November 28, 2024 | By Tammara Fogle
Lovers of holiday window decorations are in for a treat. Twenty businesses are taking part in a window decorating contest sponsored by Downtown Wichita “meant to spread joy and attract shoppers,” according to a news release from the organization. Community members will three winning displays. You can vote once a day by scanning the QR […]
November 23, 2024 | By Kylie Cameron/Wichita Eagle
The emergency winter shelter in the former Park Elementary School will open on Dec. 2. The low-barrier shelter is part of the planned multi-agency center for homeless services at 1025 N. Main St. “Our immediate goal and objective is an emergency winter shelter, a 24/7, at least 18-week shelter through the winter months, much like […]
November 11, 2024 | By Zena Taher/KSN
Construction crews are on the ground at the former Park Elementary School in Wichita. This week, some funding was approved to turn it into a homeless shelter and Multi-Agency Center (MAC). However, funding to create affordable housing in the area is still up in the air. Wichita City Council members approved millions for the initial work to turn Park […]
November 2, 2024 | By The Active Age
Topeka, Kan. – The Health Insurance Marketplace is experiencing an increase in the number of potential cases of agent and broker misconduct. Consumers should be on alert and verify changes and enrollments in their health insurance. “Be very cautious when giving authorization for changes in your health insurance enrollments,” said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt. […]
October 30, 2024 | By Jim Miller
Savvy Senior – November Columns How to Arrange Your Own Cremation Service If You’re 65 or Older, It’s Time to Get Your Pneumonia Shot How SSI Benefits Can Help Struggling Seniors and the Disabled How to Find a Cheaper Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Best CPAP Alternatives for Sleep Apnea How to Arrange Your Own Cremation […]
| By Diana Breit Wolfe
After relocating to Chicago for work during the Great Depression, my parents eventually returned to Kansas to start a venture they had absolutely no experience in. This was running the Avery Cafe on Wichita’s “Tractor Row,” a stretch of South Wichita Street that was home to dozens of businesses catering to the region’s farmers. The […]
| By Joe Stumpe
Dr. Archelle Georgiou wants to turn Kansas into a blue state, and it’s got nothing to do with politics. Georgiou, who spoke in Wichita recently, is a Minneapolis physician and advocate of “blue zones,” as places in the world where people live exceptionally long and healthy lives have been dubbed. The phrase was popularized by […]
September 26, 2024 | By The Active Age
Three new members have joined the board of directors of The Active Age newspaper. Steve Criser is one of the founders and owners of CGP Group, LLC, a tax and accounting firm. A Wichita native, he graduated from East High and Wichita State University. Criser jokes that a job he held during college — drawing […]
| By The Active Age
Here are some facts you might not know about Lincoln Heights Village, which became Wichita’s first shopping center when it opened in 1949. It was named for Abraham Lincoln, whom realtor and developer Walter Morris greatly admired. Morris bought the property at Douglas and Oliver in 1926 from a wealthy St. Louis financier, Harry F. […]
August 4, 2024 | By Matthew Kelly/The Wichita Eagle
Voters in Sedgwick County could be asked next year to support a new sales tax that would fund arts, culture and recreation programming. The Sedgwick County Zoo, Exploration Place science museum, the Kansas African American Museum and the county parks department are all set to take cuts in next year’s proposed county budget. Funding those […]
August 2, 2024 | By The Active Age
Construction of major improvements to Exploration Place will temporarily close the riverfront pathway for two periods starting Monday, Aug. 5. EP is currently building the 1,500-seat Wichita Foundation Amphitheater and six-acre Destination Playscape as part of a $22 million project to transform is footprint on the Arkansas River. The closures will occur in two phases: […]
July 1, 2024 | By The Active Age
Talk about getting the most bang for your buck. Linwood Senior Center, run by Senior Services, Inc., leveraged a $6,762 grant from Central Plains Area Agency on Aging with its own fundraising and plenty of volunteer labor to give the center a major facelift. “Our volunteers at Senior Services and Linwood are amazing,” said Cherise […]
| By Bob Rives
They called it “the million-dollar outfield” at a time when a million dollars went much farther than it does today. In 1983, the Hutchinson Broncos, a summer collegiate team, had Barry Bonds, Rafael Paliermo and Pete Incaviglia in the outfield and Rick Wrong catching. That quartet would go on to the Majors starting in 1986 […]
| By Jim Miller
Long-Term Care Benefits for Veterans and Surviving Spouses Dreading a Colonoscopy? There Are Alternatives Can You Stop and Restart Social Security Benefits? How to Find Reliable Health Information Online Long-Term Care Benefits for Veterans and Surviving Spouses Dear Savvy Senior, I understand that the Veterans Administration has a benefit that can help veterans and spouses […]
May 31, 2024 | By Al Higdon
Many senior residents of south-central Kansas have the opportunity to be in the lives of their grandchildren, but many others do not. And this is also true of many 20-somethings, some of whom don’t have a chance to interact much with older adults. Three years ago, Jacie Green sought a way to change that. Green […]
| By Tammara Fogle
Dear Savvy Senior, Can you recommend some good cell phones for seniors? My 79-year-old mother needs to get a new mobile phone and has asked me to help her find one that she would like. Searching Daughter Dear Searching, For older adults, choosing a cell phone is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Some seniors love the […]
| By Jim Mason
Carry Nation was temperance’s best-known crusader in these parts, but a follower who was every bit her match in militance actually carried on the battle against demon rum longer. Myra Gaines Warren was born March 18, 1848, in Dover, Mo. She married James A. McHenry of Neodesha, Kan., in 1872. The marriage took place in […]
| By Ted Ayres
“Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics” by H.W. Brands (Doubleday, 2023, 451 pages, $32.50) “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning” by Liz Cheney (Little, Brown and Company, 2023, 372 pages, $32.50) Have you noticed that 2024 is an election year? Even if I wanted to forget, my […]
| By Nancy Wheeler
The answers to the following clues all mention a family member. The answers appear below. 1. What program debuted on CBS in October 1954 and starred Robert Young as the dad who had all the answers? 2. What 2008 movie starred Meryl Streep and featured songs by ABBA? 3. What anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher […]
| By Monica Cissell
Sometimes it’s difficult to find the energy and motivation to exercise, especially when factors like bad weather and lack of access to an exercise facility are added in. But exercise is important at any age, and strength training is an important part. Research into strength training by the National Institute on Aging has found it […]
May 9, 2024 | By The Active Age
An outdoor fitness court will officially open at 1 p.m. Friday in Pat Garcia Veterans Memorial Park in north Wichita. Located at 2640 N. Wellington Place, between Arkansas and Broadway, the court was developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Wichita Park and Recreation and the National Fitness Campaign. According to a news […]
April 1, 2024 | By The Active Age
There’s apparently no place like Wichita to experience that sniffling, sneezing, itchy, runny nose and watery eyes feeling. For the second year in a row, the city has been named the most challenging place in the United States to live with seasonal allergies by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. But there are a […]
| By Ted Ayres
I recently became acquainted with some interesting people and have become rather attached to them. These new friends include a former nurse, a former spy, a former union official and an occasionally still-practicing psychiatrist. They are all septuagenarian pensioners living at Coopers Chase, an upscale retirement village near Fairhaven, England. Oh, and they meet once […]
January 10, 2024 | By Stefania Lugli and Celia Hack
On the longest night of the year, Wichitans huddled into the gym at Guadalupe Clinic to honor the lives of those who died while experiencing homelessness in 2023. Forty-three tea lights burned in a corner of the room — a quiet tribute to the 42 identified people who died while homeless this year. One more […]