Wichita plans to extend contract with Flock cameras
Wichita plans to extend its contract with a company that makes automatic license plate readers.
City Manager Dennis Marstall said a 6-month contract extension with Flock will be on the City Council agenda next week.
If approved, the Wichita Police Department's contract with Flock would run through the end of March.
City Council member Joseph Shepard says he's in favor of using the controversial cameras, as long as there are community safeguards.
"I also fully believe that we need safety, security, and we need to help support our WPD, to give them the tools that they need to do that in a reasonable manner," Shepard said.
"I think the question here is not whether or not we need the technology. The question is: What does it look like for the community to have a voice in those guardrails?"
The city is currently facing a lawsuit in Sedgwick County District Court from a local man who claims use of Flock cameras violate his right to privacy.
Salina Regional Airport will host Trump rally
The Salina Regional Airport will host President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to Kansas, GOP officials announced Tuesday.
The Saturday morning rally will be held in a 27,000-square-foot hangar. Doors to the facility will open at 8:30 a.m., and the president is expected to speak at noon.
Trump's Halloween rally is his second visit to the state in as many weeks. Vice President JD Vance held a rally in Topeka on Monday.
Several Trump Administration officials have traveled to Kansas recently to support Republican U.S. Senator Roger Marshall's re-election bid. Marshall is being challenged by Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
Wichita offering free bus rides to College Hill on Halloween
Wichita Transit will offer free bus rides to and from the College Hill neighborhood on Halloween.
Buses will pick people up from The Hub in Delano every 30 minutes starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Trick-or-treaters will be dropped off at Douglas and Hillside, where they can be picked up again when they finish. The first 100 riders will receive a special Halloween gift.
The last bus ride back to The Hub is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. Saturday.
Most Kansans say funding schools is more important than cutting taxes
About three in four Kansans say they’re comfortable paying taxes to support K-12 public schools.
That’s according to the latest Kansas Speaks survey from Fort Hays State University. The annual poll measures public opinion on a variety of local, state and national issues.
Most respondents also said they support paying taxes to fund the six state-governed universities — though it was a smaller share, at 56%.
A majority said funding education is more important than cutting taxes. More than a third said they would prefer to cut taxes.
Wichita man dies in collision with fire truck
A 79-year-old Wichita man died Tuesday when his car collided with a Wichita fire engine on an emergency call.
Wichita Police said the crash happened around 8:50 a.m. at Lincoln and Greenwich.
Police said Fire Engine 20 was traveling north on Greenwich with its lights and siren activated.
Seventy-nine-year-old James Mattson of Wichita was driving a Honda C-R-V west on Lincoln and trying to turn south onto Greenwich. The fire engine struck the driver's side of the car, police said.
Mattson was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Four firefighters were on the engine, but none reported injuries.
St. James Academy wins first Kansas girls flag football championship
The first official season of girls flag football in Kansas has come to an end with a Kansas City-area high school taking home the first-place trophy.
St. James Academy of Lenexa beat St. Thomas Aquinas in Overland Park in the first state championship last week. The Kansas State High School Activities Association voted earlier this year to sanction girls flag football as an official sport.
Emme Albright, a senior quarterback on the St. James team, said women’s sports have been growing in popularity.
"It's cool to have the ability to be a part of it," she said. "You can say you were one of these people who helped change women's sports."
The original championship game was postponed following an Oct. 17 crash in Wichita that killed two people and injured several others.
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