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Wichita plans to close a number of elementary, middle schools at end of school year

2024-01-23T07:42:39-06:00January 23rd, 2024|

An unspecified number of Wichita schools will be closed at the end of the school year to help offset a looming $42 million budget shortfall. Staff will make recommendations on which schools should be closed and why at the next school board meeting on Feb. 12. Decisions will be finalized by spring break, after ample opportunity for public input, Superintendent Kelly Bielefeld said. Closures will be limited to elementary and middle schools because of the logistical challenges of relocating 1,000 to 2,000 high school students. Source: Wichita Eagle

Pickleball noise has become nuisance at this Prairie Village park. Is there a fix?

2024-01-23T07:34:27-06:00January 23rd, 2024|

Prairie Village residents who live near Windsor Park will need to wait on any pickleball noise relief. The Prairie Village City Council on Tuesday voted 9-2 to send the pickleball noise issue at Windsor Park back to the city’s parks and recreation committee for a solution. Some residents near Windsor Park have complained about pickleball noise — what has become both a national and local uproar — since six courts were installed in June. Source: Johnson County Post

How costly will the boil water advisory be for Topekans?

2024-01-23T07:33:47-06:00January 23rd, 2024|

Topekans will see only a trickle of additional costs, if any, due to the problem that forced the city last week to declare a boil water advisory, city officials say. The city, which uses about 20 million gallons of water on a normal day, was able to flush the entire 60 million gallons involved through its distribution system in about three days, co-interim city communications director Rosie Nichols told The Capital-Journal Friday. Source: CJonline

County Commission approves state of emergency from Jan. 8-9 storm

2024-01-22T11:53:28-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

The Finney County Commission approved a severe winter weather emergency declaration for the Jan. 8-9 blizzard at its regular meeting on Tuesday. During the week of the storm, Commission chairman Gerry Schultz declared the emergency, but it needed to be confirmed by the Commission Tuesday’s meeting. Paul Resley, Finney County Emergency Management Director, said the emergency declaration was needed because they got inundated with the snow and wind from the storm. “We had so many people stranded that we were losing resources faster than we could find them,” he said. “So, we were reaching out for some help. The governor eventually did declare an [...]

‘Some days, you just might have to rescue a swan’: Wichita firefighters trek onto ice

2024-01-22T11:50:36-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

Firefighters trekked out onto a frozen pond Friday morning in north Wichita to rescue a swan that had been stuck for a couple of days. Residents near 21st and Amidon called first responders Friday morning about the swan being stranded in the middle of a pond. Firefighters in specialized rescue suits went out onto the ice and pulled along a raft. “Our Rescue team ... found that the swan was likely unable to move due to the size of the hole he was in versus the size of his feet,” the Wichita Fire Department said on social media. “Crews reported he wasn’t harmed [...]

WFD welcomes new recruits following graduation from training

2024-01-22T11:40:34-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

After 14 weeks of training, the Wichita Fire Department welcomed a new batch of recruits on Friday. The class was the third class of 2023. Class instructor and WFD lieutenant Clint Gifford said they're not starving for candidates, so they find the best of the best. "That would be our third class of the year 2023," Gifford said. "A lot of participants would like this job. So it's something that we haven't struggled with. We still get the candidates that we need that are top-notch." New WFD graduate Reed Norris said he's taking up the mantle his grandfather had in Wisconsin as a [...]

Where will the city find housing for thousands of new students in one area?

2024-01-22T11:38:21-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

The new biomedical campus is on the way to downtown Wichita, and it will eventually bring up to 3,000 students and hundreds of faculty and staff to consolidate into one complex. It's a collaboration between Wichita State University and the University of Kansas. While it's being hailed as great for the ICT, some are asking where the housing will come from to meet the new demand. "Affordable housing is so important for just the stability and the quality of life of our community," said Danielle Johnson, the Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity. Johnson says Wichita already needs up to an additional [...]

Kansas universities finding ways to bring in more nursing students

2024-01-22T11:34:24-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

Wichita State University released a new rendering of the eight-story building that will house classrooms and labs for WSU and the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Many factors have fueled the shortage of nurses over the years, including burnout, people retiring, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Another contributor is the cost of nursing school. Debra Pile, Chair and Associate Dean of Nursing Practice, said this new facility will help bring more students to WSU. "Having one to meet the needs of pharmacists and nurses physicians, all of those entities involved in the biomedical center is really exciting," said Pile. She hopes that the new [...]

City water exceeds standard for HAAs

2024-01-22T11:25:54-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

The city of Parsons sent out a public notice recently about haloacetic acids being found in drinking water samples at levels greater than the state allows. The water was sampled on Nov. 13 and tests showed that the water exceeded the Kansas Department of Health and Environment standard for the HAA5s, a group of five haloacetic acids. The standard for any one HAA is 60 ug/L. Results for samples the city collected showed that Parsons’ water plant exceeded the standard or maximum contaminant level (MCL) for HAA. Three of the samples were 72 ug/L, 79 ug/L, and 71 ug/L, respectively, according [...]

Thousands of students in Kansas and Missouri have left public education. Here’s why

2024-01-22T11:17:32-06:00January 22nd, 2024|

Thousands of students in Missouri and Kansas have left public school in the last four years, in line with a national trend of more families disengaging from public education. An analysis by the Associated Press, Big Local News and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee found enrollment in Missouri’s public schools dropped by 2% from the 2019-2020 school year to the 2022-2023 school year — making up nearly 18,000 students. Public school enrollment in Kansas is down about 16,000 students from its peak in 2015. Statewide enrollment numbers just released for 2023-2024 show 505,515 students in school this year, a 3% drop from the [...]

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