KC Confidential | Hearne Christopher, Uncensored

Starbeams: Kyle Orton’s Single Snap, It’s So Cold, Obama in Osawatomie, Titanic to KC

Posted on December 6, 2011 by admin

Chiefs quarterback Kyle Orton was knocked from the game after a single snap. Now we know why his initials are K.O.

*******

It was so cold…

Teenagers formed a flash-mob on the plaza to steal space heaters…

Mayor James announced he’s taking over the West Palm Beach school district…

I invited Katie Horner to stand in front of my TV and talk about the temp for 90 minutes…

Today was a 9 on the Chris Suchan "I tell ya" index…

Chaz Bono would be jealous of my ovaries…

*******

President Obama is in Osawatomie today. People were standing in line in front of the high school as early as Saturday. Most of them thought it was an unemployment thing.

Then, the President returns to his place of birth for a 17-day vacation. I hope he brings a versatile wardrobe because it will be 60 degrees warmer in Kenya.

*******

The popular Titanic exhibit will return to Union Station to mark the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking. It will also mark the five month anniversary of Kyle Orton’s career with the Chiefs.

A police dog escaped from North Kansas City police and they’ve been unsuccessful finding it. It resembles a German shepherd, answers to "Ty" and could be positioned near a stoplight trying to raise revenue for the city.

Kelly Urich hosts the morning show on 99.7 The Point

Posted in Starbeams | Tagged Kelly Urich | Leave a comment

Hearne: Win Second Row Seats to Brian Setzer @ The Uptown Wednesday

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

Here’s the deal…

KC Confidential is looking for a few good stories about former Stray Cats front man Brian Setzer. And we’ve got a pair of second row seats to tomorrow night’s show at the Uptown Theater for the best one.

It’s wide open.

From memories of the Stray Cats at Memorial Hall from a million years ago to Setzer’s big band holiday blowout at the Uptown. It’s a little murky now, but local entertainment sources recall Setzer being involved with former Westport watering hole and concert club Guitars & Cadillacs. And that he was married at one point to a Kansas City grrrl.

Weigh in with your Setzer flashback in the comments section or to hearne@kcconfidential and win a pair of second row seats to Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot at the Uptown tomorrow night!

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 11 Comments

Donnelly: Greaser Alert; Brian Setzer Rolling into the Uptown This Wednesday

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

Something wicked this way comes…

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot! rolls into town this Wednesday night at the Uptown.

The show is a general admission on the floor, seated balcony show.

Setzer is the guy, formerly of The Stray Cats of the rockabilly revival pompadour and everything, who converted to swing, and now is playing a mix of both, also with a bit of jazz thrown in. He’s just been nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Album for his solo album Setzer Goes instru-MENTAL! so you can expect some of that as well.

So if you have that leopard print sport coat that you can only wear like five times a year, now is your chance Hearne…

They just began the US leg of their tour last week in Detroit, after just returning from Europe playing to crowds of 50,000 plus.

I’m expecting the Uptown floor tobecome a whirling dervish of poodle skirts, wallet chains, and hair grease. In a good way.

Also on the bill is Slim Jim Phantom, drummer from The Stray Cats.

Wednesday night the doors are at 7:00 and the show is at 8:00.

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged M. Donnelly | 1 Comment

Today: Jardine’s Owner Vows to Open Plaza Jazz Club for KCC Xmas Bash & More

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

This just in…

Jardine’s owner Beena Raja says she will open the popular Plaza area jazz club on December 12th for the KC Confidential holiday wilding and remain open for specific engagements such as the upcoming Julia Othmer and Ida McBeth shows.

Raja stopped short of saying exactly why she fired the staff last week and shuttered the club after Karrin Allyson‘s shows Tuesday. Something about feeling that some staffers were taking advantage of the club. So she changed the locks and cleaned house.

The club is slated to be open on Monday, December 12th at 5:30 p.m. for the KC Confidential bash and be open on a case-by-case basis for the time being. Including for Othmer’s 7:30 p.m. show December 14, Othmer’s two shows at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. December 16, the Burns & McDonnell holiday party December 20 and McBeth’s New Year’s Eve shows December 31. Check Jardine’s calendar for upcoming shows.

"I’m looking forward to 2012," Raja says. "It’s a brand new year. Beena Raja is my name but I’m no king like the name says. But I’m still the queen. Come and see my new chandeliers."

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 78 Comments

Hearne: One Down; Kansas City’s Onerous ‘Health Card’ Bites the Dust

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

It’s all over but the shouting…

After years of carping, the Kansas City health department’s "food handler cards" are no more.

"They city’s eliminated one of its two dumb cards," cracks Westport businessman Bill Nigro. "One is called the liquor card and it requires people to pay $41 and you have one if you’re involved in serving alcohol anywhere in Kansas City, Missouri. And the one we got eliminated is the health card. It costs $20 and it’s the card they started making any employee in the restaurant and bar industry who handles food buy. They started it about seven years ago."

Here’s the rub…

"They send people to these little classes on hygene, like about washing your hands and stuff and keeping food hot and cold – things you learned in high school," Nigro says. "Then every three years you have to buy another card and take the class again. Obviously, because in those three years that you’ve gotten expertise in the restaurant business, you got dumber. That’s why I call it a dumb card. And it’s a dumb card because they shove it down the throats of minimum wage people and they don’t even require it in Kansas."

It’s an unecessary burden on low age, working class people, Nigro says.

"Because people who work in our industry, a lot of them don’t have vehicles because they’re the lowest paid people in town. And they have to figure out a way to get to 24th and Troost or 7th and Woodland. Try getting there from up north by the airport – it’ll be a $40 cab ride. It’s a roadblock for poor people to get jobs in this town."

The city has an ordinance that it can’t make money on the cards – it can only charge enough to cover the cost of the cards and the classes – but Nigro says he’s skeptical.

"Then they come into your restaurant or bar and if a certain percentage of your help doesn’t have the health cards on them they penalize you on your inspection points. Like it’s a critical violation. So then they can come back in and reinspect you and charge you for it and that’s like $150. And reinspections have gone up 300 percent over the last three years."

It’s not only a scam but a needless one, Nigro insists.

"For example, we sent a bartender down to the health department, and they give the class in like five languages or something," Nigro says. "And when he got down there, he signed up to take the class in Chinese. And when the test came, he just kept pointing down to the paper and acting confused, so they helped him fill out all the right answers and he passed. It’s a joke."

At a meeting with city officals during the Funkhouser regime, Nigro asked health officials if they were passing people who were mentally impaired.

"And they said, yes," Nigro says. "That’s how ridiculous it all is. They’re just doing this for the money and it’s an open book test. Even a moron could figure out the answers."

Posted in News_and_Views | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 5 Comments

Glazer: Tiger Woods; America’s Villain Becomes America’s Hero Again

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

Just two years ago the morons of America were saying Tiger Woods was done…

Tiger would win no more. Woods had cheated on his pretty, blonde wife many times and she’d chased him with a golf club and he hit a tree with his car. There wasn’t much damage to Tiger, the tree or the car, but there was a ton of damage to Woods’ image.

The white world was stunned.

"We gave you our skin color and you screwed us!" they ranted. "You cheated on the pretty, white girl."

Tiger was toast. He lost most of his advertising backers and millions of dollars.

But the man hadn’t killed anybody. He wasn’t busted for dealing drugs or dog fighting. He wasn’t the head of the Hip Hop movement. He cheated on his wife, that’s all. And America went whack. Why? Because we made him white that’s all. And oh yeah, because he was the greatest golfer of all-time and he crossed us.

Yesterday Woods won his first tournament in two years.

No, it wasn’t a major, but it was a decent one in California, the Chevron World Challenge. Yep, he’d gone 26 tournaments without a win. He did finish third last week, a step towards this win. It was Tiger’s 83rd tournament win and he moved his world ranking from 52ND to 21st.

He also is a win away from getting back all those commericals and millions of dollars. The guy is the best. He did nothing really wrong. He cheated on his wife. Let me clue you in….pssst…….so do 95% of all celebrities. What really happened is he got caught. And he was kinda black and so people were PISSED!

It’s over now Tiger, you’re white again.

You can come home. Hey, did you meet my sister? She’s hot. That’s what Tiger’s gonna hear that now. A winner is just that, a winner.

And Woods wins.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 12 Comments

Glazer: Scribe Defends, Marvels, Then Worships at the Alter of Tim Tebow

Posted on December 5, 2011 by admin

Denver’s Tim Tebow is 6 and 1 and the man has won five straight games since taking over for Kyle Orton…

Orton, who threw only one pass for KC at a cost of 2 million bucks, is likely done for the year. Good move, KC. Oh yeah, the pass was incomplete.

Meanwhile, Tebow’s now the talk of the league and the sports world. Yesterday he beat the Vikings with his arm, not his legs. Tim threw for more than 200 yards. Plus two touchdowns and in the third quarter to beat the Vikes 35-32. The Denver Broncos are now 7-5 and will likely win the AFC West.

The Chumps are 5-7 and to say we are in it is stupid – we’re the worst team in the division by far.

Denver may clinch its title by beating the Chiefs there in a few weeks.

Tebow was put down by the entire media as a ‘joke’ for being placed on any NFL team, even as a back-up quarterback. But he was a strong runner and game manager at Florida where he won two titles. And Tebow today is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in football period.

He’s a man who just knows how to win.

Tebow is going to be an all-AFC quarterback and will go to the Pro Bowl because he’s earned it.

Many people don’t like Tim cause he’s a big time God Lover. And he talks about it too much. I find that odd, since this is a right wing, Christian, God-fearing nation. Tim should be everybody’s heroe but he’s not.

In real life maybe 50 % of America no longer believes in God, at least not in the conventional way we once did.

Then there are those who find the entire idea really stupid. Like me and a guy named Einstein. What does he know? I like Tim Tebow and the fact he is a God’s team guy matters not.

He’s good, he wins, it’s football.

And this Denver team could go deep in these playoffs. There is no dominent team in the AFC. We don’t have the Packers or Saints to worry about. New England has a horrible defense so who knows?

A Denver vs. Saints Super Bowl?

Wheres the Pack? They better find a defense or they won’t get to the big dance. The Packers, who I love, have a terrible defense, so does New England.

All Tebow needs is Tom Laundry (Dallas) as head Coach, Kurt Warner (Arizona) as General Manager and – bam! – God’s Team!

You go Tim.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 10 Comments

Donnelly: Wilco @ The Uptown Theater, December 3, 2011

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

“Tonight we’ve got a little something for everyone,” declared Jeff Tweedy midway through Wilco’s sold out Saturday night show at the Uptown Theater. “Merry Christmas!”

He wasn’t kidding.

Wilco’s set list was probably the most unpredictable in all the dozen or so times I’ve seen this band over the years. No Jesus, Etc., no I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, and no Handshake Drugs.

Instead, the band hopped around their discography, with an emphasis, of course,on their newest effort, The Whole Love.

Pretty much everyone agrees that Wilco’s most recent three albums are not as good as the two that came before – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost is Born.

Let’s be honest here, those two albums are classics that will stand the test of time, so equaling them in subsequent releases was unrealistic at best. The Whole Love probably comes the closest to those glory years, but it still has drawn plenty of criticism from fans that expect a groundbreaking effort with each new record

Nevertheless, on Saturday night some of the biggest ovations were for the newer tunes.

Before Wilco emerged, though, legendary songwriter Nick Lowe brought his British charm to the stage to “warm up the room.” “But it seems as though this room is already plenty warm,” he quipped between solo acoustic renditions of some of his most popular songs. After his 40 minute set, the only question I was left with was, “No Cruel To Be Kind?”

More on that later.

Wilco took the stage- which was dressed in white bunches of ghost-like sheets hanging all over- and reached back to A Ghost is Born for the tune, Less Than You Think, a quiet, brooding, noise inflected song that builds into a catchy melody before fading into the static fuzz netherworld. They don’t play this song all that often, let alone to open up a show, so right off the bat I was a little surprised by the selection.

As the fuzz dissipated, the syncopated electronic beat of The Art of Almost– one of Wiclo’s new ones – took over. As is almost always the case, sonically, the band was impeccable and Tweedy’s expressive voice was strong and clear. Likewise, Nels Cline commanded his army of guitars to create buzzing accents when he wasn’t busy flying around the frets or shaking the feedback out of his instruments.

Most impressive was his work on the ballad that turns into an all out guitar anthem, Impossible Germany. Though Cline always busts out a ripping solo over Tweedy’s repetitive dual guitar line on the song’s outro, this time he attacked it a little differently, improvising his way into a jazz fury that lent the song a different feel from versions I’ve witnessed in the past.

When the song ended, Tweedy shook his head and glanced incredulously at Cline, who was busy fiddling with his arsenal already getting ready for the next one. “That was fun,” Tweedy stated flatly.

The audience agreed and paid an extra long ovation to the guitar mad scientist.

Rhythm section stalwarts Glenn Kotche and John Stirratt were as they always are – solid, energetic, and impressive – but in a weird way. I say weird because, though their respective parts are certainly complex in some cases, they are so subtle that it’s easy to overlook. But their understated presence is vital to the production of Wilco’s sound and continued status as a roots-rock band, especially since Tweedy commands so much attention.

Four songs in, another surprise came in the form of one of the band’s most loved songs, Misunderstood. Normally reserved for the end of sets or encores, Wilco rolled through the nostalgic tune with an energy that some long-time fans haven’t seen in awhile. One Wilco fan that I know has seen at least a handful of their shows over the years, said after the show that this was the band’s best performance he’d ever seen.

For me, I don’t think it was the best, but it was right up there. But who knows, maybe I’ve idealized the older shows as they get farther and farther away.

Next, the band went in for another new one, the introspective Black Moon which featured a nice droopy lap steel instrumental from Cline. Then the band immediately returned to another favorite, Via Chicago, which might have been the best perfromance of the night.

“I dreamed about killing you again last night, and it felt all right to me…” sneered Tweedy over the thick acoustic strums.

The all-over-the-map trend continued with nice versions of You and I, Kamera, Box Full of Letters, and Born Alone which received as big of a crowd reaction as there was all night for a new tune.

And it didn’t stop there. Wilco seemed to be playing for themselves, not pandering whatsoever. Well, OK, there was a little pandering before they played Capitol City, a silly-sounding new song that everyone seems to hate. That was excused by a friend with the explanation, “Every band deserves to have their Octopuses Garden.”

I guess.

“You can tell if an audience is hip,” Tweedy said sheepishly, “by if it is digging this song. Bring it Kansas City!”

To be fair, the song was a bit better than it is on the album, but that’s about it.

As the set came to its end, Tweedy displayed his trademark jogging-in-place dance that always rears its ugly head during the instrumental section of Hummingbird, then they closed with the always rockin’, Shot in the Arm.

The band returned to the stage for not one, but two encores. The latter saw opener Nick Lowe emerge again and together, the musicians ended the night playing Lowe’s hit, Cruel To Be Kind, complete with the backing vocals provided by Tweedy and sideman Pat Sansone.

If there were any kinks to be found on this night, they certainly weren’t on the stage. They had more to do with a ticketing issue that apparently left many concertgoers steamed. Not only were some of the issued Ticketmaster tickets simply not scanning, there was also a mix-up with some of the pre-sale tickets bought through Wilco’s fan club. The result was that some who bought the more expensive tickets got shafted, and I’m guessing that some people never even got in to the show.

“We’re really sorry that happened,” announced Tweedy mid-set. Not that he had any part in the deal, or could have done anything about it.

“So if you could please move to the back,” joked Tweedy pointing at a front row fan, “and let the others move to the front, please.”

Tweedy was just having fun up there, showing that when the band has fun, the audience usually does too.

SET LIST:

Less Than You Think

Art of Almost
I Might
Misunderstood
Black Moon
Via Chicago
You and I
Kamera
Box Full of Letters
Born Alone
Radio Cure
Impossible Germany
Capitol City
New Madrid
Someday Soon
War on War
Dawned On Me
Hummingbird
A Shot in the Arm
Encore:
Whole Love

Heavy Metal Drummer
I’m The Man Who Loves You
Standing O
Monday
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Encore #2:
Cruel to Be Kind (w/ Nick Lowe)

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged M. Donnelly | 9 Comments

Hearne: Jason Whitlock Hammers ESPN on CNN’s ‘Reliable Sources’

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

Another uptick for former Star sports star Jason Whitlock…

On the heels of hammering Penn State on ESPN, Whitlock was back in play Sunday on the national stage, courtesy of CNN‘s "Reliable Sources."

This time out, the Big Guy took estranged former-employer ESPN to task. Albeit via some twisted logic to rationalize what he’d written a few weeks back.

Think of it as a tale of two cities…

On November 23rd Whitlock hammered ESPN – the sports media giant that fired him five years back – for unfairly smearing now-disgraced Syracuse basketball coach Bernie Fine.

"What I do know, based on (Mark) Schwarz’s juvenile ‘reporting, is the Worldwide Leader didn’t have nearly enough evidence to air such a reputation-damaging story," Whitlock wrote then. "Schwarz acquired just enough information — two vague, mumbling on-camera interviews from Fine’s accusers — to protect ESPN from a lawsuit. Schwarz did the legal minimum. Was his story sound journalism? Was his story remotely fair? No, and hell no…You don’t destroy a person’s reputation with two highly flimsy accusations"

That’s where Whitlock stepped in it, to borrow from Texas governor Rick Perry.

Whitlock was dead wrong in assuming ESPN had only the two taped interviews.

Not only did ESPN have the interviews, it had a tape of one of Fine’s accusers talking to Fine’s wife about her husband abusing him. A tape that when released days later cost Fine his job at Syracuse and resulted in Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim apologizing for defending Fine and – more importantly – disparaging Fine’s accusers by calling one of them a serial liar.

However since Whitlock didn’t bother calling ESPN to make sure he had all the facts before launching his attack, he got it wrong. Dead wrong.

In short, he did pretty much what he accused "American journalism" of doing a week later.

"Over the past 15 years, the 24-hour news cycle and the Internet hastened our descent into the kind of journalism that reports first, clarifies and fact-checks later and eventually gets around to context and perspective . . ."

Now check out Whitlock’s revisionist logic, explaining his earlier Syracuse column to CNN.

"The way (ESPN) presented the story originally was morally criminal," Whitlock began. "I think it did a disservice to the alleged victims, I think it did a disservice to Bernie Fine, I think it did a disservice to Jim Boeheim."

Hold it right there…

A disservice to Fine? What, so he would have gotten fired faster? Talk about sympathy for the devil.

A disservice to Boehm, who unwisely and bogusly abused the first victim by calling him a serial liar? Yeah, maybe that’s what caused him to make a complete ass of himself. Still it hardly excuses or explains Boeheim’s blame the victim tirade.

Whitlock continued…

"The story was sold so sketchily and in such a juvenile fashion. They didn’t air the audiotape with the original story…If you air it properly the first time and don’t wait 10 days to air the audiotape, people digest the story differently…Because the original report raised a lot of questions about the accusers and made you wonder, ‘Hold on they must have more than just these brief snippets of comments from Lang and Davis.’ "

Bingo!

Even though Whitlock thought ESPN had to have had more evidence than it aired in the original report, he wrongly assumed in his column that they didn’t and bagged on them for it.

Whitlock’s mistake, ESPN’s bad.

Whitlock finished up by playing lawyer, claiming some of the search warrants in the case might be thrown out cuz of ESPN‘s’s "improper handling of this."

What’s next, Court TV?

Posted in News_and_Views | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 3 Comments

Glazer: Scribe Drowns His Sorrows in Chiefs’ Win Over Chicago

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

The stink farm known as the Kansas City Chiefs were smart enough to steal Kyle Orton…

From two teams that wanted him badly – Texas and Chicago – teams that have a real shot at the playoffs while the Chiefs are totally out of the playoffs picture. Then Orton threw a single pass, hurt his hand and is likely out for the season. Great way to blow $2 million.

Orton was meaningless to one of the NFL’s worst teams.

And once again today the Chiefs were gifted a game. From a team with a wounded quarterback, like us. Chiefs QB Tyler Palko is brave and tries very hard, but he’s not a legitimate NFL quarterback, as evidenced by zero touchdowns in three games.

Yes, we had a playground TD at the end of the first half. Palko just threw it up and the Chiefs got lucky when it was batted down and into their hands.

Impressive, what talent!

Palko did nothing the rest of the game. The Bears gave us the game, with bounce-off TD at the end, non-existent penalties and missed field goals. You can see we really suck.

You will hear now how wonderful our defense is, right? NOT REALLY. We do well against wounded teams like Oakland was and the Bears, but nobody else, save the one good performance against a bored Steelers team.

Our D makes no big plays, really. Or very few. And it can be had with a good anything. The Jets and Packers both will remind us of how bad the Chiefs really are.

Then we will be 5-9 with no decent draft pick.

The best example of how bad these Chiefs are was Kyle Orton’s one play career for KC at two million bucks. He stunk and was hurt on his first play. Let’s fire general manager Scott Piolli and make coach Todd Haley GM and head coach – that makes more sense.

Again, sorry Chumps fans. Like me, you need to find another team to root for over the next few years. Without a decent quarterback in the NFL you are just cannon fodder. We will be a team in name only with the Matt‘s, the Tyler’s, the Kyles, etc. So we will be awful next year too – with our without Haley. That’s just the way it is.

No talent, no quarterback, not worth backing in my book.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 6 Comments

Hearne: The Best of and The Enigma That Was Don Harman

Posted on December 4, 2011 by admin

Let’s lighten things up a bit where the Don Harman tragedy is concerned…

While most viewers of Fox 4‘s popular morning news show knew only the bright, sunny side of Harman, I got to see a surprisingly different side of the affable weather wonk after covering a handful of his early exploits in my column in the Kansas City Star.

Let’s revisit those happier times, then I’ll share an anecdote with you about an encounter I had with Harman after writing those largely innocuous items.

It didn’t take long for Harman to draw my attention in 1999, given that he was a guy who had some pretty big boots to fill after Gary Lezak bailed for the greener pastures of KSHB TV, Channel 41.

In Harman’s column kickoff, largely biographical column, I asked him tongue-in-cheek if he’d be bringing any dogs on the set, a signature Lezak move.

"I am pet-free,” Harman replied. “But (viewers) shouldn’t watch the pet. You don’t get paid for the pet … unless you’re Gary.”

Did Harman – who was single at the time – even have any pets?

“Just me," he said. "I just caught seven crappie, but I let ’em go. They could have been my pets.”

A handful of months later, again in 1999, I asked Harman about a subject that had been quite touchy with a number of Fox 4 stationalities. That being that they were being required by the station to fly on Johnny Rowlands’ helecopter.

And Harman had been aboard when the chopper nearly crashed and had to make an emergency landing near La Loup, Kansas.

" (The helicopter) went into a drastic climb because the rotor was turning faster," Rowlands explained. "And it started shake, rattling and rolling. And I had no control of the rpm and it was thrashing around."

After safely – if nervously – bringing it down, Rowlands’ chopper started to take off again.

"I was going to bail out at that point because I thought it was possessed," Rowlands told me.

"Needless to say, WDAF weather geek Don Harman enjoyed the flight immensely," I added.

"I don’t know if the fact that I had no idea what was going on saved me from looking like a wuss or what," Harman said gamely. "Had I seen a rotor fly off or flames coming out of the chopper, my concerns would have gone up a notch."

A year or so later, Harman made my Watson’s Girl column, where she weighed in on local media celebs ranging from Jason Whitlock, Kevin Kietzman and Johnny Dare to Randy Miller, Art Brisbane and, of course, Dan the Man.

The proposition being for Jennifer to handicap which, if any, of the above dudes she’d be willing to date if push came to shove. When it came Harman’s turn, she said: "Great personality. Yeah, I could date him. But I think he and I would talk too much. Sometimes, you know, like all those Hollywood couples don’t make it because there’s too much competitiveness?"

That’s pretty much it, pretty mild, huh?

Now here’s what happened when I bumped into Harman at a movie screening or something a year or so later. Thinking everything was cool, I walked up to him and said hello.

And while I’m not particularly thin-skinned, I have to say, I was taken aback by what next went down.

Instead of an even halfway friendly encounter, Harman scowled and let me know in no uncertain terms that he was not happy with me. I can’t tell you, after all these years, exactly what he said, but it was a dark, angry experience.

I’m not a big early morning guy – let alone early morning local TV news – and nothing much about Harman crossed my transom thereafter. But that encounter ranks as one of the really rare, uncomfortable and inexplicable encounters I’ve had in more than 20 years of writing.

The only explanation I can conjure is that it’s not uncommon for comedians and really funny on-air personalities to be entirely different when they’re off-camera, off-stage or just plain off. Which goes along with the quote I ran yesterday about Harman from a prominent local counselor.

"When you find someone to be so energetic, funny and seemingly unflappable there is often a dark side."

Harman sure did brighten a lot of people’s days though and judging from the public outpouring, he will be missed.

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 17 Comments

Hearne: Vaunted Plaza Jazz Club Jardine’s Fires Staff, Closes for ‘Repairs’

Posted on December 3, 2011 by admin

This just in…

Kansas City’s premier jazz club Jardine’s has been closed since Tuesday’s Karrin Allyson concert there "for repairs." That’s what the sign says, anyway. But local musicians and Jardine’s staffers don’t seem to know exactly what’s going on.

"I regret to announce that my band WILL NOT be performing tonight at Jardine’s Jazz Club," musician Dave Stephens wrote on his Facebook page at 6:07 p.m. Thursday. "The owner of the club fired her entire staff yesterday and subsequently there would be no one there to work the show. My apologies to those of you who were planning on attending. I just found out about this a few minutes ago."

Musician Mark Lowrey took a kinder, gentler approach to hinting to fans why his Friday gig at Jardine’s didn’t go down.

"Tonight say a prayer for all the people in the live music service industry businesses in Kansas City," Lowery wrote on Facebook. "No negative comments please."

And at around 4:30 p.m. today, attorney / jazz musician Mike White emailed his followers the following:

"I’m sorry to have to report that Jardine’s is closed, so we WILL NOT be performing there tomorrow afternoon. ==============================================
Friends of Mike White Quartet"

Jardine’s owner Beena Raja could not be reached for this column, but texted the following:

"Like the sign reads, closed for repairs."

The flip side of that equation:

"It just sucks and people are pissed off," says one Jardine’s staffer. "It looks like madness."

Stay tuned.

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 42 Comments

Today: ‘River City’ Gives Don Harman a Pass on Disappearance of Missing Iowa Anchor

Posted on December 3, 2011 by admin

On this cold, rainy, dreary day I bring heartening news to the fans and supporters of Don Harman.…

While I’ve yet to hear back from police Lt. Frank Sterns in Mason City, Iowa, I was able to connect with sources there familiar with the case of long-missing, early-morning news anchor Jodi Husentruit.

Let’s review. Area law enforcement heard that Harman was interviewed recently about Husentruit’s disappearance from Mason City television station KMIT in 1995. Husentruit anchored the wee hours morning news program there at the time Harman was the station’s weather guy.

After Husentruit, 27, failed to show up for work one morning, police went to her residence where they discovered signs of a struggle, neighbors reported hearing screams and her red Mazda Miata was still in its parking space. She was never heard from again and declared dead in 2001.

The mystery of what may have happened has haunted – and continues to haunt – the town ever since.

Brief aside: Mason City is known for successful music entertainers, including playwright Meredith Willson, best known for "The Music Man," a hit Broadway musical and later a movie, based on characters from Willson’s childhood there.

The population today is around 28,000, but for people of a certain age, it’s still River City.

As I first reported and have reminded readers, Harman suffered from severe depression and that was the leading theory as to why he took his own life. If indeed Husentruit’s cold case – which has remained open all these years – was undergoing a stepped up effort to reinvestigate – if indeed police had contacted Harman – it could have been nothing more than the retracing the investigation to find out what people who knew and worked with her knew or remembered.

A cold case is a crime that has not been solved for usually at least one year and remains open.

Then three years ago, in 2008, copies of Husentruit’s personal journal were mailed anonymously to Mason City’s Globe Gazette newspaper. Mason City police had been in possession of the original and it was soon learned that the copy had been sent to the paper by the wife of the former Mason City police chief.

The $64 million question: Was there anything in that diary that linked Harman to Husentruit?

The answer is no.

"It was her diary," says a Mason City source close to the investigation. "You know, there are so many rumors."

But Harman’s connection has never been among them, says the source.

"There’s always been another older man implicated," says the source, But thus far, they’ve never been able to connect enough of the dots to charge the man, the source adds.

As for Harman’s time and rep in Mason City, "He was really popular here," the source says. "He had a show where he went around and ate dinner at people’s houses."

Again, I’m still awaiting police confirmation of whether Harman was interviewed here and what, if anything, was learned from that interview.

As for Harman’s depression issues, it’s not unlikely that he was bipolar, says one area counselor.

"(That’s) not at all unusual unfortunately," the counselor says. "When you find someone to be so energetic , funny and seemingly unflappable there is often a dark side."

Posted in Hearne_Christopher | Tagged Hearne Christopher Jr. | 23 Comments

Glazer: Scribe Steadies Himself & Prepares to Kick NFL & College Butt

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

There are not many college game weeks left…

Pretty soon the Bowl picture will start to unfold and that’s pretty much it. But it was a fun year. The pro’s have just over a month and then the Playoffs! That should be interesting. And while the Chiefs never really had a season to talk about (in a good way), other decent teams have and it should be a wild finish.

This week in college there are only a few games that I like.

My two favorites are Houston over So. Mississippi and LSU over Georgia. Houston has covered every game – all of them. Wish I had seen that in week three instead of week 10. Oh well, better late than never. I think Houston, who has a somewhat soft set up, is maybe the number 5 team in the nation. Great offense, decent defense, I like ’em.

The NFL is about to shake out the pretenders for the playoffs. Are the Jets for real? Tim Tebow? The next two weeks should give us those answers.

College:

OSU -3 over Oklahoma

Houston -8 over So. Mississippi (tease with LSU, must win both to win)

LSU -8 over Georgia (tease with Houston)

Bonus bet….Wisconsin -9 over Mich. State….

NFL Games:

Dallas 2 over Arizona (tease)

Packers – 1/2 over Giants(tease)

Chicago -1 over KC (tease)

Bengals 13 over Pittsburgh (tease)

P.S. Bonus Take Green Bay -6 1/2 over Giants…who are fading rapidly….

Oh yeah, my picks last week brought me back to 85% On the Pro’s I went 5 for 6 and in college 5 for 7. Pretty if I do say so myself. Very good.

Enjoy the cold weather and have a nice football weekend!

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 13 Comments

Glazer: Old Soldiers Like Frank White Never Die, They Go on Nick Wright’s Show

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

For some reason or another, Nick Wright and I no longer have that warm fuzzy thing going…

He’s got his own posse and is the Johnny Dare of 610 Sports now despite what some of KCC’s geezer readers may think. Who knows why we drifted apart?

However I call them like I see them and Nick did a fantastic job of interviewing Frank White tonight. Huge scoop. Frank was fired from the Royals TV post, as well as everything else. He was on live tonight to say how he felt about, the Royals "going in another direction."

Many of you know Frank White’s Kansas City story.

He’s one of only a couple of born and raised KC guys to make it big in pro sports and play for the home team.

Frank has spent nearly half a century with the Kansas City Royals and is a Royals Hall of Famer and a World Series Hero. He’s one of only a few who has his name on the outfield wall at The K. He’s been a coach and manager for Royals big league and Minor league teams.

Hey, the man is the Royals, save maybe George Brett.

But Brett also has backed away from the Royals front office and the team in general the last couple years.

Frank told Nick the front office felt he was too negative towards the Royals.

HOW COULD HE NOT BE? THEY HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE FOR THREE DECADES!

Frank and George were the last of the great players to exit from the Royals’ World Series Era. Frank was fired and George,well, what does he do for the team now? Not much…

It’s a sad yet common thing that happens to many old sports warriors.

They don’t go away until the new guys – who don’t know, care or remember – dump them.

God were they good, White, Brett and some of those now old Royals. Frank was one of the all-time best second baseman. Many, including me, thought he should have been made the Royals manager. He tried but they said no.

So first they cut his salary. Then they made him fill in for Paul Splitorff (who passed away this past season) and never let him manage the team.

I guess you can say, THE ROYALS ARE CHEAP PRICKS, O.K?

Frank bled Royal Blue for years – too many to count almost. I remember him coming into Stanford’s over the years in Westport to eat lunch. Such a nice, kind man. Everyone enjoyed this Regal Royal. He was such a great PR man for this team and this city.

Dumped, at 61.

Frank asked to be kept on as a community PR man for a few more years until he could retire, but the Royals said NO.

Shame on you David Glass, you did a really bad thing here Mr. Glass.

Good work Mr. Nick. Wright had to hold back tears at the end of the interview as White said he was done with KC and done with baseball. A sign of the times, you get old and who needs you?

In the end happens to everyone, except maybe Clint Eastwood.

So sad, so bad. What’s happened to this franchise? My God. You are a good man, Frank White.

All the best, enjoy your retirement in Arizona.

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 12 Comments

Donnelly / Grogan: Kid Rock Still On Top @ The Midland by AMC

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

You gotta give Kid Rock some credit…

I mean, first of all, he’s still around. That’s saying something right there.

He’s still touring and selling out venues much bigger than the Midland, which he sold out a few days ago.

Where are the other rap-rock bands that broke through around the same time, like Limp Bizkit and Korn?

Who cares, really?

Kid Rock has remained relevant by morphing over the years from DJ to rapper to rap-rocker to rocker. And when that genre was taken behind the woodshed, he shifted again. This time to dirty country hillbilly where he found perhaps the biggest success of his career by releasing his most mainstream album yet, 2010’s Born Free.

Check out the trailer trash king’s court, courtesy of KCC photog Katie Grogan, after the jump…

Setlist:

Devil Without a Cause
Rock Bottom Blues
Forever
Cocky
All Summer Long
Purple Sky
I Got One for Ya’
Midnight Train to Memphis
Wasting Time
Slow My Roll
Cowboy
Lay It On Me
God Bless Saturday
Care
Roving Gangster (Rollin’)
Fuckin’ Forty
So Hott
Bawitdaba

Encore:
Rock N Roll Jesus
Only God Knows Why
Born Free

Posted in Entertainment | Tagged Matthew Donnelly & Katie Grogan | 4 Comments

Starbeams: Saddest Cities, Free Leawood, the KCSD & Ricky Martin to Glee

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

Men’s Health magazine just put out a list ranking the 100 biggest U.S. cities from saddest to happiest.

It’s based on suicide rates, unemployment rates, surveys on depression, and the level of antidepressant usage. The top 10 saddest cities, in order, are:

St. Petersburg, Detroit, Memphis, Tampa, Louisville, St. Louis, Birmingham, Miami, Reno and Las Vegas. Honolulu was happiest and Kansas City finished at number 73 on the list, ahead of Phoenix, Atlanta, Washington, DC and our so-sad, big-brother city – St. Louis. It’s about time for them to return Albert Pujols so we can wipe away his sadness.

*******

The first 25 people who visited the traveling World War I Museum in Leawood Wednesday received free passes to a special screening of the new Spielberg movie, "War Horse." It’s nice to see the cash-strapped people in Leawood finally catch a break.

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The state of Missouri might take over the Kansas City School District. Apparently, Missouri is highly interested because they just formed a commission to monitor tweets from KC students.

*******

TVLine.com broke the news that Ricky Martin is in talks to guest star on a "Glee" episode, which would air in January. They’re calling it a last-ditch effort to make the show appeal to gay people.

Kelly Urich is the morning show host on 99.7 The Point

Posted in Starbeams | Tagged Kelly Urich | Leave a comment

Glazer: The Future of Todd Haley & Handicapping the NFL Playoffs

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

Chiefs coach Todd Haley seems like a decent guy…

He may even be the Chiefs future coach, but somebody needs to tell Todd the Chiefs were out of this race before game one. I tried to tell him that. Remember, I made my bet that the Chiefs wouldn’t win 8 games, before Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles got hurt. Oh yeah and that worthless tight end, Tony Moeaki who’s always hurt.

Local sports talk radio and Haley talk about Kyle Orton as if he mattered this year. Let alone ever.

THE CHIEFS ARE HORRIBLE. THEY HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS. THEY AREN’T IN ANY RACE ABOUT ANYTHING. THEY WON A WORTHLESS HANDED TO THEM DIVISION LAST YEAR.

Baltimore made it clear when they came HERE, and beat us into stink land.

So did Oakland and San Diego in the last couple of weeks last year by winning by 1,000 points.

So why pretend it matters? Haley’s job, attendance, team spirit, trying not to get killed on the scoreboard.

If we don’t win another game, the Chiefs may draft somewhere near 8-11, or better if some teams above us win. Maybe there will be a franchise quarterback there, maybe not. Hey, maybe there are none to begin with. You never know. We do know this however, THERE ARE NO VETS RIGHT NOW TO COME IN AND SAVE US NEXT YEAR.

So Orton is trying out for the starting job this year. That’s whats going on.

The division winners are nearly set now; New England, Oakland, Baltimore/Pittsburgh with the Bengals and Jets fighting for the wild card spot. It feels like Bengals to me. All these teams except the badly wounded Texans were my picks in September. I did not see the Bengals coming though, they’re always a sleeper. The Texans would have won the AFC if not for the injury to their quarterback. It would appear that after all the noise and barring injury to Tom Brady that – gee, shucks – New England goes to the Super Bowl.

In the NFC, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans and Green Bay looked locked in, save quarterback injuries. The Bears get screwed, it would appear, due to losing quarterback Jay Cutler. They still have a shot, but it looks like Tony G and Atlanta will get to go as a wild card.

There are no surprises in the NFC except that the Eagles and Vick stink. Wow who said that would happen? Oh yeah, me in September. Vick is a waste of time for the long run. He is what he was, a nut whack and a flashy failure at quarterback. That’s why Atlanta ratted him out and then dumped his butt.

So in the end, gee, it’s Green Bay.

So the Super Bowl is Green Bay vs. New England and the Packers will win again.

Upset spoiler possibilities would have been Detroit and the Texans. Now they’re the Steelers, Baltimore or the Saints. The Steelers and Baltimore seem like the same team these days – kinda boring and a step down from when they were really good.

The Saints have Drew Brees and he is outstanding, but the team is up and down too much.

So it’s THE PACK. ENJOY THE LAST FIVE WEEKS. And where is Brody Croyle?

Posted in Craig_Glazer | Tagged Craig Glazer | 24 Comments

Jack Goes Confidential: George Clooney Shines In ‘DESCENDANTS’ – K.C. Engagements Expand

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

It’s been seven years since Omaha filmmeister Alexander Payne brought us his wine country mini-classic SIDEWAYS with Paul Giamatti…

Prior to that he made a director’s name for himself with 1999’s ELECTION starring Reese Witherspoon, followed by Jack Nicholson in ABOUT SCHMIDT.

Now Payne delivers what could well become his finest creation yet. One which is poised to pick up multiple Oscar nominations, not only in the catagories of Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay, but Best Picture as well!

The film is THE DESCENDANTS which opened in Kansas City last weekend as a four theater ‘limited engagement.’ Local boxoffice performance of the movie certainly exceeded expectations and the good news is that its distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures is adding an additional three area theaters to the run this weekend.

How does one properly do justice to THE DESCENDANTS?

That’s not an easy task given that the story and portrayal by its actors ranks way above its rather blah-sounding synopsis.

George Clooney stars as high-end but aimless Honolulu attorney Matt King with two daughters whose wife is suddenly left in a comatose, vegetetative state following a boating accident. One of the girls has been sent away to a private school. She’s played by Shailene Woodley as Alexandria, the nearly estranged daughter, who has a troubled past with her mother and now reluctantly explains to Clooney the cause for her separation from mom.

Seems mother had been cheating on dad prior to the accident and she’d caught her in the act.

Clooney meanwhile vows to track down the other man and…….

I can’t give away much more as the spoilers would ruin it for you. Suffice it to say that the grief, fury and interplay here is the kind of stuff Oscars are made of.

It’s also fair to say that George Clooney continues to evolve into one of America’s finest actors—getting better with every picture he associates himself with. His performance in this dysfunctional family drama as a troubled man at the crossroads, and trying to get beyond that, elevates Mr. Clooney to the next level of screen stardom.

I’m raising 4 out of 5 fingers for THE DESCENDANTS and suggest you bring Kleenex.

Aloha.

JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday’s at 6:40 a.m. on NewsRadio KMBZ Am & Fm and at 8:20 a.m. on 1660 RADIO BACH. Also anytime on Time-Warner Cable’s K.C. ON DEMAND, Channel 411.

Posted in Jack_Poessiger | Tagged Jack Poessiger | 10 Comments

Donnelly: Vermes Pulls Jedi Mind Trick on Montreal

Posted on December 1, 2011 by admin

Last week I wrote about the MLS Expansion Draft, how the whole thing works, and who Sporting KC protected from being snatched away by the expansion Montreal Impact.

I noted that I thought it was odd to protect Davy Arnaud, an aging midfielder who played little in 2011 after undergoing sports hernia surgery. Though Davy certainly had a great relationship with Peter Vermes – indeed, he was named captain the past two seasons – his production was minimal. The team seemed to play better in his absence which also allowed Graham Zusi to emerge and become, in my opinion, SKC’s best player.

Also, Davy had a hefty salary of over $250,000 per year. That’s a ton when you consider the fact that multiple Sporting starters made under $50,000 last season and contributed far more to the team’s success.

So why would Sporting use one of their coveted 11 spots to protect Arnaud from being selected? Maybe because a behind-the-scenes deal was in the works…

Among others, Vermes left starting defender Seth Sinovic unprotected. Montreal predictably snagged him. After all, Sinovic had a breakout season, and he’s young. He’d be a nice piece for most teams in the league.

But then, in a somewhat surprising move, Montreal traded Sinovic back to KC for Arnaud plus some allocation money. How much money? Not sure, but it sure looks like Sporting got the better end of that deal – they got to keep the player they really wanted, ditched Arnaud’s pricey contract, and got some extra cash in the deal, too.

So from the outside looking in, it looks like Vermes had the hammer in his hand and wasn’t afraid to use it. Montreal obviously wanted Davy more than Vermes let on that he wanted Sinovic back, plus KC still had another very serviceable defender in Michael Harrington waiting in the wings, making Vermes’ bargaining position even stronger.

Other Sporting KC news…

Goalkeeper Jimmy “White Puma” Nielsen signed an extension locking him up through the 2013 with an option for 2014. The Puma’s been a good thing for the team, and made some spectacular saves last season. Media and the SKC front office voted him the team MVP, so this signing was fairly expected.

Sporting recently signed Paulo Nagamura from Chivas USA, a dynamic midfielder who can also slide back and defend if needed, in exchange for a first-round supplemental draft pick. Nagamura, the 28 year old Brazilian, is a solid veteran who should challenge for a starting spot right away.

Vermes’ right hand man, Octavio Zambrano, is heading to Columbia to coach a second tier team, Deportivo Pereira. Obviously, the Columbian league is a step down, not to mention the second tier of the league. Especially considering that Zambrano has been a head MLS coach for LA and New York.