Stay Tuned...

KC Downtowner isn't dead yet. Keep your eyes open for developments in the coming weeks.

That's All Folks!

I never have been able to determine who has been paying me for this column. I asked -- a bunch -- but all I got were conflicting answers.

Whoever you are, I want to thank you. It's been fun.

Thanks as well to the readers, all 350 or so of you. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you hated it, I hope you enjoyed hating it.

Time for me to call it quits.

The person who was paying me decided to not pay me anymore. He or she or it very generously offered to give me the site and allow me to make all the money off of the ads.

I actually had some ad sales lined up, if you can believe that. They were for candidates in the various August primaries. The rate was $125 for the entire campaign season.

It's a good start for a little site like this. But not enough pay for three months worth of columns.

I could probably hustle around and sell some more. But it would take a long time to get to where it felt like a fair trade for the time and effort I would put into it.

Plus, selling ads just didn't feel right to me. Selling to politicians and writing about politics? Kind of makes you wince, doesn't it.

I suppose there's something to learn here about the local media market. I think a site like this could work if you had a sales person willing to work on commission. One possible business niche is sales for multiple hyper-local news and info sites. Maybe some sales type person will give it a go. Not me.

As for the readership of this site, it was a pretty solid 350 loyal readers. I'm pretty sure they're all hooked into the City Hall / Downtown politico juggernaut in one way or the other. I'm pretty sure they all read all the other political sites, too. Not a big market. But they're consistent and they probably buy food and drink in the downtown area on a fairly regular basis. So a insider politico site could be a good, cheap advertising option for lunch joints and bars and such. Maybe a dry cleaning place or something.

But you'd have to hustle to get them. Maybe do some info gathering from your readers. Surveys and stuff like that.

It's doable. But I ain't interested in doing it.

I've got a few friends and friendly acquaintances who read this. Some of you might want to know what's up with me now.

Well, the short answer is, life is good. In fact, I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am right now with my career and my home life.

I've got one more year at the MFA program in creative writing at KU. The reason I'm in the program is because an MFA is a terminal degree for creative writing teachers. That means that it's all the schooling I need to be able to be a professor in a university.

For the past year, I've been teaching writing at KU as a graduate teaching assistant and absolutely loving it.

I've also been doing a lot of writing, of course. I'm working on a young adult novel that my agent is expecting me to send to her mid-summer. I've also been writing essays and they're starting to get picked up by literary journals. My master's thesis will be a collection of essays. I'm also beefing up my C.V. by making presentation proposals for conferences.

So, honestly, the loss of this column is a bit of a welcome development. I can certainly use the extra time.

Star Power

What’s the most powerful institution in Kansas City?

I’ve posed that question to two former mayors, a slew of former City Council members and various leader-type people, and their answers were all the same: The Kansas City Star.

So the obvious next question is, what happens to all that power as the Star dies?

And the Star does appear to be dying.

Menu File: Harry's Country Club

112 E. Missouri Ave.

421-3505

Download Menu

Soundcheck: NOFX & Muddy Udders

Muddy Udders

Saturday, May 1

The Brick

1727 McGee

NOFX

Sunday, May 2

Beaumont Club

4050 Pennsylvania

Art Flash - Member Week @ the Nelson-Atkins

Still another week to go until First Friday, when all the galleries open the doors on new shows. So it's a good time to go down to the Nelson-Atkins and check out the city's collection of masterpieces. It's member week, so there are all kinds of tours and events scheduled. If you're not already a member, now's a great time to join.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

4525 Oak Street

Kansas City, MO 64111

816.751.1ART (816.751.1278)

This Week @ City Hall - Hotel Happy Talk and the Power Struggle Rages On

The TV news crews better plan on parking their satellite trucks out in front of City Hall tomorrow afternoon. There'll be plenty in the Business Session for them to report on.

Probably of most interest to the boob tube crowd will be a presentation of summer youth activities. The presentation itself will likely be lame and boring, just like any government strategy to pacify teens. But with the recent riots you can expect the Mayor and Council members to have their peacock feathers out in full color, practically fighting one another to steal a second or two from the cameras for whatever meaningless declaration they can think of.

Conversely, the scribblers with the Star and Pitch will probably be there with their ears peeled during the Convention Hotel update that's on the agenda. Here's what I want to know: Will anyone mention the Brookings Institution report showing that the convention industry is a sucker's bet? 10th Floor, Thursday, 1:30 p.m.

But once again, for something like the fourth week in a row, the most exciting and contentious issue before the Council is an item that's on hold in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. That's right. The ordinance to create a new department of capital projects is still alive and smoldering on the agenda. I've talked with a few Council members and I've had it confirmed that the battle continues to rage behind the scenes, with the Council members who voted to oust former City Manager Wayne Cauthen on one side and the ones who voted against on the other. Apparently the losers on that deal are holding on to this ordinance and trying to pressure someone from the other side to flip. As usual, most of that pressure appears to be bearing down on Beth Gottstein. 10th Floor, Thursday, 10 am.

Well, here's to you Beth. Hold strong!