Editor’s note: We corrected this story on May 12 to add that the Library Board of Directors also asks its members to fill out conflict of interest disclosure forms. The headline, a photo caption and the story were revised to reflect this update. On May 16, the story was revised to clarify that while the […]
Celia Hack
Hack covers local government for The Wichita Beacon. She is a Report for America corps member. Follow her on Twitter @CeliaHack.
Posted inLea en Español, Local Government
Tornado provoca conversación sobre alertas de emergencia en español
Esta idea de la historia vino de los representantes de Participación Comunitaria de The Wichita Beacon. Obtenga más información al respecto aquí. Esta historia fue traducida por Claudia Yaujar-Amaro, quien administra al equipo de Participación Comunitaria de The Wichita Beacon. Esta historia también está disponible en inglés. Lea aquí. Cuando un tornado EF-3 tocó tierra […]
Posted inLocal Government
Tornado sparks conversation about emergency weather alerts in Spanish
This story idea came from The Wichita Beacon’s Community Engagement Bureau. Learn more about it here. This story is also available in Spanish. Read that version here. When an EF-3 tornado touched down in Sedgwick County on April 29, some residents had little time to react — and some didn’t receive warnings they could understand. One […]
Posted inLocal Government
In their own words: Public housing residents speak out about Wichita’s plan to sell their homes
In January, the city announced plans to sell its 352 single-family public housing units. About half of those homes are vacant — a casualty of a five-year effort to rethink single-family public housing in Wichita and a lack of funding to keep them habitable. But the other half have tenants in them — with families, children, […]
Posted inDIY Democracy, Local Government
How to request public records in Wichita and Sedgwick County
Journalists often request public records as part of their jobs, but anyone can do it. Court records. Government salary databases. Policies. Reports. Budgets. All that information and more can be requested by the public. In Kansas, public records can be requested under the Kansas Open Records Act. All records of public government bodies within the […]
Posted inLocal Government
Small businesses were ineligible for Wichita small-business grants. That confused a lot of people.
Jessie Gray’s business plan always included building a stage. The troupes that frequent Gray’s improv studio, the Flying Pig on East Douglas Avenue, give performances to sold-out crowds on a flat surface. When Gray opened in 2019, she estimated that by 2022 she would have the funds for a stage and lights. COVID changed that. […]
Posted inLocal Government
Behind closed doors: What a tree policy reveals about how Wichita crafts new regulations
A tree policy drafted by the city of Wichita became more focused on regulating trees on city-owned land — and leaving out private property — after a meeting that included a developer and a nonprofit focused on downtown revitalization. The city currently removes at least twice as many trees as it plants each year, a […]
Posted inLocal Government
Condemnations of dangerous and dilapidated houses tripled in Wichita in 2021
There are some houses in Dana Edwards’ neighborhood that catch her eye — boarded-up homes, ones that look like the porches are falling in, abandoned houses. The city of Wichita owns some of them. “They catch your eye because they aren’t in the proper condition of a livable house,” said Edwards, who is the president […]
Posted inLocal Government
Wichita City Council approves $5 million affordable housing fund
The City Council voted on Tuesday to allocate $5 million for the creation of Wichita’s first affordable housing fund. The fund, which aims to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing in Wichita, will be paid for with a portion of the city’s $72.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The federal […]
Posted inLocal Government
Sedgwick County allocates all $100 million of its COVID recovery funds — to itself
Since COVID-19 began, the nonprofit Cairn Health has struggled to maintain its budget to provide health services to low-income individuals in Sedgwick County. “We have seen a decrease in our revenues because we’re primarily funded through what would be considered fundraising, either through the United Way’s fundraising or through our own,” said Aaron Walker, executive […]