We leave you this week with a reminder that big things are on the way. Specifically to Hangar #9 at the Downtown Airport, where Big KC will bring entrepreneurs aplenty together March 26-28. It’s the successor to Silicon Prairie News’ Big Omaha and Big Des Moines events, and will feature speakers like Dan Hesse from Sprint.
Big Kansas City – Promo Video 2013 from Silicon Prairie News on Vimeo.
The name Ken Burns has become synonymous with some of public television’s biggest blockbuster documentaries.
The Civil War. Baseball. Jazz. The National Parks. This Sunday night on KCPT and PBS stations around the country, watch Ken Burn’s latest documentary epic, The Dust Bowl, a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us–a lesson we ignore at our peril.
You can watch the first installment of Ken Burns’ The Dust Bowl this Sunday night at 7 p.m. here on KCPT. One of our metro’s most knowledgeable experts on that slice of our nation’s history, Professor Jay Antle, who is executive director of the sustainability center at Johnson County Community College, sat down with Randy Mason to give a local perspective on The Dust Bowl and to talk about what it means for us today.
It’s Black History Month and local filmmaker Gary Jenkins has just released a new documentary that tells the story of Missouri slaves escaping to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Freedom Seekers premieres at the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Library on Wednesday February 15th at 6:30 p.m. followed by a panel discussion featuring local historians and Jimmy Johnson III whose great grandfather escaped a Platte County slave farm.
A series of posters that tell the story of black leaders from a local perspective are available to you for free. From Baseball legend Satchel paige and NAACP leader Roy Wilkins to jazz musicians Mary Lou Williams and Speedy Huggins.
These would be perfect for schools, community centers, or any group settings. They are free and are being made available by LINC, the Local Investment Commission who is partnering on these for black history month with the The Kansas City Public Library and The Black Archives of Mid-America, with contributions from the The Kansas City Star.
A new film that documents the relationship between President Harry Truman and Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast opens this weekend at the Glenwood Theater in Overland Park, Screenland-Crown Center, Screenland-Armour and the Pharaoh Theatre in Independence.
Tom and Harry: The Boss and the President is the third Kansas City centered documentary for attorney and filmmaker Terence O’Malley. He also directed Nelly Don: A Stitch in Time and Black Hand Strawman: The History of Organized Crime in Kansas City.
THE WHITES
A Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Bordeaux, France
THE WINE: Mouton Cadet Blanc, 2007 – $12.99 retail
From one of France’s legendary and most well known winemakers, a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc (40%), Semillon (50%) and Muscadelle (10%)
Total Score: 10
B Belvoir Winery, Liberty, Missouri
THE WINE: Plumeria – a blend of Traminette, Vignoles and Seyval – $18 at the winery
The wine is named after the owner, Dr John Bean’s, late wife’s favorite flower. The winery is located in an impressive Jacobethan Revival style building that was a former orphanage for the International Order of Odd Fellows.
Total Score: 21
C Holy-Field Vineyard & Winery, Basehor, Kansas
THE WINE: Seyval, Kansas Table Wine – $12.95 at winery and retail (only available in Kansas)
Holy-Field is a father and daughter team – Les and Michelle Meyer – who pride themselves on their canine ambassadors who feature on some of the wine labels. The dogs are: Vinnie, Bacchus, Corkie and Sinbad
Total Score: 17
D Charles Shaw Winery, Napa and Sonoma, California
THE WINE: Chardonnay, 2010 – $2.99 at Trader Joe’s grocery store
The wine is affectionately known as ‘two buck chuck’
Total Score: 11
E Chateau Ste Michelle, Washington State
THE WINE: Chardonnay, 2010, – $12.99 retail
A respected wine making region of the US. This winemaker is often in grocery stores and on restaurant wine lists in Kansas City.
Total Score: 18
THE REDS
A Rodney Strong Vineyards, Sonoma County
THE WINE: Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 – $17.99 retail
A California Sonoma red that is often seen in Kansas City grocery stores, liquor stores on on restaurant wine lists.
Total Score: 11
B Jowler Creek, Platte County, Missouri
THE WINE: Chambourcin, 2010 – $19 at the winery and retail
Jowler Creek emphasize their sustainable vineyard practices. They use Olde English Babydoll sheep to control grass and weed growth.
Total Score: 4
C Stone Hill Winery, Hermann, Missouri
THE WINE: Norton, 2008 – $18.99 at the winery and retail
Stone Hill is Missouri’s second biggest winemaker producing 260,000 gallons of wine in 2011. They’ve been making Norton for decades. A Stone Hill Norton is thought to have won the prestigious award for best red wine “of all nations” at an international competition in Vienna in 1873.
Total Score: 21.5
D Gerard Bertrand, Languedoc Pic Saint Loup, Narbonne (Languedoc-Roussillon region, on the coast, south of Marseille) France
THE WINE: Grand Terroir, 2005 – $16.99
European Winery of the Year for 2012 in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s annual Wine Star Awards. Wine Spectator magazine’s ‘Best Value Winery From France’ in 2008.
Total Score: 14
E Charles Shaw Winery, Napa and Sonoma, California
THE WINE: Cabernet Sauvignon, 2011 – $2.99 at Trader Joe’s grocery store
The wine is affectionately known as ‘two buck chuck’
Total Score: 20
Last Friday, the new movie 42, about Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier, opened in theatres nationwide. But the night before, Kansas City got a special preview at the Barrywoods AMC Theatre to raise funds for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. They rolled out the red carpet, and Randy Mason was on hand to see who came down it and why.
By the way, the 42 premiere raised some $200,000 for the museum, which also has another interesting project going right now. They have teamed with the UMKC Theatre Department to produce a new play about Satchel Paige and other Negro Leagues players.
It has some jazz in it too. The play is called Kansas City Swing and it will run at the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus from April 19-28, with a special reception in the lobby before the show on April 25.
You can see some photos from the red carpet event at The Local Show Facebook page. Be sure to “like” us for updates on what to look for in upcoming episodes.
Not everyone has been happy with Science City since it opened at Union Station in 1999.
Earlier this summer the engineering firm of Burns and McDonnell gave more than a million dollars to reinvigorate the family friendly science center.
They also launched Battle of the Brains a chance for area students to design a new permanent exhibit for Science City and with it a $50,000 prize for their school. The winner?
Olathe North High School’s winning entry explores how mechanical power is transformed into energy by running in giant hamster wheels to generate electricity. They call it Unplugged.
Burns & McDonnell CEO Greg Graves and Union Station CEO George Guastello discuss the Battle of the Brains competition which had schools across the metro competing to design the new Science City exhibit.
Kansas City is a great arts town and there’s a lot going on, particularly on our city’s stages, this weekend.
We leave you this week with scenes from two new productions. First, the fast paced farcical thriller comedy, The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Kansas City Repertory Theater.
Then there’s the political rock n rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Unicorn Theater.
Randy Mason sits down with Black & Veatch’s Staffing Program Manager Shelly Arnett to discuss how this Kansas City-based, global engineering, consulting and construction company’s mentoring program is getting area students excited about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). KCPT has partnered with Black & Veatch to start a tutoring program for fifth-grade students at Santa Fe and Dobbs Elementary in the Hickman Mills School District, hoping to inspire the students to pursue careers in science-related fields.
Many of us have heard of Head Start, but we don’t always have a full understanding of what they do. Guest host Barbra Porter sits down with the directors of the Mid-America Head Start program to discuss their focus on not only ensuring children are ready to learn when they enter school but also on its services for nutrition, health and family support.
Mid-America Head Start and Early Head Start serve more than 3,000 infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers in Clay, Jackson and Platte counties in Missouri. We are dedicated to improving the well-being of low-income families by working with each family to identify their specific needs.
Resources:
Download flyer for more information about Headstart
Metro Kansas City Head Start Grantees and Delegates Contact Information
Head Start Grantee Flyer – English
Head Start Grantee Flyer – Spanish
Head Start Grantee Flyer – Vietnamese
More information on Mother and Baby Health Coalition programs.
Funded by:
