The Range

Kansas gyms are open for (some types of) business — which gives us one less excuse to not lose that "quarantine 15."

This week, we continue our look at how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting businesses across the city with a visit to a gym reopening after two months.

Plus, we look at why for many African-American men, the choice whether or not to wear a mask in public is a complicated one.

As businesses around Kansas reopen, and the stay-at-home order gradually lifts, more people are wearing masks when out in public.

On a recent afternoon, Billy Chadwick is standing outside Tad's Carryout in Wichita, where he’s a cook. He wears a dark-blue mask — something he’s diligent about.

"I have asthma, but I go to other places I see people don’t be wearing them. They think this is a game," Chadwick said. "This ain't a game."

Wichita Transit has made big changes to how its buses are run in order to keep riders and drivers safe during the pandemic: more frequent cleanings, more open seats. Those measures are even more important on the system's paratransit vans that take riders from their doors to medical and dental appointments, hospital visits, even dialysis.

This week, we meet a driver who, despite the added challenges that have come with COVID-19, says it's "the best job" she's ever had.

Art can inspire, motivate and educate.

It also can lead to — let’s say — a good debate.

That’s certainly the case with M.T. Liggett’s sculptures, which, like the artist himself, inspire widely differing opinions.

Restaurants are ready — but are customers?

We check in on a Wichita diner opening its doors again after it closed six weeks ago under the statewide shutdown.

And, we head to Mullinville, Kansas, where the divisive work of equally divisive artist M.T. Liggett is getting its due.

What's a filmmaker to do when he's stuck at home? Make a movie about it. We talk to Wichita documentarian Lester Rowe about the film he made about the pandemic ... during the pandemic.

And, we travel to Clearwater to talk with the people running a family-run grocery store about how they are keeping shelves stocked, and workers and customers safe.

How are nonprofits faring when there are no profits? On this episode of The Range, we talk to the head of the Nonprofit Chamber of Service in Wichita about how organizations are doing during a pandemic that's hobbled their ability to fundraise, among other things.

Though it seems just about everything is shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic — stores, restaurants, salons — Wichita's public buses are still running, taking riders to and from essential jobs. On this week's episode of The Range, we spend some time with the people who keep those buses germ-free.