Month: March 2015

Three contests on the April 7 ballot countywide

Walk-in advance voting to begin March 28 at two locations
by Mary Rupert

Countywide contests in the general election April 7 will include the Unified Government, 1st District, at large seat, the Board of Trustees contest for Kansas City Kansas Community of College and the Wyandotte County register of deeds position, said Election Commissioner Bruce Newby.

Also, school board candidates will be on the individual ballots in each district; BPU candidates will be on the ballot in Kansas City, Kan.; and Bonner Springs and Edwardsville city candidates on ballots in those cities.

About 2,300 advance ballots have already been mailed to voters in Wyandotte County, Newby said.

Walk-in advance voting at two locations will begin from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 28, will continue from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, March 30, to Friday, April 3; and also will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4. The two locations are at the Kansas Speedway, off I-70 at the 110th Street exit, south of the Speedway at the conference center area; and the downtown Election Office at 850 State Ave. The downtown Election Office also is open from 8 a.m. to noon Monday, April 6, for advance voting. The Speedway satellite location has touchscreen voting only, while the downtown Election Office has both touchscreen and paper ballots available for advance voting.

The regular polling places will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 7 in Wyandotte County.

The ballots will change in different parts of Wyandotte County as there are city and school general elections April 7.

The UG Commission, 1st District, at large seat candidates ran only on the north side of the county for the primary election, but during the general election, they will run throughout the county, including on the south side and in Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. The candidates are Melissa Bynum and Mark Gilstrap.

The UG Commission also has a 4th District seat up for election. Candidates are Tarence L. Maddox, incumbent, and Harold Johnson. They are running only in the 4th District.

For three other UG offices, 2nd District, 3rd District and 6th District, candidates are unopposed. The incumbents, Brian McKiernan, Ann Murguia and Angela Markley are running.

Wyandotte County Register of Deeds Nancy Burns is running unopposed countywide for election.

Two Board of Public Utilities contests are on the ballot April 7. Running citywide in Kansas City, Kan., are Chris McCord and Norman Scott in the 3rd District, at large, BPU.

Running in the 1st District of the BPU are incumbent Robert “Bob Milan Sr. and Freddy Wilson Jr. The 1st District BPU includes the north part of Kansas City, Kan., out to 77th Street on the west boundary of the district. Parallel is the southern boundary from 77th to 59th Street, and State Avenue is the southern boundary from 59th to the county line on the east side.

Running countywide for the KCKCC Board of Trustees are Donald Ash, Ray Daniels, Mary Ann Flunder, Clyde A. Townsend and Victor B. Trammell. The top four of the five will be elected.

Also running are candidates for four public school districts in Wyandotte County, as well as Bonner Springs and Edwardsville city positions.

Voters need to have their identification, such as a driver’s license, with them when they vote.

For more information about advance voting, visit the Wyandotte County Election Office website at www.wycovotes.org or call the election office at 913-573-8500.

On the www.wycovotes.org website is a link where voters can find out where their polling places are, as well as what candidates will be on the individual ballot.
Send your news and comments to Wyandotte Daily at news@wyandottepublishing.com.

More Blue Bell ice cream found with listeria, officials say

Another Blue Bell ice cream product has been found to have listeria bacteria, according to health officials.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Agriculture have been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry to further investigate Listeria bacteria found in Blue Bell Creameries ice cream. Listeria has been found in another Blue Bell ice cream product, according to health authorities.

KDHE with assistance from KDA collected environmental samples from the kitchen area of the hospital affected by the listeriosis outbreak and collected containers from remaining Blue Bell ice cream products in the hospital.

The hospital fully cooperated with the investigation, authorities said. None of the environmental samples from the kitchen tested positive for listeria.

However, one sample taken from an unopened Blue Bell 3-ounce single serving ice cream cup tested positive for listeria monocytogenes bacteria at the Kansas Department of Agriculture Laboratory, authorities said today. That product was made at the Blue Bell Creameries facility in Broken Arrow, Okla., which was not part of the initial listeriosis investigation.

Blue Bell has recalled the following 3-ounce ice cream cups with pull tab lids:
• Ice Cream Cup Chocolate: No UPC – SKU #453
• Ice Cream Cup Strawberry: No UPC – SKU #452
• Ice Cream Cup Vanilla: No UPC – SKU #451

Blue Bell has reported that the cups recalled are only distributed to institutional settings, meaning hospitals, nursing homes and schools and are not sold in retail locations. More information about the specific products recalled can be found on the Blue Bell website: http://cdn.bluebell.com/BB_withdrawal.

This is an ongoing investigation and Kansas health officials urge older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems not consume any Blue Bell products until more details are known, health authorities stated.

Listeriosis primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of listeria include fever, muscle aches, diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Symptoms begin from three to 70 days after consuming the bacteria. Listeria cannot be spread from person to person.

The hospital affected by the listeria outbreak stopped serving all Blue Bell products at the direction of KDHE on March 9.

On March 13, KDHE announced five people in Kansas had become ill due to an outbreak of listeria associated with Blue Bell Creameries products. Three of those people later died and listeria was a contributing factor to death.

Anyone who believes they may have become ill with listeriosis should contact their health care provider.

More information about listeria can be found on the CDC website www.cdc.gov/listeria and on the KDHE website www.kdheks.gov/listeria.

Mayor to speak at Women’s Chamber meeting April 8

Mayor Mark Holland will be the guest speaker at the April 8 luncheon of the Kansas City, Kan., Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

The luncheon will begin with networking at 11:30 a.m. followed by the lunch and program at noon at the West Wyandotte Branch Library, 1737 N. 82nd St., Kansas City, Kan.

The cost for lunch is $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Guests are welcome, but reservations are required by emailing Ardith Deason at deason_a@wmhci.org, telephone 913-233-3305.

There will be a fundraiser for the scholarship fund.

-Information from Linda Lewis, KCK Women’s Chamber