Celebrating SevenDays | Love
This story is part of our coverage of Kansas City’s SevenDays project, which aims to bring people together to conquer hate and celebrate diversity. The project is led by Mindy Corporon, who lost two family members in the April 2014 shootings at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. For each of the seven…
Donuts and Bánh mì? Bun Mee Phan’s New Take on Vietnamese Food
Jimmy Phan, general manager of Bun Mee Phan (4244 N Oak Trafficway), brings over a basket loaded with a bánh tiêu and a chai waii, along with a pair of scissors. With a grin, he cuts the round bánh tiêu in half and offers a piece. It doesn’t take much encouragement to bite into this mildly sweet, puffy,…
1945 | Jackie Robinson’s Year with the Kansas City Monarchs
Although Jackie Robinson only spent five months with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945, he left an everlasting mark on the city. From donning the red and white uniform in April to his final appearance in August of that year, Robinson became a vital member of the team along with the legendary Satchel Paige. Robinson…
Game Changer
Jackie Robinson’s push for racial equality spanned a lifetime where he used his athleticism as a conduit to challenge our country’s segregated system and demand change. Now, a new two-part film on his life airs next week on KCPT. (Flatland is KCPT’s digital magazine.) Through a collection of old photos, film, and interviews, the project delves…
30 Stories in 30 Days | From Legos to Opening Night to Beer
Videographer Alden Miller has created a challenge for himself: In the month of April, tell one story about Kansas City each day. Yup, that’s each and every day. Here at Flatland, we’ve teamed up with the dangerously-living Mr. Miller to showcase that work throughout the month. We’ll check in with him at Alchemy New Media weekly to…
From Maestros to Medicine: A ‘Healthy’ Dose of Computer Animation at UMKC
The University of Missouri-Kansas City is a diverse, urban institution with approximately 1,200 full- and part-time faculty dispersed across dozens of academic areas. As multifaceted as it is, academicians from the disparate fields of fine arts and medicine have managed to find their way to Associate Professor Greg King in the School of Computing and…
Lawrence Farmers Market and Other Weekend Possibilities
The Lawrence Farmers Market (824 New Hampshire) returns from its winter hibernation this Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m. The market is celebrating its 40th year and it’s a beauty. All of the produce and products are produced within 50 miles of Lawrence and there’s a host of local honey, vegetables, fruit, baked goods. Keep your eye…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Record Store Day 2016
On Saturday, April 16th, many of Kansas City’s finest purveyors of vinyl will celebrate the ninth annual Record Store Day – an international music holiday of sorts, aimed at promoting and encouraging the music-buying public to purchase said music from local, independent, brick-and-mortar retailers. The revered music nerd festivus began in 2007, not long after traditional retail…
A Calling to Bring People Together
This article was first printed in UMKC’s University News, and is reprinted by permission here. Hope Austin is a UMKC creative writing student and a community producer for KCPT’s Beyond Belief project. On April 13, 2014, outside the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, white supremacist Frazier Glenn Miller opened fire on an unsuspecting…
The Weekend Starts Today
Granted, it’s time for spring cleaning. You could be excused for being productive, and spend the next several days scrubbing your place from top to bottom. Do so, and you’ll certainly have a fine sense of accomplishment. You will also, however, miss out on tons of cool stuff happening around town. For instance, baseball. The…
Enjoy Pure Food and Drink is Open in Mission Farms
For years, all Staci Cross wanted was a healthy dinner on the road – something that would allow her to keep going while she traveled the country selling her company’s video for new parents to hospitals. In a sea of chain restaurants, she found herself ending up at Whole Foods more often than not, putting…
‘Religious Freedom’ Amendment a Shield Not a Sword, Says Proponent
With estimates of the cost to Missouri mounting, proponents of the state’s ‘religious freedom’ amendment found little sympathy among commentators on KCPT’s news program “Ruckus” last week. The amendment to the Missouri Constitution (pdf) would give protection from lawsuits to churches, clergy or anyone who provides a wedding-related service to the public, but wants to refuse that service to…
Election Voices
After a year of campaigning by city officials to keep the 1 percent earnings tax afloat for the next five years, Kansas City voters will ultimately make that decision today in KCMO’s school board and special election. Generating around $230 million dollars annually, the earnings tax is the biggest source of revenue for the city…
Take 5 For Your Health
New Kansas City Radio Show Spreads The Gospel Of Diabetes Care For Jim Nunnelly, being diagnosed with diabetes two-and-a-half years ago was a shock, but almost as shocking was the amount of health information he was suddenly expected to absorb. “A person like me, getting up in years, got drowned in all that information. I…
Commentary | What’s Love Got To Do With It
To help you understand what I mean when I say Pope Francis’ new document on family life, “The Joy of Love,” (or “Amoris Laetitia”) is “pastoral,” let me start by telling you a personal story. In the 1980s I was serving on a Heartland Presbytery committee that oversees students from this area enrolled in seminaries of…