sculpture and installation. // Courtesy of Gallery Bogart. In the game of making it as a young professional artist, players grapple to solidify their spots in their communities and gain recognition for their work. Certain players succeed, such as Héctor Dorantes, a 27 year old artist…

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Theater

PNC Broadway’s Parade brings the march of social injustice to Kauffman

Kat Alfieri,

Photo by Joan Marcus Set to premiere at the Kauffman Center on January 28th, PNC Broadway in Kansas City presents Parade, a story of social injustice and enduring love based on the historical trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish man accused of killing a 13-year-old girl. Set in the red hills of Georgia, the story recollects the trial and lynching…

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Politics

Kansas Republicans revive gender-affirming care ban for trans youth

House and Senate committees hold hearings on model legislation that targets children and health care providers.
Anna Kaminski,

Two hearings on Jan. 28, 2025, on identical bills attempting to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths drew large crowds and more than 400 pieces of written testimony. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Identical bills in the Kansas House and Senate are attempting to ban gender-affirming care for minors in a renewed effort from Republicans to clamp down on transgender…

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Politics

Missouri bill putting a bounty on undocumented immigrants faces fierce resistance

‘It is inhumane to say people should be hunted like a sport,’ said Aura Velasquez, who has been a U.S. citizen for five years.
Rudi Keller,

State Sen. David Gregory reviews his notes before presenting a bill Monday that would criminalize undocumented immigrants to a Senate committee (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A confrontational legislative hearing Monday — with a witness calling a state senator a fascist and lawmakers battling over whether the state should put a bounty on undocumented immigrants — set the tone for this year’s…

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Food & Drink

Eat This Now: Crab Rangoon at Sayachi

Emily Wheeler,

Crab rangoons at Sayachi. // Photo by Emily Wheeler As a self-proclaimed crab rangoon connoisseur, I have spent my time in Kansas City scouring for the best in the city. Brookside sushi restaurant Sayachi offers some of the most flavorful crab rangoons I’ve tried around the metro. I’ve returned to Sayachi many times over the past couple of years, and…

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Music

Analog Adventures: Old Crow Medicine Show, MF DOOM, David Rawlings, and more of the best recent vinyl

Nick Spacek,

Welcome to Analog Adventures, where we run down the latest stacks of wax to hit our mailbox. Reissues, new releases, and more are all on the turntable as we spin these records. Old Crow Medicine Show O.C.M.S. (Acony Records) It took 20 years, but Old Crow Medicine Show’s debut studio recording finally saw a vinyl pressing. Featuring perennial favorite, biggest…

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Culture

Four Inane Questions with textile artist Aleah Washington

Michael Mackie,

Photo by Estuardo Garcia 2025 is shaping up nicely for Aleah Washington. Late last year, the textile artist was one of three winners of the coveted annual Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards. Along with painter Juan Diego Gaucin and multi-media installation artist Kevin Demery, her work is being featured at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s 2024 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards exhibition, which runs through…

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Politics

As opioid crisis evolves in Kansas, lawsuit settlement funds provide recovery options

Anna Kaminski,

Pat George, chairman of the Kansas Fights Addiction Act Grant Review Board, gives an update to the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 21, 2025. (Kansas Reflector screen capture from Kansas Legislature video) TOPEKA — After a slow start, Kansas’ opioid settlement funds have reached every county and benefitted tens of thousands of residents seeking help with addiction. Roughly…

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Politics

‘Who are they going to target next?’ Kansas appeals court hears arguments on gender markers

Sherman Smith,

Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney representing the Kansas Department of Revenue, argues before the Kansas Court of Appeals at a Jan. 27, 2025, hearing. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — The state solicitor general told an appeals court panel Monday that transgender people don’t have to get a driver’s license if they don’t like being forced to use a gender…

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Politics

Missourians waiting in jail for court-ordered mental health care reaches all-time high

People languish for an average of 14 months in jail before receiving the mental health treatment that could allow them to stand trial.
Clara Bates,

Valerie Huhn, director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, speaks to reporters on Dec. 29, 2021 after being appointed to the job (photo courtesy of the Missouri Governor’s Office). For nearly a year and a half, a woman has been languishing in Greene County jail, waiting to be transferred to a state mental health facility. The woman was charged…

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Culture

Photos: KC Comets take down top dog Chihuahua Savage

Tarik Sykes,

KC Comets versus Chihuahua Savage on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2024. // Photo by Tarik Sykes The Chiefs might be on most Kansas Citian’s minds, but Cable Dahmer Arena hosted their own football match on Saturday, Jan. 25. The high-scoring arena soccer was on display, as the KC Comets knocked off the Chihuahua Savage in a 5-2 win. Now, with a…

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Politics

Loud Light Kansas Politics Recap: Kobach’s strange opinion, election bills, and ‘midnight rule’ abolished

Brock Wilbur,

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…

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Culture

Eat This Edible: Betty’s Eddies brings Missourians even more THC to chew

Joe Ellett,

Photo Courtesy of MariMed Massachusetts-based cannabis company MariMed has made its way to the Missouri market during this chilly Winter season. The company tackles the cannabis industry from all angles, with flower, edible, and concentrate brands underneath its umbrella. One of the brands that falls under the MariMed conglomerate is Betty’s Eddies. These full-spectrum, fast-acting edibles are not like your…