On Tap | From Drexel With Lavender
Turkeys meander beside a burbling creek, and blackberry bushes flourish outside a former woodshop. Life is a little different at the region’s latest brewery — in Drexel, Missouri. “We’re like a farm winery, just with beer,” says Will Reece, who co-owns the Miami Creek Brewing Company (14226 Northwest County Road 14001, Drexel) with his wife,…
Take 5 For Your Health
Frustrated Jackson County Lawmakers Enact Their Own Prescription Drug Monitoring Plan Frustrated by the Missouri Legislature’s failure to enact a statewide prescription drug plan, Jackson County last week joined St. Louis and St. Louis County in enacting its own plan, hoping it will cut down on painkiller abuse and addiction. Missouri is the lone state…
Playing Catch-Up with Missouri Mental Health
When Missouri’s second mental hospital opened in the late 19th century, State Lunatic Asylum No. 2 in St. Joseph was designed to provide lots of natural light and fresh air. Yet as war and economic calamity frayed the nation’s psyche, over-crowding swamped the hospital’s lofty goals. The census of the St. Joseph facility peaked at…
Hot Chicken Turns Up The Heat on Fried Chicken in KC
The Nashville Hot Chicken trend is heating up in Kansas City as the spicy cousin to fried chicken. Hot chicken popping up on local restaurant menus, including Third Street Social (123 SE 3rd Street, Lee’s Summit) and Lucky Boys (1615 Genessee Street, Kansas City). Local lore in Nashville, Tennessee, points to the family of Andre Prince,…
Save The Ruby Slippers: Smithsonian Seeks Funds To Preserve Dorothy’s Shoes
Dorothy’s ruby slippers could use a little more magic these days — or at least some conservationist TLC. The famous shoes from The Wizard of Oz are among the most popular items on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. But they’re showing their age, and the museum is asking the public to…
A Force for Refugees
It was during daily walks from her lecture hall to hospital rotations that Sophia Khan first experienced poverty. Born to a wealthy family in Karachi, Pakistan, Khan was a second-year medical student in her homeland when she discovered that the unsheltered groups waiting outside the hospital were poor people wanting to be near their loved…
The Haunted Bell Tower Bash & Other Weekend Possibilities
The haunted carnival is in town for one night only. The fourth annual Haunted Bell Tower Bash is a mash-up of a dance, circus, and costume contest. The benefit for Social Heart is at the Arts Asylum is from 7 to 11:59 p.m. Saturday at The Arts Asylum (1000 E 9th Street). They’ll have aerial…
Sympathetic Vibrations | A Windstorm of Student Talent
For Steven Davis, who serves as the chair of large ensembles at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, a student performance next week highlights the conservatory’s greatest strengths — a partnership with city’s performing arts community, collaboration with guest performers and composers, and original music from the conservatory’s acclaimed composition program. That performance will take…
The Weekend Starts Today
October 23, believe it or not, is TV Talk Show Host Day. Celebrated on Johnny Carson’s birthday — look him up, millennials — it’s a day to show our appreciation for all those who sit and chat. Because, apparently, a bunch of rich, famous and powerful media types need even more praise. To mark the…
Picnic for Area Refugees Helps Newcomers Assimilate
When Ahmad al-Abboud brought his wife and five children to the United States from war-torn Syria, he carried with him a vision of this country — of scantily clad people kissing in the streets — he feared would clash with his conservative Muslim culture. But what he found upon settling in Kansas City in April…
Hello Atelier | How a Hobbyist Turned Passion into Product
Flatland has teamed up with Hello Atelier, a Kansas City-based podcast that explores what it means to be a working artist. Hosted by Betsy Blodgett, the weekly podcast takes you into to the studios of designers of all different mediums to learn about their inspiration, their design process and the personal stories behind their art. Hello Atelier is presented by Phonicalia,…
Speak, a Sandwich Shop with Deli Roots, Opens
Todd Schulte quietly opened a sandwich shop with the soul of a deli last week. After a year of working to fine tune pastrami and searching for proper sliced rye, Speak is now operating out of a shared space with Uncommon Stock, a sister soup company, at 1000 W. 25th St. On a recent Tuesday…
Take 5 For Your Health
Need Disability Help In Kansas? Thousands Wait An Average Of Seven Years At his apartment in Olathe, Kansas, 42-year-old Nick Fugate catches up on washing dishes and remembers the 22 years he spent doing it at a local hotel, trying to stay on top of a never-ending-stream of plates, glasses and silverware. Nick recalls minor…
Claims of Faulty Jail Cell Doors at Lansing
When news broke last week that prisoners at the Jackson County Jail could unlock their own cells and walk freely around the facility, it may have been familiar news to Shawn McDiffett, an inmate at the Kansas state prison in Lansing. In a letter to KCPT in August, McDiffett insisted that his fellow inmates can…