Throughout my career, I've had the good fortune to serve on the board of directors at several Wichita non-profit organizations. Every opportunity has taught me about Wichita - its people, places and history. A board I currently serve on that combines all three is Historic Wichita Cowtown Inc.

 

Cowtown is one of the oldest living history museums in the Midwest whose staff and volunteers are experts in the time period. They tell the story of Wichita's transformation from a frontier settlement to a cattle town to an agricultural and manufacturing area.  Wichita's storied past is vividly brought to life through daily activities, special events and education programs.

 

Now, any day is a good day to come to Cowtown, but did you know that during the month of August you can only visit at night?  Have you ever wondered what happens when the sun goes down and the lamps come on? Well, now you can experience it for real during Cowtown at Night. Throughout August, interpreters and volunteers go about their regular chores and activities as if it was a night in the life of 1875. Enjoy family activity nights, craft beer, music, movies and the very popular ghost tours. And as always, a gunfight or two among some rowdy cowboys might break out in the streets. 

 

Cowtown at Night hours are 2:00 - 9:00 PM Tuesdays through Saturday and 4:00 - 9:00 PM on Sundays. Regular admission rates apply.

 

Then, on September 18, you won't want to miss the Wine Mosey. Only at Cowtown could wine tasting and stagecoach rides make such a perfect combination. With the purchase of a ticket, attendees may visit wine stations located inside Cowtown buildings featuring a variety of red and white wines. Hors d'oeuvres and dinner is served outdoors accompanied by live entertainment. The highlight of the evening is a live auction with many fine donated goods & services.

Tickets are available to purchase in person, by phone at (316) 303-8100, or at   WichitaTIX.com. The event is sponsored by Historic Wichita Cowtown, Inc., and it is a fundraiser for the Museum.

I could go on and on sharing all the great events we have scheduled at Cowtown. But you have to see it for yourself. It's one of the "must see" attractions in our community. You simply can't experience Wichita without visiting Old Cowtown Museum.

Bryan Frye

District V City Council Member

The Tulsa chain is going through the zoning process to do a scrap-and-build project where its existing store is located at Maple and Tyler.  They are under contract to purchase the adjacent lot to the north to allow for the expansion.

QT Real Estate Manager, Mike Wooten, and Project Manager, Jessica Glavas, along with MKEC Land Development Agent, Brian Lindebak, unveiled the new plans for a Gen 3 store at a public information meeting held Wednesday, August 17.

The chain has had numerous projects in Wichita in which it builds a new store on an existing store's property.  No date has been determined when the new store will be completed, but once construction starts, new builds typically take 26 to 28 weeks.

The Engineering section has retained two consulting firms to review existing traffic signals in various parts of the City.  Transystems will be evaluating the traffic signals on two heavily traveled arterial corridors: east Central from Hillside to 127th Street East and Rock Road from Lincoln to 37th Street North.  Iteris will be evaluating the traffic signal system in the Central Business District.

 

Both consulting firms, Engineering staff, and Traffic Maintenance staff have been collecting data (traffic volumes, existing traffic signal equipment, signal timings, etc.) at each location in recent weeks. 

 

The consulting firms will evaluate all data collected and provide a report noting existing equipment (including photos) and recommendations for new equipment needed at each intersection.  The communications backbone will also be evaluated, inventoried and updated as needed.  Once the intersections have been inventoried and evaluated individually, the corridors will be modeled and traffic signal timings will be created to improve efficiency and synchronization (progression between intersections).  

 

New timing plans are anticipated to be implemented by the end of the year along the Central and Rock Road corridors.  The downtown network will include new traffic signal controllers, pedestrian push buttons, and vehicle detection, thus taking a little longer to implement new timing plans.  PW&U staff anticipate downtown timing plans to be implemented in Spring 2017.

 

Be informed. Be entertained. Be active.

Senior Wednesdays are informational and entertaining sessions, designed for active seniors and offered by a collaboration of 12 institutions. Sponsored in part by Larksfield Place.

Imagine Wichita without trees.  It would be scary. Yet this is where we are headed. Wichita has lost 38,000 publicly owned trees in the last 15 years.  The City can't keep up. Even with the City plantings, we still lose 1,700 public trees every year.

 

Wichita needs trees. We need to see leaves from our windows, to sit in green spaces, and to play in the shade. Trees draw us out from behind walls of brick and glass, and in coming together, neighbors forge relationships, nurture children, and build a sense of community.

 

ICTrees is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County area by planting a wide variety of sturdy, long lived trees in our parks, along our streets, on school and other public and private properties.  Trees provide cooling shade, reduce air pollution, reduce water runoff and erosion, add value and enhance the beauty of our homes, businesses, neighborhoods and community.

 

Last year, they planted over 750 trees and engaged more than 400 community volunteers.

 

ICTrees is planning their fall plantings which will occur from mid-September through the week before Thanksgiving. They would like to plant 1,000 trees. They are looking for suitable planting locations. If you know of an organization such as a Church, Homeowners Association, Civic Club, etc. that would benefit from trees planted on their property, please encourage them to contact ICTrees.

 

Walking is good for kids, and it sure is great for the rest of us too.  We, the volunteers in the Pedestrian Workgroup of Bike Walk Wichita, encourage children walking to school, seniors walking to errands and church, and frankly all folks getting out most days of most weeks for their health, fresh air and neighborliness.  Join us at www.bikewalkwichita.org.  

Join us at 6:00pm on September 20 at the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport for the first ever walk/run on the airport campus!  

The Take Off To Health 1 Mile/5K Fun Run & Walk is held in conjunction with the 2016 KPHA Annual Conference and everyone is invited to participate in this festive, unique opportunity to be active and walk or run an exciting course through the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport campus (safely out of the way of flight paths!).  The cost to register is $25 and includes an inaugural event t-shirt.  The 5K Run will be timed with prizes awarded to winners in a variety of categories! 

Take Off to Health General Information:

1. The race is open to any one of all ages.

2. The race starts at 6:00 pm at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

3. The registration fee is $25.00.

4. You can participate in the race without attending the KPHA conference!

Register today!

KANSEL, a non-profit organization providing adult education services in Wichita, is offering a free seven-week construction training program for interested adults who are ready for employment in construction.

 

The KANSEL Construction Training Program teaches basic construction skills using the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) core curriculum.  Students will receive instruction in construction math, materials handling, power tools, hand tools and construction drawings.  The course also includes a 10-hour OSHA safety course plus training to obtain a Class B CDL instructional permit.  Following the class, KANSEL staff assists students with job placement.

 

"When a student completes our program we strive to get them in the construction workforce. Working with construction companies like Cornejo, Conco, Eby and Dondlinger, gives our students an outstanding chance for employment," explained Linda Eaves, Executive Director at KANSEL.

 

Call 316-263-9620 or visit their website for more information about the next orientation meeting and class session.

JOBS are here in Wichita!

The Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce is proud to offer a job board with local, Wichita area, jobs only! A free service for job seekers, it will save you the time of searching through dozens of jobs outside of the area. Create a free account here  and you will be automatically signed up for all Wichita area updates and can customize the search further if you wish.

Report An Issue

Use the smartphone app to report an issue

 

Wichita Report is a great tool for enabling Wichita residents to improve their neighborhood by reporting issues such as potholes, broken street lights, damaged signs, illegal dumping and more.

 

The reports are automatically fed into the City's work order system so that they can be tracked and assigned to service teams. Users can follow the status of their requests from their smartphone.

 

If you have an Apple or Android smartphone, you can download

Wichita Report for free through Google Play or iTunes.

Don't be Left in the Dark!

 

Help deter crime and keep our communities safe by reporting street light outages.  If you notice outages within your neighborhood, fill out this simple form on Westar Energy's website.