If you work in an office with Sporting Kansas City fans, you can fully expect them to be in foul moods this morning. Last night, playing the second of three games in a seven-day span, Sporting suffered a humiliating last-minute goal to the Seattle Sounders. The Sounders are the worst team in the Western Conference.
The game was mostly uneventful and tied 0-0 going into stoppage time. Then, in the 94th minute, Seattle defender Djimi Traore scored when a corner kick found him just a couple of feet in front of SKC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen. Sporting manager Peter Vermes rightly described the play after the game: "It was a monumental mistake on our part. There's nothing else to say." It was also a bit of sweet revenge for the Sounders.
Mizzou first baseman Gavin Stark is not having a very good season. The Lee's Summit native has started just four games (down from 17 the previous year), and he's hitting just .091. And now he has been suspended from the team and is facing felony charges after allegedly going a little nuts Monday night.
A witness told the MU Police Department that the witness was sitting near Reynolds Alumni Center on campus when Stark approached him. The ballplayer allegedly threw the witness's laptop on the ground and began trying to punch him. The MUPD says that after the punches failed to land, the infielder picked up a rock and threatened the witness, who ran from Stark. Then Stark allegedly got weirder.
Occupation: Executive director and chief lifesaving officer at the Kansas City Pet Project. My organization operates the largest and only open-admission animal shelter in Kansas City, which includes the KCMO Animal Shelter (behind the stadiums on Raytown Road) and a new Pet Adoption Center in Zona Rosa. We are committed to operating Kansas City's animal shelter as a no-kill facility.
Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
Current neighborhood: Near Mill Creek Streamway Park, in Lenexa
Who or what is your sidekick? My dog, Oscar. He's an 8-year-old Sheltie-Pekingese mix that I adopted from a local shelter. He's totally devoted to me and never leaves my side when I'm at home.
What career would you choose in an alternate reality? I would be a doctor in an ER trauma center. I love organized chaos - fast-paced, long, crazy days are my thing!
A gambler's bad luck and a new casino have caused Kansas' gaming revenue to surge more than 600 percent over the previous year.
The American Gaming Association's report on 2012 state-by-state gambling finances shows that spending at Kansas' three casinos increased six times compared with 2011, making the Sunflower State the nation's fastest-growing gaming state over the past year.
That's primarily due to the Hollywood Casino's having opened in Wyandotte County, and to a full year's operation from the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane.
Sometimes child care requires improvisation. That on-your-feet thinking, however, should never lead to your saying, "Hey, let's put the kid in the trunk." Police say two grandparents in Jefferson City were doing a little shopping at a hardware store over the weekend, and the car filled up more than they expected. So their 5-year-old granddaughter ended up in the trunk.
The AP reports that another shopper in the Menards parking lot heard a voice coming from the trunk saying, "Let me out." That shopper called police, who came and spoke with the grandparents who admitted that they put the child in the trunk. According to the report, the grandparents explained that they bought some tables at another hardware store, and there wasn't enough room for the girl to sit. So they put her in the trunk. Another relative took the girl, and charges haven't been filed against the grandparents.
For the second summer in a row, Kansas City is hosting an all-star game. Sporting Park, home of Sporting Kansas City, will the be site of the Major League All-Star game July 31. Major League Soccer hasn't announced who the league's best players will take on in the game (last year the all-stars beat British club Chelsea), but they released the logo for the game over the weekend.
The league described the logo this way: "The 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game logo, designed by Major League Soccer, features the colors of Sporting Kansas City - Sporting Blue and Dark Indigo - in celebration of the club's avid fan base and the vibrant soccer movement happening in greater Kansas City. Detail of the iconic canopy roof structure at Sporting Park highlights the world-class venue that will serve as the perfect setting for the League's 18th-annual summer showcase."
Stretch can stop flipping over couch cushions - he won't have to find money to help pony up a $20 million bond to keep his lawsuit against the Kansas City streetcar going.
An appeals court judge late Friday issued a ruling that flicked away an attempt by lawyers representing the streetcar project to have Grinders owner Jeff "Stretch" Rumaner and River Market businesswoman Sue Anne Burke post a $20 million bond in order for the project to remain tied up in the courts.
That decision surely comes to the chagrin of Kansas City leaders and streetcar boosters who maintain that Stretch and Burke's lawsuit prevents the issuance of bonds to finance the two-mile streetcar line and that delays may increase its costs.
Need a guide through the Crossroads Arts District? We've partnered with intev LLC, which has created an app to help you find the galleries, restaurants, shops and parking. It's available in the iPhone store (search "First Friday"). Once you've got it, you can read our reviews; pinpoint the closest galleries, shops and restaurants; and see schedules and hours for various gallery shows.
After the jump, our First Friday Hit List.
Holder sent Brownback a letter that basically said the state can't do that. "Kansas may not prevent federal employees and officials from carrying out their official responsibilities. And a state certainly may not criminalize the exercise of federal responsibilities," he scolded the governor.
Brownback didn't care for Holder's stern missive.
Swedish furniture- and meatball-maker IKEA picked J.E. Dunn - who else? - to build its store atop the Great Wall of Merriam.
The prolific Kansas City contractor gets to work with civil engineer Shafer Kline & Warren on the tricky task of building a massive store to replace a barely used strip mall perched on top of a massive retaining wall near Johnson Drive and Interstate 35.
Big Rip Brewing Co. expands the Northland's beer universe
A consultant tells KC that big retail could save Citadel Plaza
WWE's Monday Night Raw returns to Kansas City October 14
Voltaire - the saloon, not the philosopher - opens tonight
Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn face two new civil lawsuits
DelHi Soul Food Buffet closes in KCK
Courtney Cole, Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus executive director, answers The Pitch's questionnaire
Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper are headed to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater