From Seattle to Baghdad to the Marshall Islands, Jonathan Marr has worked as a firefighter all over the globe. But Marr, deputy director for Sedgwick County Emergency Management, moved to Wichita in 2019. And he’s made his mark since doing so. After becoming deputy director in 2020, Marr conducted in-depth research into the county’s aging […]
Sedgwick County
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 inKansas State Government
Follow the money: How Kansas lawmakers are spending $3.1 billion in budget surplus
Editor’s note: The story was revised to clarify that the state’s 2022 budget has a $2.7 billion surplus and a projected $3.1 billion surplus for the 2023 budget. In a stark turn from its more austere budgetary past, the state of Kansas will likely close out the fiscal year in June with a larger-than-expected $2.7 […]
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 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 inKansas State Government
‘This isn’t about athletics:’ Bill banning transgender athletes from school teams vetoed by Gov. Kelly
Editor’s note: We updated this story on April 19 to reflect that Rep. Susan Estes was absent for the April 1 vote on Senate Bill 160. Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a ban on transgender female athletes on Friday, striking down the hot-button issue for the second year and setting up a possible showdown with supporters […]
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 […]
Posted inLocal Government
Sedgwick County election workers get mixed messages in wake of data breach
Update: EasyVote Solutions, LLC, the company at the center of a data breach that impacted Sedgwick County election workers, has wrapped up its investigation of the incident and is notifying people who were impacted, Election Commissioner Angela Caudillo said. The company will provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection for one year to those who […]
Posted inLocal Government
Sedgwick County says over 800 election workers impacted by data breach
Update: EasyVote Solutions, LLC, the company at the center of a data breach that impacted Sedgwick County election workers, has wrapped up its investigation of the incident and is notifying people who were impacted, Election Commissioner Angela Caudillo said. The company will provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection for one year to those who […]
Posted inLocal Government
Social Security numbers of nearly 180 Sedgwick County election workers exposed following data breach
Editor’s note: We updated this story on March 23 to clarify that information reviewed by The Wichita Beacon showed that the Social Security numbers of 176 election workers for Sedgwick County were exposed. The personal information of at least 150 more Sedgwick County election workers has been exposed following a data breach, according to information […]