Country 101.3 KFDI

After a delay of just over a year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wichita Wind Surge baseball team will finally play its first game in the new Riverfront Stadium. The Wind Surge will begin a series with Amarillo at 7:05 p.m.  There will be some special activities for the home opener, including a tribute to the team’s late owner, Lou Schwechheimer.   A portrait of Schwechheimer was unveiled at the stadium on Monday, and it was commissioned by Emprise Bank and painted by local artist John Oehm. The team’s senior vice president and general manager, Jared Forma, told KFDI News that [...]

Kansas reports that more than 2 million coronavirus vaccine shots have been administered in the state, as the federal government detailed plans to distribute nearly $1 billion in aid to Kansas cities and counties. The state health department said Monday that nearly 1.15 million people or 39.5% of the state’s population had received at least one vaccine shot. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department spelled out for the first time how it would distribute a majority of aid Kansas expects to receive from a federal coronavirus relief measure that became law in March. The aid includes $566 million to counties and $427 [...]

The state that made saloon smasher Carrie Nation famous is moving to allow people to get beer and cocktails to go after the coronavirus pandemic. Kansas lawmakers last week approved a bill to allow to-go beer and alcoholic drinks from clubs, bars and restaurants until 11 p.m., as long as the drinks are in sealed containers and clear bags that discourage tampering. The measure is headed to Gov. Laura Kelly after both chambers approved it Friday. It continues a policy Kelly set by executive order in April 2020 when Kansas was under a statewide stay-at-home order and that remained in effect [...]

Sedgwick County commissioners have approved a funding agreement with Park City and Valley Center to make road and drainage improvements that will benefit a planned new Amazon distribution center. The project will reconstruct 77th Street North from the Big Ditch to I-135, with plans for a truck roundabout and other improvements to help what is expected to be a large increase in truck traffic in the area. The Amazon center will be around 1 million square feet and it will employ around 500 workers. County public works director Jim Weber said the total cost of the road project will be $6.3 million. [...]

Wind Surge officials said Riverfront Stadium was nearly at capacity; with 7,500 people in attendance to watch Wichita State defeat Houston 10-1 in a college ballgame hosted by Riverfront Stadium. This was the first game played at Riverfront Stadium after much waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wind Surge officials thanked the community for their ongoing support, saying they are very excited for the team’s official home opener on May 11th. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

The Wichita City Council has approved a grant application with the Federal Transit Administration to purchase 24 electric buses. Wichita Transit Director Mike Tann said the buses would replace 24 gasoline buses that are beyond their prescribed useful life of six years.   He said the gasoline buses have operated over 700,000 miles a year, burning more than 92,000 gallons of gasoline and emitting over 1.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.    Tann said the electric buses would have a low floor for easy access, they will reduce costs and energy consumption.  Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Governor Laura Kelly says she has no plans to have Kansas issue vaccine passports, which are designed to help inoculated residents travel, shop and dine out more freely. Vaccine passports, which verify people’s immunization status, have become a political flashpoint in the U.S. as they’ve come into use in Israel and under development in Europe. Some Republicans in the U.S. see them as heavy-handed government intrusion. Kelly said Monday that she’s concentrating on making sure people get tested for and vaccinated against COVID-19. The Democratic governor also signed into law a largely symbolic Republican bill requiring public schools to offer full-time, [...]

Reno County Commissioners voted 2 to 1 at a meeting Tuesday to opt-out of Governor Kelly’s statewide mask mandate.The new resolution will take effect on Wednesday, March 24th. Individual businesses and organizations may still require masks if they deem it necessary. County Commissioner Ron Hirst said “Respect one another. Respect another business.” He added that he hopes community members will be considerate. At the courthouse, masks will still be required in district court areas as well as at the main entrance. The Annex will encourage visitors to wear masks and increased sanitation efforts will continue at all county locations. Source: Country [...]

The city of Wichita will be expanding a program that provides internet access for low-income neighborhoods. The city began providing hot spot devices through a pilot program in 2019, and each device provides wi-fi access for up to 15 devices within a home.   When initial funding ran out, the city used federal block grant funding to continue the program. Megan Lovely with the Mayor’s Office said federal CARES Act funding is now being used to expand the program to more homes. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI

Governor Laura Kelly announced on Thursday her administration’s plan to vaccine meatpacking plant workers across the state. She says that any worker who wants to be vaccinated will be able to receive their first dose within the next 2 weeks. Counties with meatpacking plants will be receiving additional vaccine doses that will be set aside specifically for meatpacking workers. These will be in addition to the doses that counties receive already from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The KDHE is coordinating directly with meatpacking plants as well as local health departments. Source: Country 101.3 KFDI