Subject: The Salvation Army

• Goodwill Dancing

  March 19, 2009

• Studies in Crap: Do Cats Have ESP?

  October 30, 2008

• Cathy Sukaromya and Lisa Minardi in front of the Brick

  By JEN CHEN I was at lunch with some co-workers at the Brick when I saw Cathy (left) and Lisa. Actually, “saw” is a little inaccurate – I only got a brief glimpse of them when they walked out the door. Something about their coats intrigued me, though, so I abandoned my hot toddy and ran outside to catch up with them.

  November 19, 2008

• Clothing swap at Baila Westside

  'Tis the season for scrounging. And if you've fished all the quarters out of your couch but are still coming up short on gift-buying funds, consider another kind of exchange for goods. This Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m., Baila Westside dance studio is hosting an event called G.M.A.T.S. The letters stand for Girls Meeting And Trading Stuff. According to Baila's Web site, traders should bring a beverage or snack (like cookies) and at least three quality items for swapping. Quality means no moth-eat

  December 12, 2008

• Luke on 39th Street

  Luke teaches kids' classes at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. He also thinks he has a superior sense of style, so he's been stalking me about putting his picture on this blog. I told him he'd have to knock my socks off with his getup, and this is what he came up with. The yellow sweater is from a Goodwill in Festus, Missouri, and the vertigo-inducing tie is from a Salvation Army in KC. He doesn't want to reveal the location of the SA for fear that someone will discover his loud-ass tie stash.

  December 24, 2008

• Letters

  January 11, 2001

• Studies in Crap Presents Your Child's Favorite Weeping Farmer Coloring Book

  Each Thursday, your Crap Archivist brings you the finest in forgotten and bewildering crap culled from area basements, thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets. I do this for one reason: Knowledge is power. The Farmer and the Crows Authors: Herbert R. Simmons and Lester L. Boyice Publisher: H&R Publishing, Lenexa, Kansas Date: 1982 Discovered at: Salvation Army, Johnson Drive & Lamar The Cover Promises: Crows and a sunburned farmer but none of the anguish within. Represe

  February 12, 2009

• Season's Gratings

  December 4, 2003

• Miss You, Brownie

  December 28, 2006

• Letters from the week of May 10

  May 10, 2007

• Boys and girls in the 64130 are still waiting for their new club

  April 16, 2009

• With My Name Is Rachel Corrie, the Unicorn stares down activism and idealism

  April 2, 2009

• Be Bad for Goodness Sake

  November 27, 2008

• First Lights

  November 13, 2008

• Home Sweet Parking Lot

  When a workingman doesn’t have a home in Johnson County, a Wal-Mart parking lot is the next best thing.

  September 4, 2008

• The Sex Police

  An anti-porn crusader wants Kansas City juries to redefine what's obscene.

  October 25, 2007

• Lost Boy

  Lawrence rapper Adru the Misphit channels his troubled past into pounding hip-hop.

  September 20, 2007

• Small Feats of Bravery

  It's hard to complain about these two, solid shows. But why won't the big boys pick them up?

  August 16, 2007

• Spoils of War

  April 19, 2007

• A Holiday Catalog of Bumming

  ‘Tis the season for these street-corner regulars to go to work.

  December 14, 2006

• Strange Trip

  After 40 years, Blue Cheer can still bring the noise.

  July 6, 2006

• MasterMind Award,
  design/fashion
  Peggy Noland

  March 30, 2006

• The Lonely Guy

  March 9, 2006

• Twentysomething

  October 20, 2005

• Breast Exam

  Dancers answer our questions about why they dance.

  August 25, 2005

• KC Disasterpiece

  Barbecue baron Rich Davis and his saucy sons have left plenty of people feeling burned.

  July 21, 2005

• Night & Day Events

  Week of December23, 2004

  December 23, 2004

• Merry Chimpmas

  The zoo offers all that and a partridge.

  December 16, 2004

• The Kids Are Alright

  The indie orphans in the Only Children make a credible effort to forget their Anniversary.

  October 21, 2004

• No Free Lunch

  Downtown champions forgot the kitchen sink.

  February 12, 2004

• A Tough Time for Angels

  Meeting at Denny�s was hell � but at least the spirits showed.

  December 25, 2003

• Nicely-Nicely Done

  Peter Altman's gamble pays off with the Rep's Guys and Dolls.

  February 6, 2003

• A Grand Design

  A congregation of homeless people wants to help save downtown.

  February 6, 2003

• Lover's Leap

  Skydiver Chris Jeffries fell for Tracy Richardson and, like her other lovers, landed hard.

  March 28, 2002

• Cold Cuts

  The weather outside has gotten as chilly as City Hall.

  January 10, 2002

• Night & Day Events

  Week of January 18, 2001

  January 18, 2001

• No Room for the Innkeeper

  Newly prospering neighbors find the recipe for conflict in a soup kitchen.

  December 21, 2000

• All the World's a Stage

  FlyOver Productions takes off.

  September 28, 2000

• Under New Management

  Major Barbara makes a fine debut for the Rep's new art director.

  September 21, 2000

• Urban Cowboy

  Can a high school dropout with no law enforcement training run for Jackson County Sheriff? County officials say no.

  June 8, 2000

• Kidney recipient in a 'pay or die' situation

  Kidney-transplant patient Harold Allen spends a lot of time searching for money to buy the antirejection drugs he needs to stay alive.

  April 27, 2000

• Bringing 'deadbeat' dads back to life

  February 24, 2000

• Missouri is about to execute Dennis Skillicorn. The state’s death penalty may not outlive him very long.

  May 14, 2009

• Reporter's Notebook: Statement of Allen Nicklasson

  Courtesy of Missouri Department of Corrections Allen Nicklasson, the other half of the Good Samaritan Killers, was troubled from an early age. Dennis Skillicorn's lawyer, Jenny Merrigan, describes him as "fascinating," and "truly mentally ill." Merrigan told me that at age four, he stabbed a man he saw raping his mother, who worked as a prostitute and kept Nicklasson in a closet while meeting johns. At age nine, he attacked his stepfather, who pressed charges. Nicklasson moved from juvenile inca

  May 13, 2009

• Record Shopping Up North

  I am completely unable to walk past any store selling vinyl without popping in "just to check it out," to the chagrin of both my wife and my checking account. This extends as far as the clearance racks at Hot Topic (I found Scream's Still Screaming for five bucks, so it's worth looking, right?), but is usually confined to Goodwills, Salvation Army stores, and your usual record shops. For the past week, I've been bouncing around up north, and I return singing the praises of a couple of Illinois'

  June 15, 2009

• Meet the most notorious prostitute in a neighborhood known for – and trying to get rid of – its hookers

  September 10, 2009

• COMBAT by the numbers

  U.S. Department of JusticeThis is what $207 million in drug money looks like​Given that the campaign to renew the COMBAT tax is in full swing, we figured it was time to look at the numbers. Ready? Here's the breakdown of how $10,487,768 of your tax dollars -- 2009's COMBAT anti-drug tax fund -- was doled out among local agencies.(The agencies are categorized by the COMBAT goal they serve: Prevention, Treatment, D.A.R.E. and Law Enforcement. There's a 2009 grant match for which some agencies al

  October 28, 2009

• Plaza in danger of losing its holiday lighting supremacy

  ​TO: Highwoods Properties, Plaza Management TeamFROM: Mr. Green and Ms. White, co-presidents, Plaza Light Bulb Installers UnitedRE: Plaza Lighting CeremonyDear Country Club Plaza Overseers: As the union representatives for the hard-working people who string up the Plaza's fabled lights, we must write to express our grave concern about what's happening here on the Plaza.As you know, the Plaza Lighting Ceremony has been a Thanksgiving-night tradition in Kansas City for 80 years now. This year's

  November 19, 2009