Country 101.3 KFDI

A bill has been introduced in the Kansas Senate to limit restrictions on home-based businesses, and some city and county leaders across the state are raising concerns that it will hurt their ability to deal with any nuisance issues in neighborhoods. Sedgwick County commissioners had a briefing on the bill this week. Senate Bill 505 would prohibit cities and counties from enacting or enforcing zoning regulations that would be considered as barriers to home-based work. Assistant County Counselor Justin Waggoner told commissioners that the bill would wipe out county zoning regulations on home-based businesses. He said there would be no restrictions on [...]

Sedgwick County commissioners have approved funding to help the capital campaign for The Kansas African American Museum in its effort to find a new building in a new location. The county will provide $450,000 over a five year period toward the campaign. The museum’s executive director, Denise Sherman, said significant progress is being made in the effort to create a new museum and cultural center, and a formal announcement is planned this summer. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Wichita City Council members have approved the hiring of a California consulting firm to guide the search for a new police chief. Public Sector Search and Consulting, Inc. will help with the process of finding candidates to take over for Gordon Ramsay, who resigned effective March 1st after serving six years.  City Manager Robert Layton said the firm has outlined a robust community engagement process that will begin with creating the priorities for the search.  The plan is to have community forums, focus group meetings, and online surveys for Wichita Police Department staff and the community. The search process is expected [...]

Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay steps down this week after six years of service to the community.  He told KFDI News it has been an honor to serve Wichita and he has made lifelong friends. Chief Ramsay has worked to improve relations between the police department and the community and he has put innovative methods in place to reduce crime.  He said the community policing effort has made great progress and the Crime Stoppers has been a good measure of that with a record number of tips to help solve crimes.  He said Wichita has been way ahead of other cities [...]

The Wichita Police Department’s Juvenile Intervention Unit has launched a social media campaign to bring awareness of drug sales by juveniles via social media. Officer Alex Avendano with the JIU created a video (below) highlighting the campaign’s focus, which it to alert parents and juveniles of the dangers of drug sales that are set-up on social media. These drug sales have resulted in shootings and/or homicides. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Sedgwick County commissioners have voted to approve a lease agreement for a building in downtown Wichita for a three-year-period.   The Ruffin Building at Douglas and Broadway will be used for the commission offices, the County Manager, the Clerk, the Treasurer, the Register of Deeds, the County Counselor, and the communications department. The move will free space in the courthouse for an expansion of courthouse space and the creation of more space for the District Attorney.  The expansion project is expected to begin later this year and would be finished in the spring of 2023.   It will allow the District Court to [...]

A study on litter from Wichita State’s Environment Finance Center suggests there is room for improvement. The study was put together after people in the community voiced concern about the number of plastic bags seen floating around. People involved in this study looked at 12 city parks across Wichita, which came out to two parks per city council district. Study leaders say their findings were close to what was expected. “Wichita is a unique place, but our litter certainly is not unique,” said Michelle DeHaven, program manager at the EFC. “When we compare it to other litter studies, our study showed [...]

Many Kansas legislators want to make sure that counties don’t change the longstanding tradition of electing sheriffs by enshrining the policy in the state constitution. The Republican-controlled state House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a proposal to add language to the Kansas Constitution’s short article on county government to ensure that sheriffs are elected to four-year terms. A final vote was expected Wednesday. Only Riley County out of the state’s 105 counties doesn’t elect a sheriff. However, a commission in the state’s most populous county of Johnson County reviewed a proposal to appoint their sheriff, but ultimately decided against the change. [...]

Sedgwick County commissioners voted Wednesday to adopt a food master plan for the community. The Wichita City Council voted to adopt the plan last month. The Health and Wellness Coalition of Wichita worked with the city and county and other agencies over the past year to develop the plan, and a 14-member steering committee was created to gather input and draft a final plan. Sedgwick County Health Director Adrienne Byrne said the plan has three goals:  to foster food system coordination and education, improve access to healthy food, and increase local food production. She said about 25 percent of the people in Wichita [...]

Deputy Police Chief Lemuel Moore has been announced as the Interim Police Chief for the City of Wichita, starting in March. Chief Gordon Ramsay announced in December that he would be stepping down as of March 1st to focus on family. He had served as chief since 2016.   The city is starting an extensive search process to find the next chief. Moore is a 30-year veteran of the Wichita Police Department and he has served in a number of capacities, starting as a beat officer in Patrol East and moving into the ranks of Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain. He became a [...]