Kansas.com: Local

Four Wichita elementary schools to offer H1N1 vaccines

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:24 CST

Wichita schools will begin offering H1N1, or swine flu, vaccines at four elementaries on Friday.

The schools are Benton, Kensler, McCollom and Peterson elementary schools.

District officials said they received notice late last week that the Sedgwick County Health Department has 2,000 doses available for school clinics. Half are nasal mists and the other half are injections.

12-mile motorcycle ride pays tribute to veterans

BECCY TANNER — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:36 CST

Shortly before the veterans memorial motorcycle ride began Sunday, Dillman Brendle talked about why he wanted to participate.

"It's about time that we honor the people who defend this nation," the Patriot Guard member said. "I'm a Vietnam veteran, and outside my immediate family and my wife's family, there was a long time when no one knew I was a veteran. I didn't come out and tell people I was a veteran."

But on Sunday, Brendle climbed aboard his Harley-Davidson and was one of several hundred bikers who rode from Park City to downtown Wichita in a Veterans Memorial Ride.

Wichitan recalls time in divided Berlin

BECCY TANNER — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

More than three decades have passed since Glenna Harrison had her own experiences with the Berlin Wall.

A teacher at the Berlin American High School from 1969 to 1972, the Wichitan remembers the East German guards in their towers with binoculars and guns, the barbed wire and the expanse along the wall's East Berlin side where would-be escapees were shot as they tried to run for freedom.

Mostly, she remembers the feelings of oppression the East Berliners had.

Area historian takes fresh look at death of Jesse James

STAN FINGER — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:44 CST

Local history buff Ron Pastore, who is convinced Jesse James faked his death and quietly lived out his life in southeast Kansas, has a prominent role in a documentary airing tonight offering new theories on what the bank robber did with his wealth.

The show, which airs at 8 p.m. CST on the History Channel, suggests James hid the stolen money in various locations and used it to finance exploits of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a forebear of the Ku Klux Klan.

"This was an arm of the Confederate secret service," Pastore said. "They were trying to resurrect the South."

Traditional dance added to Trail of Tears memorial

HURST LAVIANA — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:31 CST

Had it been another pow-wow, Jillian Conine probably wouldn't have bothered to stop by at Wichita's Mid-America All Indian Center on Saturday.

But because it was a Stomp Dance , she wasn't going to miss it.

"I'm not a pow-wow person," she said. "I don't like pow-wows, really. I like the smaller and more personal kind of dancing. This is basically smaller and more personal."

Wichita Veterans Day parade honors current, former service members

KAREN SHIDELER — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:00 CST

As the first color guard came into view this morning, James Brown stood, took off his ball cap and put it over his heart.

He can't walk far without his oxygen, and he can't stand for long periods, but he wanted to be at Wichita's Veterans Day Parade to honor his fellow veterans.

"When I went in, there was eight of us went into the squad," he said. "At the end, there was two of us left."

Crime in area up slightly since Lord's Diner opened

BRENT D. WISTROM and Hurst Laviana — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:57 CST

Since the Lord's Diner opened in downtown Wichita in 2002, the surrounding area has seen a slight increase in crime as the crime rate citywide has dropped.

The diner's proposed satellite location in a vacant building at 21st Street and Grove has less crime than the downtown site, but an analysis of 911 calls shows that both sites are in areas of high police activity.

The crime data and interviews with Wichita police officials offer no evidence that opening a satellite diner at 21st and Grove would result in a crime wave in the area.

Area schools find music helps kids hustle to class

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:11 CST

When kids at Truesdell Middle School hustle to class in the morning, they do it to "The Hustle."

North High students speed up when they hear the "William Tell Overture."

And the Pioneers at West High get rollin'-rollin'-rollin' to the theme from "Rawhide."

Speed limit 35 on new Kellogg section

SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:32 CST

If you thought this week's debut of the Kellogg freeway at Rock Road meant finally getting to whiz through that stretch at highway speed, police offer a warning:

Not so fast.

The speed limit through much of the area — particularly eastbound — will remain 35 mph through the end of the year as crews finish work.

TV program on capture of BTK to air Nov. 15

STAN FINGER — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:06 CST

A Discovery Channel program will focus on the arrest of Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer, in an episode later this month.

Rader was arrested near his Park City home in February 2005, nearly a year after BTK resurfaced by sending a letter to The Wichita Eagle.

The BTK episode of "Anatomy of a Takedown" will air at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said.

'A way to say thank you' to veterans

Courtney looney — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:32 CST

Joel Condray said he is always looking for ways to teach his students "outside of the textbook." Six years ago, he came up with the idea of devoting part of their school time to helping soldiers overseas. His students participate in the AdoptaPlatoon program, sending care packages to a group of soldiers assigned to them.

"I use the project to reinforce kindness and patriotism,'' said Condray, who teaches sixth grade at Challenger Intermediate School in Goddard.

AdoptaPlatoon (www.adoptaplatoon.org) is a nationwide nonprofit organization that makes sure soldiers feel loved while overseas.

City to use stimulus money to help homeless

BRENT D. WISTROM — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

A new program that offers financial help to people who are homeless or are about to become homeless will start Monday.

The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program will pay rent and utilities for up to 18 months for those who qualify.

The program, funded through the city of Wichita, is part of the federal stimulus bill.

KDHE: Flu decreasing in Kansas

KAREN SHIDELER — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

Influenza activity appears to be decreasing across Kansas, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday in its weekly H1N1 report.

It said visits to doctors for flu symptoms and the number of schools reporting high absenteeism rates were down. The percentage of deaths linked to pneumonia or influenza was down, too.

But KDHE also said Friday that a 53-year-old woman from south-central Kansas has died from infection with the H1N1 virus. She is the 17th Kansan whose death has been linked to H1N1.

2 Haysville men die in fiery crash

STAN FINGER — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:13 CST

Two Haysville men were killed early Thursday morning when their car crashed into a semi at Broadway and 63rd South in Sedgwick County, authorities said.

Colton Emerson, 19, was driving west on a closed portion of 63rd Street South at "a significantly higher speed" than the posted limit of 45 mph in a red Camaro Z28, Sedgwick County sheriff's Lt. Mark Pierce said.

Emerson ran a red light at the intersection with Broadway and struck the side of a truck hauling 45,000 pounds of soybeans at 12:49 a.m. Thursday, Pierce said.

District may join 'fair-funding' group

LORI YOUNT — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The Wichita school district may join dozens of other districts that have decided before to sue the state over lack of funding.

The Wichita school board is set to decide whether to increase the district's influence — and membership dues — in an organization of school districts that has successfully sued the state.

Board members will vote at their regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday on whether to pay $89,294 to become a full member of Schools for Fair Funding. Full membership would give the district the ability to vote.

Indian summer in Wichita

STAN FINGER — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:45 CST

Indian summer is in full flower around the Wichita area — and forecasts suggest it plans to stick around a while. While there is no formal definition of what qualifies as an Indian summer, it's generally considered to be any period of temperatures in the 70s — or at least well above average — after the first freeze of autumn.

Wichita spent the first half of the week in the 60s and topped 70 on Thursday. Still more 70s are anticipated through the weekend.

A cool front will bring a chance of showers and cooler temperatures early next week, said Dick Elder, meteorologist-in-charge of the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service.

Two-mile walk will honor those who died on Trail of Tears

BECCY TANNER — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The ninth annual Trail of Tears Memorial Walk begins at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Mid-America All-Indian Center, 650 N. Seneca.

The two-mile walk honors the American Indians who suffered and died in 1831 during their forced relocation by the U.S. government to Indian Territory, which is present-day Oklahoma.

The walking route extends from the Wichita Indian United Methodist Church, 1111 N. Meridian, to the Indian Center. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., a shuttle will be available to take walkers from the Indian Center to their starting point at the church.

17-year-old student hit by bus upgraded to fair condition

STAN FINGER — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The 17-year-old Southeast High School student who was struck by a bus outside the school Tuesday afternoon was upgraded to fair condition Wednesday at a local hospital.

Police said the accident occurred shortly before 3:30 p.m. as the bus was turning from a school driveway into the eastbound lanes of Lincoln.

The youth was crossing the driveway when he walked in front of the bus. The driver didn't see the boy, police said, and both sets of axles ran over the teen.

New community police site to open

STAN FINGER — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The community policing and SCAT teams covering west Wichita have a new home, and they will show it off to the public today.

A reception at the Patrol West Bureau's new quarters for SCAT — Special Community Action Team — and community policing will be from 4 to 6 p.m. at 5803 W. Central, just west of Central and I-235.

The new location replaces a smaller office that was in the Plaza West shopping center at Central and West St.

More H1N1 vaccine available, for more people

KAREN SHIDELER — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:07 CST

The Sedgwick County Health Department has received more H1N1 vaccine, in the injection and nasal spray versions, and will begin offering both forms today.

The Health Department also is expanding the groups eligible for the vaccine.

Beginning today, the clinic at 4031 E. Harry will be open to people who are in one of these groups: