The Weekend Starts Today
Most holidays have some sort of spiritual or historical significance — an underlying theme that gives meaning and purpose to the festivities. Not so for New Year’s Eve. Dec. 31st doesn’t commemorate a religious event or the founding of a nation. The holiday exists as a quirk of timekeeping, and celebrating it makes as much sense…
Recipe | Cheery Mash Bars Reinvent a Local Classic
For many in Kansas City, the holiday season is not about red and green. It’s about shocking pink — impossible, neon pink. The kind of pink that is hidden beneath a crunchy circle of chocolate-enrobed peanuts. We’re talking about Cherry Mash, the singular candy still made in St. Joseph, Missouri, as it has been for nearly 100…
Take 5 For Your Health
Kansas City To Rethink Bike Plan Following Harsh Audit Kansas City will reassess its approach to accommodating cyclists, City Manager Troy Schulte told the city council Thursday. His announcement came in response to a new audit showing the city failing to achieve its goals of becoming more bike friendly. [FLEX-CONTENT] The audit concluded that the…
Preview: Art in the Year Ahead
In Kansas City, the arts have long been an engine for growth. During the city’s first golden age, jazz was the dominant medium. In the 21st century, though, visual arts have led the way. That leadership should continue in 2017, with a concornopia of impressive events and exhibits to keep our city at the forefront….
Building Life Sciences
Doctors, nurses, scientists—just some of the usual suspects that come to mind when you think of medicine. Real estate experts? Not so much. Yet, economic development pros are helping catalyze some promising developments within the Kansas City-area’s life sciences industry. One of the latest examples is a potential game-changer for the treatment of bladder cancer….
Growing Nebraska Poultry Industry Spurs Environmental Concerns
A proposal that would jumpstart the chicken business in Nebraska has some residents concerned about the potential impact on the environment and are trying to block or delay its construction. Costco, the warehouse retailer and grocery chain, plans to build a giant $300 million chicken slaughterhouse on the south side of the town of Fremont…
How Red And Green Became The Colors Of Christmas
Victorians used a lot of different color palettes, and even put Santa in blue and green robes. Thanks to Coca-Cola, things got a lot more uniform after 1931.
Betty Rae’s Closes (For the Season) & Other Weekend Possibilities
Some will tell you there’s a time and place for ice cream. I would tell you, as Les Miserables would also tell you, that time is now and the place is here. Betty Rae’s Ice Cream (7140 Wornall Road) is closing for the season tonight at 10 p.m. Our ice cream partner on this summer’s Float…
Making Fast Ice for the Missouri Mavericks
You know those doors that say “Authorized Personnel Only”? Well, we’re opening them. Join Flatland as we peel back the curtain, lift the manhole cover, go in the back door, and get unfiltered access to what’s behind the scenes in Kansas City. This month, we’re at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena in Independence, Missouri, as the…
Media: Meet Us Where We Are
I’m long overdue, but I just got around to watching the 2015 Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” this weekend. As much as I enjoyed the movie, it increased my conflicted feelings regarding today’s reliance on social media and my anger at how far we’ve strayed from traditional media. “Spotlight” was about a Boston Globe investigative team defrocking…
The Weekend Starts Today
Let’s face it. Christmas isn’t the best time to get out and party. It’s a time to for folks to gather at home with their families and, possibly, become annoyed at them. Accordingly, with Christmas on Sunday and Hanukkah starting Saturday, there’s simply not that much going on around town. Nevertheless, cabin fever is a…
Order Up|The Sundry’s Blackberry Creme Soda
Order Up is a 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.
Take 5 For Your Health
Shelters Seek To Heal Trauma Of Domestic Violence With Aid Of Furry Friends Many pet owners expect to be able to bring their furry friends everywhere – to restaurants, to the grocery store, on planes – and now some want even more doors to open up. Increasing numbers of domestic violence shelters are accepting the…
Resurrecting A Neighborhood
As the early Sunday morning service at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church let out recently, Deacon Roosevelt Hall was happy to explain the large round button pinned to his lapel. “I’m committed,” it read. Yes, Hall said, it was about the 121-year-old congregation’s recently launched building renovation project. But that’s not all Metropolitan’s members are committed…
Seminaries Part of Metro’s Secret Sauce
Religion in the United States has been in transition for decades, as the percentage of the population identifying as Christian shrinks — and particularly as the religiously unaffiliated population has exploded to nearly 25 percent. The effects have rippled through the Kansas City area’s several seminaries and colleges that offer religious education. “The cultural challenges…