From ‘combine karaoke’ to cursing: The sounds of harvest in the Midwest
Erik Terstriep, perched in the captain’s chair of his combine, glides through eight rows of corn at a time. When he lifts up the harvesting head to turn the machine around, it lets out a quick, staccato, “beep, beep, beep.” Terstriep is fluent in the language of this machine, able to decipher every chirp. “You…
Today’s Special | The Hop!Toddy
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with video. For the entire “Today’s Special” series and other digital productions, follow Flatland’s YouTube channel. When Oddly Correct arrived on the coffee landscape five years ago, the independent roaster and coffee shop made a name for itself because of what it would not serve: cream and sugar. Oddly Correct’s founder…
More than a cheap drink, Argentine’s ‘Nest’ is a place of history, community
Snuggled in a corner of 26th Street, behind the train tracks in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, sits a place with a rich history: American Legion Post #213, also known as The Eagles Nest. It’s a place where families gather to cheer on their teammates during baseball tournaments nearby, enjoy each other’s company…
Royals take second-straight AL pennant, and head to World Series
(Associated Press) The Kansas City Royals are headed to the World Series. The Fall Classic begins Tuesday in Kansas City, pitting the Royals against the New York Mets. The Mets won their last World Series crown in 1986, one year after the Royals claimed their lone title. The Royals wrapped up their second straight American League pennant last night by outlasting the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in Game 6…
Bridging the cultural divide through soccer
Fort Morgan is a town of about 11,000 people tucked into the farmland of northeastern Colorado. Among its residents are people of Latino and European ancestry, and more recent immigrants, including refugees from eastern Africa. The town is home to a Cargill meat-packing plant. In areas home to the meatpacking industry across the Midwest, it’s…
Sounding Smarter
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the Chinese Communist Party has banned its members from joining golf clubs. Additional rules were announced against “extravagant eating and drinking” and “improper sexual relationships,” proving there ain’t no party like a communist party. Because a communist party is lame. The golf clubs in China, however, sound like…
Seniors party like it’s 1985
The Power & Light District, Kansas City’s go-to place for Royals madness, has nothing on the fans at McCrite Plaza. It’s a retirement community on the north side of Kansas City, Missouri. Decked out in their team gear, McCrite residents piled into the community’s “City Lights Club” Wednesday to watch the Kansas City Royals take on the Toronto Blue…
Bee Sweet to debut pie-flavored mochi
It’s like a la mode in every bite. Bee Sweet Ice Cream is set to debut a new ice cream novelty in the next month: pie-flavored mochi. “I love exploring ice cream without dishware,” said Bee Sweet owner Manya Raoufi. “I love the mobility of mochi and that it is such a delicate thing.” Mochi…
KC effort aims to snuff out teen smoking
Business and health leaders on Thursday announced an ambitious initiative to convince elected officials in the dozens of municipalities throughout the Kansas City area to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21. Spearheaded by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, “Tobacco…
Med students mix volunteerism, fitness in KC’s Historic Northeast
It was windy and unseasonably warm, but that didn’t stop a group of students from Scuola Vita Nuova Charter School from gathering one afternoon this week for their long-distance-running training session. Sweating right along with the roughly two dozen fifth- through eighth-graders was a trio of medical students from Kansas City University of Medicine and…
The Weekender
Let’s hope the Royals clinch the pennant in Game 6. The team would avoid the stress and peril of a Game 7, plus get an extra day of rest. Frankly, fans could use the break, too. We’d get an extra night to enjoy all the fabulous, non-baseball-centric stuff to do around town. Here’s a few…
90 Seconds With Mighty Handle
Ed’s Note: Flatland and Startland News have partnered to highlight Kansas City’s innovators and entrepreneurs, all in 90 seconds. This is the fifth and final episode in the series. Think of Mighty Handle as your digital defender. No, Mighty Handle is not anti-virus software. Rather, the handy, Kansas City-made contraption is a device that can save your fingers from…
Take 5 for your health
Medicaid Mystery: Why Is Coverage Dropping Among Kansas’ Youngest? For two years now, the staff at Kansas Action for Children has been trying to unravel a mystery: Why is Medicaid enrollment dropping among the state’s youngest children? Enrollment of low-income children 1-5 peaked in October 2012 and has been dropping steadily since. Enrollment of infants…
Today’s Special | The Hemingway Daiquiri
Before Ernest Hemingway was Ernest Hemingway, he was just a young reporter for the Kansas City Star. In 1918, a teenage Hemingway worked a beat that included Union Station and the downtown police station. His time at the daily paper would prove formative, not just in terms of his writing, but for his palate. As current…
Kansas City is flowing blue… again
Editor’s Note: This story, which originally published October 3rd, 2014, has been updated. Daniel Boothe contributed to the story. Six of Kansas City, Missouri’s, fountains, as well as several privately-owned fountains and fountains owned by surrounding cities are dyed bright blue to celebrate the Royals making it to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. It…