Funkhouser moving to DC

A few minutes ago Mark Funkhouser announced on Facebook that he’s moving to Washington, DC to run a new think tank focusing on local government best practices and leadership.

Here’s the official announcement from The GOVERNING Institute.

Tony recently reported Funkhouser’s Brookside house is for rent.

Posted in KC Mayor, Politics | 1 Comment

Hopfest tries a new angle on beer festivals

Kansas City has a mixed history with beer festivals.  Some get too popular for their own good.  Others suffer from poor planing or poor venue selection. Hopfest  hopes to get it right for once and for all.  Except it’s hosted by d’bag hotspots The Well and Lew’s.  So who knows that will happen.

Tickets are limited to less than 1,000 people. There is no web site, no Facebook, etc.  Just word of mouth promotion. So here are the details as gleaned from KC Beer Blog and other various sources…

KC Hopfest 2011 in Waldo
Saturday, June 18th, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
210 West 74th Street, KCMO (just east of The Well)

Tickets are $30 general or $50 VIP. Quantities are limited and are on sale only at The Well and Lew’s. The Well will have a special dinner menu with beer pairings Friday night.

KC Beer Blog has the beer list, featuring several breweries and over 100 beers.  Definitely not the stuff you’ll find in your local Berbiglia.

Posted in Arts/Entertainment | 1 Comment

Urban Photo Safari coming up this weekend

Shutterbugs and Flickr devotees, mark your calendars for the annual Urban Photo Safari coming up this weekend. Photographers and social media types will converge on Mildred’s Coffeehouse in the Crossroads Arts District.

Posted in Arts/Entertainment, Downtown | Comments Off

Local bookstores still going strong

Never mind explosion of ebooks and the ongoing collapse of national bookstore chains like Borders, local independent bookstores are doing OK and even expanding. KC Currents visits Prospero’s in Midtown and Reading Reptile in Brookside.

KCUR-FM: Revenge of the Independent Bookstore.

Posted in Business | 1 Comment

Going to camp

We’ll be at WordCamp all weekend, geeking out with the WordPress community.  Join us at www.wckansascity.org or follow the action at #wckc.

Posted in General | Comments Off

Nonsense in the ‘Burbs puts KC in the national headlines

Look down there at the bottom of the MSNBC home page.  Those last two headlines garnered national attention today for two of our beige neighbors.

In Independence, a lawn ornament is shot dead by cops when it’s mistaken for a live crocodile. In Overland Park, a naked jogger jumps into a busy public pool.

Posted in Media, Suburbs | Comments Off

Chattanooga is a preview of KC’s Google Fiber future

While KC will be the country’s largest gigabit broadband network, the city of Chattanooga’s new network is already producing some good examples for KC to follow when Google Fiber goes live in a year.  The city-owned network is already spawning cool things like startup entrepreneur competitions, software industry clusters, improvements in crime fighting, and innovations in the delivery of city services.

Gigaom: Why Chattanooga represents broadband’s future.

Posted in General, Google Fiber | Comments Off