City leaders directed staff to identify ways to expand shelter capacity, strengthen outreach and connect unhoused residents to hospitality jobs ahead of the World Cup. The committee also approved a 6% increase to water and sewer rates.
water
Posted inWichita
Cheney Lake is drying up. Wichita says the drought plan is working
One big rainstorm won’t fix Wichita’s water shortage. Dark storm clouds that hovered over Wichita one mid-September softened the ring of cracked dirt that’s inched wider around Cheney Lake each week, but it didn’t erase the underlying problem. Kansas is in a drought. For much of the last year, Cheney Lake, Wichita’s primary water source, […]
Posted inDIY Democracy, Elections, Local Government
Candidates for Wichita City Council answer your questions ahead of general election
Mail-in and in-person voting begin this month. To help voters make their decisions, The Wichita Beacon asked all Wichita City Council candidates to respond to questions submitted by readers. Questions focused on water, policing and housing. City Council Districts 2, 4 and 5 have elections Nov. 7. Only residents within those districts can vote on […]
Posted inLocal Government
Struggling with your water bill? Help is available
If you qualified for assistance for your energy bill this year, you may also qualify for $50 off your water bill in Wichita. And if you didn’t but still need help, other options for water bill relief are also available. In Wichita someone’s water will be shut off, typically, after three months of nonpayment. This […]
Posted inLocal Government
Behind the boil advisory: How Wichita maintains its water pipes and where it failed
When a 36-hour boil advisory wreaked havoc in Wichita on Oct. 7 and 8, Alan King, the city’s public works director, wanted to make one thing clear. “This was a failure of the distribution system,” he said. In other words, the boil advisory came about as the result of a water main break in the […]