It’s nearly Fall, and time to rewire your driving brain, using this simple fact: it’s safer for everyone when cyclists ride on the street. This is where drivers are looking for moving traffic, and how pedestrians can use the sidewalk safely. Considering this and pushing aside irritation at having to share the roads, drivers can [...]

Imperfectly Perfect a poem by Emma, age 14 In my mind I can see The girl that I would like to be I’ve gotten to know her in my thoughts she is perfect and I am not She’s pretty, smart, and always sweet She plays sports and piano, she’s so elite It upsets me sometimes. [...]

The Office 124 W 8th St (785) 354-9380 The only office where overtime is welcomed, The Office, 8th and Jackson, has been a watering hole for downtown workers since March, 2009.  However, it was in September 2010 when The Office expanded the bar, brought in weekend dueling pianos, created a great patio area and showcased [...]

[ story and photos by Lyle Vaughn | republished from Jan. - Feb. 2010 print issue seveneightfive ] The Break Room 911 South Kansas Avenue Map It (785) 215-6633Open Weekdays 8am-4:30pm We’ve all heard it, thought it, said it—If only downtown had stuff going on evenings and weekends. It’s gotten to the point where it’s [...]

Foursquare is the newest game on Topeka’s playground, and it’s just as competitive as the old school game from 4th Grade recess. by Kerrice Mapes | photo by Colin MacMillan / Nathan Ham Photography Where are you? What are you doing? Where are you going?  For many seveneightfivers, familiar nightly texts are going to the [...]

NOTO (Topeka’s arts district in North Topeka) has a lot in store for the August First Friday Artwalk. Here are some of the events taking place in the northland this Friday, from 5:30-8:30 p.m.: NOTO Community Arts Center The NOTO Banner Project Join community-based artist and designer Carol Bradbury in creating a series of vibrant, [...]

by Melissa Sewell | photos by Colin MacMillan / Nathan Ham Photography Today, July 21, marks the first anniversary of Resistance, the wildly popular all-ages alternative dance night held on Thursdays at the Boobie Trap Bar.  But when the weekly dance night first began, co-creator and “glorified jukebox” Josh Luttrell (or DJ LeTrouble) didn’t expect [...]

Aptly dubbed, Spoken Thought is making hip-hop that makes you think while you are hit with a wave of infectious sound. Today, the local artist released his newest album, “Brain Food,” and we second the sentiments of the track “Love the A.N.T.” (featuring Anthemous): “Turn it up, man! Make it louder, man!” Spoken Thought is [...]

by Cale Herreman | photo by Gary Krohe The pictures, in their tidy black frames, are not large.  They show some amazing scenes of birds and beasts, and humans doing ordinary things in ways alien to us.  Each one is a window upon a deeper world.  Each one a story. The current exhibit at the [...]

“New Topeka” is an old concept with a new and astute moniker. Politicians have always displayed civic pride – it’s part of that complicated equation of bullhorn personality and policy; local leaders, by definition, must be cheerleaders for the city. Organizations that help the City of Topeka reach higher ground on a nose-to-the-grindstone daily level, [...]