Welcome everyone to the first ever Wichita Weekly Update where I give you a rundown of the recent local news, some fun facts about Wichita and upcoming events over the next week. Today is Monday, August 3rd.
NEWS
To get started, here are a few of the top news stories from the past week or so:
Remembering Lou Schwechheimer –
On Wednesday, July 29th, majority owner of the Wichita wind surge, Lou Schwechheimer passed away from COVID complications. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lou, his family and the Wind surge family. Thank you Lou for bringing baseball back to Wichita.
Covid-19 Counts:
If you haven’t seen the Sedgwick County Covid-19 dashboard, check it out on the link in the show notes. It shows the number of cases, positive cases and much more. The last few days the rate has been slowly decreasing. As of today, the 14 day rolling average has decreased from a high of 13.8% to 11.9% positive test rate.
Wichita eSports
Last Thursday, the Wichita School Board approved the purchase of 320 desktop stations for esports and the enrollment of 5 high schools in eSports leagues. This includes South, Southeast, West, Northwest and Education Imagine Academy.
https://www.kwch.com/2020/07/29/wichita-schools-consider-new-esports-program/
School Announcements
Most schools in the Wichita area, including USD 259 or Wichita Schools, Andover, and more are delaying the start of class to September 8th. What school will actually look like is up in the air and changing day to day, but we will continue to monitor and provide updates.
https://www.kwch.com/2020/07/30/watch-live-wichita-school-board-approves-2020-2021-calendar/
Aerospace News
Spirit announced on Friday that they will be laying off an additional 450 people as part of an overall cut of 1100 people. This is in the wake of grounding the Boeing 737 Max and COVID. Spirit is down to a 9000 person local workforce after beginning 2020 with close to 13500.
Tech Sector – Wichita
Wichita is looking to take another step in tech. Keycentrix, a healthcare-software company, is adding 16 jobs to it’s workforce.
https://www.kake.com/story/42434159/techsector-growth-in-wichita-brings-hope-of-more-jobs
Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls is planning to hire 300 skilled positions in Wichita including assemblers, material handlers, forklift operators, and steel press operators.
FUN FACT
This weeks fun fact
Maybe you’ve heard the classic story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, where they try to cross the bridge and there’s a troll under the bridge? Well Wichita has it’s own troll. True Wichitan’s know the location of the troll, but if you’ve never come across the troll, it is a must see. To find the Troll, look for a big grate close to the sidewalk on the east side of the Ar-Kansas river south of the Keeper. If you go, take a picture and tag us @ Wichita life ict
EVENTS
86th NBC World Series
The 86th NBC World Series takes place 8/3 – 8/10 at Wichita State and also in Hutchinson.
Chicken N Pickle
This week at Chicken N Pickle, some of the live events are Live Music with PATZ, Adam Capps, and Harrison Steele. For exact times and dates, see their website/
https://chickennpickle.com/wichita/calendar/
Starlite Drive-In
During August, Starlite is offering their carload pricing. They are currently showing Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar on screen 1 and Ghostbusters and Karate Kid on screen 2.
Bert Kreisher
Comedian Bert Kreischer’s Hot Summer Night’s Drive-In Tour is happening next Monday and Tuesday at the Starlite Drive-in.
Family Movie Night – Capital Federal Amphitheater in Andover
This Saturday is Space Jam at 7PM.
https://www.andoverks.com/750/FREE—Movies-in-the-Park
That’s it for this week’s Wichita Weekly Update.I hope you all have a great week! Let me know if you enjoy these updates and what you would like to hear more about. To join our email list, go to our website wichitalifeict.com, email us at wichitalifeict@gmail.com or message us on any social media!