General News in the 316

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The "Big Ditch" has a long history of preventing flooding in Wichita and Sedgwick County, saving citizens and millions of dollars every year. Here is the story behind the Valley Center floodway project that was completed in 1959, and includes the story, and some pictures of the previous damage to the Downtown, Riverside, and areas east of I35 that often happened to a great deal of the city.

https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article289922694.html

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I wasn't aware of this.

Eagle - Two 8-pound black bear cubs are at Sedgwick County Zoo. Here's when you can see them

When a mother black bear was shot and killed in Oregon earlier this year, her two cubs were left on their own, unable to hunt or fend for themselves.

Those cubs, a male and a female believed to be between three and four months old, have found a new home at the Sedgwick County Zoo.

They were flown in from Oregon several weeks ago on the sheriff’s office airplane usually used to transport prisoners arrested in other states.

The zoo lost its only black bear, 20-year-old Mitch, to old age last December, so when wildlife authorities found the cubs, Sedgwick County got the call.

Zoo CEO Scott Newland told the County Commission Wednesday morning that the cubs exhibit could open as early as next Monday. Hours of exhibit for the cubs will soon be posted to the zoo website, he said.

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Eagle - NBC World Series to honor Satchel Paige heroics in Wichita to open 90th tournament

Almost a century has passed since legendary pitcher Satchel Paige helped launch the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita into a national success story.

Raymond “Hap” Dumont paid $1,000 to bring Paige and his barnstorming team, the Bismarck (N.D.) Churchills, to the inaugural tournament in 1935. Paige won all four games he started and struck out 60 hitters, which still stands as the tournament record today.

It seemed only fitting to tournament director Katie Woods to pay homage to Paige on opening night of the 90th annual NBC World Series, a 10-day tournament that kicks off Thursday at Wichita State’s Eck Stadium.

Not only will the first 1,000 fans at Eck Stadium when the gates open at 5 p.m. Thursday receive a custom NBC World Series bobblehead of Paige, but members of Paige’s family will throw out the honorary first pitch before a 6 p.m. game between TPA Texas and the Hutchinson Monarchs. Tickets begin at $12.

There is also a special event being held before Thursday’s game with Michael O’Neal, Paige’s grandson, speaking to guests about Paige’s life and legacy as a trailblazer and baseball legend. The event will be held in the All-American Club at Eck Stadium and begins at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $50 and include entry to the game and dinner courtesy of Candle Club Wichita.

Pretty cool tribute and event for this. And to have his family involved in it all is fantastic. I really hope this word gets out and this is supported at a high level.

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WBJ - Bombardier looks to deepen defense, aftermarket presence in Wichita following Sudduth's retirement

Tonya Sudduth has left Bombardier's U.S. headquarters in Wichita in great shape, said Paul Silslian, the aircraft company's executive VP of aftermarket services and corporate strategy.

With Sudduth's retirement at the end of last month as head of U.S. strategy and Bombardier redistributing her roles internally at the Wichita site, Sislian said the company will continue to grow in the Air Capital.

"Evolution of Wichita for Bombardier is going to be growth, there's no doubt about it," he said. "We will continue to invest in the site, our services and our defense business. And I'm looking forward to it because it's such a great ecosystem and the population is so knowledgeable, it's the perfect place for us to continue to grow in the US."

Since 2022, Sislian said the company has "revectored" the Wichita manufacturing site to incorporate aftermarket services and defense operations into the facility.

Sudduth led the aircraft company's efforts after Wichita became its U.S. headquarters in April 2022. She said employees were reallocated to service and defense departments and retained for manufacturing services that year.

This shift in strategy toward service and defense meant that all U.S. defense, aftermarket, manufacturing and testing operations were being conducted in Wichita. It also led to Bombardier recording $1.5 billion in 2022 sales revenue — the company's highest at the time — and seven total hangars in the service center of the Wichita site.

The company ended 2023 with $1.75 billion in aftermarket services revenue,according to a February earnings report.

Bombardier may have a smaller total footprint in Wichita than Spirit and Textron, but they're committed to Wichita and looking towards growth.

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Exploration Place continues to grow.

KFDI - Exploration Place sets new attendance record

he Exploration Place science museum in Wichita has reached a new attendance record.

The museum announced Tuesday that it had 409,975 visitors in the 2023-24 fiscal year. That’s a 13 percent increase from the previous record of 363,047 visitors that was set in the 2022-23 time period.

There has been a 17 percent increase in family memberships, now totaling 10,753 households.

Museum officials said the Digital Dome Theater has been a major contributor to the success. It brought in over 100,000 visitors for the first time in its history.

Exploration Place president and CEO Adam Smith called attention to more growth and expansion for the museum that will help attract even more visitors. The EP2 initiative includes the Wichita Foundation Amphitheater, which will open in September. Construction has started on a 6.5-acre destination playscape that will have ten landscaped playgrounds crafted to theme park standards, and it will open next year.

I'm looking forward to the numbers in 2025-26 once the playscape is in place and the amphitheater has time to establish itself.

KWCH - Exploration Place sets new attendance record

In addition, Exploration Place has unveiled a new permanent gallery called TeamLab, supported by NASA, which features a Chiefs uniform donated by Blake Bell.

The museum also has exciting national traveling exhibits lined up for the future, including Toytopia in Fall 2024, Sharks in Winter/Spring 2025, and Barbie: You Can Be Anything and Hands-On Harley-Davidson in Summer 2025.

Exploration Place is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays during the summer.

Still waiting for their internal upgrades (not sure if they've started or finished) that may be able to bring in the Beyond Van Gogh immersive experience. I know Smith had previously mentioned that there would be required upgrades to be able to land the exhibit.

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A couple of locals have started up a unique business.

WBJ - Brothers from Wichita launch business combining water tubing with passion for college sports

Manufacturing for Collegiate Waves started in January, and Collegiate Waves’ products went live on Memorial Day. The business currently sells water tubes for the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, University of Missouri and University of Arkansas.

With both brothers from Wichita and Mike living in Little Rock, Arkansas, Mike said they kept their first product lineup focused around their “home region.”

“We were strategic, how we wanted to start out with just the four schools,” Kyle said. “Let's walk before we run here and kind of prove the concept. It’s been doing really, really well.”

They've added agreements with Wichita State and about 40 other Universities since they went live. They also hope to expand beyond water tubes and grow their footprint as well as they've so far focused more on this region that they're familiar with.

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Hutch is getting a new YMCA

WBJ - 'There's a synergy': YMCA, hospital team on new Hutchinson branch for a 'health and wellness destination'

As part of a collaborative effort to provide a more comprehensive set of health and wellness services to the Hutchinson area , the community about 50 miles northwest of Wichita will soon see a $30 million, state-of-the-art YMCA facility.

Ronn McMahon, the president and CEO of the Greater Wichita YMCA, said the initiativeapproach to unify preventative health care and long-term wellness within the community.

“We’re really, super excited about the idea that it’s kind of a holistic look at health,” McMahon said in an interview. “The YMCA (is) kind of on the preventative side of health, and then as we go further into the campus, (getting) all of the health care that the hospital brings.”

The new branch will replace the Hutchinson Y's current location at 716 E. 13th Ave.

The 75,000 square-foot facility will reside on 10 acres of land gifted by the HRHS near 20th Street and Lorraine.

"The future of community health rests on our collective ability to proactively prevent illness rather than provide reactive care when people become sick," hospital president and CEO Benjamin Anderson said in a news release. "Preventing disease before it happens can reduce its severity and help curb the costs to treat it

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Wichita making it's presence felt in England

WBJ - Wichita works to make a splash on the world stage at Farnborough International Airshow

Wichita is off to a strong start at this week's Farnborough International Airshow outside of London, as Kansas business leaders and government officials promote the state's aerospace industry.

A Sunday reception highlighting what the area brings to the table, hosted by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and the Greater Wichita Partnership, brought in 450 people, according to Moran — the most since the annual reception launched in 2019 at the Paris Air Show.

Attendees included private sector companies, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and other officials from the Department of Defense, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Boeing/Spirit have already landed some good business there.

Along with industry giants Airbus and Boeing, additional companies attending Farnborough either based in the Wichita area or with a notable local presence include:

• Aerospace System & Components
• Cadence Aerospace
• Dassault Systems
• D&O Engineering
• Etezazi Industries
• Fiber Dynamics
• Globe Engineering
• GKN Aerospace
• HM Dunn AeroSystems
• Metal Finishing Co.
• Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics
• NWI Aerostructures
• Park Aerospace
• Valence Surface Technologies.

Another local company, Harlow Aerostructures LLC, an aerospace supplier, signed a letter of intent Monday at Farnborough to start production on two new aerospace-related contracts with Turkish Aerospace.

Muma, Tomblin, and Utash are also there for NIAR.

IT and security representation is also in England with the likes of Weavix, Novacoast, and Knowmadics representing as well.

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Making waves

MSN - Miss Kansas called out her abuser in public. Her campaign against domestic violence is going viral

A newly posted video of Miss Kansas calling out her domestic violence abuser from the stage the night she was crowned is whipping up a maelstrom of support on social media.

Alexis Smith, who works overnight shifts as a cardiothoracic intensive care nurse in Wichita, was crowned Miss Kansas on June 8, but posted the video of her on-stage comments just this past week on the platform now known as X. Her comments are resonating with thousands in part because she called out her own abuser from the stage while she said the perpetrator was sitting in the audience.

The video Smith posted July 16 has been viewed more than 60,000 times and generated a rash of news stories.

“My vision as the next Miss Kansas is to eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships,” Smith said during the interview portion of the pageant last month. “Matter of fact, some of you in this audience saw me very emotional because my abuser is here today. But that’s not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and from representing as the next Miss Kansas.”

An impressive woman. It can be tough to speak about abusive relationships in general for a lot of people. For her to do it on stage with the alleged abuser in the crowd takes some guts. Then her day/night job is pretty big as well.

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New west side location for live music, food, and booze.

Wichita by EB - Red Brick Room: Wichita's latest bar for live music

When it comes to regular live music, there aren’t too many options out west compared to other parts of town. There’s a full stage at the east end of the Red Brick Room.

For people who are hungry, there was a limited menu of items, mostly bar staples like burgers, tenders, and some small bites.

Since I hadn’t eaten yet, I ordered the Brick Burger which was a smash burger on a buttered bun with ketchup, mustard, red onion, pickle, and cheese. It was served with a side of fries.

It was a decent little burger. I really enjoyed the buttered bun that collapsed well with the patty and held everything together. It was simple yet effective and a burger I could totally see myself ordering again while catching some live music. Same with the fries which had a light coating of black pepper.

Looks like a nice setup.

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More ramp closures, and reopenings.

KSN - Busy Wichita interchange to see another ramp closure

On Tuesday, July 23, the Kansas Department of Transportation will close eastbound U.S. 54 to northbound I-135. The project will include milling, patching, and a concrete overlay on each side. KDOT says the work will last until October.

As work starts there, the I-135 northbound ramp to westbound U.S. 54 (Kellogg) will reopen. Work will conclude on Tuesday. The project involved milling, patching and a concrete overlay.

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Boeing deals will keep Spirit busy.

WBJ - Boeing piles up orders during first day of Farnborough Air Show

Korean Air's announcement of an intent to purchase at least 40 Boeing widebody airplanes was the highlight of a busy Monday at the Farnborough Air Show — and a sign that no shortage of work at Wichita's Spirit AeroSystems is ahead before and after its proposed sale back to Boeing.

Korean Air said it would order 20 777-9s and 20 787-10s, Boeing's biggest variant in the Dreamliner series. The airline said it also holds an option for 10 more Dreamliners worth roughly $3.5 billion.

Neither company disclosed a purchase price, but an estimate approaches $16 billion. Customers typically receive discounts with large aircraft orders.

Boeing and its customers announced other deals at Farnborough:

• Japan Airlines announced it reached an agreement with Boeing for 20 additional 787 Dreamliners, adding to the carrier's fleet that already includes 50 widebody jets. The Dreamliner's per-unit cost is around $225 million, though airlines often receive a reduced price when making a large order.
• U.S. cargo carrier National Airlines placed its first order for four 777 freighters, which each carry a price of more than $300 million.
• European regional carrier Luxair said it is ordering four of the largest 737 jets, the Max 10, with an estimated combined cost of $540 million.
• Boeing also announced the Air Force has awarded a $16.8 million contract for software and data enhancements on the KC-46A tanker program that it's hoped will advance mission readiness and performance. Wichita's McConnell Air Force Base is home to the majority of the KC-46 program.

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Ike looking to add more direct flights

WBJ - AIRPORT STILL TAKING OFF - As Eisenhower National approaches 10 years, goals of more direct flights remain the same

Since opening in 2015 for $200 million, the airport has reached 16 direct flights, including five seasonal flights, from six national carriers. Director of airports Jesse Romo said Eisenhower Airport served 1.7 million passengers in 2023, which is a 13% increase from 1.5 million in the new airport’s first year.

Wise and Romo said the airport is looking for more routes to add to the airport's schedule. With the recent addition of a direct flight to Washington, D.C. spearheaded by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan), Wise said the airport team has focused on the northeast U.S. for more direct flights.

“New York and the northeast part of the country is an unserved area for us and we have a lot of business connections in New York, Boston and Philadelphia areas," Wise said. "And so that's an area we'd like to get service to."

Romo said an effort for New York flights emerged from data by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Air Sevices Committee that showed more Wichita business travelers going to and from the New York area. That led to leakages — when passengers leave a local airport’s market for another airport to catch a flight — as travelers decided to use other airports for a direct flight.

The airport is also trying to get airlines to add daily flights to LA, Miami and SLC.

They're also looking at ways to improve the Ike experience and find ways to be more efficient.

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The stuff out by Beaumont is frustrating. It would be nice to see even a little bit of work being done out there. Instead it is a stop light in the middle of no where with nothing being accomplished.

Per the article, the culvert that runs under the highway is deteriorating and for safety reasons they've closed the portion of road that goes over the at risk section. The delay in action is due to a new culvert being built for replacement. I'm kind of surprised they have to have one specially made, but I'm also not overly familiar with the area and maybe there's something unique about the size or length of it.

Doesn't alleviate the frustration, but it does give a reasonable explanation about why it is the way it is right now.

I'm not sure the last time I've gone east out of Augusta. Probably my last trip out to hike at Fall River, unless I've been to Arkansas since then. Both have been a few years.

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Some travel notes

KWCH - Upcoming road construction includes work on I-235, US 400



The good news is this part is only for a few hours and hopefully won't have a massive impact on many.

The US 400 work is out by Beaumont and you're already being impacted by precautionary measures that have been in place since May. This should be completed in mid September.

The stuff out by Beaumont is frustrating. It would be nice to see even a little bit of work being done out there. Instead it is a stop light in the middle of no where with nothing being accomplished.