Photo essay: Kansas towns face unknowns as the coronavirus pandemic halts rodeos

All photos taken by Shawn Brackbill. See more on his website. For many small towns in the West, the biggest weekend of the year is the annual local rodeo. It’s something folks look forward to all year in places like Phillipsburg, Kansas, or Pendleton, Oregon, or Cheyenne, Wyoming. Most of these events have been canceled… Continue reading Photo essay: Kansas towns face unknowns as the coronavirus pandemic halts rodeos

We toured all the Mexican paleterías in KC—each one brought something different to the table

Photography by Kayla Szymanski

Everyone seems to want to go to Tropicana at the same time. At least, that’s how it feels whenever I visit Paletería Tropicana on Southwest Boulevard, which, in the evening, is more often than not flush with eager patrons, with a line stretching out the door. The congregation is varied: There are gaggles of youths… Continue reading We toured all the Mexican paleterías in KC—each one brought something different to the table

Observation Pizza’s Kid Rock-themed pie would be worth eating at the top of a Four Seasons

Photography by Kayla Szymanski

It’s cliche to say that great things are often born of bad situations. But in the case of Observation Pizza, well, cliches are cliche for a reason. Nick Vella—a Michigan-born chef of Maltese heritage—was chef de cuisine at The Savoy at 21c before the coronavirus pandemic. Bored and restless, Vella started making pizzas and delivering… Continue reading Observation Pizza’s Kid Rock-themed pie would be worth eating at the top of a Four Seasons