Yearly Archives: 2011
Starbeams: Obama Be Smokin’ Herman Cain Style in Osawatomie
The President visited Osawatomie Tuesday. Air Force one landed around 11:00 at KCI and was greeted by several bomb sniffing cattle. After his speech he went lunch at We B Smokin’ BBQ in Osawatomie. Ironically, We B Smokin’ is the phrase embroidered in Herman Cain‘s underwear.
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The President initially told Secret Service to stop at We B Smokin’ because he thought he could buy cigarettes there.
Leftridge: Tales from the Tweet: Orton’s Ouchy, Goldilocks’ Woes & Emotional Gourd
Dateline: Southside Chicago. Home to rampant murder, rape, robbery, drugs, thick mustaches and ‘da Bears. With Chicago taking on the lowly Kansas City Chiefs, the fans didn’t take long to make the Windy City proud:
@mellinger (Sam, KC Star sports columnist)
“11:15 am…first gratuitous use of a taser witnessed outside Soldier Field.”
I love Chicago—even lived there for a spell—but man, the Southside of that fine city is a wreck. If you’re not going to a Bears game (you can get tased anywhere, to be fair) or a Sox game (you probably WILL get tased here—by a fan, or a player, or an ump), you have no business venturing south of about 15th street. Nothing good happens there.
Oh, and then there was the game. The quarterback play was abysmal:
@SSJ_WHB (Steven St.John, 810 am)
“I want Palko and Hanie to fight….Loser leaves the NFL….Winner leaves, too….#Chiefs”
But that’s why we went out and picked up Kyle Orton, right?
Today: Iowa Police Say Deceased Fox 4 Meteorologist Not Involved, Not Interviewed
Scratch one area law enforcement rumor…
The rumor that deceased Fox 4 meteorologist Don Harman was interviewed recently by Mason City, Iowa police or the FBI about the case of long-missing TV news anchor Jodi Huisentruit: Bogus.
That according to Mason City Investigations Supervisor Lt. Frank Stearns.
"That’s not true," Sterns says. "He was not interviewed. Don Harman has never been a person of interest."
Nor, as noted it the orginal reporting here, merely a source in a stepped-up investigation.
Glazer: It’s The End Of The World As We Know It and We Feel…
Black Friday has gone from a very busy shopping day to THE SUPER BOWL OF SHOPPING DAYS…
Addto that Cyber Monday, where Americans spend close to 20 billion on stuff they mostly don’t need or will ever use. Most of the crap we buy is for gifts, largely for ourselves. Gifts for ME, YEAH THATS GREAT! After all we earned them.
The stock market is back up over 12,000. Unemployment is around 9% most of the time. And we keep hearing things are better, but are they? The fast answer is NO, they’re just different. The world has been rocked by iPhones, iPads, computers and online madness. Everyone is on Facebook and too busy screwing with it daily. Everyone surfs the net for God knows what, and if you shop, go to a movie or restaurant, it seems everyone is sitting around texting about nothing.
My theory is simple: we’re in a modern depression-recession for one reason mostly, THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA…
Star Search: No Layoffs But Holiday Cheer MIA at KC Star
Without question, things are looking up at the Kansas City Star heading into the holidays….
New publisher Mi-Ai Parrish has been all over the newsroom and able to weather the bad financial numbers from corporate without going the layoffs route. In part because of the recent wave of optimism on the economy and advertiser’s anticipation of better holiday sales.
That’s a good thing.
However, sources say the atmosphere among the 700 or so Star survivors (there were more than 2,000 prior to the dot com recession of the early 2000s) is still grim.
"It used to be full of life here, now it’s just empty," says one Star staffer. "Now it’s devoid of life."
Starbeams: Kyle Orton’s Single Snap, It’s So Cold, Obama in Osawatomie, Titanic to KC
Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton was knocked from the game after a single snap. Now we know why his initials are K.O.
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It was so cold…
Teenagers formed a flash-mob on the plaza to steal space heaters…
Mayor James announced he’s taking over the West Palm Beach school district…
Hearne: Win Second Row Seats to Brian Setzer @ The Uptown Wednesday
Here’s the deal…
KC Confidential is looking for a few good stories about former Stray Cats front man Brian Setzer. And we’ve got a pair of second row seats to tomorrow night’s show at the Uptown Theater for the best one.
Hey, and it’s wide open.
From memories of the Stray Cats show at Memorial Hall from a million years ago to Setzer’s big band holiday blowout at the Uptown. It’s pretty murky now, but local entertainment sources remember Setzer being involved with former Westport watering hole / concert club Guitars & Cadillacs. And that he was married at one point to a Kansas City girl.
Weigh in with your Setzer flashback in the comments section or to hearne@kcconfidential and win a pair of second row seats to Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot at the Uptown tomorrow night!
Donnelly: Greaser Alert; Brian Setzer Rolling into the Uptown This Wednesday
Something wicked this way comes…
Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot! rolls into town this Wednesday night at the Uptown. 
The show is a general admission on the floor, seated balcony show.
Setzer is the guy, formerly of The Stray Cats of the rockabilly revival pompadour and everything, who converted to swing, and now is playing a mix of both, also with a bit of jazz thrown in. He’s just been nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album for his solo album Setzer Goes instru-MENTAL! so you can expect some of that as well.
So if you have that leopard print sport coat that you can only wear like five times a year, now is your chance Hearne…
Today: Jardine’s Owner Vows to Open Plaza Jazz Club for KCC Xmas Bash & More
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This just in…
Jardine’s owner Beena Raja says she will open the popular Plaza area jazz club on December 12th for the KC Confidential holiday wilding and remain open for specific engagements such as the upcoming Julia Othmer and Ida McBeth shows.
Raja stopped short of saying exactly why she fired the staff last week and shuttered the club after Karrin Allyson‘s shows Tuesday. Something about feeling that some staffers were taking advantage of the club. So she changed the locks and cleaned house.
Hearne: One Down; Kansas City’s Onerous ‘Health Card’ Bites the Dust
It’s all over but the shouting…
After years of carping, the Kansas City health department’s "food handler cards" are no more.
"They city’s eliminated one of its two dumb cards," cracks Westport businessman Bill Nigro. "One is called the liquor card and it requires people to pay $41 and you have one if you’re involved in serving alcohol anywhere in Kansas City, Missouri. And the one we got eliminated is the health card. It costs $20 and it’s the card they started making any employee in the restaurant and bar industry who handles food buy. They started it about seven years ago."
Here’s the rub…
"They send people to these little classes on hygene, like about washing your hands and stuff and keeping food hot and cold – things you learned in high school," Nigro says.
Glazer: Tiger Woods; America’s Villain Becomes America’s Hero Again
Just two years ago the morons of America were saying Tiger Woods was done…
Tiger would win no more. Woods had cheated on his pretty, blonde wife many times and she’d chased him with a golf club and he hit a tree with his car. There wasn’t much damage to Tiger, the tree or the car, but there was a ton of damage to Woods’ image.
The white world was stunned.
"We gave you our skin color and you screwed us!" they ranted. "You cheated on the pretty, white girl."
Tiger was toast. He lost most of his advertising backers and millions of dollars.
But the man hadn’t killed anybody. He wasn’t busted for dealing drugs or dog fighting. He wasn’t the head of the Hip Hop movement. He cheated on his wife, that’s all.
Glazer: Scribe Defends, Marvels, Then Worships at the Alter of Tim Tebow
Denver’s Tim Tebow is 6 and 1 and the man has won five straight games since taking over for Kyle Orton…
Orton, who threw only one pass for KC at a cost of 2 million bucks, is likely done for the year. Good move KC. Oh yeah, the pass was incomplete.
Meanwhile, Tebow’s now the talk of the league and the sports world. Yesterday he beat the Vikings with his arm, not his legs. Tim threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter to beat the Vikes 35-32. The Denver Broncos are now 7-5 and will likely win the AFC West.
The Chumps are 5-7 and to say we are in it is stupid – we’re the worst team in the division by far.
Donnelly: Wilco @ The Uptown Theater, December 3, 2011
“Tonight we’ve got a little something for everyone,” declared Jeff Tweedy midway through Wilco’s sold out Saturday night show at the Uptown Theater. “Merry Christmas!”
He wasn’t kidding.
Wilco’s set list was probably the most unpredictable in all the dozen or so times I’ve seen this band over the years. No Jesus, Etc., no I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, and no Handshake Drugs.
Instead, the band hopped around their discography, with an emphasis, of course,on their newest effort, The Whole Love.
Pretty much everyone agrees that Wilco’s most recent three albums are not as good as the two that came before – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born.
Hearne: Jason Whitlock Hammers ESPN on CNN’s ‘Reliable Sources’
Another uptick for former Star sports star Jason Whitlock…
On the heels of hammering Penn State on ESPN, Whitlock was back in play Sunday on the national stage, courtesy of CNN‘s "Reliable Sources."
This time out, the Big Guy took estranged former-employer ESPN to task. Albeit via some twisted logic to rationalize what he’d written a few weeks back.
Think of it as a tale of two cities…
On November 23rd Whitlock had hammered ESPN – the sports media giant that fired him five years back – for unfairly smearing the now-disgraced Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine.
Glazer: Scribe Drowns His Sorrows in Chiefs’ Win Over Chicago
The stink farm known as the Kansas City Chiefs were smart enough to steal Kyle Orton…
From two teams that wanted him badly – Texas and Chicago – teams that have a real shot at the playoffs while the Chiefs are totally out of the playoffs picture. Then Orton threw a single pass, hurt his hand and is likely out for the season. Great way to blow $2 million.
Orton was meaningless to one of the NFL’s worst teams.
And once again today the Chiefs were gifted a game. From a team with a wounded quarterback, like us. Chiefs QB Tyler Palko is brave and tries very hard, but he’s not a legitimate NFL quarterback, as evidenced by zero touchdowns in three games.
Yes, we had a playground TD at the end of the first half. Palko just threw it up and the Chiefs got lucky when it was batted down and into their hands.
Impressive, what talent!
Hearne: The Best of and The Enigma That Was Don Harman
Let’s lighten things up a bit where the Don Harman tragedy is concerned…
While most viewers of Fox 4‘s popular morning news show knew only the bright, sunny side of Harman, I got to see a surprisingly different side of the affable weather wonk after covering a handful of his early exploits in my column in the Kansas City Star.
Let’s revisit those happier times, then I’ll share an anecdote with you about a personal encounter with Harman after writing those largely innocuous items.
Hearne: Vaunted Plaza Jazz Club Jardine’s Fires Staff, Closes for ‘Repairs’
This just in…
Kansas City’s premier jazz club Jardine’s has been closed since Tuesday’s Karrin Allyson concert there "for repairs." That’s what the sign says, anyway. But local musicians and Jardine’s staffers don’t appear to know exactly what’s going on.
"I regret to announce that my band WILL NOT be performing tonight at Jardine’s Jazz Club," musician Dave Stephens wrote on his Facebook page at 6:07 p.m. Thursday. "The owner of the club fired her entire staff yesterday and subsequently there would be no one there to work the show. My apologies to those of you who were planning on attending. I just found out about this a few minutes ago."
Today: ‘River City’ Gives Don Harman a Pass on Disappearance of Missing Iowa Anchor
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On this cold, rainy, dreary day I bring heartening news to the fans and supporters of Don Harman.…
While I’ve yet to hear back from police Lt. Frank Sterns in Mason City, Iowa, I was able to connect with sources there familiar with the case of long-missing, early-morning news anchor Jodi Husentruit.
Let’s review.
Glazer: Scribe Steadies Himself & Prepares to Kick NFL & College Butt
There are not many college game weeks left…
Pretty soon the Bowl picture will start to unfold and that’s pretty much it. But it was a fun year. The pro’s have just over a month and then the Playoffs! That should be interesting. And while the Chiefs never really had a season to talk about (in a good way), other decent teams have and it should be a wild finish.
This week in college there are only a few games that I like.
My two favorites are Houston over So. Mississippi and LSU over Georgia. Houston has covered every game – all of them. Wish I had seen that in week three instead of week 10. Oh well, better late than never. I think Houston, who has a somewhat soft set up, is maybe the number 5 team in the nation. Great offense, decent defense, I like ’em.
The NFL is about to shake out the pretenders for the playoffs. Are the Jets for real? Tim Tebo? The next two weeks should give us those answers.
Glazer: Old Soldiers Like Frank White Never Die, They Go on Nick Wright’s Show
For some reason or another, Nick Wright and I no longer have that warm fuzzy thing going…
He’s got his own posse and is the Johnny Dare of 610 Sports now despite what some of KCC’s geezer readers may think. Who knows why we drifted apart?
However I call them like I see them and Nick did a fantastic job of interviewing Frank White tonight. Huge scoop. Frank was fired from the Royals TV post, as well as everything else. He was on live tonight to say how he felt about, the Royals "going in another direction."
Many of you know Frank White’s Kansas City story.
He’s one of only a couple of born and raised KC guys to make it big in pro sports and play for the home team.
