The debate over paid parking coming to downtown Wichita is intensifying. Some business owners and members of the public are left with questions. The exact cost is still unknown, but Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson said he believes it will start at 75 cents an hour. Others said their frustration wasn’t about feeding the meter but how the city announced it on Saturday in a social media post with very few details. Russell Arben Fox, a professor at Friends University, said his frustration came from the lack of critical details. “The fact they rolled this out with a lot of [...]

Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit filed by a former state Highway Patrol employee who claimed to have been fired for coming out as transgender. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and eight leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature unanimously approved the settlement during a brief online video conference Thursday. The state attorney general’s office pursued the settlement in defending the Highway Patrol, but any agreement it reaches also must be approved by the governor and top lawmakers. Kelly and the legislators didn’t publicly discuss the settlement, and the amount wasn’t disclosed until the state released their formal resolution approving [...]

Leaders from 15 Sedgwick County communities met in Wichita to tackle property tax relief. Wednesday’s meeting was only an informational meeting for leaders. No decision or action was taken. The idea is to create an eighth, quarter, or half-cent county sales tax to decrease property taxes. Community leaders want relief for property owners without cutting funding for public programs like the zoo and the arts. Sedgwick County Commissioner Ryan Baty believes a county-wide sales tax is the answer. “We could see an $8, $10, $12 million property tax reduction if we use a quarter-cent or half-cent sales tax,” said Baty. Baty [...]

A common goal of improving health in rural areas is bringing together leaders from higher education and medical providers. The Community Health Worker Project at Kansas State University focuses on sustaining the health and safety of rural Kansans and people working in agriculture. The project is meant to serve as a gateway to help rural residents manage chronic conditions, prevent injuries and reduce risks of getting sick. “A community health worker who understands the hard work that has to be done if you’re on a ranch or farm, having to look at the equipment maintenance, having to look at some of [...]