Wichita leaders consider land swap with school district
The Wichita City Council will vote next month on the first step toward a potential land swap with Wichita Public Schools.
The city is considering exchanging land at Claude Lambe Park in northeast Wichita for district property at L’Ouverture Elementary School.
The district hopes to rebuild Adams Elementary School on the park land if a proposed bond issue passes in November.
The council will consider a memorandum of understanding that would allow both entities to explore the properties.
“At this point, this MOU was really just to investigate the properties. It wasn't an agreement to transfer anything yet," said Wichita superintendent Kelly Bielefeld.
Council members will vote on the memorandum in November.
The district is also eyeing Columbine Park in Benjamin Hills as the potential site for a rebuild of McLean Elementary School.
City approves tax break for Kansas African American Museum
Wichita City Council members approved a tax break Tuesday for The Kansas African American Museum.
The incentive will cover any sales tax on a nearly $45 million project to relocate and renovate the museum.
The museum plans to move from the old Calvary Baptist Church at 601 N. Water to the former Sunflower Bank building at First and Main.
The move is estimated to be complete by June 2028. The new location will double the size of the museum and increase its visibility.
City preps to clear out Chapin Park encampment
Wichita Police were allowing residents of an encampment at Chapin Park to gather their belongings on Tuesday, as the city prepares to clear out the park.
A contractor hired by the city is expected to begin removing structures from the park Wednesday.
Helen Reicher with the Wichita Area Housing Coalition said that without more resources to help, many residents had to leave items behind.
“They don't have cars. They don't have advocates that have trucks and trailers and things that can move their stuff," Reicher said. "They don't have tents because they had actual structures they lived in. It takes them a long time to gather that level of resources."
City officials said the residents had at least two weeks notice to leave the park.
The coalition was asking for donations, including tents, as a storm approached Wichita and forecasts of flooding.
AI agriculture company sets up headquarters in Salina
An AI-agriculture company is setting up its North American headquarters in Salina.
Greeneye Technologies started in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2017. The company designed a sprayer system that uses cameras and artificial intelligence to recognize weeds in fields of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton, as well as other plants.
When the sprayer sees a weed, it sprays herbicide only on that plant. The company claims it has reduced herbicide use by 90%.
The company is backed by a Chase Koch-backed venture capital firm, among other investors.
Wichita Habitat for Humanity completes 16 homes
Wichita Habitat for Humanity will host a block party next week to celebrate the completion of more than a dozen homes in north Wichita.
On Monday, the organization will celebrate finishing 16 homes along Piatt Avenue as part of the "Rock the Block" project.
The public is invited to tour the revitalized block and meet the new homeowners.
The houses were once part of Wichita’s public housing system before Habitat purchased them last year.
Habitat plans to finish another 13 homes in the area, many of them part of the new Pope Leo Village.
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