Questions Answered
Is Pie the Sweet Dessert Spirit Animal of Kansas City?
The meal is over. The dishes are in the sink. What are you serving for dessert, Kansas City? “What’s the quintessential Kansas City dessert? Something we’ve really been known for over the years,” was the #curiousKC question that sparked this sweet odyssey. While searching for the answer to what completes a meal, it made sense…
Southwest High was Once a Premier School. What Happened?
It boasts notable graduates, including acclaimed rapper Tech N9ne, the wealthy founders of H&R Block and celebrated journalist Calvin Trillin. Now Southwest High School is in decay and part of a heated debate about the future of public education in Kansas City. The building still looks beautiful on the outside. Towering Corinthian columns and a…
This Man Paved The Way For Lee’s Summit
This resource has been removed permanently. There are two sorts of people in the world — those who are blissfully uninterested in the origin of street names, and those who are helplessly intrigued by the history behind this most basic feature of public life.When it comes to Todd George Parkway in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Sam…
The Bogdon Candy Co. Made Sweet Treats For Three Generations
The next time you bring a gift to a wedding, you should think of Walter Bogdon. The late chocolatier first invented the reception stick — a crunchy, chocolate-enrobed hard candy — for a local couple about to get married more than 70 years ago. A Flatland reader asked what happened to the Bogdon Candy Company. So…
Jumping on e-scooters on the fly? Think twice
Exiting her daughter’s apartment building on a recent Sunday, Janet Korte spotted something that looked just like the motorless Razor scooters her children loved to ride. “So I thought, ‘This’ll be a piece of cake,’” said Korte, 52, who was visiting Kansas City from Wichita. She pressed her thumb on the throttle, and the scooter…
Do You Know Twelfth Street’s (Famous) Past?
If there’s a street that defines Kansas City, Missouri, which one would you say it is? Obvious candidates include Ward Parkway, The Paseo and Southwest Boulevard. But what would you say to the dark horse selection of 12th Street? It’s a relatively pedestrian thoroughfare now, but it has a bawdy history that reaches back to…
The Rise and Fall of an Overland Park Icon
Metcalf Avenue is certainly not the Champs-Élysées, but at one time, a French-themed market loomed large — like a medieval castle — above Overland Park’s main drag. This superstore, in fact, was named the French Market, and curiousKC delved into the history of the place at the behest of Quentin Brewer, a Mission, Kansas, resident…
Is Kansas City’s Population Growing?
Ben Evans is a Kansas City transplant, and after he recently bought a house in Waldo, he started wondering: Are other people moving to Kansas City? And how do experts and forecasters expect the population to change in the coming years? He posed those questions to curiousKC, and we fired up our spreadsheets to find…
How Should Police Officers Combat Stress?
Clinical psychotherapist Pat Hinkle was a police officer for 30 years before starting his counseling practice to help other officers work through stress and trauma. During his time as an officer, Hinkle recognized that there was a disconnect between police departments’ understanding of mental health and counselors’ understanding of officers’ experience of stress. “I had…
Crooked Missouri
David Bonebrake describes himself as the kind of guy who likes order. If he sees a crooked picture on the wall, he wants to fix it. When Bonebrake, a Kansas native, saw an aerial picture of Kansas City from 438 miles above — a photo he still keeps on his phone — he noticed that…