Category Archives: Hearne_Christopher
Hearne on the Street: Local Burger Overland Park Bound!
One of Lawrence’ best kept secrets, the
Star’s Mike Hendricks Job Hunts on Facebook
Tough times at the Kansas City Star and a looming 33 percent pay cut (or perhaps six months full-pay severance package) kicked Local columnist Mike Hendricks into a major venting mode last night on Facebook. “I decided to enjoy spring … Continue reading
Death of a Columnist: a Look Back at my Black Monday
hearne
It’s sad covering the demise of a proud institution like The Kansas City Star – really sad Continue reading
Will Star Staffer’s Tears Allay City Hall Fears? No Doubt
[caption id="attachment_738" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser: may not miss nemesis"]
[/caption]
No one atop City Hall is about to spell it out, but the axing of Kansas City Star reporter DeAnn Smith had to be received with jubilation on the 29th floor in Kansas City, Missouri…
And why not?
Subsequent to Smith taking over the downtown beat for the newspaper, she made a regular practice of hanging KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser and First Lady Gloria Squitiro out to dry. It could be argued Smith almost single-handedly – given the Star’s news clout, her role in covering City Hall and her constant drumbeat of criticism – was the lead architect of Funk and Gloria’s unflattering image with some locals.
Her repeated nit pickings over essentially the same handful of things was beyond relentless.
Example: When Gloria kicked off her shoes after a long day at the office, during a sit down interview with Smith early on, the First Lady became branded as a barefoot contessa. One ax-to-grind local blogger dude practically contracted a foot fetish writing about it over, and over and over… Continue reading
Hearne on the Street: Star to Shrink Paychecks, Paper?
[caption id="attachment_700" align="aligncenter" width="495" caption="No that's not me down there in the bunny suit, and no that's not Star editor Mike Fannin manning the scythe"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
It’s a jungle out there…
Doesn’t matter where you work, but for my former stablemates at the Kansas City Star, the hand wringing doesn’t get much worse. The entire newsroom was braced for a blood curdling Friday the 13th chainsaw paycheck massacre.
Never happened.
That said, the timing was right as Friday was pay day and past Continue reading
Phog to KU: Watch Out for Killer Bees; on MU Tourney Win, Zzzzzzzzz
Legendary KU basketball coach Phog Allen grandson John Allen’s take on the Missouri Tiger basketball team winning the Big 12 tournament: “Oh, who cares? Move on,” Allen says. “I guess it’s a big deal to Missouri, I don’t know anybody … Continue reading
Missy Higgins at Beaumont Club March 18th: Win Free Tickets!
Here’s the deal: the new, massively-improved
Phog III to KU Lew: Pick On Someone Your Own Size
Memo from legendary KU basketball coach Phog Allen’s grandson John Allen to KU athletic director Lew Perkins, re the legal/financial war of attrition against tiny T-shirt vendor Joe-College.com: Lay off! “You’d think (KU) had bigger fish to fry,” Allen says. … Continue reading
Hearne on the Street: My Final Four
I I ask you, do I look like the kinda guy that would glorify pot, lesbianism, junk food and gluttony? In honor of this year’s Final Four – I know, I know, I’m not allowed to write, say or even … Continue reading
Boffo Burger Battle: Blanc vs Dempsey’s – Bite to the Finish!
[caption id="attachment_638" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kobe Burger, fries and float: $15 all in at Dempsey's"]
[/caption]
[/caption]
Atop the local slagheap of world class, Continue reading
Forget The Dress Code Controversy: Panhandlers Have Arrived
[caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Homeless dude John at P&L: most people are "just kind of mean""]
[/caption]
[/caption]
Just when you thought the Power & White – I mean – Power & Light – dress code controversy had reached its zenith…
I mean, come on. When the Kansas City Star editorial board starts policing fashion with advice like all male patrons wishing to guzzle beer and ogle half-dressed wait staff hotties should have to wear “trousers belted at the waist” how much further can the media ride this news horse?
So time to move on, right?
And where better to move, with the weather warming, than to the topic of Kansas City’s homeless hanging at the P&L and panhandling the party crowd.
Take John from Lawrence, who opted to withhold his last name, but allowed a photograph to be taken.
I caught up to him hanging on the sidewalk just outside the P&L on Grand Boulevard.
His story: “Just transient and trying to go out to Florida,” he says. “Out of work, out of a place to live, staying off and on out at the Mission.”
How long John’s been on the P&L scene? Continue reading
Lucky Strike Tonight: Leatherface, Midgets & Britneys, Oh My!
[caption id="attachment_653" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Nine out of ten times, Leatherface prefers Kansas City BBQ: Who knew?"]
[/caption]
Friday the 13th at the Power & Light District may never be the same…
Not after the Lucky Strike bowling operation’s first birthday bash with body builder-turned horror star Continue reading
Lew Perkins vs. Joe College: $2 million Pissing Match Continues
[caption id="attachment_565" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Larry Sinks: Down but not out"]
[/caption]
Think David vs. Goliath meets Clash of the Titans meets Never Ending Story…
The battle between Lawrence T-shirt shop Continue reading
Party In Waldo: St. Patrick’s Wilding For Civil Set
The single largest St. Patrick’s Day party in Kansas City: would you believe Lew’s Irish Hooley in Waldo? Think of it as a full-blown four-leaf clover refuge for Johnson Countians and South Kansas Citians w/o the crude consequences sometimes associated … Continue reading
Petition Drive Anyone? The Lew Perkins Shirt Joe-College Has Yet To Unleash!
The shirt Joe-College.com owner Larry Sinks never made? Hint: it sports a KU athletics department honcho Lew Perkins zinger. With approaching $400,000 in legal fees defending himself against Perkins and KU’s athletics department, it stands to reason that Sinks might … Continue reading
Hearne on the Street: Out With the Carl, in With the Kick
It’s no secret former chief Chief Carl Peterson wasn’t exactly tight with newly-minted Chiefs hall of fame inductee Nick “the kick” Lowery. Had Peterson coughed up the cash for Sir Nick instead of betting the Super Bowl farm on the … Continue reading
Down Payment On A Cheeseburger? Star Panhandles Readers
[caption id="attachment_446" align="aligncenter" width="367" caption="Former Star TV critic dons black armband for StarTV"]
[/caption]
Hearne On The Street: Too Short For Prime Time? No Way!
You got it – they fire you – you get it again. Or do you? A funny thing happened on Facebook the other day. As in former Star travel editor Allen Holder joining the social networking site with the following … Continue reading
Beaumont: Bodacious, Brazen, Bold & B-b-back!
[caption id="attachment_465" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Jeff Fortier & new Beaumont to host Hank III, Missy Higgins, more"]
[/caption]
A new, improved Beaumont Club in Westport shuddered to life for its shakedown cruise Friday with one of the town’s top-tier bands – Republic Tigers – leading the charge.
Hey and guess what? The joint was packed.
Cleaner, meaner with improvements/amenities to come, concert promoter Continue reading
