August 31, 2020 | By Patrick Joseph O’Connor
Kirby’s Beer Store, located across 17th Street from Wichita State University, has served as a hangout for individualists and anti-establishment types since the early 1970s. So naturally Randall Parker felt at home there. Parker, after a stint in the U.S. Merchant Marine, began his career as a news film reporter for KAKE, channel 10. He […]
| By The Active Age
The battle over Century II and the former downtown library continues. In January, a private-public group proposed tearing down the structures to redevelop the riverfront area. By July, a group called Century II collected more than 17,000 signatures trying to force the city to put the buildings’ future before voters. However, the city challenged that […]
| By April Holman
On Aug. 4, Missouri voters went to the polls and passed a referendum to expand Medicaid. Just a month earlier, voters in Oklahoma did the same. Now that Missouri and Oklahoma have joined Colorado and Nebraska to become expansion states, Kansas truly stands alone as the last holdout in our region. Since 2014, all states […]
| By Carole Neal and Barbara Bell
The League of Women Voters Wichita-Metro expected a busy 2020. In addition to being an election year, it’s the 100th anniversary of the LWV and the 19th Amendment, which granted women’s suffrage. What we didn’t expect was COVID-19. The LWV works very hard to reach out to the community to register voters and encourage them to vote. Our usual in-person outreach […]
| By Julie Doll
The 2020 presidential campaign looks a lot like the 2016 campaign. Only one of the names has been changed. Like four years ago, many voters will have to decide who they dislike more: incumbent Republican Donald Trump or former vice president and Democrat Joe Biden. Although polls show Trump with high disapproval ratings, they also show a large […]
| By Nancy Wheeler
The 1990’s was a time of change with Kansas electing its first woman governor and the Royals facing the 1994 player’s strike. How much do you remember about Wichita happenings during this decade? 1. Sections of Haysville, southeast Wichita, McConnell Air Force Base, and Andover were struck by an F5 tornado in April of what […]
July 29, 2020 | By Joe Stumpe
Imagine traveling to a foreign country to stay in the home of strangers, eat their food and be escorted around by them. And then returning the favor when they come to visit. That’s the idea behind Friendship Force, an international organization whose 100-member Kansas chapter is going strong after nearly 40 years. “They know their […]
| By Nancy Carver Singleton
As a child, Phil Uhlik was fascinated with the musicians at wedding dances. “The folks could find me up by the band stand, hoping I could someday be up there doing the same.” And the instrument that intrigued him most was the accordion. Although it’s the target of kidding by other musicians today (“What’s the […]
| By The Active Age
We love it when a dog sticks its head out of a car window almost as much as the dog does. And few look better doing it than Sushi, the winner of our pet photo/story contest. Sarah Snell calls Sushi “a 3-pound puff of good cheer” and “my best buddy during the coronavirus pandemic.” “At […]
| By The Active Age
Pet Stories Below DELYLA Delyla is a 2½-year-old Yorkie. She is energetic and very curious. During the pandemic, my husband and I got bronchitis and pneumonia at the same time. We were in bed for four days and she came and laid between us, never asking for anything. She occasionally licked our hands and cheeks […]
| By Joe Stumpe
By Joe Stumpe The Butler County War – an explosion of vigilante violence and intimidation unique in Kansas history – actually started in Sedgwick County. And its immediate cause was a mule. One day in November 1870, a 22-year-old named James Crawford rode the animal in question into Wichita. Four armed men relieved him of […]
| By Amee Bohrer
Denise Ziegler is an optimist by nature, a trait that illuminates her conversation and artwork. “During this, the Covid, the gift of art is that I’ve had plenty to do,” Ziegler said in her studio in Artists at Old Town. She is one of 10 artists who are part of the collective, which leases space […]
| By The Active Age
Charles McAfee knew something was up when family members started showing up from out of town last month. A few days later, the Wichita City Council renamed the pool at McAdams Park for the award-winning architect, who designed it in 1969. McAfee said the park and Dunbar School were the only places where black children […]
| By Mary Clarkin & The Active Age
Sedgwick County has spent a small percentage of nearly $109 million it’s receiving from the federal government for COVID-19-related expenses while officials make broad plans for using the rest. County officials say they’re trying to move quickly due to the Dec. 30 spending deadline for CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act money set […]
| By The Active Age
COVID-19 cases, clusters and deaths rose throughout the Wichita area last month as public officials in some cases adjusted their response to the pandemic. As of July 29, Sedgwick County reported 3,790 cases – of which 2,442 remained active – 24 clusters and 38 deaths. Clusters are non-household locations with two or more confirmed or […]
July 1, 2020 | By Amy Geiszler-Jones & The Active Age
When Junetta Everett became chair of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors this year, it was heralded as a historic appointment. An executive with Delta Dental of Kansas, Everett is just the sixth female and the first person of color to hold that position in the chamber’s 102 years of existence. In […]
| By Mary Clarkin & The Active Age
Some residents of a Clearwater nursing home where 11 deaths from COVID-19 were reported were not given baths for more than five weeks, its former director of nursing says. Christine Zeller, a registered nurse with a master’s degree in nursing, described the lack of bathing as part of a pattern of substandard care caused by […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Charles McAfee understands the anger that’s driving young Wichita protesters to rally against racial disparity and police misconduct. He felt it 70 years ago as a talented young athlete denied the opportunity to compete in certain sports because he was black. He felt it as a Korean War veteran demanding to be treated like other […]
| By Amee Bohrer
Emmie Barron, 12, crawls into the loft of her grandparents’ camper to admire glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Cousin Jett Haberly, 11, sits next to her and they dangle their feet over the ledge, laughing. “They spoil us,” Emmie said of her grandparents, Jan and Ken Haberly. “They did this for us.” The Haberlys bought […]
| By The Active Age
We’ve heard stories of how much people have appreciated their pets during the coronavirus pandemic. Now’s your chance to make your pet a star. Send us his or her photo with a short story about what your pet means to you. We’ll publish as many as we can and draw a prize for one pet […]
| By Nancy Carver Singleton
Warm and whimsical rural scenes. Vibrant skies with distinctive clouds overlooking barns, fences, houses, pastures, roads and windmills. And the occasional tornado. That’s the world Virgil Penner dreams —and paints. “My art is constructed art,” Penner, 82, of North Newton, said. “I create the colors, the balance and the movement so your eye moves around.” […]
| By Joe Stumpe
You think you know a vegetable, eating it in all the familiar ways, and then all of a sudden you realize you’ve never enjoyed a tenth of its potential. That’s how I feel about radishes, having now been turned on to the idea of roasting them. Sure, I’ve always liked their peppery freshness when sliced […]
| By Nancy Wheeler
Many of you probably remember the 1970s as a time of growth and change in Wichita. Take this quiz to see how much you recall about some local characters and places of that era. Answers appear at the bottom of the page. 1. What Wichita television personality was well known for saying, “Romper, Stomper, Bomper, […]
| By Julie Doll
By this time each spring, many Kansans have planned or made summer vacations, figuring out where they want to go, how to get there and what they want to do. It’s another part of life that COVID-19 has turned into a maybe-possibly-we’ll-have-to-wait-and-see event. Even if big trips to mountains or oceans don’t work out this […]
| By Beccy Tanner
Since Wichita State University began offering free Lifelong Learning courses to Wichita area senior citizens five years ago, the program has grown from one course with 40 students to 10 courses with more than 1,000 students. As one of the teachers, I love these classes. Students bring unique perspectives to the classes through their own […]