Tag Archives: Hearne Christopher
Shauna: Forget the Teacher’s Dirty Looks, Backpacks are Back!
A gaggle of designers are giving a mundane, academic accessory a new twist… Yup, ladies and gents, it’s time to reconsider the backpack! Continue reading Hearne: 610 Sports Nick Wright Vows to Topple WHB’s KietzmanTime for a brief lesson in the ancient history of sports talk radio in Kansas City… There actually was a time when the much-maligned Don Fortune was hailed as cutting edge. Honest. How do you think the former 980 KMBZ afternoon sports talk kingpin got the job in the first place after flunking out of TV at Channel 5? But times change, and the days of Fortune being considered edgy ended after they started handing out fangs to local journalists and talk show hosts. When the era of polite society on air went the way of the dinosaurs. At the end of his days – in comparison to today’s sports talk radio standards – Fortune came across as impotent, an on-air gummy bear. To this day, his once-upon-a-time arch rival Jason Whitlock, likes to remind Cowtowners of Fortune’s shortcomings. Alas it was WHB superstar Kevin Kietzman who ultimately toppled Fortune in the mid-late 1990s and has since owned local sports talk airwaves. Until now… Continue reading Hearne: The Bottom Line on ‘Leawood’ John Landsberg
Hearne on the Street: Trent Green Returns & KC Strip to Ferry First Friday-ersThis just in… Starting tonight, the KC Strip party trolleys are joining forces with KC’s popular First Fridays in the Crossroads arts district. “We probably got 50 emails asking for a stop there on First Friday,” says organizer Bill George. “So we’re going to do it. We’re going to stop right by Extra Virgin, Michael Smith’s place. You know what? We think it’s going to be great. I think there’s going to be a huge demand for it.” Continue reading Hearne on the Street: Faded Plaza Hot Spot Blonde Closes with BangTime to blow out the candle one last time… When Plaza ultra lounge Continue reading Hearne: KC Star Layoffs – Gloomy Day Points to Uncertain FutureThe sad reality about this week’s announced layoffs at the Kansas City Star – that the end is not in sight… Star publisher Mark Zieman, in an email to newspaper employees, cast the cuts Continue reading Hearne: Butch Rigby Unloads Screenland CrossroadsOut with the old in Continue reading Hearne: Leap Launches Bogus Parking Ticket Crusade Against Merriam CopHe’s no longer mad as hell but he still isn’t gonna take it anymore… Merriam councilman and Guitar Lamp maker Dan leap has done his homework and unleashed his protest window display. Now he’s raring to rumble with Merriam Police over a $115 parking ticket bestowed upon him at 7 p.m. on a Sunday night in front of his residence and business in downtown Merriam. “You know, there’s been a ton of people coming by – I’ve got the picture of the cop on the sign in my window and in another big window I have a peep show going on,” Leap says. “And people think they might be tied together, so they stop and look through this three inch hole to see. It’s quite comical, watching people stop and bend over to look in and see and then laugh – I’ve got the peep hold pretty low.” The latest on Leap’s $115 parking fine – which though issued to him was for a friend’s car who had parked it in the one hour zone: Continue reading Hearne: Saving the World One Flush @ a TimeEven a losing effort by the Royals is more glamorous than the flushing of a toilet… Hearne: Grocery Store Ad Wars – Direct Mail vs. The StarThink of it as a historic and monumental battle… The stakes are high and the game is afoot over the future of grocery circular advertising in the Kansas City Star. When one thinks of major, heavy hitter newspaper advertisers, it’s hard to gaze any higher up the food chain than the ubiquitous grocery store flyers that I recycle upon contact with each and every week. And just as the huge department stores that used to flood the Star with underwear ads have majorly dialed back their newspaper advertising, and classified ads have fled, area grocery chains are considering their options. To better understand what is going on, check out the talking points in the pitch that follows – made by a prominent area direct mailer. It explains the purported advantages of Continue reading Hearne: Star Poised to Take Huge Hits from Grocery AdvertisersVery simply, it’s a numbers game… Inevitably the success or failure – let’s call it the future – of the Kansas City Star will be determined by the number of eyeballs it attracts. For advertisers. Plain and simple. The days of daily newspapers having essentially monopolies over news and information are long over. Long over. Make no mistake, they far and away still lead the media pack in terms of reaching the greatest number of people, but their reach has and continues to wane and it’s a trend not likely to change. Classified advertising, for example, used to be a huge profit center for newspapers like the Star. No mas. Department stores like Dillards, Jones Store and Macy’s were incredibly big advertisers. Prior to their pronouncements years ago that they recognized the need to cutback on newspaper advertising and branch into other media. Which brings us to grocery stores… Continue reading Hearne: Slipping Circulation Fuels Ad Exodus at KC StarThe bottom line is the bottom line… Slipping circulation and the decline in readership by key demographics at the Kansas City Star present a gloomy scenario that far exceeds the effects of the current economic bust. Like most media, revenues will improve when better times return but the ongoing shift by advertisers (and readers) to other delivery mechanisms will continue to erode profits at the newspaper, resulting in more and more cutbacks and downsizing. It’s inevitable. Think of it as a variation of what Star cartoonist Lee Judge told an assembly of locals at a KC Public Library talk shortly after he learned that he had been laid off by the newspaper along with myself and sports columnist Jeff Flanagan. Continue reading Hearne: KC Star Layoffs Update – You Read ‘Em Here FirstSo many guessing games when it comes to the recently announced Continue reading Hearne: Stan Kessler’s Birthday Wilding Tonight Jardine’sThis just in… The Cowtown’s hottest horn honker – trumpeter Continue reading Hearne: The Lisa Lampanelli & Johnny Dare Lawn Jockey StoryTurns out the on-air love affair between Rock 98.9 FM Continue reading Hearne: KC Strip Week Three – Slow, Steady, ThongyMemo to the skittish and the skeptical: the KC Strip party trolleys are still alive and kicking after three, mostly cool, wet weekends – oh and they’re here to stay…. So says organizer Wild Bill George. “We are very pleased with the numbers and the growth,” George says. “Monthly passes keep selling and more locations are signing up. Summer will exceed our expectations.” As for the digits to date, eh. The Strippers first weekend was a freebie for riders. Continue reading Hearne: AMC Fork & Screen stomps Studio Movie GrillLocation, location, location… In the wide world of high-end dining during first run movies, AMC’s Fork & Screen cleans the new Studio Movie Grill at Zona Rosa’s clock. Not even close… AMC beats SMG hands down in all the major categories, save possibly one. Continue reading Hearne on the Street: Jeff Beck tops Clapton, Jimmy Page – at Starlight Tonight!It was the concert that never happened… Seven short years ago then Grand Emporium main man Roger Naber booked re-formed British rock group The Yardbirds for summer show at the then-thriving midtown blues club. I interviewed original Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty by phone in London in advance of the show here, with plans to run the interview a little closer to the concert date. Which, as I recall, went promptly south owing to the fact that Naber had forgotten he’d promised to (still unconfirmed) date to another legendary British bluesman, John Mayall. The interview never ran, but I still remember getting the money quote from McCarty at interview’s end. Which of the Yardbirds three legendary lead guitarists did McCarty regard more highly, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page? Continue reading Hearne: Kansas City Star’s Jason Whitlock Goes Legit (or does he?)You got it, you repackage it, you still got it… With Kansas City Star layoffs just around the corner – you read about ’em here first on KC Confidential – it’s interesting to note that popular sports columnist Jason Whitlock will be practicing his craft in the newspaper’s Opinion section on a regular basis. There are far fewer bodies at 18th and Grand these days already and filling the newspaper with content people care about is increasingly vital. Not to mention difficult. And with venerable nice guy-but-a-bit-wacko Opinion writer Lewis Diuguid defanged and demoted, the opening was there. Continue reading |
