Downtown KC Convention Hotel Design Connects Downtown with Crossroads
By Kevin Collison The planned $310 million convention hotel project is expected to create a better pedestrian connection between major downtown destinations as well as provide dramatic views for its guests, its architect says. “We believe that this building should be designed for the residents of Kansas City,” architect Bob Neal of Atlanta-based Cooper Carry…
Smoke Brewing Co. Brings Beer and BBQ to Lee’s Summit
Downtown Lee’s Summit is smoking hot. Last week’s opening of Smoke Brewing Company (209 SE Main Street, Lee’s Summit, Missouri) adds to the city’s growing number of independent restaurants. The brewery and gastropub joins Fringe Beerworks (a brewery and taproom that debuted a month ago), Long-Bell Pizza, and The W cocktail lounge, which have all opened…
Drop-In Centers In Rural Kansas Aim To Address Dangers Of Isolation
The social and health effects of isolation on some rural Kansas residents spurred three Catholic nuns to convert a storefront in Concordia into a drop-in center where women can find support and resources. Seven years after the center opened, two dozen women on average come through each day in the town of about 5,000 to…
Tap List | Do You Believe in Magic Magic?
Magic is ready to take center stage again. Torn Label Brewing Company (1708 Campbell St.) will release one of its most popular beers, Magic Magic, an East Coast-style IPA brewed with raspberry and lemon peel, at a release party and art show at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 7. Magic Magic is part of Torn…
Common Grounds | School Choice
The Take Note team convenes education stakeholders for a conversation over coffee to discuss school choice options around the Kansas City area in a series we call Common Grounds. From homeschooling to charters to public schools, this lively discussion at Mother Earth Coffee in Hyde Park covers it all. Follow Take Note: Our City. Our Schools. Our Future as together, we…
Ever Thought of It? Sidewalks Play Big Role in Community Health
Let’s say you buy a new home in Kansas City, and several months later, the city blindsides you with a $4,000 bill for sidewalk repairs you knew nothing about. Seriously? City Councilman Scott Wagner encountered just that scenario the other day. “This isn’t fair,” the man complained to Wagner. “I told him, ‘Yeah, that stinks….
Water Rates and Rivers
Water Rates and Rivers explores the reasons behind the steep climb in Kansas City water rates and asks “Was this inevitable and is it fair?” The hike in prices is largely explained by a federal mandate requiring KCMO to upgrade its sewage system and to reduce pollution of the Blue River watershed. But to what…
Suspended In Time
Suspended In Time A Box of KC Mafia Documents Makes Its Way to Special Collections Story by: Jonathan Bender, Jesse Howe and Mike McGraw Anthony “Tony” Gizzo mug shot. (Kansas City Public Library) “That’s quite a pair of shoes that Tony Gizzo has on…do you remember him?” Flatland Special Projects Reporter Mike McGraw asks, looking at…
Duncan Hines: The Original Road Warrior Who Shaped Restaurant History
Duncan Hines, traveling salesman and future purveyor of boxed cake mix, considered himself an authority on a great many things: hot coffee, Kentucky country-cured ham and how to locate a tasty restaurant meal, in 1935, for under a dollar and a quarter. By the 1950s, Hines’ name would be plastered on boxes of cake mix;…
Sonny Perdue Is One Step Away From Becoming Agriculture Secretary
Sonny Perdue, the former Georgia governor nominated by President Donald Trump, is one step closer to becoming U.S. Secretary of Agriculture after the Senate Agriculture Committee approved his nomination Thursday. Yet Perdue remains one step shy of the post; the full Senate has not yet scheduled a vote on his nomination. Perdue, however, is widely…
They’re Baaaack! 5 Storylines for Our Returning Royals
Pay no attention to the calendar. Spring actually starts when baseball begins. Monday afternoon at Target Field in Minnesota, our long civic sports winter will finally end when Royals baseball returns. Glory be. Flatland has been watching all spring and has the top storylines to watch for the 2017 season. THE SURGE This year, the biggest…
Perspectives
These vignettes are part of a collaboration between "Take Note: Our Schools. Our City. Our Future." and Johnson County Community College’s Advanced Reporting class. Reporting students, directed by Professor Mark Raduziner, interviewed and photographed their subjects, gathering stories from international and local students and families, and bringing perspectives from a wide range of voices. The…
KC WineWorks’ Anniversary Party & Other Weekend Possibilities
KC Wineworks (1829 McGee Street) celebrates its first anniversary in the Crossroads on Saturday from 2 to 10 p.m. Cheesy Street, a food truck dedicated to the art of the grilled cheese, will be on hand at the local winery that has been making everything from mulled wine to cider. Dive into the terroir of…
UMKC Downtown Arts Campus Receives Raves from Missouri Lawmakers
By Kevin Collison The planned UMKC Downtown Conservatory will offer students sweeping views of downtown Kansas City[/caption]After hitting a high note last month with overwhelming approval in the Missouri House, the proposed University of Missouri-Kansas City downtown arts campus is scheduled to debut next week before a tougher audience, the Missouri Senate. The $96 million…
Kemper Arena Redevelopment at Risk as Missouri Reviews Historic Tax Credit Program
By Kevin Collison The Missouri historic tax credit program, a development tool that’s revived scores of landmark buildings, is facing its most serious challenge in years, putting such major projects as the redevelopment of Kemper Arena in jeopardy. “After several years of raising alarms and nothing coming to pass, this year the tenor has really…