“Spotlight on the Spoken Word” Coming as Digital Series
We’re taking a moment to recognize Kansas City’s wordsmiths in a new weekly digital series, “Spotlight on the Spoken Word.” Taken from KCPT’s “Arts Upload,” which has amassed an impressive collection of local poets reading their own works, “Spotlight” gives us a chance to catch up with the artists. We find out what they’re up to and get their…
Sounding Smarter
The Pentagon is confident that “Jihadi John” a British member of the Islamic State militant group, has been killed today in an air-strike. If nothing else, the strike demonstrates that it’s always a bad idea to use a nickname that starts with “Jihadi.” France’s RTL Radio reports that a formal dinner with French President Francois Hollande and…
Kansas City and the Space-less Shuttle
In 1972, only 3 years removed from man’s first stroll on the moon, NASA set a new direction in space exploration. A reusable Low Earth Orbit Vehicle to be known as the Space Shuttle. A vehicle that could be launched like a rocket but land like an airplane. The “Orbiter Vehicle #101” was originally to be called…
The best lineup since sliced bread
You know you’ve made it in a town when a restaurant names a dish after you. Sports radio host Mike Zarrick has the Z-man at Joe’s Kansas City, and sportswriter Joe Posnanski has chicken spiedini at Governor Stumpy’s. Murray’s Ice Cream & Cookies paid homage a few years ago to the late Walt Bodine with…
A call for help, from the helpers
Holding her daughter Ravaira close to her, Lajua Manning smiles as she looks out the window. A full-time student training to be a registered nurse, Manning, also a full-time mom, has worked full-time as a certified nursing assistant for five years. She says the juggle may be the hardest thing she has ever done. But there’s…
Parents, staff pan KC school district plan for Attucks Elementary
About 80 people attended a Wednesday evening open house hosted by Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS), and a sizeable contingent came with one question: Why Attucks? Staff and parents wanted to know why the district was proposing to close Crispus Attucks Elementary School, located at 2400 Prospect Ave. “What is the district trying to do?”…
The Weekender
This might be the last normal weekend of 2015. Soon, the holidays will be upon us. That means heavily-scheduled merriment and occasionally forced gaiety. While your schedule is still your own, and mercifully absent of Yuletide cheer, why not explore all the non-holiday stuff around town? CLEANING First, though, clean up. The holidays mean all…
Skywalk Memorial Installation
Today’s Skywalk Memorial dedication sought to bring some closure to one of Kansas City’s greatest tragedies, when, on July 17, 1981, two skywalks at the Hyatt Regency hotel collapsed, killing 114 and injuring around 200 people. At the center of the memorial space is a stainless steel sculpture by Kansas City artist Rita Blitt. She spoke with…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Nice To Meet You
What were you doing when you were 16 years old? If you were like me, you were insecure, acne-ridden, and mostly consumed with keeping teachers and parents off your back long enough to make it to the weekend. You had no idea what you wanted to do with your life and you planned on kicking…
UG says no to police body cameras in KCK, for now
Citing high costs and legal unknowns, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County has rejected a federal grant for body cameras for the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department. In the wake of the Ferguson crisis in Missouri, police body cameras have received national attention, and KCMO Mayor Sly James has expressed a desire to bring the…
Eleventh Hour | Eleventh Day | Eleventh Month
The history of the day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: In November 1919, “Armistice Day” was proclaimed by President Wilson as a day for businesses and citizens to “briefly” pause at 11am on November 11, as moment to remember the temporary cease-fire between the Allied nations and Germany during WWI. The next great war came,…
Take 5 for your health
Weed Eradication Changes In Kansas Draw Environmental Concern The rows of grapevines at Somerset Ridge Vineyard and Winery near Paola, Kansas, are withering, with dying leaves and shriveling fruit. But that’s expected this time of year. The prospect of it happening in the middle of the growing season concerns owner Dennis Reynolds more. Grapes are a…
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Celebrates 25 Years
At a fundraising gala Saturday night, home run king and baseball legend Hank Aaron was joined by fellow members of baseball’s Hall of Fame, slugger Dave Winfield, and pitching great Ferguson Jenkins, to celebrate 25 years of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Of his short time of the Negro Leagues, Aaron…
“It’s the right thing to do.”
During a press conference this morning, University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe stepped down in an emotional speech after weeks of mounting pressure from students and faculty for the university to tackle race issues. “To our students…to our football players and other students, the frustration and anger I see is real. And I don’t doubt it,”…
Farmers school themselves on soil health to revive dying dirt
Generations of tilling and planting on the same land have left the nation’s soil in poor shape. And if farmers don’t change the way they grow crops, feeding the future won’t be easy. As farmer Jordan Shearer from Slapout, Okla., puts it, “we’re creating a desert environment by plowing the damn ground.” Taking a toll…