Welcome to the Lowdown! I am so glad you’re here!
This week comes with an asterisk. I got rear-ended on the highway on my way home from the office, and I’m writing this one from the couch with a concussion and the kind of soreness that makes stairs feel like a personal attack. I’m okay, just moving slower and staring at screens less than usual, so bear with me if this issue runs a little shorter or leaner than normal.
Even from the couch, Lee’s Summit didn’t slow down for me. We’ve got a charcuterie spot worth knowing about and a local company doubling down on its hometown roots. Let’s get into it. 👇
🧀 Charcuterie, Friendship, and a Whole Lot of Cheese Boards
Two Lee’s Summit neighbors turned a shared love of hosting into a business, and the story behind it is one of my favorite kinds: the kind that starts with wine in someone’s kitchen.
Emily Begnaud and Alli Kisner met years ago at Great Beginnings Early Education Center, where their kids were in the same special needs classes (born just 10 days apart, now in Cedar Creek Elementary’s life skills program together). After years of side-hustling charcuterie boards out of their own kitchens, they opened Madison Social Charcuterie in downtown Lee’s Summit last fall, event space and catering kitchen included.
Their boards run 23 to 24 ingredients deep, and a single bad grape gets pulled. That tells you everything about how seriously they take it.
If you’ve hired them for a party or a graze table, hit reply and tell me about it. I want to know what’s actually good.
🏢 Apollo Health Insurance Doubles Down on Lee’s Summit
I was at the ribbon cutting when Apollo Health Insurance first planted its flag here, so watching them grow feels a little like watching a neighbor’s kid graduate. The company just consolidated four separate offices into one new campus in Lee’s Summit, and they’re not slowing down: 30 to 35 new hires are coming by the end of the year.
Good things happening for a company that could have set up shop anywhere and chose us instead.
⏪ THE LS LOOP
Meetings that happened while you were living your life last week.
District 3 Has an Empty Seat. The council is moving fast to fill it. Applications to serve until the April 2027 election are open now through August 21, and public interviews happen September 8. If you’re in District 3, submit your interview questions online and help vet whoever ends up there.
Fourth & Green Wants a Big Tax Break. Omni 360 Development pitched a 28-unit stacked rental townhome project downtown, corner office space included, with rents targeted around $2,300 a month. The ask: a 25-year, 75% property tax abatement plus sales tax exemptions, $1.81 million in incentives total. This lands right before the Community Development Committee starts a full review of the city’s incentive policy on August 12, so it’s worth watching where that goes.
Municipal Court Is Stretched Thin. Court Administrator Amanda Squires read a letter from Judge Alter describing nine-hour dockets with a single 15-minute break. The council can’t touch a sitting judge’s pay mid-term (charter rules), so the fix, whatever it ends up being, goes to the Finance and Budget Committee.
Green Street Won Something. Our downtown project took home Best in Show at the inaugural Missouri Main Street conference. Well deserved.
Full meeting recap here and you can watch it here.
🎸 LIVE & LOCAL
Thursday, Aug 13
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Jam Night | 7-10pm | Jack Ray Post 5789, VFW
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Soul Fundamentals w/ Julian Goff | 7-10pm | The 1909 Club (funk, R&B, soul)
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Thomas Pender | 5-8pm | The Fillmore Café (jazz, blues)
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Micah Burdick | 7:30-10:30pm | Iron Horse Bar & Grill
Friday, Aug 14
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Shaun Munday | 6-9pm | Jazzy B’s (soul-drenched vocals)
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Jackie Myers Organ Trio | 7-10pm | The 1909 Club
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Noah Austin | 8-11pm | Konrad’s Kitchen and Tap House
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The Cowardly Lions | 8pm | Llywelyn’s Pub
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Tyler Lyon Music | 9pm-1am | Stuey McBrew’s
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Dogzilla | 8pm-12am | Captain’s Sports Lounge, Lake Lotawana
Saturday, Aug 15
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The Supermatics | 7pm | Jack Ray Post 5789, VFW
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Mike Bourne and KC Boogie | 7-10pm | The 1909 Club (KC & Electric Chicago Blues)
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The Heat KC | 8-11pm | Konrad’s Kitchen and Tap House (60s-00s hits)
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Keith Ladd Music | 8pm | Llywelyn’s Pub (country)
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Multiple Bands & Performers | 7-10pm | The Goat Brewing Co
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Damaged Goods Band | 8-11pm | Iron Horse Bar & Grill (country, rock)
📅 THE WEEKLY LINEUP
Here’s what else is going on this week:
Tuesday, Aug 11
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Teen Zen Zone with Pose and Play Yoga | 6pm | Lee’s Summit Community Room 1 and 2
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Teen Writers Guild | 6:30pm | Colbern Road Storytime Room
Wednesday, Aug 12
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Storytime for Families | 9:15, 10:15 & 11:15am | Lee’s Summit Community Room 1 and 2
Thursday, Aug 13
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Remembering Lee’s Summit | 6:30-7:30pm | Bridge Space. LS History Museum storytelling night, free, BYOB, popcorn provided.
Friday, Aug 14
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Zumba: Dancing Through the Decades | 5:30-6:30pm | Legacy Park Amphitheater. $12 pre-register / $15 at gate.
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Hops for Hellbenders | 6-9pm | The Goat Brewing Co. Trivia, raffles, art sales for hellbender conservation.
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Back to School Bash 2026 | 6:30-8pm | Bernard Campbell Middle School. Free supplies, haircuts, clothing, food, no registration.
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Early Literacy Music and Movement | 10am | Lee’s Summit Community Room 1 and 2
Saturday, Aug 15
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Together We Paint: Creative Expression for Preschoolers | 11am | Lee’s Summit Community Room 1 and 2
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Ellermania 2026 | 11am-2pm | Main Street. 15th annual client appreciation party, live music, food, Kid Zone.
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The Porch Swing Collective’s Annual Fall Open House | 10am-1pm | 505 W Main St, Greenwood. Fall decor, guest vendors.
🤔 LEE’S SUMMIT TRIVIA
Feeling like this summer’s heat has main character energy? It’s got nothing on August 14, 1936, when the Kansas City area hit its all-time record high of 113°F, in the middle of what’s now called the “Summer of Death,” a multi-week Dust Bowl-era heat wave that killed thousands nationwide. Lee’s Summit didn’t have its own weather station back then, but we were sweating through the same air mass as the rest of the metro. Next time it hits 100, remember: it could be 1936 hot.
One Last Thing
Getting rear-ended this week was a good reminder that most of what fills this newsletter every Sunday is stuff people had to show up for: two neighbors building a business out of a shared kitchen, a company betting on Lee’s Summit with 30-plus new jobs, and so many musicians bringing their talents to our city. I spent this week mostly horizontal, and it still didn’t slow the town down one bit.
If you’ve got a good “I got hurt but somehow still had to be productive” story of your own, misery loves company. Hit reply.
Thanks for reading. Hit reply and tell me what got you this week. I genuinely want to know.
Thanks for being part of the Lowdown crew!
– Jen
Editor, Lee’s Summit Lowdown
P.S. Small silver lining from a big news week: some Jackson County polling places actually ran out of Democratic ballots on primary day. Ballots, apparently finite. Things to do in Lee’s Summit, apparently not, because I wrote this entire issue from my couch at half speed with a concussion and still couldn’t fit it all in. 🤕
How did we do in this edition?
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