AltWeeklies Wire
Can Kansas City Support Two Entertainment Districts?new
To find out, we drink our way through the Power & Light and Westport districts.
The Pitch |
Jen Chen and Crystal K. Wiebe |
07-29-2008 |
Recreation
A Not-Independent Analyst Might Have Skewed Media Coverage of Sprintnew
In June, when Sprint introduced the Instinct, its rival to the iPhone, industry analyst Jeff Kagan gave the launch a good review. The glowing review shouldn't have been much of a surprise -- that's what Sprint has paid him to do.
New Life Ministries' Pastor Troy Campbell Follows the Example of Jesusnew
Unlike some of the more visible evangelical houses of worship in Kansas City, New Life seems serious about closing the gap between the church described in the New Testament and what's happening in the suburbs today.
Did the Kansas City Fire Department Hide the Positive Drug Test of One of Its Own?new

Anthony Mots was driving the firetruck that killed Aaron Becerra. Afterward, Mots' brothers in the department rallied to defend him.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
07-16-2008 |
Crime & Justice
How a Throwaway Idea at the Barkley Ad Agency Became the 'Sonic Guys'new

The campaign was supposed to last just four months, from September 2003 to the beginning of a new campaign in January 2004. Five years later, the campaign is still going and has become a pop-culture phenomenon. The commercials have given the quirky drive-in an identity and made Sonic as recognizable as McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's.
Hip-hop Newcomer D/Will Gets Cerebral on Two New Releasesnew
He approaches music with the kind of devout seriousness usually reserved for, say, a theologian contemplating transubstantiation. The dude is emphatically not messing around.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
07-02-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
On HIV, Some Black Ministers Are Admitting that Silence Equals Deathnew
The Good Samaritan Project Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS in Kansas City hopes to fight infections in a city where the HIV infection rate rivals Africa's.
In Kansas City, Tax Breaks Don't Cure Blight -- They Create Sprawlnew
TIF is a tool that cities can use to spur development in distressed areas. But in Kansas City, TIF is often used to make sprawl.
The Pitch |
David Martin |
05-21-2008 |
Housing & Development
Hallmark Cares Enough to Send the Very Best ... Jobs to Chinanew

How did Kansas City's card maker bank $4.4 billion in revenue last year? Partly by sending hometown jobs to China.
The Pitch |
Eric Barton |
05-21-2008 |
Business & Labor
The Shawnee Mission East Class of '08 Loves its Gay Homecoming Kingnew
Matthew Pope is an openly gay co-captain of the cheerleading squad at a school that's often stereotyped as conservative and snobby.
Miles Bonny is the Innate Sounds Crew's 'Alpha' Malenew
Miles is all about the positive these days. The storied local DJ, hip-hop producer, jazz trumpeter and soul singer who has released solo material overseas has a new day job: as a case manager for troubled teens in Wyandotte County.
The War on La Familianew
Familia Loca wanted revenge on a rival Kansas City gang. Instead, they spilled the blood of a 2-year-old girl.
The Pitch |
Carolyn Szczepanski |
05-06-2008 |
Crime & Justice
A Biologist Exposes the Dangers of bisphenol A and Earns the Wrath of the Plastic Industrynew

Missouri biologist Frederick vom Saal's willingness to speak frankly about his findings is alarming to the top five makers of bisphenol A: Dow Chemical, Bayer Material Science, Sunoco Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics and Hexion Specialty Chemicals. And now, after years of quietly publishing studies in scientific journals and presenting papers at toxicological conventions, he is starting to be heard.
Holsey Turner: Kansas City's Newest Unknown Rapper on the Risenew

On his debut, Who's the New Guy?, Turner sounds like a cockier version of Lupe Fiasco.
The Pitch |
Nadia Pflaum |
04-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews