Author Archives: Hearne Christopher Jr.

You won’t get ripped off for five buck pizza or rained out – but you will get the bejesus scared out of you… That’s the plan at Monty Summers’ four haunted house cavalcade in Kansas City’s East Bottoms. “I’ve been … Continue reading →

“Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Who didn’t grow up hearing that children’s limerick? Kansas City Health Department public information officer Jeff Hershberger did. So did Mark Lillis, the Bedbug Division manager for Schendel Pest Services. And … Continue reading →

Here we go, boys and girls… This week’s options for what to check out and where – right here in the Cowtown. Starting with… You know it’s a big deal when KC Confidential political sparkplug David Scott Whinery, Esquire passes … Continue reading →

Longtime Kansas City Star business columnist Jerry Heaster died last week after a long battle with cancer… Let me start by saying what a great guy and supportive colleague Heaster was for most of my 16 years at the newspaper. … Continue reading →

Ah, the unbearable lightness of being an unnamed source… Yesterday highly respected media outlet CBS Sports reported that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt had offered his embattled general manager Scott Pioli a two-year contract extension… Whereupon, KCTV, KSHB, The Kansas City … Continue reading →

The old ways die hard… Was a time the Kansas City Star owned this town when it came to, not just news coverage but editorial opinion. It may not always have gotten its way, but it carried a pretty big … Continue reading →

Say this about Sunday’s five-year Star send up on the Sprint Center; it covers most of the bases… Unfortunately, some of the bases left uncovered are about eight years late in being examined by the friendly reporters and editors at … Continue reading →

 Caught up to U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver yesterday at his new campaign headquarters at the Uptown Shoppes in midtown… Naturally the conversation turned towards the massively frustrated fans of this year’s disappointing Kansas City Chiefs team… Cleaver’s take on the … Continue reading →

It’s not everyday that someone gets to give pop punk Justin Beiber a good, sound spanking… Nor is it everyday one gets a shot at checking out a rising star on the order of Esperanza Spalding. Let alone in the … Continue reading →

Don’t look now, but Star reader rep Derek Donovan‘s recently-sparked controversy over use of NFL team the Washington Redskins name in the newspaper has blown up in his face… “A caller this morning expressed his incredulity that The Star doesn’t … Continue reading →

From bad guys to good guys in a single year, or so it seems… Last year Entercom Kansas City played the role of villain by refusing to accept Kanrocksas music fest advertising on any of its eight local radio stations. … Continue reading →

Who knew that the Aggies of Kansas State University had their hearts set  on appearing – would you believe – “scholarly”? But that’s the plan. The Lawrence Journal World scooped the Star on the story by a day with the … Continue reading →

Did I hear somebody cry, uncle? Probably not, but one has to wonder. Because after Star reporter Steve Everly‘s more than 30 articles banging the big bad oil industry for “deceptive” practices by selling “hot fuel” and ripping off consumers … Continue reading →

So where the hell have I been? Not that the world ground to a halt or anything, but it is somewhat wondrous as to what I’ve been up to the past couple of weeks – as opposed to, oh, writing … Continue reading →

How quickly they forget…. It barely got a mention in mainstream media reports in the Star and Pitch, but the between-the-lines big news about the second coming of Kanrocksas next year is that the fest’s founder, longtime area entertainment icon … Continue reading →

Talk about a bolt from the blue… Today’s surprise axing of eight Kansas City Star staffers comes one week after new McClatchy President and CEO Patrick J. Talamantes visited the newspaper and assured newsroom staffers of brighter days ahead. McClatchy … Continue reading →

It’s a jungle down there… After only recently announcing that Kansas City Star employees will be required to take yet another week of unpaid “vacations,” the newspaper stunned newsroom employees today by laying off eight full-time staffers, including enormously popular … Continue reading →

Ah, the perils of an unlocked door… When it comes to senseless regulations, Kansas City takes the cake, says Westport businessman Bill Nigro. Especially the good folks at Regulated Industries aka Liquor Control. It all began four years back, when … Continue reading →

Maybe Kansas City should schedule more Irish Fests… You know, in the interest of the area getting more rainfall.  After all, we’re in a drought and as most local worshipers of all things Irish know, the 10 year-old Irish Fest … Continue reading →

“Rooms should not be put together for show but to nourish one’s well- being.” So stated celebrated American interior designer Albert Hadley. That aside, newsroom staffers at the Kansas City Star are quaking with dread over the prospect of taking … Continue reading →