Columns

WICHITA MATTERS: What Mayors Need

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Last week, Mayor Whipple had a rough time during the city council meeting, with his request for a deputy somewhat embarrassingly tabled in the face of both criticism from other council members and a long list of online attacks that got read into the record. The whole affair has already been critically commented on, but as a break from talking about the coronavirus pandemic all the time, let me beat this dead horse one more time–mostly because I hope it will revive. Not immediately, to be sure. Some members of the city council argued that any discussions about additional staff in the city’s government needed to wait on the completion of a comprehensive review currently being conducted by the city manager’s office; others pointed out that the politics of hiring a major new city employee at a time of government furloughs, increasing unemployment, and great economic uncertainty are pretty dubious, to say the least. And beyond that, there was disagreement between Mayor Whipple and different council members over how best to describe the duties of such a deputy, over who would be the likely candidates for such a position, and over whether or not a city employee already exists who could fill exactly the sort of policy research and community outreach role he’s requesting.

Feature Stories

A Vagabonding Life: An Interview with Rolf Potts

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Few Wichitans can claim to be so prominently associated with a popular worldwide movement as Rolf Potts is with the concept of “vagabonding.” The 49 year old Wichita native’s first book, also called Vagabonding, has sold a quarter of a million copies since being published in 2002. Just as importantly, it has helped popularize a movement whose followers seek a lifestyle that is centered around long-term travel – not a week or two, but multiple weeks, months or even years of travel. This notion of travel leans toward contemplation and experience as opposed to scurrying from attraction to attraction. Potts’ work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, Slate.com, Outside, Sports Illustrated, The Guardian (U.K.), and many other publications. Travel Channel aficionados might remember Potts from his show American Pilgrim.

Columns

WICHITA MATTERS: The Coronavirus in Kansas: Wichita’s Weaknesses and Strengths

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When it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s sometimes easy, here in Wichita–a large city nonetheless somewhat isolated and disconnected from the larger metropolitan areas of the country, a city which centers a largely rural and therefore much more low risk part of the state–to be unclear if we’re overreacting or not reacting enough. But feeling as though we’re stuck in the middle, feeling divided, is nothing new for a midsized city like ours. In general the news for Kansas overall seems to be pretty good. It is looking like the spread of the virus, as it peaks in April, won’t be as deadly as we feared, almost certainly in part because of Governor Laura Kelly’s (and locally, Sedgwick County Commissioner Lacey Cruse’s) insistence on pushing for stay-at-home orders as early as possible. But is it true that, in taking these actions, Wichita will suffer even more than it would have had the city, and its surrounding county and state, not shut things down?

Feature Stories

It’s Time to Take a Trip

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The pressure of isolation weighs upon many of us. As countless studies have confirmed, human beings do not thrive when kept apart from each other. That’s why this is the perfect time to travel. Before you turn me over to the Quarantine Police, let me assure you that you will not need to leave your home. Though it will be helpful to have internet access, even that is not absolutely necessary for this trip.