Category Archives: Hearne_Christopher
Today: Groupon versus The Kansas City Star, Old Ways Die Hard
Think of it as the difference between the Flintsones and the Jetsons…
The Kansas City Star’s trusty-but–rusty "Star Card" pitted against Groupon’s cutting edge deals-of-the-day email blasts. Once upon a time – like 40 years ago – buy-one get-one free coupon books for restaurant dining were cutting edge.
I remember getting one for Christmas from one of my sisters, heading down to a presigious Plaza restaurant and sheepishly handing the coupon to the server when the check came. It was downhill from the get-go – an excercise in awkwardness that put an immediate end to my usage of the coupons.
And while mercifully, with The Star Card, those coupon-tearing days are gone, the awkwardness remains.
Not so when diners, airbrush tan-wanters – even panty-of-the-month club types – get a half-off deal from Groupon.
Longtime Star Card participant Jardine‘s jazz club on the Plaza can attest to the differences…
Hearne: Happy Steak & BJ Day (And You Thought We Forgot)
Gentlemen, start your engines…
Monday is the big day, March 14th. The now fully official holiday known as Steak & BJ Day. Never heard of it? C’mon. Even my former editor in the FYI section of the Star, Mary Lou Nolan, stamped her blessings upon the holiday by allowing me to fully report on that day five long years ago!
That’s right, a "family newspaper" that routinely snuffs out commmonplace words like "sucks" and keeps a police state like watchful eye on double entendres that have anything whatsoever to do with s-e-x allowed me to lay one up for a holiday based around blowjobs.
Go figure…
So return with me now to that 2006 column and let’s relive the magic. Then go relive it yourself if you wish later at the Cowtown’s unofficial Steak & BJ Day headquarters, Raoul‘s in Overland Park..
Today: Makeshift Brian Euston Memorial in Westport Destroyed, Removed for Family
Just like that that makeshift memorial to Brian Euston in Westport is outta there…
For five months Westporters have wrestled with the desire to take down a gigantic, homemade, paper and plastic memorial of sorts to a 24 year-old man who died there last October. That after allegedly being punched, falling and hitting his head on the sidewalk, following a night of partying into the wee hours of the morning and drinking himself into an astonishingly high .387 blood-alcohol level.
Saturday night vandals ripped the memorial down.
Today: The Very Strange Departure of Mike Murphy
There’ll be no 71st St. Patrick’s Day celebration for Mike Murphy...
Not on this earth, anyway. No riding atop a garbage truck, waving to the crowd in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade he helped found. Quoth Edgar Allan Poe, nevermore. UFOs have spirited Kansas City’s quirky radio personality away. No more close encounters for us; they’ve got him now.
A few details are beginning to go viral in the wake of his passing Wednesday – starting with that his name was not Mike Murphy.
No blarney.
Today: Time to Move On, But Westport Unable to Remove Makeshift Brian Euston Memorial
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It’s over, done, finished – the sorrowful lessons learned…
There’s little point in continuing to rub the public’s nose in the memory of deceased 24 year-old Kansas City man Brian Euston. Euston died five months ago after taking a single punch, falling, then hitting his head on a Westport sidewalk. And for three months a cloud of mystery and uncertainty hovered over his death.
Was foul play involved? Was he beaten by a gang of blacks as some speculated?
Answers to those questions lacking, Euston’s parents pressed Kansas City Police and media – KC Confidential included – to keep the story alive. To find out what went wrong that fateful night resulting in the death of their son.
To that end, a makeshift memorial sprang up in heart of the entertainment district, prominently placed along Westport Road.
Hearne: Win Steak Dinners at Raoul’s & Jardine’s Courtesy of New Craig Glazer Advice Column
There’s a new game in town…
An advice game. You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Let’s make a deal. And the deal is, email your queries about love, life, business, pleasure, cars, bars, politics, predicaments, media, entertainment, religion – you name it – and KCC‘s crack problem solvers will unravel it for you.
Simple, huh?
The man behind the Answers Plan is everybody’s favorite media punching bag, businessman/author/stud about town Craig Glazer. That’s right, if Craig can’t answer it, you probably forgot to ask
Are there any questions too tough for Glazer to tackle?
"No, as long as they’re not completely stupid," he says. "But I want to focus on other people’s problems, not me – I think I cover that in my other stories. But I’ll certainly use myaself as an example if need be."
Glazer will team with a grrrl to be named later who’s identity we’ll reveal next week after our Steak & BJ Day steak dinner for two giveaways at Raoul‘s in Overland Park and Jardine’s on the Plaza. More on that later.
Hearne: Kansas City Radio Giant Mike Murphy Suffers Stroke, Dies
This just in from Roger the Plumber …
Kansas City broadcasting legend Mike Murphy has suffered a stroke and is gravely ill, Roger reports.
"Mike Murphy had a stroke and he’s in a complete non responsive state," Roger says. He’s at his house and he had asked that he not be resuscitated. So he’s at his house waiting to die."
A sad eventuality that could go down at any minute, Roger says he was told.
The latest: Murphy died tonight shortly before 6:30 pm.
Today: My Jogging Date With Jim Nutter Sr. by Bill Nigro
It’s said that Omaha has it’s oracle…
In the wilds of Kansas City, we have a gentleman by the name of James B. Nutter, Sr. A local real estate tycoon who some say is a kingmaker. Having reportedly picked mayor after mayor, city councilman after city councilman. Mr. Nutter has been a bit more low key the past few years but that doesn’t mean that inquiring minds don’t still want to know who the man with the polically Midas touch is picking in the upcoming mayoral finale between Sly James and Mike Burke.
Enter (somewhat) nosey Westport businessman and neighborhood jogger dude Bill Nigro.
Nigro likes to stop in on Nutter at his Westport office from time to time and chew the neighborhood and political phat.
Today: KC Bars & Restaurants to Throw ‘Party of the Decade’ for Sly James Sunday
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This just in…
In a Kansas City mayoral race that could end in a photo finish, an association of approximately 150 local bars and restaurants has thrown its support behind attorney Sly James and is putting its mojo where its mouth is. In addition to posting and distributing campaign materials in their places of business, the Kansas City Business Rights Coalition is throwing a pre-election victory party for James Sunday at the Beaumont Club in Westport.
"It’s Sunday night from 6 p.m. until midnight," says KCBRC head Bill Nigro. "It’s going to be a big service industry night with predominantly restaurant and bar people. There’ll be free beer and pretzels, two bands and a DJ and free admittance to the party for people who have a Kansas City Health or Liquor card. And The Federation of Horsepower is the main act – that’s one of Johnny Dare’s favorite local bands."
Oh, and one more thing…
Hearne: Sporting KC Lands US Men’s National Team, Stadium Deal w/ Lance Armstrong
This just in…
Sporting Kansas City’s Robb Heineman just announced via Twitter that the team has inked a deal to name the team’s spanking new stadium Livestrong Park.
A formal announcement will go down at the new stadium at 1 pm, reportedly with Lance Armstrong present.
"A portion of all @LIVESTRONGPark revenues will support the partnership," Heineman tweeted. "You will be a part of something"
Today: Westport Flea Owner Joe Zwillenberg Evokes Playboy Past
You never know what kinda cats are gonna leap out of a 40th birthday bash bag…
Take Westport Flea Market owner Joe Zwillenberg‘s Friday at The Record Bar in midtown. Open bar, kickass band, wall-to-wall local celebs – like the Mayor of Mission Hills, Dole White, David Fromme, Jennifer Janesko, Mark Mazzarese and Andy Lewellen, co-owner of Lew’s and The Well in Waldo.
Speaking of which…
Lewellen and Zwillenberg were college chums at MU back in the days when Tiger basketball coach Norm Stewart still loomed large and Snapple was considered marginally hip. So naturally, who better than Lewellen to pound out a killer Zwillenberg war story to commemorate Joe Joe’s big day .
"Every time we would go I would pick out the hottest girl in there and tell Joe, ‘That girl’s totally in love with you.’
Today: Comic Ralphie May Storms Out on Stanford’s Shows After Showdown at Channel 41
Make no mistake, pretty it was not…
Size XXL funny guy Ralphie May stormed out of Kansas City Tuesday, no-showing two sold out comedy shows at Stanford & Sons in The Legends. That following two days of ill health and ill-advised put downs of Stanford’s owner Craig Glazer.
"Well, shockingly I’ve worked with Ralphie for about 10 years and consider him a friend in the way that you can be friends with comedians," Glazer says.
On May’s Web site, he apologized to fans – but not Glazer – and vowed to return to Kansas City soon.
Here’s how it went down, drugs, threats of fisticuffs, insults and all…
Hearne: Pitch Editor Plants Mythical Schmooze on Tony
About this week’s Pitch cover story…
The one about blasphemous blogger Tony Botello. The dude here on KC Confidential the comments crowd can’t say enough kind words about. The writer who single-handedly reinvented the term "cup half full" where Kansas City is concerned.
That guy.
New, out-of-towner Pitch editor Joe Tone set aside the intense acrimony of Pitch writers like Nadia Pflaum and laid a massive, journalistic kiss on Mr.T. Nevermind the over-hyped "Exclusive!" splashed across the paper’s cover. I mean, really.
It’s not like’t Tone cornered Osama bin Laden, scored a phoner with the Unabomber or talked Star editor Mike Fannin into a one-on-one about his twin DUIs or assault conviction.
Today: Soreal Design to Reopen in Uptown Shoppes
One of the KC’s hippest home furnishings and designer decor depots is mounting a comeback…
Soreal Design – housed in its 1980s and 1990s hey days in the historic Warwick Theatre at 3927 Main – is reopening in therecently rennovated Uptown Shoppes at 3600 Broadway in midtown. That according to Uptown Theater main man Larry Sells.
"Soreal Design is putting together a co-op for furniture, design and artwork," Sells says. "So we’ll rent 200, 300 and 400 square foot spaces to small up-and-coming dealers. And Soreal is one of the players."
Soreal closed years ago but much of its inventory, including its trademark art deco and pop culture art and furnishings remained in the old theater, as if frozen in time.
Until now…
Today: Kansas City Gets Booby Prize in March Esquire, Maria Cries Foul!
Tired of reading and hearing about what former Kansas Citians favorite barbecue is?
Anybody really care, besides restaurant owners? Or that we’re the fattest city, best place to raise a family, etc. Yeah, we’ve got the Chiefs, Paul Rudd and a couple of secondary movie comics. And for what it’s worth, the Plaza.
Almost forget the Royals, but they’re infamous.
Will we ever break out of this boring, uninspired PR nightmare?
Thanks to "Kara In Kansas City, Missouri" in the March issue of Esquire, we just did.
Today: How KC’s Mayor’s Race Played Out & What’s Next for Dirty Tricksters
One of KC’s most influential business and civic leaders handicapped Tuesday’s mayoral contest for KCC…
And as some of you have noted, he didn’t quite get it right.
"Maybe your civic heavy hitter would like to weigh in on the chances of the Royals winning a World Series and the Chiefs getting into the Super Bowl!" cracked BarKeeper in the comments section. "Maybe sports is his strong suit, ’cause politics ain’t."
So, as promised, let’s take that trip back to the Horse’s Mouth and check out The Explanation.
"What happened was Mike Burke beat Deb Hermann up north worse than I thought he would," he says. "Mike Sanders had endorsed Hermann and (longtime political kingmaker) Jim Nutter gave her his financial support. And I thought that would translate into something more than it did. And Jim Rowland got nothing out of Freedom. You pay for that endorsement but it was worth nothing. So if you take what I missed on those two and add their votes into the other candidates – Burke and Sly James – that’s where I went wrong."
Hearne: Star Stumbles, Puts Pirate Broadway Grease Gear On Sale
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It’s no secret that times are tough at 18th and Grand…
Anything and everything is for sale these days for a price. Sunday comics, business listings, death notices. But there are limits, as the newspaper learned today the hard way after KC Confidential noticed it was hawking merchandise festooned with photos purloined from Broadway Across America’s production of "Grease" at the Music Hall.
The Star posted a dozen photographs taken opening night at the musical by photographer Allison Long. Ostensibly to run with its review of the show. But an advisory invited readers to purchase everything from photos, and coffee mugs to t-shirts and mouse pads – even a "keepsake box" for anywhere from $8.50 to $89.95.
A move placed the Star into competition with the play’s merchandise and souvenir sales.
Hearne: Take The Royals Advice, Boycott Baseball
Everybody’s trying so freaking hard….
You know, to make it appear that somehow this year’s Kansas City Royals baseball season really matters. But in the wide world of sports – in the world of ‘Just win, baby!’ – it does not. Who cares?
It’s painfully obvious that after an eternity of mediocrity and faded hope, the owners of the Royals are either a) ridiculously inept b) could care less or c) all of the above. How else can it be explained?
At least in the days of the lowly Kansas City A’s everyone knew the score; the team was never gonna be any good, so just go out to the crappy stadium every year or three, check out the other team’s stars,slam a stadium steak, laugh at the mule and be done with it.
Get on with your life.
These days however, we have a sports media beast that wants to be fed. But why should we?
Today: Will New Movieplex at 135th & Nall Break Ground, Live to Tell the Story?
Can a fledgling movie exhibitor take on the mighty, Kansas City-based AMC and Dickinson theater chains and live to tell the story?
We may be about to find out. And then again, we may not.
Movie insiders are skeptical about recently reported plans for Vancouver-based Cinetopia to open its fourth movie venue at 135th and Nall in a planned development called Prairiefire at LionsGate. The move would lock the six year-old Cinetopia in head-to-head battle with AMC’s Town Center Plaza (119th and Nall) and Dickinson’s Palazzo (135th and Antioch).
"If they go in there, I think what will happen is what happened to the new theater that closed last year at Zona Rosa," one theater exec says."The competitors will refuse to play day and date with them, and the movie studios will have to decide which theater to give the movies to. So the new theater would only get half of the product.
Today: Key Business & Civic Leader Handicaps Mayoral Contest, Looks at Leaders
Sleepy as this year’s Kansas City mayoral contest has been, it’s about to get a lot more interesting…
Starting with which two candidates will carry their share of the brass ring into the grand finale election ring a month from now. Here’s how one business and civic heavy hitter with a penchant for politics sees today’s ultra-close mayor’s race shaking out:
1st Place: KC mayor Mark Funkhouser with 23 percent of the vote.
2nd Place: Development lawyer Mike Burke with 20 percent.
3rd Place: Deb Hermann and Sly James with 19 percent each
4th Place: Jim Rowland with 15 percent
