Great Bend has released an app that allows users to explore the city. The Great Bend Alive Tours app uses GPS navigation, photos, video, and audio narration to take visitors on two unique guided tours of the city. The first is a tour of the historic downtown, and the second is a tour of the city’s unique art. The historic tour takes visitors around the courthouse square and neighboring streets, where they will learn the history of historic buildings, as well as about sites where important structures once stood. The art tour showcases murals and sculptures around Great Bend and includes interviews and audio clips with the artists who created them. The app was created through Great Bend Alive, part of Great Bend Economic Development, a public/private partnership focused on economic development in Barton County. They plan to expand the app’s features in the future. “The potential for this app is virtually endless,” said Lee Ann June, Communications Director for Great Bend Economic Development. “We have plans to use it with downtown events held by Great Bend Alive, the City of Great Bend, and others. The Great Bend Alive Preservation Team is also excited to develop new tours focused on historic events and properties in the area.” The app is available for both iOS and Android or through any web browser.
Source: KSN-TV

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu is urging the community to remain vigilant about the drought. On Thursday, she said the city saw a slight uptick in water usage from previous weeks. Thursday marks one month since mandatory water restrictions began in Wichita and neighboring towns The graphic shows the volume of treated water going from the Hess Pump Station to the 500,000 water customers in Wichita and neighboring towns. The red line is when the restrictions began. The dips are on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when no watering is allowed. Wichita began the watering restrictions because the water level at Cheney Reservoir was dropping, and the mayor says it continues to drop. “The 12-month moving average conservation pool is at 67.2%, which is a decrease of 1.2% in the last month,” Wu said. “Cheney is currently at 59.7% full in total. The rain we have had in August didn’t provide much relief.” She says the city has sent almost 245 warning letters to residents suspected of violating the mandatory water restrictions. However, the number of letters sent has decreased each week. Last week, only 30 were sent. The city has not issued any fines yet. “We want to continue to emphasize education and the importance of coming together to safeguard our most important resource – water,” the mayor said. Wichita’s drought plan allows people northwest of Central and Broadway to water on Mondays, northeast on Tuesdays, southwest on Wednesdays, and southeast on Thursdays. Watering is limited to before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m. NW Wichita can water on Mondays. NE can water on Tuesdays. SW can water on Wednesdays. SE can water on Thursdays. The City of Wichita continues to offer rebates to people who install water-saving devices. So far, the city has approved rebates for 343 devices totaling almost $25,000. More than $50,000 remains in the rebate program. The rebates are for many products, including rain barrels, rain sensor shutoffs, smart irrigation controllers, toilet repair kits and dual-flush converter kits. Click here to learn more.
Source: KSN-TV