Category Archives: Hearne_Christopher

Hearne: AMC Scrambles To Survive Monumental Losses

Two billion here, five-hundred million there – it adds up… The financial toll the coronavirus is taking on Kansas City’s AMC Theatres is staggering, but the company may be beginning to see some light at a seemingly never-ending, gloomy tunnel … Continue reading

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Hearne: Sports Talker Kevin Kietzman Poised for Comeback

This just in… Kansas City’s prominent sports personality the past 20-plus years – Kevin Kietzman – has settled his issues with Sports Radio WHB  – the station he all but singlehandedly put on the map – and will announce his return … Continue reading

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Hearne: Anatomy Of An Embattled Kansas City Police Chief

Hard to argue that we’re living in an Alice in Wonderland, through-the-looking glass world… That following the death of George Floyd, the country has climbed through a mirror where – like a reflection – everything is reversed…including logic. Sound familiar? No? You must not … Continue reading

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Hearne: July Movie Theater Openings in Doubt

Things are looking pretty shaky again in the movie biz… How shaky? “I still don’t think the movie theaters are going to open up at the end of this month as planned the way the virus is going now,” says … Continue reading

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Hearne: Star Subscribers ‘Horrified’ By Bogus Police Chief ‘Hit Piece’

How much longer will the powers that be at what’s left of the once vaunted Kansas City Star put up with lame, over-the-top editorials and biased reporting? If that sounds like a mouthful, trust me it is. The once-thoughtful, local news … Continue reading

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Hearne: Kansas City Star Braces for New Owner Tribulations

Hard to imagine things getting much worse at the Kansas City Star… Then again, between coronavirus, bankruptcy, declining readership and revenue, an over-the-hill readership, and finally, a new hedge fund owner almost certain to lay waste to what’s left of … Continue reading

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Hearne: Is Lawrence Journal World On Its Last Legs?

The jury’s out… Can so-called newspapers survive on internet advertising alone? That’s question is looming larger by the day, especially as organizations like the Lawrence Journal World and Kansas City Star approach the point of no return as paid print … Continue reading

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Hearne: Ex Journal World Sports Editor Takes Bullet in Boston

It’s not easy being a print journalist…. Not these days and not that anybody much is grieving for them, given the quality of what passes for reporting in the current idiom. So it comes as little surprise that not two … Continue reading

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Hearne: ‘Notorious Madame Red’ On Canceling 2020 Ren Fest

Skin tight corsets and bodices aside, it ain’t easy being a sexy wench these days… Take Denise Groason – aka Renaissance Festival’s Notorious Madame Red – who is sitting out this year’s, whether it goes down or not. “If the … Continue reading

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Hearne: Speaking of Sports…KU, T-Bones Make ‘Fake News’

A pair of riveting announcements, certain to thrill sports-mined types… First, the Kansas City T-Bones “baseball team” will not be playing the 2020 season. Shocker. Frankly, it would have been a bigger surprise if they announced they would play. Indeed, … Continue reading

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Hearne: Westport Entertainment Legend Bites The Dust

How could I not write about the passing of Dave McQuitty? For well over 20 years the controversial local entertainment honcho loomed large – for better and for worse – beginning in Westport’s early entertainment infancy. McQuitty’s United Entertainment managed a … Continue reading

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Hearne: Kansas City-Lawrence Concert Scene on Death Row?

Where to begin… The Kansas City concert scene has so many loose ends at this point, it’s all but impossible to stitch them together. In short, things are a mess, on top of which there are plenty of nasty, behind … Continue reading

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Hearne: Amazon Buying AMC Rumor an Embarrassing Bust

Everybody in the journalism game loves a good yarn… By the opposite token, everyone in the journalism racket hates swallowing embarrassing corrections. So it is that you have to search really hard to find that a widely reported story that … Continue reading

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Hearne: Mission Improbable, KC’s Newspaper of Record’s Tax Scam Falls Flat

Ready for some head scratching?     It wasn’t all that long ago that big shots at the Kansas City Star – like former editor / publisher Mark Zieman – would light their cigars with the kind of chump change it took … Continue reading

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Hearne: Public Health Honcho Puppet Masters Restaurants, KC Mayor

The man behind KC’s ridiculous 10-10-10 plan… Quinton Lucas, you say? Noop, not according to Westport businessman and coronavirus survivor Bill Nigro. That distinction goes to Kansas City public health director Rex Archer, Nigro says. “Rex Archer is a total … Continue reading

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Hearne: Alms for the KC Star Update

The beat goes on… A curious attempt by the Kansas City Star to try and raise $200,000 by beseeching readers to contribute moneys so they can afford to pay their writers, is up and running.   In one week’s time, … Continue reading

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Hearne: KC Based AMC Theatres Picks a Dangerous Fight

One of Kansas City’s last remaining corporate titans is fighting for its life… The venerable AMC Theatres – founded by local movie visionary Stan Durwood – is going toe-to-toe with Universal Studios, one of Hollywood’s most distinguished moviemakers. “The movie … Continue reading

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Hearne: Newspaper Launches Questionable Covid-19 ‘Tax Dodge’ to Raise Money

Tax dodge, anyone? Seems like anything goes at the Kansas City Star these days. And as the saying goes, a drowning man will clutch at a straw. Or as the Cambridge Dictionary defines it, ‘someone who is in a very … Continue reading

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Hearne: Fair + Balanced at KC’s Newspaper of Record?

Watching the Star pretend to be vital is an exercise the suspension of disbelief… We do it all the time watching movies. Pretend that the creepy dude on screen the is the real deal, in order to enjoy the movie … Continue reading

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Hearne: Westport Icon Bill Nigro Gets Corona, Lives to Tell Story

Anybody out there who doesn’t have the coronavirus blues? And frankly, I’m not sure which is worse; worrying if you get it that it may be last hurrah time; watching the mainstream media and Kansas City Star turn everything into a politicized … Continue reading

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