JoLynn Foster isn’t happy about it, but she’s convinced the only way to save her hometown hospital is to shut part of it down. “There’s no other alternative,” said Foster, a longtime resident of Arkansas City, a town of about 12,000 people south of Wichita. Foster and about 100 other residents of the southeast Kansas town recently attended a meeting about the fate of SCK Health, Arkansas City’s only hospital. They listened as hospital officials explained their decision to restructure SCK Health so that it can qualify for enough federal money to keep it open and delivering limited, but essential services. [...]

The Lawrence school board will soon get its first look at a proposal to revamp the pay structure for teachers and provide about $3 million in pay increases — amounting to an average raise of about $3,000. Should it move forward, the proposed new salary schedule would increase the earning potential for the district’s most experienced teachers, as well as address other problematic areas of the current salary schedule. As the Journal-World previously reported, a committee that has been studying the issue said that the district has been losing teachers at particular times in their careers due to the structure of [...]

Topeka's mayor and city council asked for further analysis late Tuesday when faced with a proposed North Topeka zoning change supported by the Topeka Planning Commission but opposed by residents of the area involved. The measure's passage would help clear the way for Eugene & Paramore LLC to carry out its proposed project to build affordable duplexes and fourplexes, which it intends to primarily rent out to senior citizens. The mayor and council voted to send the proposal back to the planning commission and direct that body to look at four potential concerns raised by neighbors. Source: CJonline

The people and their different cultures of those that make up southwest Kansas will be honored at the third annual Cinco de Mayo Multicultural Community Celebration this Saturday at Stevens Park. Marco Rodriguez, secretary for the Cultural Empowerment and Development Foundation’s Multicultural Community Celebration Committee, said the event has been a lot of work to put together, it’s all done by volunteers from the community, but he’s really excited for it. Source: GC Telegram

The town of Wilson is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the movie “Paper Moon.” Locations in the Ellsworth County town served as settings for the movie and some locals are in the movie as extras. This Friday, May 5, the Midland Hotel in Wilson is hosting the 50th anniversary celebration for the movie starring actor Ryan O’Neil and his daughter, actress Tatum O’Neil. “The Midland is very lucky in that we played a major role in what happened in the film, so we can have that here,” said Wilson Tourism Hub Director Melinda Merrill. The hotel was used for filming and [...]