Formal Groundbreaking for Convention Hotel Set for March 1, April 2020 Completion
By Kevin Collison A ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Loews Kansas City Convention Center Hotel is scheduled for March 1, and if all goes well, the “four-star plus” hotel should be completed by late April 2020. Attorney Mike Burke, who began championing the current project in 2011, told a monthly luncheon of the Downtowners the…
Let’s Wine About Winter & Other Weekend Possibilities
Liberty hosts its eighth annual Let’s Wine About Winter celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s a shop crawl with 25 downtown Liberty businesses each having a different wine to sample. Tickets are $20. Celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Plaza branch (4801 Main St.) of the Kansas City Public Library from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday….
Folk Alliance Conference Serenades Downtown Through Sunday
By Kevin Collison One of North America’s biggest music events takes the stage today when downtown welcomes 3,000 musicians and industry professionals attending the Folk Alliance International annual conference. The event at the Westin Crown Center is an international affair, it drew participants from 27 countries last year, and is a chance for musicians to…
Show Me | Kevin Willmott
Filmmaker and University of Kansas professor Kevin Willmott has made a name for himself over decades of screenwriting, producing and directing films. Hailing from Junction City, Kansas, Willmott has worked with the likes of Martin Sheen, Oliver Stone and Spike Lee. Hear why he’s chosen to stay in this community and why he thinks Kansas City…
Shawarmar Brings Mediterranean Wraps And Bowls to Linwood
Abeer Jari arrives at Shawarmar (23 E. Linwood Boulevard) a little over an hour before sunrise. She has spices to blend, marinades to check, and tahini sauce to mix. She tries not to think about her two-and-a-half year-old son, who is in daycare for the first time, as she preps for the day. “I mix…
Tap List | Kansas City Bier Company Celebrates Fourth Anniversary
Kansas City Bier Company (310 W. 79th St.) will pour more than 30 different beer styles at its fourth anniversary celebration from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. For the occasion, look for year-round and seasonal beers as well as special releases and rare one-off brews. Spontaneously fermented cider or dry-hopped, red lager at 11-percent…
Signs Point to Softening Downtown Apartment Market
By Kevin Collison A several point drop in apartment occupancy rates indicate the downtown market may be cooling after the torrid pace of the past couple years, according to two real estate professionals well-versed in the area. John Bennett Jr. of KCLoftCentral said his suspicion the market was softening was reinforced when he noticed that…
Award-Winning Chef Michael Smith Opening New Crossroads Restaurant
By Kevin Collison Renowned Chef Michael Smith is celebrating his passion for Italian cuisine by opening a new restaurant in the Crossroads Arts District next door to his current namesake establishment. “Farina by Michael Smith” will be located at 19th and Baltimore in space formerly occupied by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Smith said…
The Faces of Eviction
In January, together with the Kansas City Public Library, we hosted a live public town hall to talk about evictions, gentrification and affordable housing in the metro. The standing room only-crowd heard from and asked questions of the six panelists, Tara Raghuveer, eviction researcher; Terrence Wise, community member; Jacob Wagner, co-founder of Center for Neighborhoods…
Historic Downtown Skyscraper for Sale, Missouri’s Tallest Residential Tower
By Kevin Collison The 909 Walnut building, the iconic, bunny-eared skyscraper that jumpstarted the 21st Century revival of the downtown housing market, is up for sale, asking price $49 million. The 35-story historic tower and Ninth and Walnut, the tallest residential building in the Midwest outside Chicago, was among the ranks of empty former office…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Find Your Story at FAI
Next week, Kansas City welcomes ambassadors of an entire genre of music to the Folk Alliance International Conference. Over the past five years, the conference has become one of the biggest arts-related draws to the area and something of a revenue boon for the city in general. But for the music-loving community based in our…
Generation XL: A 10-Year Weigh-In
Ten years after an in depth examination of the issues relating to childhood obesity, KCPT checks in to see what progress has been made to address the issues that cause obesity. Week in Review Host Nick Haines discusses where we are and the challenges we face when it comes to children’s health. Take Note is…
McLain’s Cookie Decorating Party & Other Weekend Possibilities
Your garden is still there under that snow and ice. And it never hurts to get a jump on planning for what you’ll be growing this season. Kansas City Community Gardens (6917 Kensington Ave.) hosts a seminar on planting fruit trees and berry bushes from noon to 2 p.m. Friday. The workshop is free, but you…
New Survey: Streetcar No Toy, It’s More Little Engine That Could
A new survey of streetcar ridership dispenses with one myth suggested by its critics–it’s not being used as a free amusement park ride. Ninety percent were onboard to reach a destination, and 50 percent planned to spend money when they got there, according to the study conducted last August through October. Only 3 percent of…
My Week With the 16th Circuit Court
I remember a joke told by famous black comedian Richard Pryor. It went something like this: “If you are going downtown [to court], looking for justice, that’s what you will find, just us. The emphasis was on how unfair the justice system is for blacks. Indeed, growing up as young black male, without knowing my…