A line of red-brick buildings down 7th Street from the Unified Government City Hall and Wyandotte County Courthouse. (Josh Merchant/The Beacon)

At a press conference in October, Unified Government Mayor Tyrone Garner issued a dire warning.

The government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, he said, was on a “pathway to complete financial ruin.”

Bankruptcy, he warned, sat just around the corner.

But the bond markets tell a different story.

Earlier this year, the Unified Government received a decent A1 bond rating with a stable outlook from Moody’s Investors Service. The UG also has not informed bondholders of any threat of bankruptcy. If Wyandotte County actually found itself on the verge of financial collapse, it would have been required by law to warn the investors who might buy its municipal bonds that the UG was a dicey bet.

“Bankruptcy is not happening,” said Angela Markley, who represented District 6 on the UG Board of Commissioners for 12 years until her term ran out this month. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have any financial problems to solve. It just means that our problems are solvable.”

The relative health of the county’s finances is complicated in ways that open the door for politically charged assessments of its balance sheet.

Residents have complained for years about high property taxes and burdensome fees attached to utility bills. Longtime residents recall the corrupt machine politics that dominated Kansas City, Kansas, before the city and county merged in 1997.

At the same time Garner sounds the alarm of a financial crisis that isn’t reflected by the bond markets — where billions in investments hinge on whether local governments can settle their debts — he’s pressing for giving the mayor’s office more power. That could include the ability to undo the merger that remade Wyandotte County more than a quarter-century ago.

Meanwhile, County Administrator David Johnston said major financial challenges need to be addressed in the coming years. But he said deconsolidating the joint city-county government structure may not fix the underlying problems. In Markley’s eyes, it could make the problems worse.

The prospect of a Wyandotte County bankruptcy

When Johnston was hired in March 2023, the UG was up-front about the financial challenges facing Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County.

They included a high amount of debt relative to property tax revenue, low sales tax revenue and long-term pension obligations for government employees.

But Johnston became concerned when he looked at the UG’s long-range financial forecasts, which showed that the city’s savings would evaporate by 2026.

“That’s where you go, ‘Oh crap, this is dire,’” Johnston said. “We did some things in the budget process, we got more revenue that just bought us time. We now have the real work to do to keep our government and its operations sustainable.”

He said that if the UG does not change course, it will be bankrupt by the end of the decade. And that, Johnston said, would trigger “state receivership,” similar to bankruptcy, where the state of Kansas would nullify the UG’s contracts and union agreements, seize control of the commission and take a “meat cleaver” to the budget.

But Markley said that many other things would need to go wrong before bankruptcy, or receivership, could happen in Wyandotte County. And Kathleen VonAchen, the UG’s former chief financial officer, said it’s not legally possible for the UG to file for bankruptcy or enter a state receivership.

A disappearing fund reserve — that never actually disappears

The UG has two fund reserves: one for Kansas City, Kansas, and one for Wyandotte County. For years, financial forecasts have warned that the city’s reserve would eventually slip into the red — but that doesn’t mean a financial collapse or bankruptcy.

In 2018, the UG forecasted that the city’s fund reserve would be drained by 2024. In 2021, the forecast said it would be drained by 2026. After this year’s budget season, that’s been pushed to 2029.

The forecast is almost always red, Markley said, because it includes projects that the commission wants to complete but will likely have to postpone when the time comes. The forecasts assume that the commission takes no action to balance the budget.

“When you look at those future years, you’re seeing a wish list rather than a reality,” Markley said. “As the budget year actually comes to fruition, we have to look at those things and say, ‘Well, we can’t do that, and we can’t do that, and we can’t do that.’”

The commission must pass a balanced budget every year, and in order to do so, it either cuts costs or increases taxes. The forecasts assume the UG commission just ignores the prospect of deficit spending.

Markley said she can’t imagine a situation where the UG goes bankrupt, short of apocalyptic circumstances.

“It would have to be a situation where our property taxes decreased so much and so suddenly,” she said, “that there was no way the commission could cut enough services or projects to get the budget into black.”

Even in that scenario, municipal bankruptcy is not possible in the state of Kansas, said VonAchen, the UG’s former chief financial officer.

Because the Kansas Legislature has not authorized federal Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, she said, Kansas tax entities like the UG cannot file for bankruptcy.

The painful reality of balancing the budget

The Unified Government may not be going bankrupt, but its finances remain troubled.

For decades, the county has been operating under a “structural deficit” that requires the commission to regularly revise the budget to avoid spending more than it takes in.

Markley credited Johnston for looking for a long-term fix for the problem.

“That’s fantastic,” she said.

For starters, Johnston said, the county needs to trim its debt. About 44% of the UG’s property tax revenue on the city side pays for debt, he said, which is higher than what he’s seen in other cities.

To get that number down, he said, the UG will need to spend less on street improvements and construction.

“We try to meet the social needs, the capital needs, our other service needs of our citizens,” he said. “Sometimes you have to take a step back and get real. We’ve been living outside our means.”

Aside from capital improvements, he said that the UG should also be prepared for internal “belt-tightening.”

At the same time, Johnston knows that many Wyandotte County residents already struggle with the taxes and onerous government fees — particularly the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) fee attached to BPU bills.

Johnston said that the PILOT fee was originally much lower — around 6% to 8% from 1997 until 2008.

After the 2008 recession hit, the UG increased the PILOT fee dramatically to compensate for falling property tax revenue in 2009. The problem, he said, is that the commission never brought the PILOT fee back down to pre-recession levels. Instead, it has remained at 11.9% — twice as high as it was in 2000.

But if the UG wants to decrease the PILOT fee to pre-recession levels, it will need to cut more than $10 million from its budget. And that makes it harder to make ends meet.

Is dissolving the Unified Government the answer?

At an October press conference, Garner and the mayors of Edwardsville and Bonner Springs floated the idea of dissolving the Unified Government, citing a looming financial crisis.

“That promise (was) presented to Wyandotte County back in 1997 from those that said that we need to consolidate to replace a machine,” Garner said. “It appears that that machine has been replaced with a bigger machine that is now operating on all cylinders.”

Garner declined an interview request for this story, and did not respond to a written list of questions before publication.

“I’m really proud of how far we’ve come,” Markley said. “To hear somebody from within our government cast aspersions on the professionals that we have within our employment now, it’s really discouraging.”

Johnston said it’s not clear whether ditching the UG and returning to separate city and county governments — after all, one motivation for consolidation was saving money — would fix the money problems.

“Spending more than you’re getting into your revenue stream — if deunification happens, you still have that problem to deal with,” he said.

Looking at the evidence of what the UG has seen over the past 26 years, Markley said, it’s difficult to argue that overhauling the consolidated government would erase the money shortfall.

Markley said Kansas City, Kansas, residents saw significant property tax relief immediately after the 1997 consolidation.

In 1995, the city property tax rate was around 6.4% of assessed value. Five years later, this decreased to 5.4%, and in 2023, the property tax rate is 3.8%.

“Anybody who’s foolish enough to think that deconsolidating our government would be a financial benefit,” she said, “clearly hasn’t looked at that data.”

This article first appeared on The Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Chloë Levine, Madison Baines, and Georgia Acken in Jenn Wexler’s THE SACRIFICE GAME. // Courtesy of Shudder

It’s Christmas time, and you know what that means: Holiday movie season is upon us. There are plenty of options that cater to your nostalgia or offer half-baked Christmas-themed romances (just how many small towns with Santa-centric small business economies are there, anyway?). If you’re looking for an alternative, you may find some unexpected joy in holiday horror like Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game. 

A few days before Christmas 1971, a wave of killings rocks numerous small communities. Miles away from this festive carnage, Samantha (Madison Baines) prepares to leave for Christmas Break with the rest of her classmates at the Blackvale School for Girls. Unfortunately, Samantha’s stepfather changes plans at the last minute, and she learns she’ll be stuck at school with class oddball Clara (Georgia Aken), young teacher Rose Tanner (Chloe Levine), and her boyfriend, Jimmy (Gus Kenworthy).

As everyone gets ready for Christmas Eve dinner, a quartet of creepy travelers knock at the door. Blackvale alum Maisie (Olivia Scott Welch), preacher’s kid Jude (Mena Massoud), military vet Grant (Derek Jones), and their accomplice Doug (Laurent Pitre) plan to conjure up a wish-granting demon whose summoning ritual requires a human sacrifice.

Samantha, Clara, Rose and Jimmy are taken hostage and fight for their lives, but their captors haven’t factored in that all of them are pawns in a bigger game no one fully comprehends.

The script by Wexler and Sean Redlitz demands viewer attention with its many twists and turns. Separating the characters into two distinct groups traveling across the school’s sprawling grounds also helps. Killings crop up at unexpected intervals. While none of the kills would win awards for creativity, The Sacrifice Game deserves a few points for keeping things practical rather than computer-enhanced.

Cinematographer Alexandre Bussiere makes the film’s open spaces claustrophobic as its cramped basement catacombs, with every corner holding the threat of death. Costuming and art direction help capture the 70’s aesthetic, without ever coming off as too cliche or cheap.

Even with a swirling mystery at its core, there’s simple and clear-cut mythology keeping things from getting too wonky. Any issues come courtesy of acting and pacing choices. At some moments, characters delve into inorganic camp. At others, scenes drag on for too long. The biggest problems crop up in the third act, after the movie’s done a lot to earn your good will. While they don’t ruin the experience, it does take an otherwise “very good” film down to “solid” territory.

Wexler’s previous film, The Ranger, also made use of a throwback vibe and a mean center, but buckled under the weight of its story and overall pace. The Sacrifice Game is an improvement in every way. From staging to mythology to bloodletting and tone, the film displays a growth in craft and is more fun as a whole because of that. 

If the incessant barrage of yearly Hallmark dreck has taught us anything, it’s that there’s always room for another Christmas movie. Thankfully The Sacrifice Game scratches a demonic itch that’s as far from cookie-cutter as you could ask for. It may not be perfect, but you’d have to be a real Grinch not to vibe with this little gem.

Paul Jesse and Deegan Poores. // image courtesy the artist

On a gorgeous fall day in early October, we sat down with musicians Paul Jesse and Deegan Poores to discuss their work together, including their latest release Hello Paul Jesse, Pt. III.

Seeking refuge from the lawn mowers furiously at work and the din of the monthly tornado warning drill, we settled in under the pavilion east of the Rose Garden at Loose Park in Kansas City. The juxtaposition of chaos and beauty set the perfect stage for our lengthy conversation.

The Pitch: Both of you grew up in musical households, yes?

Paul Jesse: Both my parents are musically driven. My mom is a talented vocalist and pianist, and she taught me to harmonize at a very young age. My dad is a recording artist (and also a music, entertainment, and media attorney who founded Rock N’ Roll Law), and his tastes and musical aspirations definitely rubbed off on me. I remember him spinning me around in his office chair when I was young playing me his favorite Dylan cut, Springsteen, all of that. I would always go around the house singing melodies, and my grandmother would regularly tell me, “You have to join the choir.” My parents were very open sharing their creativity with me and my brother Sean.

I really never had taken music or my creativity seriously until I developed that bond with my (three years) older brother. We started our band Night Class when I was at Free State high school in Lawrence, and I had a lot of early live local musical experiences at Farmer’s Ball, the Granada, Live At KJHK, and recording an album.

Deegan Poores: I’ve been making music since the 3^rd grade when I started my first little band, and we played the talent show each year. We got our name “The Meltdowns” during band practice, as somebody would always be having some sort of emotional turmoil. Like Paul, my dad is a musician too, and he was my first introduction to music (Mercury Records ’90s band Outhouse, current drummer for the ’80s tribute band The Zeros, and owner of S.E.C.T. Theater Supplies). He gave me some early lessons, and I took formal percussion lessons with Go-Go Ray through high school. My mom is a big music appreciator–my name Deegan came from my mom as she is a huge Trip Shakespeare fan, and “Deegan” is in a line from the song “Pearl.”

Wow. Sounds like from a very young age you both had some musical influences and inspirations, as well as some exposure to actually playing instruments, whether that be formal training like Deegan, or just beating on things around the house like Paul.

Paul, talk a bit about Night Class.

Paul: Night Class had its phases – starting in my parents’ basement with me and my brother. We were definitely inspired by alternative rock, 2015 Buzz era, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys, etc. The name came from my brother skipping his college class so he could attend band practice.

The original single “Wakarusa” came out in 2018 and the band consisted of me, my brother, Lane Hornback (Virga), and Grant Lewis. A couple of single releases led to the full-length “Dusk To Dawn” album. One of the first songs I wrote was “PM,” and I took lead vocals on that one as Sean usually wrote the songs and was the real front man. There weren’t too many barriers to creating, and my early experiences with my brother showed me what good collaboration looks like.

By 2019’s “Noise Of The Whirlwind,” it was just down to the two of us again, messing around with sounds, and much more experimental.

You guys released five albums and a slew of singles in just three years. Incredibly prolific, but what impressed me the most was how much ground you covered between “Wakarusa” and your last release “Pink Water (Rose Water Remix)” in 2020. Deegan, all this time, had your paths crossed yet? What were you doing at that time?

Deegan: We hadn’t really met, but I was aware of Night Class in 2020 when I was serving as the programming director at KJHK in Lawrence. I had played in a few bands (Snow Day In May) in high school at Shawnee Mission East in Kansas City. Punky, classic rock kind of stuff, but also getting more into alternative stuff which wasn’t meshing with the guys I was playing with at the time. Then I started recording rap music and I put out a mixtape, Admission Is Free, my junior year, and that’s what I focused on my senior year.

In college, I recorded some demos my freshman and sophomore years, and then junior year I recorded an entire album with Remy Styrk called The Vanishing Album.

When did you two first actually meet?

Paul: In August of 2021, I had one of my first solo shows as Paul Jesse at The Bottleneck after releasing my first singles “I’m Okay” and “Gone.”

Deegan: That’s how I first heard Paul’s music as Lane had posted about it on his story and I thought “Lane knows good music,” and I was like, “This guy does vocals?”

The single “Gone” got a nice little number of streams there. The Stuck This Way EP came out that November of 2021, so you two met before the EP came out?

Deegan: I wanted to go and catch him at The Bottleneck, just because we hadn’t met yet and I wanted to introduce myself. I had just made the beat for “Your Sunshine” a few days earlier, and I thought Paul would do really well with this and wanted to get him on this song in some capacity.

Paul: Making that song came so effortlessly, and it’s one of the best things we’ve made. It was a great start to our relationship and friendship. I remember just sitting in my old house and the sun was literally shining through my window which led to the first line (Paul sings “sun is shining, through the window, all I need is this light…”). It was one of those songs where the melody comes to me, and then the words only make sense within that melody. After that, moving back to Lawrence from KC, we would meet (said in unison) at least once a week.

To me, that song really typifies what I am hearing, which is blue-eyed soul, a fancy way to say a white dude sounding like he’s not white. For example, Hall and Oates, Michael McDonald, or Paul Carrack from Squeeze and Ace. The term can be heard as derogatory like “Yacht Rock,” but the difference here is the incorporation of trip-hop.

Deegan: Absolutely. The guitar was very Princey, but also kind of Doobie Brothers. I was consciously trying to take that trip-hop influence and combine it with something more upbeat, smooth, and joyful sounding without trying to overthink it. The video came out a couple months ago, filmed at Clinton Lake and produced by our friends Simon and Jack who have been creating all of the Flooding videos.

Paul: Not too long after we had gotten the demo done for “Your Sunshine,” my girlfriend Julia and I moved back to Lawrence from KC. Moving back home was a creative explosion with Deegan as I had shown him some older ideas which eventually became Hello Paul Jesse, Pt. I. We started recording with “Your Sunshine,” but we actually placed it towards the end of the project on Pt. III.

Deegan: To me, that song is the heart of the whole album.

Pt. III is markedly different than the first two installments.

Paul: Pt. I is very anxious, sad, gloomy, more negative thoughts, and me dealing with some past traumas and sadness. Insulated.

Deegan: Around that point, we had a conversation with Julia about having me produce a full album. I said I would love to, and that’s what I honestly wanted to do originally.

Paul: Julia has helped me write lyrics and is a big part of my life. She has definitely encouraged me to follow my heart, and none of this would have happened without her.

Deegan: At that point, I would either make beats or Paul would send me a beat from someone to see what I could create. The second song we really worked on was “Remedy” (first single off Pt. II). A lot of songs came from us just playing together and doing weird little things. For example, “Gold” from Pt. III was the one song where we sat down and Paul said he wanted to do an acoustic song, so I started playing guitar and literally in one sitting we wrote 90% of the song.

Paul: The melody usually hits me first, and then I think what the song is about or what I am feeling in the moment and shape the words within that melody. When we come together, it’s so natural and easy to make a whole song with both of our strengths.

Paul, I mentioned on the phone that I wanted to be clear about how to title the project or your different roles. I simply see two collaborators at work here.

Paul: Deegan shaped this album. I was sitting in front of a mic and expressing how I feel through my art, and he turned it into this whole experience.

Deegan: There is the narrative aspect of it with Pt. I being insular and dark. Pt. II is making realizations about the world and the transition from a little romantic anxiety to starting to see the bright sides of things. Pt. III moves on to healthier forms of self-love and love within relationships with others.

At this time, we are joined by a group of 40 folks for some kind of luncheon under the pavilion.

As you were recording, did you have discussions about needing certain types of songs (heavier or lighter) to fit the EPs, or was it more that you had recorded all of this stuff and now you needed to fit it together?

Paul: Towards the end of it, when we got to Pt. III, we kind of saw it was a self-reflection story.

Deegan: We had a lot of darker songs earlier on. We consciously, but unconsciously worked to get to where all of the songs would work together.

Paul: Deegan had the idea to release the songs in three parts, and really extend the excitement and exposure to everyone. They really work together as separate bodies, but hopefully people can also see the full scope and progression.

The closing track on Pt. III “Understanding (Goodbye)” is the most naked, raw, vulnerable, and soul-baring of the bunch.

Paul: I recorded that song alone in my parents’ living room. Deegan had sent the instrumental and said this has got to be the outro. I was just belting it out.

Contrast that with the opening track on Pt. I “Intro (Hello).” It’s an instrumental that sets a really interesting atmospheric tone with some subdued house music interspersed with muffled underwater dialogue between different voices saying, and even screaming, “Hello Paul Jesse!” Orchestral harmonies lead to the words “Don’t care” becoming clearer until a final piano chord is struck, which then rolls into the second song “You Don’t Care” with a more barrelhouse piano chord leading the charge. Seemingly deep connections that I am not sure if the casual listener would pick up on. Speak a bit more about the dialogue component.

Paul: That was a fun thing. We had this idea from the very beginning that everyone involved in the project, whether that be the visuals or guest features, would do a voice recording from them saying “Hello Paul Jesse.”

Deegan: It’s supposed to sound like being asleep and having a rising nightmare. There’s an alarm clock ringing buried in the mix towards the climax, a la Pink Floyd’s “Time.” I was trying to construct an audio collage that told the story of Paul’s nightmare and awakening to exercise his demons.

The last song on Pt. I is “Not Perfect” with Indiglow. At the end, the instruments drop out and we hear a voicemail with people saying things like “We don’t like you at all, Paul. We want to punch you in real life. You never call us.”

Paul: That’s a message from my close friend Dorian in 2015. It’s a little piece of my adolescence.

You saved that? How old were you? Was it serious or in jest?

Paul: I was 15. He was just messing with me. There were moments when maybe I wasn’t answering my phone, didn’t want to hang out, etc. Deegan and I liked it because it was kind of joking and being hard on me, but at the same time you have people here who care for you and love you. It was a great end for Pt. I.

Pt. II really gets the collabs and features going. Are all of these people from Lawrence?

Paul: arkko is originally from Ohio, but lives in Chicago now. I met him on a road trip with friends to Denver in 2021 to do some recording. That was a big moment in learning how to collaborate. iies lives in Denver. It’s a community affair.

Deegan: Pirli is the producer for American Terrorist. There are something like 8 guests on “La La” alone. Hannah Davis. Drury Lane.

Deegan Poores and Paul Jesse. // image courtesy the artist

What do you want to tell us about Pt. III?

Paul: It’s a more clear-minded understanding of myself and what I should value in life, realizing what’s important. These songs mean a lot to me and my relationships. Love is a universal thing.

Deegan: Much more live instrumentation, for example, on “Gold” we have keys, violin, guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, ukulele, bass, shaker, hand claps, and harmonica.

Lyrically, what’s your process like?

Paul: Sometimes I am more intentional with what I want to say, but a lot of the time, I hate to sound cliché, but it just comes to me. I know a lot of people talk about creativity and artists being an antenna, so when the signal comes, it comes. Don’t try to beat yourself up when it’s not coming through strong, but when it does, try to capture it.

I feel like Deegan gave me this canvas to paint on with his lush production and live instrumentation, and I just had a creative explosion. I think we both did. The album is this spectrum of sounds and genres.

Deegan: The album is very eclectic, but I wanted it to also feel universal to Paul, and nothing that would have sounded too far out from the Stuck This Way EP.

We turned up the beginning of “Gold” on our portable speaker and listened for a few minutes. Heads turning and forks dropping were early market research indications of a hit. We followed that up with “Understanding (Goodbye)” to equally delighted listeners under the pavilion.

Any last thoughts on Pt. III and the album as a whole?

Deegan: It was a very conscious decision on my part to make sure Paul’s vocals were the highlight of everything. The production dives into creating a developed environment where Paul’s voice can shine.

Paul: It couldn’t have happened if one of us wasn’t part of the equation. I couldn’t have done it without Deegan or anybody around me. This album is like a timestamp of my life. One of the most fun times of my life where I came back home meeting so many creatives and friends. I’m grateful how they uplifted me to be able to do what I love doing.

What’s next?

Paul: We have our first headline show at The Bottleneck on 12/8. We also have a deluxe version of the album that will include three remixes and a bonus track for a total of 16 songs. It’s kind of like an extension of the record. Aiming for an early 2024 release.

Deegan: We’d love to tour in 2024, but we both also have a ton of other music we have been working on. We both have solo projects that will probably be intertwined, plus other projects like Virga and additional collaborations.

The release show for Paul Jesse & Deegan Poores’ Hello Paul Jesse Pt. III is at The Bottleneck on Friday, December 8 with special guests Virga, Dalima Kapten, DONTCALLTHEPOLICE, and Moondawgie. Details on that show here.

Merry Little Batman. // Courtesy Prime Video

Amid David Zaslav’s self-nuking of Warner films and properties as he firebombs (HBO)Max from the inside, we’ve all become aware of the silently finished films like Batgirl that have been killed for tax write-offs, alongside full features like Coyote vs. Acme, and God knows what else that will equally now never see the light of day. Luckily, a number of DC projects that were killed at Max were picked up for distribution by Amazon—among them, a standalone full animated film coming to Prime Video later this week, called Merry Little Batman.

When young Damian Wayne finds himself alone in Wayne Manor on Christmas Eve, he must transform into “Little Batman” in order to defend his home and Gotham City from the crooks and supervillains intent on destroying the holidays. Along the way, he’ll be tempted by the exact sort of life challenges that his father worried he wasn’t ready to face, and “heroic” choices line up with the kind of sacrifice that should come with adulthood.

All else aside, it’s fascinating to see a Batman origin story that depends on Batman’s parents being alive and having complicated roles in his life.

Director Mike Roth (Regular Show) working from a screenplay by Morgan Evans (Teen Titans Go!) delivers a bit of holiday superhero entertainment that isn’t going to replace any of the traditional all-timers any time soon, but it’s still a wildly good time. Clearly aimed for kids, our theater full of children had a rollercoaster ride, and the adults watching new takes on classic characters had some howls of laughter with both the source material reworks, but equally through the charming adventure—with pathos and weight spread around with a deft touch that keeps it humming from start to finish.

The voice cast is led by Yonas Kibreab (Pupstruction) as Damian, with Luke Wilson (Idiocracy) as Bruce Wayne/Batman, James Cromwell (Big Hero 6: The Series, Succession) as Alfred Pennyworth and David Hornsby (DC Super Hero Girls, Cricket from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as The Joker. Wilson’s Daddy Bruce Wayne is an emotionally conflicted, charming take on the character, and Hornsby absolutely eats with his take on the role.

Merry Little Batman. // Courtesy Prime Video

Merry Little Batman is also an introduction to a new spin-off animated series Bat-Family, with the same actors and creatives overseeing more adventures in this universe. That’s one of the many Amazon saves from the Max fallout, including a new two-season order for a different Bat show called Caped Crusader. So, thrilled that Merry Little Batman isn’t just a weird holiday one-off, and rather a warm welcome to a family-framed Wayne’s world that we’re excited to spend much more time exploring.

Merry Little Batman. // Courtesy Prime Video

Former members of Congress are deeply concerned about political violence ahead of the 2024 presidential election, former Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama and former Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia said at a Thursday joint appearance sponsored by the liberal Center for American Progress and the nonpartisan McCain Institute.

Jones, a moderate Democrat who lost reelection in 2020, and Comstock, a moderate Republican who was defeated in 2018, said increased acceptance of political violence is seen across the political spectrum. But they laid much of the blame on former President Donald Trump and his supporters.

An October poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, a Washington-based independent research organization, found that 23% of respondents believe that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”

That represented an increase from 15% in 2021 and was the first poll in the eight times the group has asked that question in which support has risen above 20%.

One-third of Republicans and 46% of people who believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump agreed with the statement.

Comstock noted that antisemitism on some elite college campuses also represented a disturbing trend and Jones described a growing acceptance of violence “across the board.”

The country “seems to be splitting down the middle” politically, with each side believing the other is a threat to democracy, Jones said.

“They’re willing to accept some violence to protect” democracy, he said. “Trying to bridge that, between those two camps who would take up arms against each other for vastly different reasons but all in the name of saving democracy, really is, I think, a road to disaster, potentially.”

Trump central to growing rift

But they suggested the most direct and intentional threats appear to be coming from Trump and the movement he leads.

Jones, who was a U.S. attorney who prosecuted cases involving anti-Black violence before his election to the Senate, said there are politicians who continue to use “dog whistles,” or coded language their supporters understand as endorsements of violence.

Some leaders who use passionate rhetoric don’t necessarily mean to inspire violence, he said. But others do so intentionally, he added, making an indirect but unmistakable reference to Trump.

“Look, I believe there are some in this — who will go unnamed, but initials are D.T. — (who) have an intent,” Jones said. “I think they’ve had it before. They know exactly what they’re saying.

“How do we look at that?” he continued. “How do we talk when you’ve got political leaders that are out there who are literally calling for the execution of a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are calling their political opponents vermin that needs to be exterminated? That is a clear signal to folks.”

Trump used that language at a New Hampshire rally last month.

“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” he said.

Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, which inspired the attempt to stop the peaceful transition of presidential power in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, were a major driver of political division, Comstock, who opposed Trump in 2016, said.

Close legislative elections in Virginia this year did not inspire the same backlash as Trump’s 2020 reelection loss, she said, crediting Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the chairs of each state party for publicly accepting the election results and “not feeding into that paranoia.”

“Surprise: When Donald Trump’s not on the ballot, the voting all goes really securely and safely,” she said.

Lawmakers face death threats

Jones and Comstock cited a recent survey conducted by the University of Massachusetts for the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress showing that 84% of former members surveyed are concerned about the possibility of violence related to the presidential election.

Nearly half of the almost 300 respondents in the poll said they or their families received threats at least somewhat frequently while they were in office. Women and lawmakers of color reported higher instances, with 69% saying they’d experienced threats at least somewhat frequently.

And the problem may be worse for local government officials who lack the security available to members of Congress, Jones and Comstock said.

Comstock praised Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, both Republicans, for “standing up” for frontline elections workers who received threats and abuse from Trump supporters after the 2020 election.

Maricopa County, Arizona, Supervisor Bill Gates did not receive the same support from Republicans in his state as he faced abuse in the wake of election losses by Trump and Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, Comstock said.

“He’s just this local supervisor who doesn’t have the protections that we had in Congress and the Capitol Police,” she said. “So this was just a very abusive process.”

Gates and Raffensperger should be considered “heroes who are on the front lines” of defending democracy, Comstock said.

State and local elections officials have said they are having difficulty retaining and recruiting workers, as the people in those nonpolitical jobs have faced increased abuse from partisans.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com. Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.

Keep Them Coming with Kristen Thomas. // Photo by Nicole Bissey

Say “CBT” around therapists, and you might start discussing a treatment approach based on the theories of Albert Ellis and Pavlov. Say “CBT” to a kinkster, and we’re having an entirely different conversation about cock and ball torture.

CBT has as much variety as a holiday cookie platter. At its core, CBT typically has a person who likes to receive pain and teasing (a masochist) as the bottom, while the top (a sadist) inflicts pain and pleasure to the bottom’s genitals. CBT is considered on the more extreme side of the spectrum of BDSM.

A man who’s been practicing for around a decade, who would like to be called “subbie” for this interview, said his practice involves “everything from impact play and chastity, to pegging and forced bi—probably way too many to list. I have an extensive collection of gear.”

CBT can involve intense pain, but it can also include intense teasing and tension building. Goddess_Heathen, a professional ball-buster, said it’s about inflicting a good amount of pain, then bringing in “nice touches, or petting, or using the Hitachi Wand on the head of the penis.” She gives small breaks in between to make the bottom wonder what’s coming next. Controlling the cycle of pain, anticipation, and pleasure is often part of the erotic power exchange between the top and bottom.

Goddess_Heathen has been in the kink world (aka “in the lifestyle”) for 25 years. She got started with cock and ball torture when a friend brought it up. Off and on for the last 12 years, men have sought her out to receive the pleasure and pain experience.

“I get control and power over someone else,” Goddess_Heathen says. “It’s exhilarating! It’s fun to see what I can do with simple items and play around. It’s a creative outlet. You’re not out to harm. You’re not out to explode testicles. You’re into pushing the limits—how far can you take them?”

When asked why a person with a penis might like this, she says, “I believe it has a lot to do with the pushing of limits and boundaries. The need for being subservient—to please your dominant in this fashion is a blissful feeling.”

For subbie, he says, “There is not just the power exchange part, but also taking that pain for them, showing your devotion to them by taking it for them, pushing yourself to take more. But also you have to enjoy [it]. Just like with most BDSM, the pain from CBT gives you an adrenaline rush.”

Letting a new partner in on a kink, CBT or otherwise, can be intimidating but worth it. If you’re ready to discuss your desires and fantasies about cock and ball torture with your partner, be brief yet direct, then give them a chance to process and ask questions.

“Research what you’re doing,” Goddess_Heathen says. “Know what the body does to a certain degree. Know yourself, like if you bruise easily or you have a low pain tolerance. Don’t jump from porn right into a scene.”

“Don’t rush into anything,” subbie says. “Do your research and educate yourself before playing because you could hurt someone with some of these things or hurt yourself.”

If you or your partner want to learn more, you can turn to a professional sexologist, in person or online, find your local kink groups on FetLife.com, or go to a party or dungeon to observe. Working with a Dominatrix or experienced top is an option if your partner is not interested in participating or is not confident enough to top yet.

A Dominatrix will likely want to meet a few times before torture time begins; therefore, it’s perfectly normal for you and your partner to talk about what a CBT scene could be like multiple times before you try anything physical.

“You have to take the time to get to know them, just like any other relationship. You can’t just go full-on right off the bat. You are giving them the power to destroy you, so to speak,” says subbie.

There are countless ways to inflict pain on a cock or a testicle: poking, caging, scratching, whipping, trampling, and electrocution, just to name a few. If you’re just getting started, you don’t have to buy a thing—you have hands! Plus, you’d be surprised how many accessories and kitchen utensils you own that serve as perfect torture devices.

Goddess_Heathen suggests rubber bands, hair ties, 100% cotton clothesline, smaller wooden spoons, chip bag clips, and wooden clothes pins. subbie agrees that the wooden clothes pins are good for beginners until you can handle the more intense plastic version, as plastic will stick to the skin.

Electrostimulation, urethral sounding, ball-busting, weighting/stretching, and chastity cages are more involved, with each practice having its own safety measures.

“One of my favorites is the ball crusher,” Goddess_Heathen says. “It’s like plexiglass with clamps on the corners. You can also get it with electrodes.”

Etsy has over 1000 items for sale for CBT, including a plethora of plexiglass ball crushers. There are some truly creatively depraved makers out there. There are even PDFs you can download from Dominatrixes with step-by-step scene instructions.

For obvious reasons, safety is paramount for cock and ball torture. Only about 50 pounds of force are needed to rupture a testicle, and yes, the penis can break. An adult’s hand strength averages from 44 to 72 pounds. The skin is also thinner and more delicate than most areas of the body and can be more prone to fine cuts, bruising, and scratches. Sensations of all kinds are enhanced.

Be mindful of blood flow. Never bind too tight or leave it in place for too long. If anything is turning purple, remove the binding immediately. Keep EMT scissors on hand for any bondage practice.

When you’re ready, subbie suggests you “find like-minded people to connect with and learn from. Most importantly, trust your gut—if something doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not. Always remember ‘Safe, Sane, & Consensual.’”

You can find Kristen @OpenTheDoorsKC on Instagram or openthedoorscoaching.com

Fern loves to play hard. // Courtesy photo

Fern

Fern needs her hero. With more than 168 days spent in the shelter, it’s time for her to go home. She is dog-friendly but tends to play rough, so she prefers that there are no kids under age 5. She is working really hard on housetraining and is a great guard dog once she’s comfortable. 

Fern loves lap snuggles and is perfectly imperfect.

If you would like more information or to schedule a meet and greet, please get in touch with Great Plains SPCA.

Art by Cassondra Jones

Looking for delicious plans? Whether you want to impress a date, show your fam the best of KC, or just get out of the house, we’ve got you covered… all while supporting (mostly) local. 

Here is your weekly roundup of the best food and drink offerings around Kansas City. Cheers!

Something New

Rizoma Liquid Creations: Kansas City’s first Hispanic-owned beer company, Rizoma Liquid Creations, is partnering with PH Coffee for the release of pilot beer batches. Visit PH Coffee on Dec. 8 and 15 from 4  – 9 p.m. and Dec. 9 & 16 from 12 – 9 p.m. to enjoy a special selection of collaboration beers, exclusive merchandise, games, and light food offerings.

The Big Biscuit: For the second year, The Big Biscuit is a major sponsor of Q104’s Pajama Jam and is collecting pajamas at each Kansas City-area restaurant for Operation Breakthrough. They are accepting new, never-been-worn pajamas size newborn – 12 through Dec. 18 at all Kansas City-area locations, plus St. Joseph, Lawrence, and Topeka. Also, Santa will be in store from 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the 135th St. & Antioch restaurant in Overland Park on Dec. 22, and the same time in Liberty on Dec. 23.

Tannin: Celebrate Hannukah at the Crossroad’s Tannin Wine Bar and Kitchen. A special tasting menu is available December 7 – 14 for $55 per person. The menu features matzoh ball soup, brisket, and more. Reservations are encouraged.

The Campground: In West Bottoms, The Campground is hosting its 4th annual Christkindlmarkt. The festive market features local vendors indoor and out, plus holiday food and drink options. The fun runs from 5 – 9 p.m. on December 7-9 and 14-16. 

Opening

KC Cookie Company: Chunky, decadent cookies are easier than ever to get in Olathe. KC Cookie Company is opening its first store near Ernie Miller Park & Nature Center. The grand opening is Saturday, December 9 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. 

Maps Coffee: Brewery Emperial in Crossroads is making great use of their expansive indoor and outdoor seating! They recently welcomed Maps Coffee, serving espresso, coffee, and pastries from the incomparable Blackhole Bakery. A grand opening celebration is planned for December 8-9 from 7:30 a.m. until noon or sold out.

The Limit Pub & Grub: In the Red Bridge Shopping Center area of KCMO, The Limit is now open. In the space formerly occupied by The Daily Limit, The Limit is a revamped neighborhood bar, serving lunch and dinner, with indoor and outdoor seating. It is open every day from 11 a.m. – 1 a.m. and offers happy hour specials from 3 – 6 p.m.

December 8

Drastic Measures: Shawnee’s James Beard Award nominated cocktail bar, Drastic Measures, brought back the holiday pop-up: Drastic Mensches. Opening today, the bar glitters blue and gold, and is donating 100% of sales during Hanukkah to Jewish Family Services for families in Kansas City. Drastic Measures does not accept reservations or have a cover charge.

December 9

Hillsiders: Head to Hillsiders in Strawberry Hill for a relaxed brunch of biscuits and gravy, beermosas, and bloody marys starting at noon. At 1 p.m. there will be a free comedy show, Hot Waffle: A Comedy Brunch Show. I’ve covered their reliable batched cocktail menu, but its the 1970/80s neighborhood bar vibe that really sets this place apart. 

Casual Animal Brewing Company: From 12 – 5 p.m., Casual Animal in Crossroads is hosting a holiday market with many local vendors. Snag a beer (I recommend Chaos Monkey if it is available) and shop directly from local makers. 

December 10

The Wild Way: The Wild Way invites you to have a brisk Sunday morning at the park, but you can warm up with coffee while you’re there. The Wild Way coffee camper will be parked at Brookside Park from 8:30 a.m. 2 p.m. and I have my eye on “She Sleighs”–a hot latte with brown sugar, poached pear, vanilla, and winter spices.

Take Care: For Bread Friends’ last pop-up of the year, they’re headed to the Crossroad’s newest coffee shop, Take Care. I can’t say enough good things about Take Care’s cheddar apple scone, but I’d be willing to take a one-day departure for Bread Friend’s sourdough bagels. In fact, they are premiering a French Toast bagel with Maple Coffee Schmear. Yes, please. Take Care opens at 7 a.m. and Bread Friends bagels will be available at 10 a.m. until sold out.

Plan Ahead

NYE Plans: Am I really talking about New Year’s Eve already? Let’s skim over the astounding passage of time and skip to the fun. The best spots sell out quickly so go ahead and commit now.

I tend to make lowkey plans with family, but my next choice would be celebrating in Lonnie McFadden’s signature KC jazz style at Lonnie’s Reno Club. The Nomada x Quixotic party at Crossroads Hotel has always looked incredible and energetic, but a nice dinner at Acre sounds nice with a family group. 

For something a little different, take a chance on new beginnings and celebrate with the not-yet-opened Fern Bar in Crossroads (email bryan@fernbarkc.com for details) or don thy costume and celebrate at The Wyld in KCK at Glittering Glade: NYE Fae Gala.

P.S. Want to get the tea even earlier? Dish & Drink Newsletter subscribers get mouth-watering free content delivered to their inbox first every Wednesday. Sign up for free using the small Pitch button in the bottom right corner of your screen.

Kitchen Dwellers. // photo by Allison Scavo

Kitchen Dwellers
with Armchair Boogie
recordBar
Sunday, December 3

As Kitchen Dwellers walked on stage, rap played and had everyone happily confused yet excited. Shawn Swain picking the mandolin, Torrin Daniels ripping the banjo, Joe Funk slapping the upright bass, and Max Davies jamming on the acoustic guitar fused their energies and talent by ethereally communicating when to transition into the next set of harmonious jams. To pigeonhole Kitchen Dwellers as a bluegrass band would be a disservice, for their inspirations and hues vary across cultures, including mythological legends told through a psychadelic kaleidoscope of music infused with soul, funk, and folktronica.

Catch their new album, Seven Devils, out March 1, which you can read all about in our interview with Max Davies.

Armchair Boogie is a name that somehow oddly perfects their vibe: a folk, funk, and bluegrass that originated on a front porch. A band that can turn downhome bluegrass into an upbeat groove with contagious rhythm is not to be missed, and this Wisconsin based group is no exception. As I entered, the crowd was already screaming to the point where I questioned if I had missed them. I quickly realized they had just gotten on stage and the frenzied elation was merely for their presence. From the first note to the elongated jams and everything in between, Armchair Boogie aerated the venue with unforgettable energy.

All photos by Allison Scavo

Kitchen Dwellers

Armchair Boogie

TDJ. // photo credit Xavier Cyr

Montreal producer TDJ dropped her new “trance-infused audio visual experiment” SPF INFINI 3 in October. The third installment of a trilogy which began in 2021, it’s more than just a mixtape, album, or music video. It’s “an immersive audiovisual experience–a convergence of art, music, and storytelling that transcends conventional boundaries” and takes the standard “DJ behind the decks” POV videos which litter YouTube and turns them into something massive, taking the listener/viewer on an immersive journey.

TDJ hits the Encore at Uptown Theater on Thursday, December 7, so we hopped on Zoom with the producer and DJ to discuss her creative process and traveling the world.

The Pitch: What was the process for you of putting together all of these videos?

TDJ: Yeah, well, it was a definitely a long process that evolved. At the beginning I just wanted to do a mixed compilation of original music inspired by like the old mixtapes by Tiesto, like In Search of Sunrise. But then I thought it would just be more interesting to have a long, long video clip to go along with it, just to make it more like a 360 art project. That was the idea/dream behind it because it kind of was an impossible idea, but with a lot of work, it does work.

Who assisted you in this? I have to imagine that it requires a bit of a team given the makeup and the settings and things like that.

Oh, yeah, for sure. All this concept was developed by a team with a main asset to it the director Laurence ‘Baz’ Morais. We had everal meetings in which we discussed what kind of project we were aiming to do and we developed all the moods and the inspiration behind it and all the color to the project we gave it along the way. The team ended up being like, probably 30-40 people or something.

When you’re putting together these mixes are these things that you think will work with a visual accompaniment or was the album created first and then the visuals second?

It was definitely the music first and then when we had a first demo of the first mix, we showed it to Laurence and asked him if he was inspired to create some visual over that with the themes we had in head and everything. But yes, the music where it came first. Without it, we wouldn’t have thought of anything visually.

What is the difference for you when you’re creating something for a mix versus what you’re creating when you perform live?

Well, I perform as the DJ, so it’s kind of similar. I would say it’s quite similar, just choosing tracks that kind of fits for dance venue.

What is the appeal when you’re creating your albums and your EPs of doing things as trilogies?

I don’t really know. I feel like triangles in life were just really satisfying. I just love the fact of having a full circle, but instead of a circle, it’s a triangle. Closing the loop, you know? It just kind of happened naturally when I release three EPs and then I compiled them into a mixtape that was called TDJ123. And then, yeah, I did SPF INFINI 1, SPF INFINI 2, and I was like, “The logic would be to make it three editions,” so I made the third one to close the loop again. I just love doing three things of everything.

You are known primarily as a trance DJ so I am very curious about TDJ-182, because that just seems like that exists adjacent to, but separate from, the rest of your discography.

TDJ-182 was the first mixtape of edits I released. I love making edits of songs I loved when I was a kid, or songs I like right now, like cheesy pop songs. I just have a lot of fun making those for my DJ sets I play along the year. TDJ-182 was the first one. And then I made the TDJ Baby and then I Love TDJ. I made like three edit mixtapes to date. I do one every Christmas, so I’m going to do another one this year.

You get to travel the world performing. You’re in France right now. What does traveling offer you as a musician, in terms of exposure to new performers and genres?

I would say over the music inspiration, it’s more about seeing things I would have never seen and meeting people I would have never met. All of that builds up inside of me without even realizing it and I accumulate things that are going to inspire me in the future when I sit in front of my computer and want to make a new song. It’s really impressive the way it works, ’cause I don’t have like much time to make music when I’m traveling that much, but the second I do have time and I sit down in front of my computer, I feel super-inspired because of the million things I’ve seen in the past weeks and months. I feel really like lucky for that.

Is there anything you can point to that inspired you recently?

It’s really hard to point out. It’s more like a feeling I have. I feel like I need to make music because of all the things I’ve seen, but it’s nothing like particular. It’s just like, I would say my subconscious even, you know?

Oh no, that totally makes sense. I would imagine that like being on the road or traveling and things like that, you’re just trying to be in the moment more than anything else.

Yeah, exactly. It’s just like painting pictures here and there and like experiences I live that lives inside of me and they just go out and into a music track at some point.

How do you find audiences change the world over, or do they?

I feel like they do for sure because every country have their particular culture. But I would say that it’s really impressive to see how a certain genre of music like trance kind of attracts the same kind of–not the same kind of people, but like a very similar energy, I would say. I noticed that the crowds I play to are quite various. There’s young people, older people, all kinds. There’s no limitation in the crowd and that’s really fun to see. This is anywhere I go, so that’s cool.

TDJ plays the Encore at Uptown Theater on Thursday, December 7, with special guests N1N4 FREAKQNCY and Dewey. Details on that show here.