What does youth fentanyl overdose look like? In Sedgwick County it often looks like parents finding their teenager dead in bed — or a toddler dead on the floor, fentanyl pills scattered next to him. That’s not supposed to happen. Parents expect kids at home to be safe, not at risk of the No. 1 […]
Polly Basore Wenzl
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
Refugee from the Congo escapes violence to build life anew: ‘Wichita is my home’
This story begins with Gédéon Bahemuka Jino’s happy ending — his life today in Wichita. Gédéon works a job he enjoys in an office downtown, five miles from a house he owns near 17th and Hillside streets. He lives there with his wife and two daughters — one a junior at Southeast High School, the […]
Posted inAccountability, Housing
Wichita’s homeless population grows to highest number in 12 years
What is driving Wichita’s homeless population to record numbers? This year’s homeless count recorded 702 homeless individuals, the highest number recorded by point-in-time counts going back to 2011. Homelessness is defined as living in shelters, transitional housing or conditions not meant for habitation, including on the streets. This definition does not include people who may […]
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
Meet Shaila Roach, a Wichita tattoo artist telling stories through ink
Imagine the perfect TV family, only the parents are 1980s metalheads, divorced, struggling financially and otherwise, and everyone is covered in tattoos, including grandpa. That is the family Shaila Roach grew up in: An unconventional but unconditionally loving family that defies expectation of what that’s supposed to look like. Today her family looks like this, […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government, Wichitans You Should Know
‘Storm of Addiction’ Part 2: Sober and ready to fight
This is the second part of a two-part series. Read the first part here: “How a Kansas woman emerged from the storm of addiction to fight fentanyl.” This story contains references to drug use, addiction and overdose. When Ashley Alexander found her fiance, Dustin Gotham, lying on the bathroom floor with a needle in his […]
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
How a Kansas woman emerged from the storm of addiction to fight fentanyl
This is the first part of a two-part series. Read the second part here: “ ‘Storm of Addiction’ Part 2: Sober and ready to fight” This story contains references to drug use, addiction and overdose. If you wanted a metaphor to describe Ashley Alexander’s life, you might tell the story of a woman emerging from […]
Posted inHealth
Uninsured? A free colon cancer screening is available
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Kansas, behind lung cancer. Overall, the lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about one in 23 for men and one in 26 for women. However, each person’s risk might be higher or lower, depending on their risk factors. The American Cancer Society recommends […]
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
Kansas songwriter Toby Tyner tells story behind ‘Already Gone’
The best version of Kansas songwriter Toby Tyner’s mom lives in the lines of a song he wrote a year ago. That the song is called “Already Gone” hints at how long that version of her lasted. Where and how his mother lives today is something wholly different. But before you can hear that story, […]
Posted inWichitans You Should Know
Kimmie Pahdocony-Zotigh works to keep her Kiowa story alive
This story contains references to sexual abuse and self-harm. Stories are the lifeblood of any culture, and for the Kiowa, each person’s name holds a story within. When names are passed down, so are the stories, providing each generation a connection to the past. Kimmie Pahdocony-Zotigh cannot pronounce her Kiowa name because like most of […]
Posted inEducation
‘Library of Things’: 12 things you can borrow (besides books)
The Wichita Public Library has more than a half-million books but also 18 telescopes, 12 radon detectors and 10 microscopes. And with nothing more than a library card, you can borrow a book or a piece of science equipment under the same terms: check it out for free use for 14 days. “Public libraries exist […]