The Range

In the Wichita public school district, roughly 80 percent of the teaching staff is white, the majority are women, and they’re standing in front of classrooms that are prominently students of color. That's why artist and educator Janice Thacker founded the Black Educators Hall of Fame in Wichita — to celebrate black teachers, and get more of them into classrooms. This week on The Range, we meet the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees, and some of the students they had an impact on.

Catch the 16 to 26 bus that loops across south Wichita, and you might just have the pleasure of having Juan Arriaga as your driver. This week, we're en route with the self-described "Cali boy."

Happy Valentine's Day! May your heart soar with the eagles today — if they show up. This month's Hidden Kansas takes us on a hike to find the majestic birds at a secluded park just an hour south of Wichita.

On this episode of The Range, we're getting into the First Friday spirit: We talk to award-winning Wichita artist Ernest Vincent Wood III about his love affair with a style of painting that celebrated its heyday 400 years ago.

On this episode of The Range, we talk to a trade expert about what the new U.S.-China agreement could mean for Wichita and Kansas. Her take: It's all hat, less cattle, as they might say down in Texas (or out in Dodge City).

Usha Haley is the W. Frank Barton distinguished chair in international business at Wichita State University and an expert on of trade with China.

Her research on Chinese subsidies and trade with China is incorporated into trade regulations for the United States, the European Union and several other countries.

After this month’s phase one trade agreement between the U.S. and China was signed, she talked with Tom Shine and The Range about what the agreement contains, what impact it might have locally and what’s next.

The interview was edited for length and clarity.

On this episode of The Range, we meet one of the last of an increasingly rare breed: the typewriter repairman. (Remember typewriters?)

On this episode of The Range (our first!), Beth Golay brings us a love story from an unlikely place: the bus stop. She rides Route 21 with Sylvia, whose husband, Samuel, has faithfully walked her to and from her stop for years.

The newest plan to redevelop the river corridor in downtown Wichita was released this week.

The mammoth billion dollar plan includes new performing arts and convention centers, more green space along the east bank of the river and a pedestrian bridge connecting to the west bank and new baseball stadium.