levee trail

Take 5 For Your Health

Levee Trail In Kansas City, Kansas, Begins To Take Shape Standing at the meeting point of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, you can still get a glimpse of what Lewis and Clark might have seen when they camped here 212 years ago: vast skies, tall trees, wide, shimmering rivers, even the occasional eagle. Rick Behrens,…

Model on the catwalk in Kansas City

Hot Style in the City

Make no mistake, the West 18th Street Fashion Show has become a big deal. The show began in 2000 with little more than a few folding chairs in the street. Sixteen years later, “West 18th Street” has become a big thing. Though the show retains a DIY sensibility, it’s become a major undertaking and big event on…

A crowd gathering

Faith In The Wake Of Tragedy

President Obama has called the Orlando, Florida massacre a case of “homegrown extremism,” with gunman Omar Mateen reportedly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack at a popular gay nightclub. But the religious sentiment was altogether different at a Sunday evening vigil in downtown Kansas City to honor the dead and wounded from…

GIF for The Founders, Part II: John Calvin McCoy

John C. McCoy

Today their names grace our highways, city districts and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoy’s was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…

A graphic explaining the futures market

How The Futures Market Helps Keep Your Grocery Bill Down

At the grocery store, processed foods like cereal, crackers and candy usually maintain the same price for a long time, and inch up gradually. Economists call these prices “sticky” because they don’t move much even as some of the commodities that go into them do. Take corn, for example, which can be a major food…

The Westport Beer Festival and Other Weekend Possibilities

The Westport Beer Festival returns for its sixth year on Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. The event is in front of McCoy’s Public House and benefits AIDS Walk Kansas City. Try samples from more than three dozen breweries (Perennial Artisan Ales and Founders Brewing Co. among them), along with a few local distilleries (J. Rieger…

Stained glass windows with Confederate Flags

National Cathedral Will Remove Confederate Flags From Stained Glass

The Washington National Cathedral says it will remove two images of the Confederate battle flag from the building’s stained glass windows. Then the church will hold a period of public discussion on issues of race, slavery and justice, and revisit the question of how to treat other depictions of the Civil War on the windows….

Pork spare ribs

5 Bar Bites to Help You Travel the World Without Leaving KC

Feel the urge to travel and explore but short on funds for a worldwide adventure? Leave the passport at home. These five destinations in Kansas City serve up a taste of Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Mexico. Hop in the car or schedule an Uber ride, and get set for global discovery only minutes from…

Funky fashion

The Weekend Starts Today

Summer hasn’t officially started yet, but it’s about to get blazing hot. Temps this weekend are expected to hit the mid-90s. So dress lightly, drink plenty of water, and get out to have some fun. Or, better yet, wear whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and never leave the air conditioning. Inside or out,…

A teenage boxer

From Turner to Tokyo

This story was produced in partnership with The Pitch. Look for it in print right now.  Missy Fitzwater asks Instagram: “Is it weird I like my black eye?” In the selfie, she’s 17 years old, apple-cheeked, smiling. Her brown hair is pulled back, messy, slightly out of focus. Her green eyes are a bit puffy, and…

People in a butcher shop

Blessing the Barbecue

At around 2:30 Thursday afternoon a long line begins to form in the back of Pak Halal, a local Middle Eastern grocery store in the heart of Lenexa. One by one, customers who had driven from “as far as Omaha” await their turn at the butcher counter to place their order. Most people are in…

photo of kids in coffeyville school district

Take 5 For Your Health

Kansas Children’s Cabinet Grant Programs Face Imminent Cuts Children’s programs across the state are scrambling to deal with grant cuts that take effect at the start of July. The cuts come from a $3.3 million reduction in funding for the Kansas Children’s Cabinet, which uses the state’s share of the 1998 master settlement agreement with…

A Defiant Muhammad Ali Was Cherished By Black Men

Over the past few days, we’ve seen image after image of Muhammad Ali: triumphant in the ring, joking on talk shows and shakily lifting the Olympic torch at the 1996 Atlanta games. He’s remembered these days as an athlete and a humanitarian, and that was, definitely, Ali. But so was the defiant, incisive Ali. “I’m…

Roller Food and Craft Beer label

Roller Food. Craft Beer. The Pairings That Were Never Supposed to Happen.

In the name of food science, we’re pairing roller food and craft beer. These six videos will help you discover beer pairings for everything from the Cheeseburger Bite Bite to a taco and cheese taquito. For this project, we engaged the nice folks at Boulevard Beer, who delved into the world of egg rolls and macaroni and cheese…

Title page for The Founders

Francois and Berenice Chouteau

Today their names grace our highways, city districts and restaurants. But before Chouteau was a trafficway, it was the name of an immigrant couple who used their honeymoon to discover new land. Before McCoy’s was a good place to get a beer, it was a family of missionaries whose son would use his business savvy…