August 10, 2023 | By By Andrew Lopez, KMUW
LIBERAL — A white Dodge Caravan pulls up in front of the Dillons grocery store in Liberal, Kansas, and Floyd Coleman steps out to help his next passenger into the minivan. Coleman, a 63-year-old retired truck driver, shuttles people around town for Liberal’s senior center. He has a few pickups and drop-offs throughout the day […]
July 31, 2023 | By David Kamerer
You may not know it, but you’ve probably benefited from some recent advances in artificial intelligence, or AI. AI powers your Siri and Alexa, those cheerful personal assistants that answer your questions about the weather or who won the big game last night. AI controls self-driving cars and the maps we use to navigate when […]
| By Joe Stumpe
MOUNT HOPE — As the coronavirus pandemic decimated many nursing homes in 2020, Mary Schmidt felt pretty good about the situation at the Mount Hope Nursing Center. “We didn’t get COVID until November (of that year),” Schmidt, chair of the nonprofit community group that owns the center, remembered last month. “Staff and everybody did a […]
| By Joe Stumpe
In her job running the Catholic Care Center, Cindy LaFleur knows it hasn’t always been possible to get immediate psychiatric care for residents needing it. Wichita’s only geriatric psychiatric unit, located in Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph on Harry Street, sometimes has a waiting list, which means an elderly person might be admitted to the […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Being cute and fluffy makes rabbits a natural as therapy animals, Joyce Gedraitis says. Unfortunately, those same traits don’t stop some people from tiring of them — or their rather prodigious offspring — as pets. Gedraitis, founder of a nonprofit called Bunny TNT (for training, nurturing and therapy), has been trying since 2006 to save […]
| By The Active Age
With some 6,000 ghost towns in Kansas to choose from, it’s no wonder that the makers of a 2022 documentary on the state’s faded villages and towns have now produced a second episode. “Kansas Ghost Towns, Part 2,” will air on PBS Kansas at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 and again at the same time on […]
| By Amy Geiszler-Jones
Breaking bread together symbolizes sharing and the forging of personal connections. But it was an afternoon of baking bread together that connected two natives of Kenya with members of the Bread Club of Wichita. David and Lillian Kapten, who came to the United States as college students, were the featured presenters at a recent gathering […]
| By The Active Age
The Wichita Journalism Collaborative has launched a pop-up newsroom called News Connect at the Advanced Learning Center Library. The collaborative, which includes The Active Age and 10 other media outlets and community partners, hopes News Connect will give members of the public an opportunity to interact with local journalists. In that way, they can contribute […]
| By Niki Lewis Shepherd
During these weeks of severe heat and drought when it is easy to complain and feel justified in doing so, I think of my growing-up years. They were the dry ’50s. The location, a western Kansas cattle ranch. Each day ended with a prayer for rain. My favorite game was mirage, where my siblings and […]
| By The Active Age
Local Author Day back at Advanced Library Wichita Public Library’s Local Author Day returns Saturday, Aug, 12 at the Advanced Learning Library, 711 W. 2nd St. “Wichita has a vibrant writing community and this annual program helps bring their talent to the spotlight,” said Sara Dixon, adult programming manager at Wichita Public Library. “One of […]
| By Ted Blankenship
I had no idea what we were missing when Dorothy and I took a cruise down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. We were content with chef-prepared meals, visits to historical places, jazz in the streets of New Orleans and lounging on the deck of our paddle-wheel boat. We didn’t know that if we had […]
| By Nancy Wheeler
Identify these items that have one of the four cardinal directions (North, South, East or West) in their title. 1. Separated by the demilitarized zone, this country’s capital is Seoul, home to almost ten million people. 2. This breed of dog hails from Scotland and is closely related to the Cairn Terrier. 3. John Steinbeck […]
| By Diana Morton
Kechi Playhouse, 100 E. Kechi Road, Will You Still Love Me in the Morning? by Jan Clements and Dennis Spooner. Jeremy and Celia return a week early from their unsuccessful honeymoon to find that both of Jeremy’s partners have accepted his offer to stay in his house while he is away. The only problem is […]
| By Monica Cissell
Senior centers are known for the education, wellness and recreation programming they offer adults 55 and older. But they may not be as well-known for the connections and support they provide. According to the Administration for Community Living, an agency of the federal government, community centers are a focal point for the delivery of many […]
| By Susan Armstrong
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Was it too long ago to remember? Or so significant you will never forget? I explored this question with a group of friends recently with interesting results. We all agreed “firsts” happen more frequently when we are young. It is only logical that […]
| By The Active Age
Donate at least $50 to The Active Age, and you could win a family membership to Botanica. The Active Age will hold a drawing for a family membership each month for the next six months from among people on our “Honor Roll” list of donors. This month’s winner is Delilah Nitcher. Donations may be made […]
July 27, 2023 | By The Active Age
Beginning Monday, July 31, Wichita Municipal Court will begin requiring the use of Yondr bags in its courtrooms. According to a news release from the city, the usage of the Yondr bag technology is aimed at enhancing the safety or attendees and ensuring a distraction-free environment in Municipal Court. The bags are soft, lockable pouches […]
July 26, 2023 | By The Active Age
With the Wichita area facing high temperatures for the next week, the City of Wichita has announced some relief measures for residents in need. Beginning Wednesday, July 26, residents may ride Wichita Transit for free until the end of the day on Saturday, July 29. The air-conditioned Q-LINE currently runs Monday through Saturday from 6:15 a.m. […]
| By The Active Age
Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater has changed a polling site for the Tuesday, Aug. 1 Primary Election that will affect voters in several precincts. Cedar Point Church, 9221 E. 31st St. South, will no longer be used as a polling place on Primary Election Day; instead, those voters are now assigned to Wichita Southeast High […]
July 21, 2023 | By Celia Hack/KMUW
One of Wichita’s key resources for unhoused women, Salvation Army’s emergency shelter, will close Aug. 11. The announcement comes while most of Wichita’s homeless shelters are already at capacity, said Angie Prather, vice president of marketing and chief community engagement officer for United Way of the Plains. “This decrease will strain the system,” Prather wrote in […]
July 12, 2023 | By The Active Age
The Kansas state treasury currently holds about $50 million in unclaimed money and property from Sedgwick County, and officials say they are trying to track down its owners. The state already has a website, https://unclaimedproperty.ks.gov, where residents can see if the state is holding money or other assets that belong to them. Citizens can search […]
July 5, 2023 | By The Active Age
Sedgwick County Treasurer Brandi Baily is opening a new tag and tax office that will operate two days a month from the Park City Administration Building, 1941 E. 61st St. North. On the second and third Wednesday of each month, beginning July 12, a tag/tax clerk will work on-site and serve customers by appointment only from […]
June 27, 2023 | By The Active Age
NORTH NEWTON—Sculptor Conrad Snider doesn’t mean to sound rude, but if people want to hire him to make pieces to their exact specifications, he has a customary response. “I usually tell them they need to take a ceramics class and make it for themselves,” he said. “I don’t have enough time left in my life […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Dr. Donna Sweet is known for a number of things: training hundreds of physicians as a faculty member at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, pioneering care of AIDS/HIV patients in Kansas and serving at the highest level of national medical organizations. Then there’s the leg wrestling party she hosts for medical residents each winter. “It’s a […]
| By The Active Age
Four Wichitans have emerged as leading candidates to become the city’s next mayor. In the Aug. 1 primary, incumbent Mayor Brandon Whipple will be challenged by Bryan Frye, Celeste Racette and Lily Wu. Unless one receives a majority, the top two vote-getters will face off in the November general election. Whipple is a former state […]