KC Confidential

Let’s straighten out all of this confusion where Mike Shanin and Entercom are concerned, shall we?

First of all, forget pretty much most of what you may have read or heard about what was blogged locally about the aging radio veteran’s untimely departure from News Radio KMBZ 980/98.1 earlier this year and more recently KMBZ’s new, weak sister business station at 1660 AM.

When Shanin refused to go on the air on 1660 on March 5th, hours before the station’s launch, the question was why?

And if you recall, one reason offered here was that according to sources he was upset that Entercom had not hired a producer to do the leg work and much of the heavy lifting in terms of booking guests and doing research for Shanin’s weekday business show on 1660.

A former Entercom manager who had hired Shanin to read business reports on KMBZ and 61 Country several years back noted that Shanin was not a business reporter per ser with a business background, describing him rather as a "rip and read " guy when it came to business news.

So quite obviously Shanin – who’d been demoted from his comfortable perch doing afternoons on KMBZ talking about news – would have been hard pressed to deal in complex business news and issues and foster intelligent discussion with local business leaders.

Hence the need for – at the very least – a true producer for his show on 1660 AM.

Instead what he got was the board op dude who did afternoons on KMBZ.

A guy who makes sure the commercials and news breaks, etc. run. Not the seasoned professional business news producer Shanin was counting on.

Thus Shanin continues to tell others in the industry that "the reason he didn’t take 1660 show was in fact they would not hire him a producer," says a source. "But he lied about that to Bottom Line so it would not sound bad or lazy."

Naturally management was furious with Shanin for refusing to go on the air at the last minute, but allowed him to continue to promote the new business station at 1660 by rip and reading business news on KMBZ. And if you recall, I wrote that under the circumstances, the chances of that continuing for very long were slim and none.

So it is, that Shanin and KMBZ have now parted ways and former KC Business Journal staffer Krista Klaus has replaced Shanin there, as well as on 1660. Obviously Klaus is a far better fit.

However, Entercom says Shanin will still be allowed to do voice commercial spots for advertisers on KMBZ (duh) and may be contracted in the summer or fall to do some political reporting for the station.

As for the concept of The KMBZ Business Channel at 1660 AM moving at some point to KMBZ 980 AM’s slot, don’t hold your breath.

That is a possibility, Entercom says, except for one thing.

"Very few stations around the country doing business get much if any ratings," says a broadcasting industry insider. "In fact, I don’t know of any as a matter of fact. For example, WBBR in New York City is ranked 37th in 12-plus, which means there aren’t a lot of people interested in that format on the radio. And New York is the financial capital of the world."

No way Entercom would be dumb enough to kill KMBZ 980 and replace it with business news, he adds.

"There’s no way anybody’s going to take that signal and put local business on it. That is so far out in left field, I don’t care what they’re telling people. That’s the dumbest thing in the world. That would kill KMBZ. If they would do that, that would be unbelievable. They’d be better off launching another talk format on 1660 and going up against KCMO 710 AM."

There’s more than one meaning for the word jazz…

Don’t bother looking it up, I’ve got it right here; "insincere, exaggerated, or pretentious talk."

And where the neverending saga of fallen Plaza area jazz club Jardine’s is concerned there’s been plenty of that.

Let’s think briefly about the lies, tabloid TV, confusion and subterfuge that’s gone down at Jardine’s since last November when the you-know-what hit the fan. The interested parties that have come and seemingly gone. The catty behind-the-scenes dealings that went awry. Larger than life personalities reduced to cartoon-like, lowest common denominators. And lastly, of the endlessness of it all.

We good? Now here’s the latest.

A week ago Jardine‘s founder and former owner Greg Halstead fired off an angry email to the leasing agent for Jardine’s space:

"As you know, I have a financial interest in Jardine’s per my Agreement with Beena Brandsgard Raja," it begins. "You have a copy of that Agreement.

I have recently learned that you will not respond to messages from Paul Wilson regarding his interest in buying Jardines. Wilson has been interested in buying Jardine’s since early January and that you, of late, will not respond to either his phone messages or his e-mails.

I have been told that Robert McCain and Joseph Fulgenzi are no longer pursuing to lease the Jardine space because of, according to them, your failure to communicate with in a timely or professional manner.

I also understand the Matt Jones, proprietor of the Phoenix Jazz Club is no longer interested in buying Jardine’s because of your refusal to communicate with him.

I stopped trying to contact you roughly 10 weeks ago because you would not return my phone calls or respond to my e-mails…"

Got all that?

Raja, however, begs to differ.

"He calls me all the time," she says of the leasing agent for Jardine’s space. "And I talked to him today, too. He’s one of the greatest property managers I’ve ever had."

As for the other players mentioned in Halstead’s missive, "You know what?" Raja says. "The gay guys got plenty of calls back – that’s bullshit. And Matt from the Phoenix met with (the agent) at Jardine’s, I was there. What is Greg talking about?"

Jones is no longer interested in Jardine’s, Raja says. "And I haven’t talked to the gay guys for a month or more," she adds.

Speaking of which, my last contact with McCain was a text on March 28th reading; "spoke to halstead today, have a call out to american century. funny how things all changed today after we did all the due diligence"

McCain did not respond to requests for comment today and yesterday on whether or not he was still in the running for Jardine’s or if he’d heard recently from the leasing agent for the space.

The latest from Jardine’s suitor  Paul Wilson:

"Yeah, I’m still interested," Wilson says. "I mean, I’m far less interested than I was two months ago, but if eveything lined up, I’d still be interested."

On the leasing agent front, Wilson says it’s been three weeks without a return call or email since he submitted a list of seven questions pertaining to the lease to the leasing agent for American Century.

Raja’s bottom line:

"Hearne, I got screwed. I signed the lease termination that Friday, so I’m out of the lease but I still have the license and I’m talking to a couple people. And I talked to American Century today and they’re going to keep it as a bar…I don’t want to be a part of it, but I’m hoping for the best. It’s my name and my license and nobody else can get it."

That is, without making a deal with Raja first, and a ‘for sale’ sign is up on Jardine’s Web site.

stay tuned.

A pair of stories making the rounds today has to make you wonder about the sanctity of youth…

That august Kansas City radio talk show host Walt Bodine of public radio station KCUR FM is retiring is one thing. Bodine’s 91 and the awful truth is management’s been counting the days, waiting for him to bail for probably 20 years. And as significant as Bodine’s contributions have been, his retirement is long overdue.

And that’s just the tip of today’s Really Old Dudes iceberg.

The story that gets me – really gets me – is about the slimy dude who helped his wife scam KU for all those basketball tickets ($2 million worth that they know of) appealing his 46-month sentence from a year back.

That’s right, former KU athletic department consultant Thomas Blubaugh wants his sentence reduced to 33 months. He’s in the slammer in Oklahoma and thinks the sentencing judge relied too heavily on heresay.

Now the kicker…

Blubaugh’s sentencing judge was a 104 year-old Kansas man by the name of Wesley E. Brown.

Turns out Brown was the longest serving federal judge, oldest federal judge still hearing cases and the oldest dude to serve as a federal judge in the history of this country when he checked out on January 23rd.

This guy was probably rolling his own cigarettes when Bodine was still in diapers.

Check out this six year-old photo of Brown on Wikipedia. Below it, it says: "No higher resolution available."

No higher resolution indeed – this guys high school picture was probably in pen and ink.

But enough about Brown and the KU ticket scandal – back to Bodine.

I’ll never forget – nor will a certain KCUR general manager by the name of Patricia Cahill – the day in 1996 when she told the world Bodine was history.

It was 16 years ago then that the Star trotted out a largely pro-Bodine, front-page story about his axing.

"KCUR-FM calls a quick ending for the dean of KC broadcasting’s radio show," read the partial headline.

"He was told after completing his one-hour show Monday and before undergoing outpatient eye surgery that his contract would not be renewed and that `The Walt Bodine Show’ had been canceled," it reads.

Bodine’s take at the time: “It came as a total shock to me.”

The story noted that Bodine had been legally blind since the mid-1970s and that "several sources close to Bodine and the station, who declined to be identified, said the quality of his show had declined in recent years (and) he was often ill-prepared to interview high-profile guests."

Despite which the local media beatdown of Cahill was so intense she nearly had a nervous breakdown and Bodine was rehired.

“The venom that I hear on the answering machine from the messages that we’ve got at the station – it scares me, it’s so mean,”  Cahill told me at the time. “And people are so quick to judge without knowing all of the details. And that scares me in a way, too. ” 

Cahill reluctantly accepted being the scapegoat for Walt’s axing but told me then it was not a one-woman decision.

Like the anonymous dudes in the front page story, Cahill would have liked to have laid down the story-behind-the-story on Bodine’s firing but…

"I can’t,” she told me. “It is not possible for everyone to know everything that happened … because it’s a personnel matter, it’s a confidential matter. ”

As for Bodine not being given an on-air, Goodbye Mr. Chips farewell, "People don’t say ‘Goodbye’ on the radio," Cahill told me. "They say ‘Hello’ on the radio."

Times have changed…

This time around Bodine will indeed be allowed to say goodbye on KCUR at 10 a.m. April 27th.

And as for Cahill, she’s slated to retire in June after 25 years at the station.

Her parting shot this time around: "We hope Walt will still come by the station," she told the Star. "We don’t want to lose track of Walt or to let our listeners lose track of him."

Speaking of losing track, in a perfect world, this story would have been written by Star television and media beat writer Aaron Barnhart. However, as I wrote here two months back Barnhart has been out of sight since late last year. That after previously being diagnosed with cancer that was thought to be in remission. Sources say Barnhart’s unexplained departure is thought to be health related.

All of which adds up to the one thing; it’s sucks getting old sometimes.

They seek him here, they seek him there, those foodies seek him everywhere…Is he a chef or merely a drunk, that demmed abusive Bourdain punk.

The "unrepentant" drinker, smoker and cusser of bad words Anthony Bourdain hit KC last December, mixing business with hedonism – playing the Midland downtown (courtesy of former KU concert king turned theater bigshot Steve Traxler) – and working up a future show about what Kansas City that airs tonight at 8 p.m. on the Travel Channel.

Look for it to be part not-so-fine dining expereinces and part and drunken expedition. With The Black Keys tagging along for the ride. And as KCC reported last year he hit BB’s Lawnside BBQ and Stroud’s, to name two. He also reportedly polished off a a raucous post-Midland wilding at the Cigar Box downtown.

But since nobody around these parts I know of stalked him, the specifics of Bourdain’s local tour shall largely remain nameless until tonight other than to say he told a gathering of kickass local chefs and foodies like Michael Smith that he loved Oklahoma Joe’s.

That said, here’s a mix of Bourdain’s front and backstage comments and asides as a tuneup for tonight’s show. I’d lay down a few more, but you try reading my scribbled-in-the-dark notes from last year.

On the Iron Chef…"Do you like that show? I hate that show. I like the Japanese version – I love the dubbing."

On Man v. Food show’s Adam Richman..."I like him, but the show concept I’m a little uncomfortable with. Then something about Ed Hardy Douche-wear. "Why do we watch this show? Look in your hearts, because we want him to die."

On traveling to world basically wasted and drinking…"the local beverages – we’re not alcoholics, we’re tele-fucking-professionals."

Bourdain’s nickname for the three top fast chains…"The King, the Clown and the Colonel."

On local healthy eating habits…"I’ve been here five days and cheesy corn’s about the only vegetable I’ve seen."

Most amazing political feat..."I got Ted Nugent to drink the second beer of his life. That’s a big win for me."

On growing old gracefully..."I’m a parent, sorry. Come on, who wants to see their dad rock? So I got rid of the thumb ring, earring and Ramones t-shirt. Cool is not giving a fuck, but when you have a kid, you definitely give a fuck."

In response to a set up question from an audience member trying to pimp an area high-end eatery..."Fuck Justus Drugstore."

On his wife..."She’s like a wolf. All she eats is protein. I married an Italian who will not eat pasta. I married Chuck Norris."

On a certain historic, downtown restaurant..."I’m a sentimentalist. We went to the Savoy Grill and New York restaurants would kill to have that room. It is awesome – you know I respect places like that."

What to expect on tonight’s show…"We’ve been here shooting for a week and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and disturbed by what we’ve found."

Enough with the phony surveys..

A funny thing happened during yesterday’s breakfast interview/meeting with Mancow in Chicago. In what came across quite innocently – at least at first – Mancow called out the women in Kansas City for being overweight.

Fat, actually.

"Are you shocked by how big the women in Kansas City are?" he mused. "They are so huge."

Hey, it’s not like this comes as a news flash or anything.

The Cowtown’s been on the receiving end of countless "Fattest Cities" surveys over the years.

Personally, I don’t put much stock in these "reports." Fittest, fattest, best place to raise kids, start a family, retire, party – the list is endless. The way I view them is as contrived means for magazine’s like Men’s Fitness to bolster flagging readership and sales by working up phony formulas that they know will get picked up, reported and discussed by local newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations.

Instant PR.

Aside from the contrived hype, it’s not like there’s zero basis for reaching some of these conclusions. Take Men’s Health‘s 2010 ranking of KC as the country’s 6th fattest city…

You needn’t go much farther than the Plaza to support that case, but have you been to Topeka lately?

And after spending a few days wandering around Chicago I can see where Mancow’s coming from. The sidewalks are crawling with people of every age and stripe here, who with rare exception appear far skinnier that the people we see waddling about in KC.

So yeah, from my observations there are far fewer women of great weight roaming the streets of Chicago than Kansas City. It’s fairly obvious.

That said, after assigning an F to Kansas City in fattness, Chicago barely eeked out a D from Men’s Health, coming in as 22nd fattest. Frankly, I don’t get it?

Most of the fat people I see in Chicago here look like they’re from out-of-town.

Like from Kansas City or Topeka.

Or that state I rambled through on the way here – what’s it called? – oh yeah, Iowa.

You can’t get much fatter than Iowa. Yet the only city out of like 100 to move Men’s Fitness’s Fat Meter was Des Moines with a C- and in 39th place.

Look, I just have one question:

Who is Men’s Health trying to kid with these bogus rankings?

You know you’re in Chicago when the drive in from the outskirts is 10 times worse than the entire rest of the trip…

Turns out there’s something to be said about quality of life and all that falderol we take for granted in KC. Somebody remind me to check out the train accommodations here next time. Speaking of checking something out, get a load of the gas prices here, fellow flyover types. My nine gallon Fiat fillup ran an eyebrow arching $43.00 @ $4.69 a gallon.

Caught up to KC radio export Erich "Mancow" Muller for breakfast at Chicago’s ritzy new Palomar hotel downtown. The Cow was hanging there with wife Sandy and their twin daughters for Spring Break.

A few hightlights….

"Let’s talk about radio," Mancow says. "It’s a mess. Look, I’m the best buggy whip maker there is. Everybody’s afraid. The Internet’s the new shiny toy and the writing’s on the wall. People in radio aren’t making money. Thankfully, I’ve already made my money."

Mancow returns to KC a time or three a year for Gates Bar-B-Q, dinner at the Savoy (the old ways die hard) and the odd canoe misadvernture. But the longer he’s away, the less likely his one-time dream of returning and running a small radio station with his brother becomes.

"I just don’t think I can come back," he says. "Ive been gone too long."

Then – out of the clear blue sky – Mancow hits me with The Question:

"Are you shocked by how big the women in Kansas City are?," he asks. "They are so huge. When I was a kid going to Southwood Elementary in Raytown, we all made fun of the one fat kid. Now I would imagine, they all make fun of the one skinny kid."

On the conspiracy front, Mancow addressed the recent death of his friend, conservative political commentator Andrew Breitbart.

Breitbart checked out March 1st at the ripe, young age of 43 on the day he was to have released a huge story that would have rocked the Obama presidency. After his death a story was posted on Breitbart’s Web site revealing "Obama’s love for far-Left radical Saul Alinsky" and the world collectively yawned.

That wasn’t the story Breitbart planned to release that day, Mancow says.

Mancow’s take on Breitbart’s death:

"He was murdered. We were working on a TV show and I talked to him every day and he told me he had information that was going to bring down Obama. He kept saying, March 1st, March 1st. And he died on the day he was going to bring it out, on March 1st. He died at (something like) 2 a.m. – he went for a walk and died of natural causes.

"I’ll tell you what’s suspicious about this. Stars die all the time of obvious things, and we’re not allowed to say anything until the coroner’s report. But this guy dies of natural causes and case closed."