A group of seven former Salina City Commissioners and Mayors have signed off on a statement urging voters to vote "no" on a ballot question in the upcoming general election. The proposed ordinance would limit the commission's ability to enact public health legislation during a state of emergency, social distancing and limiting crowd sizes, mask mandates, and altering hours when businesses can be...
I was born Feb. 5, 1943, in Salina, Kansas. From 1948-54, I attended the segregated Dunbar School even though I lived across the street from Hawthorne School. I attended summer recreational activities with all the kids on North Eighth, Black and white. We played together all day, had slumber parties and shared meals. It was a confusing time for a young Black child like me. It was hard to compreh...
The safety net of community health centers across the state, which includes Salina Family Healthcare Center, provide whole-body care to Kansans, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. These 19 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and one look-alike health center provided medical, dental, mental health, and substance use disorder services to almost 275,000 individuals in 2019 alone...
Officials at a couple of more Kansas colleges are dealing with COVID-19 clusters. Officials at Tabor College say several students are either isolated or in quarantine after they tested positive for COVID-19.According to the school, on Wednesday of this week a student experienced symptoms and contacted a medical professional. On the advice of the medical professional, the student was tested at t...
According to The Washington Post, over 10 million Americans live in rental housing and 20% of them are "at risk of eviction by September 30th". These figures were compiled by the Covid 19 Eviction Defense Project, headquartered in Colorado. Painfully, I've been evicted here in Salina, two weeks ago, for non-payment of rent. It is one of the most shameful experiences of my life, and I'm abou...
Dear Sen. Roberts, Sen. Moran, Rep. Marshall, Rep. Watkins, Rep. Davids and Rep. Estes, We oppose the Student and Exchange Visitor Program's student ban, and we ask that you — our representatives in Washington — push for its immediate cancellation. The decision not to "issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall" has no rational basis, serv...
Saline County’s 2021 budget will be discussed during the County Commission’s Tuesday June 30th meeting. The budget includes a $20,000 “equipment” purchase for the “Sheriff’s Office/Jail” for a fryer. Back in 2015, I saw a deep fat fryer in the jail’s kitchen. Through an “open records” request, I saw menus that included “hamburgers/French fries” and “super nachos”...
There are now 25 deaths statewide due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus. That's according to the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, who as of 11 a.m. Monday, says that there are also 845 positive tests of COVID-19 in Kansas. Of those cases, there have been 198 people statewide who have been hospitalized due to the virus. The virus has also spread across 53 of Kansas' 105 counties. M...
The Friends of the Salina Public Library will have its Fall Book Sale on Oct. 26 and 27 in the library’s Prescott Room. The Saturday sale will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and the Sunday sale will be from 1-3 p.m. They will also mark Friends of the Library Week Oct. 20-26 with a membership drive from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. The sale will feature a variety of books that have been donated or...
Salina Police have a arrested a man in connection with a Thursday night shooting. Police say 20-year-old Zachary Matthew Degraw was arrested Friday afternoon. They credit help from the public and the Wichita Police Department with the arrest. Degraw allegedly shot Dalton Reinbold of Salina at the Hillcrest apartment complex located at 2140 E. Crawford. Police say an altercation between the t...
