18th and Vine

The first ever Juneteenth Film Festival in Kansas City is this year's launching pad for African American festivities. It's part of the largest and longest running celebration of the emancipation of enslaved people in the region.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas chose entrepreneur Kemet Coleman to represent Kansas City at the Young Men of Color Roundtable at the White House this week.

Bank of America donated $1 million to kick off the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s $25 million capital campaign for a new building to house its education center.

The museum has already secured $1 million for construction of the new building, planned for the intersection of 18th Street and Paseo, from Bank of America. The bulk of funds are expected to come from private financers.

Kansas City is known worldwide as a jazz town, home to the likes of Charlie Parker, Andy Kirk and Count Basie. But what about the women who helped shape the genre? To celebrate Women’s History Month, Up To Date looked at some of the city’s most iconic female jazz luminaries.

The Spencer Museum of Art has a new gallery and curators have been deliberate in their selection of more diverse artwork — and an unexpected literary twist. Plus: The Kansas City jazz community is mourning the sudden loss of Ronald McFadden, legendary tap-dancer and musician and one half of the McFadden Brothers.

McFadden, was one-half of the internationally known McFadden Brothers. He died, passed unexpectedly after a performance with his brother Lonnie McFadden at the Loews Hotel in downtown Kansas City.

Foreclosure has been on the table at Parade Park Homes, an aging housing cooperative in the 18th and Vine District, for months now. But due to a recent update, the possibility of foreclosure seems even more real.

The Buck O’Neil Barrel-Aged Saison honors the late first baseman and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs, Buck O’Neil. The limited release beer is expected to be available on tap and in bottles beginning the first week of November — brewed in a partnership between Boulevard Brewing Co. and the soon-to-launch Vine Street Brewing.

The new exhibit, "Sound and Story: 25 Years at the American Jazz Museum," will include the four pillars of the American Jazz Museum’s mission: exhibition, performance, education and research.

After being based in Dallas for the last decade — and making tattoo trips across the region — Kinesha Glover opened Keno G Ink in the lower level of the 2000 Vine redevelopment project.

Parade Park was a symbol of pride for Black families in Kansas City who finally got their chance at home ownership — but the neighborhood may not survive redevelopment. Plus, staff shortages are forcing Missouri school districts to consider four-day weeks.