Wichita got a great, well-timed boost with today’s news that McConnell Air Force Base will be the main active-duty operating base for the KC-46A tankers, emerging the winner in the 54-base field. McConnell also was in the running to become a formal training base for the new tankers, a job won by Altus, Okla. But McConnell got what it wanted most with the Air Force’s decision, meaning it can expect to receive 36 new tankers in 2016 and the jobs and economic benefits of hosting them. That’s the perfect role for McConnell, which is currently the world’s largest tanker base, with 62 KC-135s, and the home of the Air Force’s 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the Air Force Reserves’ 931st Air Refueling Group. So even though Boeing Wichita won’t help build the tankers after all, due to Boeing’s decision to leave town by the end of this year, many of those planes will end up calling Wichita home. As Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled that McConnell AFB has been recognized as an indispensable part of America’s defenses and excited about the opportunities this creates for the rest of Kansas.” Congratulations and thanks to all who fought for and won this exciting new role for McConnell and Wichita.
“Mainstream media are alarmed by reports that billionaires Charles and David Koch are considering the purchase of Tribune Company’s eight daily newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times,” columnist Cal Thomas wrote. Reportedly, about half of the L.A. Times staff said they would quit if the Kochs bought the paper. “That should make things easier for the Kochs,” Thomas wrote. “They can start by replacing liberal quitters and others whose ideology has turned off conservative readers. They could hire reporters and editors who will try to win back readers and advertisers by providing the type of ideologically balanced coverage they seek.”
A New York Times editorial Sunday headlined “Courage in Kansas” recounted some of the obstacles and threats that Julie Burkhart has faced in opening the South Wind Women’s Center, a women’s health care and abortion clinic in Wichita. These include a chilling jailhouse conversation that an anti-abortion group recorded with Scott Roeder, the man who murdered Burkhart’s former boss, Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller. Roeder said that Burkhart had put a target on her back. The editorial concluded: “Dangerous and unconstitutional legislative restrictions, unceasing harassment, threats of violence and fearful doctors having to hide their identities for self-protection: This is what it means to be on the front line of trying to deliver legal and necessary reproductive health care to women in Wichita.” Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups are criticizing the media for not giving more coverage to the case of a Philadelphia abortion doctor accused of delivering live babies and then killing them.
Never mind that Wichita is a long way from an ocean. It was a proud moment to learn last week that a U.S. Navy warship will again bear the city’s name and safeguard the nation’s liberty around the world. Lockheed Martin’s construction of the new USS Wichita should begin in the next couple of years in Wisconsin, according to the office of Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita. The littoral combat ship, a kind of fast and maneuverable craft designed for combat close to shorelines, will be the third Navy ship named after Wichita and the first since 1993. As Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said: “Two great ships have already carried Wichita’s namesake, and its re-selection is a real honor for the city and for Kansas.”
The Wichita State University men’s basketball team appropriately received a lot of attention for its Final Four appearance. But don’t overlook the Shocker women’s bowling team, which will compete in the national championships April 18-20 in Lincoln, Neb. The women are nine-time national champions and are currently ranked No. 1. The team also has three players in the running for the 2013 collegiate player of the year award. Unfortunately, the Shocker men’s bowling team didn’t advance to the national championships this year, the first time the men have failed to qualify in 28 years.
Good luck to the WSU Shockers as they compete in the NCAA semifinals tonight. Top-ranked Louisville has a great team, but as Gonzaga and Ohio State found out, the Shockers aren’t intimidated. Even the freshmen don’t seem fazed about taking three-point shots when the game is on the line. These are no Cinderellas. Or if they are, they’re angry ones.
Congratulations to Tim Chase on his new job as president of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition. Chase comes to Wichita after 12 years as president of the Wichita Falls (Texas) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and with an impressive range of experience in economic development. It’s been nearly two years since the last permanent GWEDC president left – too long, especially amid such a deep downturn. Expectations are high for Chase’s ability to coordinate our community’s efforts to attract and retain businesses and to market itself not only as a hub for aviation manufacturing, research and training but as a fertile place for high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship.
Tom Stolz, deputy chief for the Wichita Police Department and the acting director of Wichita Transit, didn’t say anything the other night about the city’s bus system that hasn’t been said by many, many others. Still, his take on the system was strikingly blunt: “Our transit system is extremely cumbersome. It is unreliable. If you had to depend on our transit system to get you to work or to the doctor, don’t count on it. It is terrible for a city this size.” Stolz, speaking at a meeting of Wichita Independent Neighborhoods, also spoke the truth in saying the community needs to decide what bus system it wants. “Are we going to stay with this same model, which is hit and miss, or are we going to try and upgrade?” he asked. One thing Wichita won’t be doing this year is asking voters to increase the sales tax to improve the bus system, something the city’s transit advisory board had recommended. As of Oct. 30, Wichita Transit will have a new boss, Steve Spade, who has been the transit director for Chapel Hill, N.C.
Beaten down by all the aircraft layoffs, Wichita needed some good economic news. And it got it Thursday with NetApp’s announcement that it plans to add 400 jobs at its Wichita facility. These are good-paying jobs – averaging $73,000 a year – that will help diversify Wichita’s economy. Congratulations to local and state economic development officials for helping make this expansion happen, and thanks to NetApp for believing in Wichita. We needed the boost.
Wichita East High School principal Ken Thiessen said that parents weren’t notified about a student being arrested Tuesday for having a gun in his school locker because doing so would have been more disruptive than the incident, which was handled quickly and quietly by police. But should that be the criteria for whether to keep parents informed? If the incident is serious, such as a student bringing a gun and ammunition to school, parents should be told, regardless of how much disruption the incident caused.
News that Whole Foods Market is coming to the new Waterfront Plaza at 13th and Webb Road was a dream come true for many food-savvy Wichitans, and another welcome sign that the economy isn’t getting in the way of the community’s progress. The Austin-based chain is the go-to grocery in many communities for its natural and organic foods. Whole Foods will join new arrivals Fresh Market and Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage and long-established GreenAcres Market, making northeast Wichita the prime place to buy what it takes to eat healthfully and well. Still leading the wish list for Wichita: Cheesecake Factory.
The community’s best wishes and generous support should be with the Breakthrough Club as it reaffiliates with Episcopal Social Services, which will move to the Breakthrough Club’s location at 1010 N. Main. The merger, announced last week, is a response to government funding cuts. Wichita has relied on both outstanding organizations to serve disadvantaged individuals with particular needs, including mental illness in the case of Breakthrough Club. Here’s hoping the two groups find strength as they pool resources and work together.
All of Wichita can second the cheer that went up among Hawker Beechcraft employees over the company’s decision not to close Plant 1 after all. The move, stemming from a joint partnership of the company and the Machinists union, spares hundreds of jobs from elimination or outsourcing. In a statement, the HBC Joint Partnership Steering Committee said: “In order to reduce lead time, improve response time and optimize cost, fabrication and assembly operations will be streamlined and balanced between our facilities. Plant I plays a critical role in this strategy.” With uncertainty still dogging the aviation-manufacturing sector – and lots of industry speculation about Hawker Beechcraft’s future under new CEO Steve Miller – such an optimistic sign comes as a boost to the community and its standout aviation workforce.
It’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic advocate for Wichita than John Rolfe. So it will be hard to see the native Wichitan leave his job as president and CEO of Go Wichita next month to join the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. As head of Go Wichita since 2001, Rolfe has unabashedly marketed Wichita as a premier destination for conventioneers and tourists and has welcomed bowlers, square dancers, athletes, gearheads, decorative painters and more. As the bureau wishes Rolfe and his family well in Houston, it will need to seek a replacement who similarly understands that Wichita can be a contender in competing for big conventions and the dollars they bring to the local economy.
Congratulations to the Lord’s Diner for its 10 years of service to Wichita. Each day, volunteers serve hot meals to up to 450 people at the diner’s two locations, 520 N. Broadway (in photo) and 2825 S. Hillside. In the past decade, they’ve served nearly 1.5 million meals. But besides food, the diner provides its patrons with something just as important: friendship and respect. Thank you to the Catholic Diocese of Wichita and other partners for caring so much about our community.
As many feared, Boeing announced today that it is closing its Wichita facility. So much for its many promises that the Air Force tanker contract would support jobs in Wichita. The move will affect 2,100 workers in Wichita and will mean a loss of an estimated $1.5 billion in wages over 10 years.
Good for the Wichita community for stepping up yet again to help a worthy cause. Local businesses, churches and a large crew of volunteers are converting an old church in Midtown into the base for the Wichita Children’s Home Street Outreach program. Social workers and law enforcement officers hope that getting homeless teens off the streets and helping them get services will help prevent them from being preyed upon by sex traffickers. For those who want to help, the volunteer-organizing group ICT SOS is planning a workday at the resource center on Jan. 16. Go to ictsos.org for more information.
The tougher the times, the more important it becomes to pool resources in order to make good things happen — especially when the goal is helping those most affected by a bad economy. So the Guadalupe Clinic, Catholic Charities and the Lord’s Diner are to be praised for planning to combine services early next year at the Lord’s Diner satellite site, at 2825 S. Hillside. In addition to being a source of hot daily meals, the site’s two buildings will include a Catholic Charities food pantry and satellite Guadalupe Clinic. Southeast Wichita will be stronger for the charities’ efforts, which will need ongoing community support.
The good news is that the Kansas Humane Society isn’t begging for volunteers. Many nonprofit organizations can only dream of what it’s like to have so many volunteers that the cost of dealing with them becomes a burden. Maybe the decision to charge would-be adult volunteers $15 each to cover costs will work for the society, which does so much good for the community. But let’s hope this doesn’t start a trend. Volunteering shouldn’t involve an involuntary fee.
Congratulations — and thank you — to the Salvation Army for 125 years of service in Wichita. The organization held its first street prayer meeting at 116 E. Douglas on May 12, 1886. Since then, it has helped countless people through various ministries and programs, including operating Kansas’ first hospital for single pregnant women in the 1920s. It currently provides residential services for homeless and abused teens, foster homes, emergency social services and disaster relief, as well as operates Camp Hiawatha, a summer day program. “Our volunteers are the only way we’re able to exist,” said Major Douglas Rowland. It’s difficult to imagine Wichita existing without the Salvation Army.
It’s the end of March, and a Kansas school is playing for a national basketball title. And it’s Wichita State University, not the University of Kansas. Be honest — how many people predicted that? Still, the Shockers’ success in reaching tonight’s championship game of the National Invitation Tournament isn’t too surprising. After all, they’ve won 28 games this year, and two of their defeats were close losses to the University of Connecticut and Virginia Commonwealth University, two teams in this year’s NCAA Final Four.
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita was named the fourth-best minor league baseball stadium by livability.com. The website praised the stadium, built in 1934, for its “interesting blend of old and new,” citing its manual scoreboard that features a goose laying an egg whenever the opposing team does not score. The website noted that the ballpark was one of the few that featured a natural grass outfield with an artificial turf infield — though that is changing as part of a $2 million renovation project that is placing artificial turf over the entire field. The top-rated stadium was Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas.
As of spring 2012, Wichitans won’t have to drive long distances for the uncommon experience of visiting and shopping at Cabela’s. The outdoor retailer’s plan to open an 80,000-square-foot store at 21st and Greenwich sends a well-timed message about the strength of Wichita as a sporting-goods market and regional retail hub. A second Cabela’s in Kansas also can’t help but raise the profile of fishing, hunting, camping, boating, hiking and wildlife appreciation in the state. That will be good for tourism, quality of life and Kansans’ health.
“The trouble with this city, which sits smack dab in the center of the United States, is all in the reputationæ.æ.æ. But if you miss Wichita, you’re missing something,” Geoff Edgers wrote in a Boston Globe article praising Wichita as a travel destination. The only criticismEdgers had was that there weren’t enough Wichitans out enjoying the city’s many attractions when his family visited. “Our company for much of the morning was stationary and bronze,” he wrote, referring to the sculptures downtown (which he also praised).
In early December, area charities Operation Holiday, the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots and Catholic Charities Christmas Sharing usually have to put out the word that they are falling short of donations for their holiday efforts. Then comes the annual avalanche of donated toys, food, coats, blankets and dollars, to put the groups within sight of their goals, if not beyond them. Because the economy has created a mountain of need this year, the community’s response needs to be just as huge — and quick, given that distribution is under way for some of the groups. All those who can give this year — or give more — should step up right away. Your gifts not only will brighten the holidays for the families being served, but prove again how caring Wichita can be. To help Operation Holiday, call 316-264-9303. To help the Salvation Army, call 316-263-2769. To help Toys for Tots, call 316-682-3252. To help Catholic Charities Christmas Sharing, call 316-264-8344.
Wichita got a great, well-timed boost with today’s news that McConnell Air Force Base will be the main active-duty operating base for the KC-46A tankers, emerging the winner in the 54-base field. McConnell also was in the running to become a formal training base for the new tankers, a job won by Altus, Okla. But McConnell got what it wanted most with the Air Force’s decision, meaning it can expect to receive 36 new tankers in 2016 and the jobs and economic benefits of hosting them. That’s the perfect role for McConnell, which is currently the world’s largest tanker base, with 62 KC-135s, and the home of the Air Force’s 22nd Air Refueling Wing and the Air Force Reserves’ 931st Air Refueling Group. So even though Boeing Wichita won’t help build the tankers after all, due to Boeing’s decision to leave town by the end of this year, many of those planes will end up calling Wichita home. As Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, said in a statement: “We’re thrilled that McConnell AFB has been recognized as an indispensable part of America’s defenses and excited about the opportunities this creates for the rest of Kansas.” Congratulations and thanks to all who fought for and won this exciting new role for McConnell and Wichita.
