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The Wichita Beacon
Some Park Elementary neighbors oppose Wichita homeless shelter plan
Bobby Harlan gazed over the shuttered grounds of Park Elementary School, which he attended 32 years ago, and shared his disappointment about its future. “How can it be a homeless shelter?” he said. “This neighborhood needs a school.”. First came the news in March that Wichita schools would...
Missouri Amendment 4: What to know about the Kansas City Police funding ballot question
When you look at your Aug. 6 Missouri ballot and see the same question about funding for the Kansas City Police Department as two years ago, that’s not a mistake. In April, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered the state to run the vote again. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’s lawsuit challenging the police funding question prompted the court to throw out […] The post Missouri Amendment 4: What to know about the Kansas City Police funding ballot question appeared first on The Beacon.
Why Liberty Hospital could no longer go it alone and turned to Kansas for help
A hospital merger that caused a short-lived political storm tinged with Missouri-Kansas rivalries earlier this year kicks in with the start of July. Liberty Hospital, a 177-bed community hospital on the Missouri side of the metro, will be gobbled up by The University of Kansas Health System, a Kansas neighbor six times larger.
Downtown parking changes leave Wichita businesses worried
Stewart’s Jewelry and the Hilton Garden Inn don’t compete for customers — just for parking. The Hilton, on the corner of South Topeka Street and Douglas Avenue, dwarfs the family-owned jewelry store next door. Customers of both businesses — and sometimes employees — compete for spaces in...
World Cups displace homeless people. What’s Kansas City’s plan for the event in 2026?
The 2026 World Cup will squeeze Kansas City’s already tight housing market in ways that could make shelter particularly scarce for homeless people. Many thousands of soccer fans flocking to the region will need places to stay. But some housing experts say that the World Cup’s short-term impact on the housing market could prod the […] The post World Cups displace homeless people. What’s Kansas City’s plan for the event in 2026? appeared first on The Beacon.
A Missouri woman could go free after 43 years. But wrongful imprisonment payments in the state are low
After serving 43 years in prison for a murder case hinged on things she said as a psychiatric patient, Sandra Hemme could be cleared of the killing and freed in less than three weeks, by July 14. For that, Missouri state law promises $100 a day for each day of...
Plasma you sell in east Kansas City could end up in medicine an ocean away
Michael Mullen donates blood plasma every Tuesday and Thursday. He has for 12 years. The money it brings in — a little over $100 a week — augments what he makes as a chef. He’s come to rely on it. “It helps supplement bill paying,” he said recently, smoking a cigarette outside the Biomat USA […] The post Plasma you sell in east Kansas City could end up in medicine an ocean away appeared first on The Beacon.
Sedgwick County regulators hold up giant solar farm on Wichita’s outskirts amid objections from neighbors
Sedgwick County appeared poised to follow its ban on wind farms with widely vetted regulations that would allow acre after acre of solar panels pumping renewable energy into the electrical grid. Instead, the county still has a moratorium on the construction of large-scale solar farms. “Boils down to a simple...
Internal tensions preceded sweeping changes at closed Wichita abortion clinic
Wichita’s largest abortion clinic remains closed more than a month after it stopped seeing patients, amid a dramatic shakeup in leadership and mass resignations by doctors and other key staff. The post Internal tensions preceded sweeping changes at closed Wichita abortion clinic appeared first on The Beacon.
Wichita Public Schools plan gets public feedback
Shana Balton expects a bigger say before endorsing Wichita Public Schools’ big buildings plan. “The board needs to be willing to meet the community,” she said, “so that board members can understand how we are feeling.”. Balton, a teacher at Pleasant Valley Middle School, learned more about...
How The Beacon helped bring attention to Wichita USD 259’s school district voting process
Beacon reporter Trace Salzbrenner published a series of articles in the summer and fall of 2022 that explored how Wichita elected school board members — and the ways that tended to stifle the votes of minority neighborhoods. His reporting showed that a citywide voting system essentially diminished the political influence of Wichita’s Black residents.. “I […] The post How The Beacon helped bring attention to Wichita USD 259’s school district voting process appeared first on The Beacon.
Experts: U.S. hospitals prone to cyberattacks like one that hurt patient care at Ascension in Wichita
In the wake of a debilitating cyberattack against one of the nation’s largest health care systems, Marvin Ruckle, a nurse at an Ascension hospital in Wichita, said he had a frightening experience: He nearly gave a baby “the wrong dose of narcotic” because of confusing paperwork. Ruckle, who has worked in the neonatal intensive care […] The post Experts: U.S. hospitals prone to cyberattacks like one that hurt patient care at Ascension in Wichita appeared first on The Beacon.
Marcus Clem joins The Beacon as the new Wichita education reporter
The Beacon welcomed Marcus Clem as its new Wichita education reporter last week. Clem has worked as a multimedia journalist with a concentration in education for News-Press & Gazette Company and as copy editor for The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Augusta Chronicle through Morris Communications. He’s been a member of the Education Writers Association for […] The post Marcus Clem joins The Beacon as the new Wichita education reporter appeared first on The Beacon.
Kansas prisons will give doses of opioid antidote to some inmates when they’re released
Some inmates leaving Kansas prisons are returning to civilian life with a potentially lifesaving tool in hand. The Kansas Department of Corrections recently launched a program that provides the outgoing inmates with naloxone, the opioid antidote that can quickly reverse the effects of an overdose. The medication, which is also...
Two years after Roe v. Wade fell, what’s changed around abortion in Missouri and Kansas?
It’s been two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and remade the national landscape of abortion law. That ruling cleared the way for Missouri to ban the procedure in all but the rarest circumstances. Kansas voters, meantime, voted convincingly less than two months later to protect abortion rights, and the state soon became a regional destination for women barred from abortions in their home states.
Two years after Roe v. Wade fell, what’s changed around abortion in Kansas?
It’s been two years since the U.S. The Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and remade the national landscape of abortion law. That ruling cleared the way for many states to ban abortion or enact restrictions on the procedure. Kansas voters, meantime, voted convincingly less than two months later to protect abortion rights, and the state soon became a regional destination for women barred from abortions in their home states.
Redefined infant ages and new to child-to-staff ratios: Kansas changes child care regulations
Kansas child care providers likely will soon be able to take in more children, care for more infants and work under new health and safety training requirements. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has proposed 37 changes to current regulations to strip away burdensome regulations and clarify language — some aimed at easing rules to fit more children into existing child care centers.
Residents want input, concessions before backing a low-barrier homeless shelter in Northeast Kansas City
People gather near the Hope Faith Homeless Assistance Campus all day long. Some carry backpacks sagging with belongings. Others come empty-handed. Many have no interest in going inside. Instead, they hang out to chat, organize their belongings, or simply stare into space. In the blocks surrounding Hope Faith at 705...
Teachers’ union appears on board with Wichita district’s plan to spend big, close schools
The union for 4,000 district teachers and other workers looks inclined to favor Wichita Public Schools’ $2.1 billion plan to remake several schools and buildings. Voters will likely decide this fall if Wichita Public Schools can borrow $450 million to fix up old schools, build some new ones and close 11 buildings. The school board […] The post Teachers’ union appears on board with Wichita district’s plan to spend big, close schools appeared first on The Beacon.
Why rural Missouri schools and hospitals might become homebuyers
In Kirksville, Missouri, an entire floor of the hospital sits empty. The community could easily fill beds with patients — if only it could hire nurses and other workers to tend to them. Just up U.S. 63 near the Iowa border, the Schuyler School District can’t keep teachers on the payroll. A manufacturer wants to […] The post Why rural Missouri schools and hospitals might become homebuyers appeared first on The Beacon.
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