A picture of a lemon tree.

Cook for Courage and Other Weekend Possibilities

You win when chefs compete in a barbecue contest. The third-annual Cook for Courage, a benefit for the Child Protection Center, is Sunday at 6 p.m. at the 12th Street Bridge in the West Bottoms. Chefs Colby Garrelts, John Smith, Dan Swinney, Alex Pope and Laura Norris will all be smoking to see who has…

Franklin Smith kids welcoming visitors with a banner

Blue Springs is Latest Battleground For Education Program

Laura Shepherd loved it when the kids entering Franklin Smith Elementary got a morning hug from the principal. But that was last year. This year, Shepherd hated watching building leaders at the Blue Springs, Missouri, school greet her fourth-grader and other students with handshakes. “I’m like, ‘They are not mini-adults. They are kids,’” she said….

A woman getting a tattoo

The Weekend Starts Today

If last week’s musical tsunami left you a little woozy, I figure there’s really two ways to roll. Option 1) Call it the hair of the dog. That would put you at the grounds of Liberty Memorial on Saturday for this year’s edition of Rockfest. Who’s playing, you ask? Does it matter, I say. You’re…

A breakfast burrito

5 Breakfast Burritos That Deserve Serious Face Time

Sometimes you need a food pillow — a warm, comforting collection of bites to ease you into the morning. Breakfast burritos can provide that soft landing whenever you are starting your day (and are of particular value if you’ve had a long night). Breakfast burritos are often kitchen sink affairs, flour tortillas like overinflated balloons, filled…

Picture of comedian Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen on… Everything

Before the always-funny Mr. Armisen gave his keynote address to the Middle of the Map crowd at this year’s IDEAS forum, he sat down in The Folly Theater with Flatland. Check out his tips on doing a Prince impersonation, the melding of comedy and music, and all the Finger Lakes of Lawrence Welk. The “Portlandia” co-creator and star also riffed…

men celebrating

Round One: Teamsters

After months of uncertainty about their future, local truckers held a rally Monday morning at Teamsters Local Union 41 in Kansas City celebrating the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision to reject Central States Pension Fund’s application to reduce pensions for more than 400,000 current and retired truck drivers. On Friday, Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney appointed by…

children playing

Take 5 For Your Health

Kansas Action For Children CEO Leaving For Job In Nebraska Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children, is stepping down after 19 years at the nonprofit advocacy organization. Cotsoradis is leaving to assume “a leadership role” at the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative, LLC, according to a KAC news release issued Monday morning….

Shakespeare First Folio, 1623. Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library

Summer of Shakespeare in KC

In 1623, a couple of guys got together and self-published some work by a dead friend of theirs named William Shakespeare.   Four hundred years later, this piece of “vanity publishing” is considered to be the crown jewel of our Western canon.   Shakespeare’s First Folio, as it is now known, is one of the…

Three generations of women

When Your Business Partner is Mom

French Culinary Institute-trained pastry chef Natasha Goellner is embarking on a new adventure this summer, her new food truck Cirque de Sucre. This “circus of sugar” will feature French macarons, treats, and high-end ice cream in the hope of delighting foodies around the Kansas City area and beyond. And in her corner Goellner has found the perfect business partner…

A school lunch tray with food

A Matter of Taste: Why Congress May Back Off New School Lunch Standards

Schools across the U.S. served more than 5 billion meals in the national school lunch program to millions of students last year. Each one of the meals has to meet federal rules for nutrition. Now, those rules are up for debate and Congress could impose changes on the cafeteria. School lunch was transformed by the…

Order Up | Snow & Co.’s Purple Rain

Order up is a new regular series that takes a layered look at drinks and eats across Kansas City. Got a dish you think we should feature? Drop us a note below or on Twitter @FlatlandKC. 

A shot of Drasko's food truck.

Kansas Food Truck Festival and Other Weekend Possibilities

Dive into the food truck scene at the third-annual Kansas Food Truck Festival from 4 to 10 p.m. on Saturday in Lawrence’s Warehouse Arts District. The Craft Collective will have art for sale, more than 20 food trucks will be in attendance, and there will be a bouncy house alongside live entertainment (everything from Maria…

‘It’ll be devastating.’

More than a quarter of a million Teamsters and their spouses are facing the very real possibility that their pensions may be reduced up to 70 percent by July 1st, as they await a decision by the United States Treasury Department on the matter this weekend. Managed by the Central States Pension Fund, which handles…

A group of young musicians

Sympathetic Vibrations | Your Guide to the Bottom of the Bill

Yesterday kicked off the music leg of Kansas City’s sixth-annual Middle of the Map Fest, a music, film and forum festival that bears a not-so-coincidental resemblance to Austin’s South by Southwest. The two-week fest is something of a crown jewel for Kansas City’s arts scene, showcasing more than 25 films and 100 bands throughout 11…

Three filmmakers talking on the street

Meet the Young Filmmakers Going ‘Beyond Belief’

Above a shop in the Crossroads Arts District a group has assembled with video equipment to venture out for street reporting. “Where do you guys want to go?” Lisa Marie Evans asks the others. She lives in the space adorned with framed artwork that has a sophisticated balance of welcome and edge. “P & L,”…