Country 101.3 KFDI

A new non-discrimination ordinance for the City of Wichita that was passed in October goes into effect today. The ordinance prohibits discrimination in the areas of housing, employment and public accommodation based on age, color, disability, familial status, gender identity, genetic information, national origin or ancestry, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other factor protected by law. It allows people to have their discrimination complaints for housing, employment and public accommodation filed with the city and adjudicated locally. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Kansans are getting scam text messages that appear to be coming from the Kansas Health Department and Department of Revenue. The texts may mention something like “Kansas Covid-19 Vaccine Driver License Waiver Validation,” and include a link. The link appears to be a KDHE website, though it ends with .com, while real state pages end in .gov. The website you are taken to resembles a state website, and you are asked to put in personal information like your date of birth and social security number. If you get a message like this you are urged to report it as spam and [...]

Governor Kelly announced that the application window for the Broadband Acceleration Grant Program has opened. She said the program is crucial to the state’s plan to address broadband gaps statewide, adding that funds will be targeted to areas unlikely to get broadband service without state or federal funding support. The program, which was launched last year, is poised to invest roughly $85 million over the next 10 years to bridge the digital divide in Kansas, with help from broadband modernization funding provided by the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Wichita City Council members have approved a preliminary agreement for the development of about two acres of land near Maple and McLean, adding new features to the area around Riverfront Stadium. A Memorandum of Understanding calls for Wichita Riverfront LP and EPC Real Estate to build a full-service hotel of at least six floors and at least 150 rooms. There will also be a 55,000 square-foot office building with at least 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The project will also build a parking garage with at least 200 spaces that can provide public parking on evenings and weekends. [...]

The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County have received approval to apply for a federal grant that will reduce flooding in the Calfskin Creek basin, a 17-square mile area of west Wichita. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management has approved a $40 million project to go to the application stage.  Wichita City Council members and Sedgwick County Commissioners approved an agreement this week to submit the grant application by the end of the year to the Federal Emergency Management Administration. The project will construct two dry detention dams that will collect water during heavy rain events.  One of the dams will [...]

A spokesperson for Kansas Gas Service says it’s still too early to tell how last winter’s bitter cold temperatures will affect customers’ natural gas bills. KGS Community Relations Manager Lauren Clary spoke Thursday at Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple’s weekly news briefing. She said KGS has been working with the Kansas Corporation Commission on the issue, and the costs from last February’s cold snap were deferred to ensure that customers continued to receive service. The KCC has required utility companies to submit plans for recovery of the costs that resulted from a huge spike in natural gas prices during the cold snap. The agency [...]

Governor Laura Kelly has appointed a former Topeka hospital executive as the new secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Janet Stanek has most recently been director of the state employee health benefits program. She replaces Dr. Lee Norman, who announced his resignation Nov. 19. He’d been the health department’s top administrator since Kelly took office in January 2019. Kelly’s office said in a Monday news release that Stanek has held healthcare leadership positions in Pennsylvania, New York and Kansas. Stanek spent 21 years at Stormont Vail Health Topeka, where she last was chief operating officer and senior vice [...]

Governor Kelly announced Friday that she will use her constitutional power to reconvene the Kansas Legislature for a special session on November 22. This after the Legislature filed a petition with 86 signatures from members of the Kansas House and 29 members of the Kansas Senate, surpassing the two-thirds majority needed for a legislative petition. The focus of the special session will be the Biden administrations string of federal vaccine mandates and ways to protect Kansas workers who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Sedgwick County Commissioners had a brief discussion at their regular meeting Wednesday on the impact of a proposed elimination of the food sales tax in Kansas. Commissioner Jim Howell said he favors tax cuts, but he wants to know what the financial impact will be on the county’s budget.   The county’s Chief Financial Officer, Lindsay Poe-Rousseau, said legislative research has indicated that there would have been a $4 million loss to the county in 2020 and a $4.3 million loss for this year. County Manager Tom Stolz said the Finance Department began looking at the numbers when Governor Laura Kelly announced [...]

Voters in Andover approved a one-cent sales tax proposal in Tuesday’s general election. The sales tax will fund the construction of a second fire station as well as renovations to the current fire station.  Some of the tax revenue will also support renovations to the 13th Street Sports Park. ... Voters in Sumner County approved the extension of an existing sales tax for health care services.  The half-cent tax provides funding for the health department, emergency medical services, mental health programs and other needs.  The tax will be extended for ten years.  The proposal received 1,584 yes votes and 813 no votes [...]