Up North dispatch: Heart-shaped forest gets new life for World Cup
Editor’s note: The following is from this week’s Up North newsletter, published weekly on Mondays. You can sign up here to get them delivered to your inbox.
Good afternoon, Northland!
I’m Jenna Ebbers, back with your roundup of the biggest Northland stories from the past week.
Today, we’re diving into efforts to revitalize a unique forest up north.
Sitting on a small log in the center of the forest, surrounded by softly waving trees and whistling birds, Bob Berkebile wrote a letter no one will ever read.
It was a message for the forest scrawled on branded stationary, carefully tucked away in an old wooden box with cobwebs in the corner, where the ivory paper will likely fade with age, and rain will someday wash away his inked words.
It’s here in the “heart of the heart” of Heart Forest near KCI Airport that Berkebile hopes the one-of-a-kind forest can be restored, so that others can have the same opportunity to sit in peace among the trees planted more than three decades ago.
Berkebile, a Kansas City-based architect, is now on a mission to open the gate of the 8-acre forest located near to the public.
“There’s no other place in the world like it,” Berkebile told me for my story.
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What’s new in the Northland?
🚨 Two Missouri teens were left severely injured, losing their hands and sight, after the hand-made explosive they thought were fireworks suddenly exploded last month.
🥞 Does a crispy outside and a fluffy inside make the perfect pancake? A new Northland brunch spot seems to think so, claiming to have some of the best pancakes in Missouri.
😡 Platte County Republicans condemned four candidates after a week-long ballot saga led them to run for office independently.
👚 With hints of Nashville and LA sprinkled throughout the shop, a KC native just opened a new boutique and embroidery bar in the Northland.
My favorite reads
⚽ With a little over one month before the first World Cup match, KC hotels are faring worse than all other host cities, a new national survey said. My colleague Dylan Lysen has the scoop.
⚾ In case you missed it, a popular KC chain made a major change to its Royals meal deal after a whopping 42,000 free meals were claimed. My colleague PJ Green has the story.
Think we could be doing something better? I want to hear from you — email me at jenna.ebbers@kcstar.com.
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That’s all for now! See you next week.
