Community

Get your pyrotechnics fix this Fourth of July, with several Independence Day festivities in and around Wichita. Here is your guide for where to be when the celebrations and fireworks begin.

Bradley Fair: Meet in Bradley Fair on July 3 for a celebration of America. Enjoy the summer concert with Denny Jiosa from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., then sit back and be amazed as the fireworks dance over the Bradley Fair Lake. 

He Worked on MASH

“It was fun to see the cast at the commissary at lunch time. And it was fun to stay on the sound stage and the see the woman who was the stand in for Hot Lips. She was probably thirty years older than the actress who played Hot Lips, and she didn’t look anything like her. But she had the same skin tone and same color hair, same height.”

The Wichita Fire Department unveiled nine new fire engines and a new ladder truck -- replacing part of an aging fleet. The department also has hired 17 new firefighters. KMUW's Carla Eckels has more...

Fire Marshal Brad Crisp says the new equipment will help improve service and enhance safety. He says the new engines look slightly different.

  The Wichita Public Library will celebrate the life and legacy of poet and author Maya Angelou Friday at the library branch named in her honor.

Dr. Angelou died May 28th.

She was a strong proponent of education and was a champion of public libraries. She attended the opening of the city’s Maya Angelou Northeast Branch Library in December of 1996.

Maya Angelou also taught classes at Wichita State University in March of 1974. Sonia Faust is a regular visitor to the Angelou library and has read her books. She says Dr. Angelou was a hero within your reach.

Green Biz Wichita held a presentation Tuesday morning on the future of water in both Wichita and Kansas. The organization promotes environmental awareness among local businesses. 

The information given at Tuesday’s presentation was nothing new, but it gave local business owners an opportunity to voice their concerns over the future water supply of Wichita.

Visitors with a concealed weapons permit will be allowed to bring guns into the Kansas Statehouse starting in July.

As Stephen Koranda reports, that comes after a group of legislators chose not to regulate carrying concealed guns in the Capitol.

A Kansas law grants the Legislative Coordinating Council the authority to bar concealed weapons in the Statehouse. But at their meeting, the council did not take up the issue.

That means concealed carry in the Statehouse will be allowed next month.

A new report says the Kansas jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.8 percent in May while the state saw record employment.

The state Department of Labor reported Thursday that nearly 1.43 million Kansas residents were employed in May, up from both April of this year and May 2013.

The agency also said that last month’s unemployment rate was significantly better than the 5.6 percent seen in May 2013.

Labor Market information services director Justin McFarland said the figures show rising demand for workers from employers and greater confidence in the state’s economy.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson is planning for its next 50 years.

Officials at the Cosmosphere announced a five-year, $15 million plan Tuesday, with a goal of securing the institution’s future for the next 50 years.

The master plan includes significant changes to the Cosmosphere’s mission and exhibits without expanding beyond the existing building.

Visitors will be allowed to bring concealed guns into the Kansas Statehouse beginning in July unless legislative leaders intervene.

Top lawmakers are reviewing the issue at a meeting on Thursday. If they don’t act this month, holders of concealed carry permits will be able to enter the building with their weapons.

Restore Hope Inc, a group that has worked for three years to restore the Joyland Amusement Park in Wichita, is calling it quits.

Kira Johnson, who led the three-year effort, says a lack of time and money led the group to disband.

The group thanked members for their support over the years on its Facebook page. It said if donors had pre-purchased park passes, their money would be refunded.