Friday, May 4, 2018

Sporting KC Day at The KC Zoo - by KCMB News

Sporting KC Day at the Zoo Schedule Change 


Due to a conflict with Sporting KC's training schedule, some of the times for Sporting KC Day at the Zoo have changed. Please see the updated times below.  
Join us for Sporting KC Day at the Zoo this Sunday, May 6. See Sporting KC players Diego Rubio and Tim Melia take on the Zoo’s dynamic defender, Delilah the sea lion. Watch them play a little one-on-one during the Sea Lion Splash at 1:30 pm and then they will sign autographs for Zoo guests from 1:45 to 2:45 pm.

Sporting KC players Graham Zusi and Johnny Russell will paint alongside our elephant artists. Who will create the best masterpeice? Find out at our elephant exhibit at 3 pm.  Zusi and Russell will also sign autographs from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. 

See if you have what it takes to play for Sporting KC. Try out your skills on the Sporting KC Futsal Court located behind the sea lion pool from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. Sporting KC Mascot Blue will also be taking pictures with guests from 10 am to noon

Our animals are getting in the Sporting KC spirit as well! Animals in Tropics, Helzberg Penguin Plaza and Discovery Barn will be enjoying special enrichment items like t-shirts, cups and more donated to them by Sporting KC. Our orangutans are “suiting up” in Sporting KC attire.

Wear Sporting KC apparel on Sunday, May 6, and receive $3 off the price of regular admission.
You can also save big when you purchase tickets for an upcoming match. Purchase South Stand tickets for the May 27th home match for just $24. Get South Stand tickets for the June 3rd and June 23rd home matches for $31. Just head to SeatGeek to select the match you want and use the PROMO CODE: 18SKCZOO.

KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Sting Rays at The Kansas City Zoo by KCMB News Kansas City

Sporting KC Day at the Zoo


Sporting KC has faced some formidable opponents but none as wild as our animals! Join us for Sporting KC Day at the Zoo on Sunday, May 6. See Sporting KC players Diego Rubio and Tim Melia take on the Zoo’s dynamic defender, Delilah the sea lion. Watch them play a little one-on-one during the Sea Lion Splash at 10 am and then they will sign autographs for Zoo guests from 10:30 to 11:30 am.

Sporting KC players Graham Zusi and Johnny Russell will paint alongside our elephant artists. Who will create the best masterpeice? Find out at our elephant exhibit at noon. Zusi and Russell will also sign autographs from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. 

See if you have what it takes to play for Sporting KC. Try out your skills on the Sporting KC Futsal Court located behind the sea lion pool from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. 

Our animals are getting in the Sporting KC spirit as well! Animals in Tropics, Helzberg Penguin Plaza and Discovery Barn will be enjoying special enrichment items like t-shirts, cups and more donated to them by Sporting KC. Our orangutans are “suiting up” in Sporting KC attire.

Wear Sporting KC apparel on Sunday, May 6, and receive $3 off the price of regular admission. You can also save big when you purchase tickets for an upcoming match. Purchase South Stand tickets for the May 27th home match for just $24. Get South Stand tickets for the June 3rd and June 23rd home matches for $31. Just head to SeatGeek to select the match you want and use the PROMO CODE: 18SKCZOO

Artists for the Animals 


As part of our upcoming Artists for the Animals event, Pinot’s Palette will be hosting a paint and sip class at the Zoo on Saturday, May 5.  Paint "A Jolly Giraffe at Dusk" (pictured left) from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.  Painting will be $45 per person and includes a $15 donation to the Zoo. Registration available at www.pinotspalette.com/olathe/event/218198.

Our animals will also be showing off their artistic skills that day. See our orangutan Picassos paint at 2 pm and our elephant Monets paint at 2:30 pm.

Stingray Bay Opens Soon 


Stingrays have arrived in Kansas City! 28 stingrays and 12 bamboo sharks are exploring their new home at the Kansas City Zoo.

Stingray Bay will open to the public on Friday, May 18. Guests will have the opportunity to dip their hands into a shallow pool and discover the unique texture and movement of both cownose and southern stingrays.  In addition to stingrays, the tank will also be home to one of the smallest species of sharks, white-spotted bamboo sharks.

Stingray Bay is located between Helzberg Penguin Plaza and Discovery Barn and will be open year-round. Entrance to Stingray Bay will be included with regular Zoo admission. Stingray Bay will open to the public beginning Friday, May 18.

Mother's Day at the Zoo


What better way to celebrate Mom than with a relaxing day at the Kansas City Zoo?  Moms will receive complimentary admission on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13. The treats don't stop there. Mom will also receive a flower from the Zoo and our friends at Sun Fresh as she leaves the Zoo.

Visit the Zoo’s doting moms and see them interact with their adorable babies. Bring Mom to the Zoo for a wild time with her cubs!

KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

KC Zoo Upcoming Events by KCMB News Kansas City


The Kansas City Zoo - Upcoming Events


Meet Daniel Tiger


Meet KCPT’s most popular PBS Kids character, Daniel Tiger, at the Helzberg Penguin Plaza.  Daniel Tiger will be stopping by on Saturday, April 28, from 10 am to 2 pm. Be sure to bring your camera and take a photo with Daniel Tiger!

Species Spotlight: Otter


Join us for Species Spotlight on Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29, to learn more about the otters that call the Zoo home.

Visit our North American River Otter exhibit near the entrance of the Zoo to learn about Ariel. At 9:30 am, she will be receiving enrichment items and then at 1:30 pm, our Zookeepers will be working on some training with her. You can also stop by the lobby from 10 am to 2 pm to grab your otter trading cards and collect them all year long. Species Spotlight is included with Zoo admission!
 

Sporting KC Day at the Zoo


Sporting KC has faced some formidable opponents but none as wild as our animals! Join us for Sporting KC Day at the Zoo on Sunday, May 6. See Sporting KC players, Diego Rubio and Tim Melia take on the Zoo’s dynamic defender, Delilah the sea lion. Watch them play a little one-on-one during the Sea Lion Splash at 10 am and then they will sign autographs for Zoo guests from 10:30 to 11:30 am.

Sporting KC players Graham Zusi and Johnny Russell will paint alongside our elephant artists. Who will create the best masterpeice? Find out at our elephant exhibit at noon. Zusi and Russell will also sign autographs from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. 

See if you have what it takes to play for Sporting KC. Try out your skills on the Sporting KC Futsal Court located behind the sea lion pool from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. 

Our animals are getting in the Sporting KC spirit as well! Animals in Tropics, Helzberg Penguin Plaza and Discovery Barn will be enjoying special enrichment items like t-shirts, cups and more donated to them by Sporting KC. Our orangutans are “suiting up” in Sporting KC attire.

Get in the Sporting spirit and save! Wear Sporting KC apparel on Sunday, May 6, and receive $3 off the price of regular admission.

Artists for the Animals


As part of our upcoming Artists for the Animals event, Pinot’s Palette will be hosting a paint and sip class at the Zoo on Saturday, May 5.  Paint "A Jolly Giraffe at Dusk" (pictured left) from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.  Painting will be $45 per person and includes a $15 donation to the Zoo. Registration available at www.pinotspalette.com/olathe/event/218198.

Our animals will also be showing off their artistic skills that day. See our orangutan Picassos paint at 2 pm and our elephant Monets paint at 2:30 pm.

KCMB Kansas City News, the KC Zoo upcoming events, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

The New Red Bridge Shopping Center Pros and Cons by KCMB News Kansas City

The Red Bridge Shopping Center has been under renovation for the past year, improving the exterior of the strip mall, and attracting new businesses to a once defunct lot. In the 1980's the residents of this part of town were mostly middle to upper middle class people who could afford to frequent the businesses that were in place at the Red Bridge Shopping Center. The Red Bridge Shopping Center was a thriving center complete with a movie theater, a bowling alley, a Baskin Robbins, several medium to high quality restaurants including Whisker Rivey's, Guacamole Grill and a Pizza Hut. Today, amidst the new renovation, there have been a few changes in the surrounding neighborhood population. In this article we're going to discuss the pros and cons of the new renovation.

PRO - The Wonderscope Children's Museum
A long time staple of the Shawnee Mission community plans to move it's children's museum to the new Red Bridge Shopping Center. The museum will share a brand new building with the Mid-Continent Public Library of Kansas City. This move is slotted to occur within the next 2 years. The Wonderscope Children's Museum was founded in 1989 and has resided in empty school buildings since it's inception. The Museum brings in around 70,000 visitors each year, which will result in a well needed boost in foot traffic on the grounds.

CON - Large population of Lower Class Apartment Renters
The residents that surround the Red Bridge Shopping Center today are an odd mixture of older middle class homeowners (many retired) and a massive population of lower class apartment renters. Most notably the apartment complex that shares the name of the golf course. This complex is MASSIVE in size and population, in a steep and absolute decline, with little or no maintenance being done and its delapidated apartment buildings brimming with the lowest of the lower class. Our guess is that the complex will eventually become government housing. For an example of what a neighborhood with government housed apartment complexes looks like, take a trip down to the 18th and Vine District and walk around for awhile.  If you want to look at what current residents of these apartments have to say, read the Google Reviews. The words "cockroaches" and "bedbugs" appear most predominantly. Another apartment complex that is right next door to the Red Bridge Shopping Center rents mostly to lower middle class residents and has also been on a slow decline in resident and structural quality in the past decade. Look for them to start becoming similar to the neighboring apartment complex east of Holmes by the golf course.

PRO - The Blue Moose
The Blue Moose will be an exception to the rule in this case because their prices will be high enough to cater only to the middle to upper middle class. The lower class won't likely be attracted to The Blue Moose in general, since they are not known for drinking micro brewed beers, listening to Jimmy Buffet and eating $10 appetizers. The Blue Moose's success will depend on how many of the surrounding middle class home owners frequent it. There is only one other bar in the shopping center, which does not appeal to the lower class apartment renters as it is frequented mostly by regulars who have been going there for decades.

CON - Obvious Signs of The Times
The most obvious sign of the times for this specific area of Red Bridge was when the Pizza Hut on the corner of Holmes and Minor Drive turned into a McDonald's. As the local residents became predominantly lower class, the Pizza Hut was too expensive for those residents and McDonald's quickly jumped at the chance to move in. Other signs of the times for the Red Bridge area is the strip mall located at 99th and Holmes. On both sides of 99th street we have watched a Gomer's restaurant turn into a Dollar Store, TWO urban barber shops moved in,  and the addition of a nightclub where there was a double shooting just a week ago, only a few months after it opened. As any Kansas City native will tell you, the bad neighborhoods creep slowly from the North to the South and from East to West. As the wealthy move South and West (Ironwood, Leawood, Hallbrook, Royce, Verona Hills), the lower class and lower middle class move into the neighborhoods left behind (Sante Fe Hills, Bridlespur, Red Bridge).

CON - High Crime Rate
Along with the decline of the average income level in this area, there has also been a steep rise in the crime rate near and around the shopping center including multiple shootings at nearby establishments and the multiple murders on the Indian Creek Trail that have yet gone unsolved. Many of the wealthier residents around the center will opt to travel a short distance to Leawood, choosing to head West rather than East for their shopping and dining.

Failed Attempts
The proof is right in front of you if you ever visit the Red Bridge Shopping Center. The brand new hardware store that came in at the first of the year is not pulling any business. It could be that their prices are a little high, it could be that the overwhelming lower class apartment dwelling population that surrounds the Red Bridge Shopping Center has no interest in hardware stores, either way it's difficult to forsee the new hardware store staying open much longer. They have a friendly staff and luckily they have a couple of other stores in the Kansas City area to fall back on, but the location at Red Bridge is just not working out. Another example of a failed attempt at "rejuvenating" the Red Bridge Shopping area is the complete failure of the brand new "Red Bridge Greens". This was supposed to be a gated community that held 50 homes on 9 acres. This plan fell on it's face because who in their right mind would want to buy a brand new home at the mouth of the entrance to Grandview, Missouri?

Demographics Homework Incomplete
Demographics in Kansas City proper are VERY tricky. KC is not as clear cut as our Kansas neighbors. For instance, we all know that Prairie Village gets the moms, kids, ice cream, n'er too many a grocery store, and a pet grooming business that could remarkably succeed. However, in Kansas City proper, the class and income level of a neighborhood can swing wildly in just a few short city blocks. It's important to do your demographics homework before you open a brick and mortar business in Kansas City for these reasons.

Solutions
A few possible solutions for the Red Bridge Shopping Center is to somehow convince the owners of the two large apartment complexes to either close permanently, or upgrade their property to $100,000 + condos for sale only. Secondly, they would have to convince the government to close Red Bridge road where it pours into Grandview so that Grandview residents would have to find another way home instead of travelling through Red Bridge and clogging up Red Bridge Road every afternoon. Obviously, these are not viable solutions. The best investment at this point would be to open up a check cashing place, a liquor store, and a pawn shop. Any of those businesses would flourish there.

This Red Bridge Shopping Center article by KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Most Popular Wedding Day 2017

In a past article, KCMB Kansas City News listed the most popular wedding dates of 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The biggest wedding day of the last few decades was July 7, 2007 - or 7/7/07. This wedding date was so popular that it literally ran Kansas City out of wedding resources such as venues, bands and catering companies. Most likely there is a club out there somewhere for the 7/7/07 brides and grooms that meets every few years or so, because (if the majority of those couples are still together) then there are a LOT of them.

The most popular wedding day of 2017 was definitely August 5th, 2017. In 2017, the trend moved away from the June bride and moved into August.

Our projection for the most popular wedding day of 2018 so far is May 5th, 2018. A lot of local Kansas City wedding bands, catering companies and wedding venues have reported very high traffic for May 5th.

Just remember brides and grooms, be sure and secure your reception venue first, then your wedding band, then your catering company, and everything else last. The venues, bands and catering companies book up first. Photographers are a dime a dozen, same with florists, etc.

Past dates for the most popular wedding day include:

2016 - September 10th
2015 - May 16th
2014 - September 13th
2013 - September 14th
2012 - May 12th
2011 - September 10th
2010 - June 19th
2009 - October 10th
2008 - June 14th
2007 - July 7th (7/7/07)

With the obvious exception of July 7th, 2007, or 7/7/07, it is actually quite difficult to predict which day will be the most popular wedding day in any given year. The best way to guage it is to listen to local Kansas City wedding vendors and how their schedules are filling up and on what day, etc.

KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

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