Two Major Hotel Projects in Downtown Kansas City Continue Moving Forward in Addition to New Convention Hotel
By Kevin Collison Two major hotel projects continue to move forward in downtown Kansas City, which combined with the planned convention hotel, will add more than 1,200 rooms by early 2020. Last week, New York-based Loews announced it has become a substantial investor in the planned 800-room convention hotel at Wyandotte and 17th Street, and…
Nature’s Own Opens In River Market; Owners Want to be Full-Service Grocer for Growing Downtown Neighborhood
By Kevin Collison It didn’t take long for Jeff Henkle to know he found the right spot to reincarnate Nature’s Own. Residents in the River Market were so eager to shop at his new full-service grocery store at 310 E. Fifth St. he opened several days earlier than anticipated on June 18. “So many people…
Eyes on the Eagle
On the median separating Ward Parkway near 67th Street stands a giant eagle bronze statue. Stephanie Hamil, of Leawood, Kansas, had heard a rumor in high school and asked curiousKC: Who’s responsible for the eagle, and did it really once have ruby eyes? We contacted The Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department, which handles the…
How Your Sandwich Changed The World
What if you could go back in time and follow your food from the farm to your plate? What if you could see each step of your meal’s journey — every ingredient that went into its creation, and every footprint it left behind? Back in February, The Salt reported on English researchers who did just…
Can The Buzz Of Bees Predict Success For Farmers?
See a bee; hear a buzz. That is what researchers studying the declining bee population are banking on. A new technique based on recording buzzing bees hopes to show farmers just how much pollinating the native bee population is doing in their fields. Vegetable and fruit growers depend on pollinators to do a lot of…
Gather & Grow & Other Weekend Possibilities
Get away from the city this week and discover life on the farm with Gather & Grow this Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. The third annual benefit for Boys Grow features food from chefs Howard Hanna, John Smith, and Ted Habiger, alongside beers from Brewery Emperial (the new downtown brewery that counts Habiger among its…
Let’s Put a Priority on Doing Good Work
Society does a real number on us regarding what the “important” professions are in the world. As with many beliefs we are indoctrinated with, they’re not always true. That’s why when I look at the budget threat to the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s theater department, including the potential cut of four more faculty members, I…
Tech N9ne to Kickoff New Indoor Concert Venue in Crossroads this September; First Foray Outside Nashville for Operators
By Kevin Collison A couple of veterans of the Nashville concert scene are opening a new indoor venue in the Crossroads called The Truman, and have chosen a local music icon to kick off their series, Tech N9ne. Chris Cobb and his partner, Josh Billue, have a good feeling about opening their first venture outside…
Downtown Kansas City Convention Hotel Project Gets New Investor and Operator; Groundbreaking Expected Oct. 1
By Kevin Collison The long-planned Kansas City downtown convention hotel has a new flag and welcome infusion of cash from Loews Hotels, a New York-based luxury hotel operator. Attorney Mike Burke, principal at KC Hotel Developers LLC, says Loews has agreed to invest a “substantial” amount of equity in the 800-room project and operate the…
Using An Old Custom To Lure New Parishioners
For the last half century, membership numbers in Mainline U.S. Protestant churches have gone mostly in one direction — down. Protestants once constituted a large majority of the American population. And Mainline churches — the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, the Christian…