In a move intended to remove 212 homes and nearly 500 acres from a flood plain in west Wichita, the city council unanimously voted Tuesday to seek federal funding to install two dams. The area in question starts at Calfskin Creek west of Maize Road and extends for four to five miles east and three to four miles north and south of Kellogg. When the dams were in place, the homes would no longer be in the flood plain and residents would no longer have to buy flood insurance, said Don Henry, assistant director in public works and utilities. Source: Wichita [...]

Stymied by nearly 11 hours of contentious public comment about a proposed nondiscrimination ordinance this summer, city officials have hired a consulting group for almost $18,000 to research the topic more. The ordinance is designed to prevent discrimination within city limits on the basis of “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 bans discrimination in employment, housing and businesses that serve the general public. Source: Wichita Eagle

People who oppose mask requirements or restrictions on public gatherings imposed by Kansas counties can challenge them in court and obtain a ruling within 10 days — at least for now — because of a decision Tuesday by the state's highest court. The Kansas Supreme Court's ruling could discourage counties from imposing mask mandates to deal with the two-month surge in COVID-19 cases tied to the more contagious delta variant. Most local school boards aren't directly affected but could hesitate to act as well. The court's ruling also came the morning after Wichita's school board voted to require anyone age 3 [...]

Major revisions to the Kansas emergency management law, ruled unconstitutional last month by a Johnson County judge, will remain in place while the state Supreme Court considers an appeal. The Kansas Supreme Court on Tuesday granted Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s request that district court judge David Hauber’s ruling be stayed until the higher court made its decision. The stay follows more than a month of uncertainty in Kansas as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise and the power of local health officials and Gov. Laura Kelly was uncertain. Source: Wichita Eagle

Wichita school district teachers voted overwhelmingly to approve a new union contract with USD 259 as the new academic year began this week, citing pay increases and bonuses that recognize teachers’ work in the pandemic. Nearly 66% of certified staff voted on the contract, said Brent Lewis, president of United Teachers of Wichita, the union that represents USD 259 teachers as well as nurses, counselors and other staff. Of those voting, 93.5% voted yes on the agreement, while 6.5% voted no. The contract covers more than 4,000 teachers and staff across the district, and will last for one year. Source: Wichita [...]

The brand-new, 1-million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Park City will become operational Sunday. Two hundred employees will begin filling orders for the online retail giant, which says it plans to employ between 700 and 1,000 workers throughout the year, depending on customer demand. “It’s truly amazing what’s been accomplished in the last 10 and a half months,” said Sean Fox, Park City’s city manager. “A year ago, nobody even knew that Amazon was coming here.” Source: Wichita Eagle

If Kansas wants to keep and attract young adults to its rural communities, state residents should figure out how to better support access to child care, affordable housing and broadband, or risk continued population loss of those young people, according to a new report. The report, Power Up and Go, was produced by the state Office of Rural Prosperity and the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for preservation of rural culture. It aimed to gain a better understanding of the obstacles that keep young adults and their families from staying in rural Kansas, as well as the opportunities that [...]

Children returning to Wichita Public Schools are strongly encouraged to wear masks indoors whether or not they have been vaccinated, although the Wichita Board of Education will not require masks for students or staff despite the increased threat posed by the COVID-19 delta variant. The school board voted 4-3 Monday evening to “strongly recommend” mask-wearing, overriding concerns that not implementing a mask mandate puts children who are too young to be vaccinated as well as immunocompromised family members at risk of contracting the virus. The board approved Superintendent Alicia Thompson’s recommendation to require masks for visitors to Wichita schools while only [...]

Wichita’s emergency rental assistance program paid out $3.1 million in aid in July alone, an increase in payments that could help some struggling or unemployed tenants stay in their homes after a federal eviction ban expired over the weekend. The national eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expired on Saturday at the end of the month, officially ending the patchwork of bans on evictions during the coronavirus pandemic. It was the only remaining moratorium that covered Kansas renters after top state lawmakers allowed the statewide eviction and foreclosure ban to expire in late May. The CDC’s ban had initially [...]

For the past five years or so, former state Sen. Randall Hardy has watched a few dozen turkey vultures roost in a tree next to his garage. He can tell when the migratory birds return to his central Salina neighborhood each spring as the colors begin to change. “The roof is colored with white,” the District 24 Republican said, “and if you aren’t careful where you park your car in the driveway, it can change colors overnight as well.” Source: Wichita Eagle