Posted
by Ben Palosaari on
Thu, May 24, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Just in time for a long holiday weekend, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is partnering today with the Kansas City Free Health Clinic to give away oodles of free rubbers. AHF's "Condom Nation" 18-wheeler will be parked at in the Walgreens parking lot at Broadway and 39th Street from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. handing out condoms and offering free HIV testing. The truck is on a six-month tour of 25 states encouraging people to wrap it up. The advocacy group is aiming to pass out 10 million condoms over the course of its truck tour.
Holding the rubber giveaway at Walgreens is a somewhat odd choice given AHF's stance that condoms are unnecessarily expensive. In a blog post from a month ago, they take the pharmacy chain to task for inflating condom prices which, they say, can lead to reduced use. AHF says retailers should charge no more than 25 cents per condom.
Bannister Mall is never going to rise from the dead, but maybe it could have enjoyed a second life before it was torn down in 2009 - if only the undead had been let inside. Digital Trends writes about the Zombie Shopping Mall Experience: a live, interactive zombie hunt where you're the zombie hunter. In an actual abandoned mall in England, you get to take on missions and the undead with a gun that fires plastic projectiles. But the special effects and fake blood don't come cheap - a three-hour tour in the world of zombies costs just over $220.
Fire has long been intertwined with the history of the prairie.
Just as ocean storms have defined coastal towns in Maine and Massachusetts, the unpredictable nature of fire has altered many lives on the prairie. Julie Courtwright, a Kansas native and assistant professor of history at Iowa State University, looks at how prairie fires have determined the course of history and even made their way into pop culture in her her new book, Prairie Fire: A Great Plains History.
She approaches the region's unique relationship with fire by weaving together first-person accounts over the last six centuries, from the Native Americans to Little House on the Prairie. Courtwright is giving a talk at the Central Branch (14 W. 10th St.) of the Kansas City Public Library at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 1.
A rally to mourn Trayvon Martin was held on the Plaza on Monday, March 26. The rally and candlelight vigil held next to J.C. Nichols Fountain was designed to call attention to the circumstances that led to the slaying of the Florida teen. Click here or on the picture above for photos by Angela C. Bond.
Anybody who has looked at their water bill recently knows that it's not cheap to keep the tap on at their house. Now imagine that you had more than 200 fountains in your backyard.
Kansas City is both trapped and elevated by its reputation as the City of Fountains. It's a point of pride that the city has been building and filling fountains since 1899. KCUR's Up to Date will feature the Nelson's Paul Benson and Ann McFerrin, an archivist with Parks and Recreation, talking about the fountains as works of art today at 11 a.m. (Benson is also speaking at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library on Thursday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m.) Aesthetics aside, the question has to be asked: Should Kansas City still be in the fountain business?
If the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association is looking for a spokesman, the first celebrities who would come to mind are likely Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis. But a better choice may have emerged this week: actor, cologne maker and activist Alan Cumming, who was in town for the opening of Chely Wright's Like Me Lighthouse.
Cumming gave the Twitterverse a look at Kansas City through his eyes. And as the "Scottish elf living in a middle-aged man's body" repeatedly wrote, "I Love Kansas City."
The roulette wheels will be spinning, the slots will be jangling, the change cups will be in hand — and for the first time it will all count. The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway is set to open its doors for a grand opening at 11 a.m. today. And after that, they'll always be open — this is a 24-hour, seven-day operation.
Last week, Fat City's Charles Ferruzza had the chance to tour the state-of-the-art kitchens and restaurant concepts inside the Kansas City, Kansas, casino next to the Legends. Today, they're open to the public along with the 2,000 slot machines, 40 game tables and a poker room. Are you going to try your luck at the Hollywood Casino?
Posted
by David Hudnall on
Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Not Sarajevo — KCK.
The Café and Music sections this week are chockablock with tales of restaurants and nightlife establishments shuttering. But it’s not all doom and gloom out there. These local watering holes are still in business, despite housing disgusting restroom accommodations. If they can make it in this town, hope is still alive!
Lawrence senior citizens give the Internet a gift.
Posted
by Ben Palosaari on
Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 10:26 AM
Residents of the Meadowlark Estates retirement home in Lawrence have dethroned paying off strangers' layaway bills as the top meme of the holiday season. A handful of the community's senior citizens held recently with a miniature geriatric flash mob in the Christmas section of a Target store, dancing to the Glee cast's cover of Wham's Christmas standard "Last Christmas." A video of the walker-aided choreographed dance has gone viral, amassing more that 400,000 views on YouTube in just five days. It's never too late for your 15 minutes of fame.
Posted
by Justin Kendall on
Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 5:13 PM
The Survival 11 Homecoming Event fall clothing drive and Thanksgiving dinner for Kansas City's homeless is just a few days away, but organizer Richard Tripp still needs help.
This year's event is slated for November 26 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Grand Avenue Temple (205 East Ninth Street). Tripp says he's in need of 50-gallon trash bags so the homeless folks can carry the clothing donations.
"The plain truth is the bags are so expensive for the amount we need and our donated funds are so little this year so we could really use the help," Tripp says in an e-mail. He suggests dropping off donations at the church.
Tripp is also looking for volunteers to help out on the Friday before his nonprofit's big day. Check out his website, Care of Poor People Inc., for more details.
The Gumball 3000 makes a pit stop in Kansas City tonight (Monday)
Fifty years ago this week, Continental Flight 11 fell out of the sky over Unionville
Guy Fieri, Henry Ford and Johnny Trigg to be inducted into the National Barbecue Hall of Fame
Johnson County boobaphobe wants Overland Park to disappear arboretum's Yu Chang sculpture
The Pitch Questionnaire with Historic Kansas City Foundation executive director Amanda Crawley
Clemson, rumored to be interested in the Big 12, opens up its relationship with the ACC
KC's bakeries turn up the flour power
New teen curfew goes into effect this weekend