A large grass fire in north-central Kansas caused an evacuation order to be issued on Thursday. Saline County said on Facebook that the notice affects residents within two miles of Hohneck and Watkins roads. A fire that started on the south side of I-70 between Muir and Headville Road crossed the interstate and was burning north toward Culver, prompting the evacuation. “If you are in this area LEAVE NOW and AVOID THE AREA,” the county said.  The evacuation order was rescinded around 3:30 p.m. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, fires are moving north of Interstate 70 west of U.S. 81. I-70 has low visibility due to smoke in the area west of I-135, the county said.
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An increase in overdose deaths has resulted in the Sedgwick County Health Department working with the City of Wichita on wastewater surveillance. Everything you can imagine comes through this Wichita wastewater plant but the city and county are hoping to identify five high-risk drugs. “From here on in, we’ll be able to begin analyzing that data to show where there might be where there are spikes in the community,” said Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne. Through wastewater surveillance, the city hopes to track cocaine, methamphetamines, nicotine, fentanyl and xylazine. Byrne said these samples from the wastewater are sent to the company, Biobot who then tests the water for these drugs.  Byrne added, “This cannot identify any particular street, any house, it is the community, the whole community with where the wastewater is going and being sampled.” Once they receive the data, Byrne said it will show if there has been a massive dump of drugs or a spike in usage within that community.  She said drug use has been a problem for a long time and added, “Prior to the last five years, the focus really was on methamphetamines, that was the highest used in Sedgwick County in Wichita but fentanyl and other opioids have far surpassed that.”
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For the third year, the City of Wichita has allocated funds to provide rebates for the replacement of lawn care devices for new, non-combustion equipment. In a news release on Thursday, the city said up to $100 rebates are available for residents of Wichita and surrounding counties who purchase new non-combustion lawn equipment and recycle their old combustion equipment. Up to a $30 rebate is available for mulch blades, no recycling required. “Clean air is an important part of staying healthy,” the city said in a release. “Gas- and diesel-powered lawn equipment produces emissions that impact our air quality. A typical gas lawnmower is estimated to produce six times the emissions as the average passenger vehicle. These emissions contribute to ground-level ozone and pollution, which can be harmful to children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions like asthma.” The City of Wichita receives grant funding from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide education, outreach, and programming to the public on air quality and health. The program encourages individuals to replace combustion lawn equipment with electric or battery-powered lawn equipment by providing a $100 rebate if requirements are met.
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