June 2016 – Page 14 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Rain, storms in forecast today and this week

A thunderstorm was moving into the Wyandotte County area about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday

According to the National Weather Service, between a tenth and a quarter of an inch of rain is possible today. After 11 a.m., it is expected to gradually become sunny, with a high near 86, the weather service said.

Today is the first time temperatures have been below the normal high since June 7, according to the weather service.

Tonight’s low will be 67 with a 20 percent chance of showers and storms, the weather service said.

Wednesday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to the weather service. The high will be near 83, with a southeast wind of 7 mph. Between a tenth and quarter-inch of rain is possible.

Wednesday night, there is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, according to the weather service. The low will be around 68, with a southeast wind of 6 mph.

Thursday, expect a 50 percent chance of rain and storms, with a high near 84, the weather service said. There will be a southwest wind of 7 mph.

Thursday night, there is a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, according to the weather service. The low will be around 67. Between a half and three-quarters of an inch of rain are possible.

Friday, there is a 30 percent chance of showers and storms, with a high near 82, the weather service said.

The forecast for Independence Day, Monday, July 4, is mostly sunny with a high near 89, according to the weather service.

New concealed carry policy moving forward at UG

A Unified Government committee tonight approved a change in a human resources policy that would allow public employees to conceal carry firearms when they are not inside UG buildings.

The new policy adopts a state law that will go into effect July 1 allowing public employees to conceal carry when they are on the job in areas other than offices and public buildings.

A final vote on the new policy is scheduled at the UG full Commission meeting June 30.

The new law, House Bill 2502, mandates that concealed carry be allowed. The UG Commission did not support the law change when it went through the Legislature.

“We’re doing this because state law requires it, and we would love to have a choice, but we don’t,” Commissioner Angela Markley said.

Firearms are still prohibited in all UG offices and buildings until at least until the end of 2017, said a UG attorney, Jenny Myers. “There will be no guns by anyone in any UG building,” at least through then, she said.

The new UG policy also states that a firearm could not be left unattended at any time, must be under the immediate control of the carrier at all times, and could not be left unattended in a UG vehicle.

While the UG has to allow employees to carry a firearm in their vehicle while the employee is out on UG duty, the firearm cannot be left unattended in a UG vehicle, Myers said. The employees can leave the firearm unattended in their own personal cars on UG property, as allowed by state law, according to Myers.

When the employee is carrying a concealed weapon, it must not be visible, Myers said, and no outline can show. It has to be on their person, she added. It can’t be left unattended in a UG vehicle.

She said any physical or verbal reference that an employee is carrying is prohibited, and no display of the weapon is allowed.

Open carry by UG employees on the job (except police officers and sheriff’s deputies) is still prohibited, she said.

Also, any unlawful use of the handgun in the workplace is prohibited, she said. In answer to a question, Myers said, “They can carry, we’re just not going to tell them when they can and can’t use it. This is mainly so we’re not having target practice out in the field, so we’re not shooting animals, not shooting it in the air.”

There’s another city ordinance that says it’s illegal to discharge a firearm within the city limits, she added.

Also, UG employees will have to abide by the rules of all non-Unified Government locations. For example, if they go to a school, they will have to abide by the rules of the school regarding guns, and if they go to a restaurant, they will have to abide by the rules of the restaurant, Myers said. If they are going to a building that does not allow guns and they are in a UG vehicle, they will not be able to take the gun inside and they will not be able to leave the gun unattended in the UG vehicle, she added.

Also, Myers said any resulting injury would not be considered for workers compensation or on-duty injury, any liability would be of a personal nature, and the UG would not defend it, she said.

In general, the state law allows anyone, except a felon, to conceal carry, without any training, according to Myers. Any employees that may have prior felonies or have misdemeanor domestic violence convictions will not be allowed to conceal carry, she said.

The UG employees would be required to report other UG employees who violate the policy, if they have knowledge of it, and those who don’t report it could be terminated, according to the new policy.

The employees will be required to sign a document acknowledging the changes in the policy, she said.

In other action, discussion on a request to postpone a $24,990 UG Hollywood Casino grant has been delayed until a later meeting.

The committee also decided to forward a resolution on a collaborative agreement between the UG, Kansas City, Mo., Independence, Mo., Blue Springs, Mo., and Leavenworth, Kan., working with the Mid-America Regional Council, to develop and submit an assessment of fair housing to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The committee also approved, to move forward to the full commission, a $15,000 grant toward a Kaw River bridge bike-pedestrian trail. The bridge, near the Kemper Arena area, is leased by a private group, owned by Kansas City, Mo., and located in Kansas City, Kan. In the future, if the project moves forward, the Heritage Trail and Kaw Valley Levee trails might be connected by it. The two Kansas Citys would work together on the project. An engineering study, a citizen engagement component, and preliminary design are planned.

Victims recall 1951 flood

These persons were among the survivors of the 1951 flood who attended a meeting of the Wyandotte County Historical Society Sunday, June 26. (Submitted photo)

by Murrel Bland

Irene Gonzalez said she remembers the flood of 1951 as if it were yesterday. She recalled having to leave her family’s three-room home in the lower Argentine community at 641 S. Second St. because of rising waters.

Gonzalez was one of four persons who told of their memories of the flood at a quarterly meeting of the Wyandotte County Historical Society Sunday, June 26, at the Wyandotte County Museum, Wyandotte County Park, Bonner Springs. About 75 persons attended.

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the 1951 flood. The worst day of the flood was July 13, called “Black Friday.”

Gonzalez recalled being separated from her parents, searching for them by walking from the Twelfth Street Bridge to the Seventh Street Bridge. She also told of spending time in Memorial Hall that was converted into an emergency shelter. Her father was out of a job as he worked for Swift and Company, which was severely damaged by floodwaters.

Manuel Reyes, the publisher of the Dos Mundos newspaper, said he lived at Fifth Street and Shawnee Road in the Armourdale community. He was 14 years old in 1951. He recalled that he lost his pet dog and goldfish in the flood.

Loren Taylor, a lawyer and Wyandotte County historian, said he grew up as a third generation resident of Armourdale. He said the flood displaced some 30,000 persons. He told of life in “Trailer City” which was temporary housing at 24th Street and Steele Avenue, the present site of Harmon High School.

Taylor, who was 15 when the flood hit, said he was forced to go to work as his family had little money. His first job was working at Crown Drug Company on Minnesota Avenue. He said it was during this period that he developed a close friendship with two persons who would later become police chiefs—Allen Myers and Tom Dailey and another person, Mike Dailey (Tom’s brother), who would become Wyandotte County Sheriff. Taylor would later become legal adviser for the Police Department. They were all Armourdale residents.

Bundy Jenkins said Mark Twain probably said it best. Twain wrote in his book “Roughing It,” that if it rains enough, it will flood.

That was certainly the case in 1951. Jenkins is a retired public school teacher and a life-long resident of Armourdale—except when he served in the U.S. Army including Vietnam. Jenkins is serving his seventh consecutive term as a member of the Kaw Valley Drainage Board.

Jenkins recalls that the Procter and Gamble plant in Armourdale was down only for 11 days during the flood; it was producing soap by July 24, 1951.

Jenkins said that four upstream reservoirs were built to control flood waters—Tuttle Creek, Milford, Clinton and Perry. He said there was a threat in 1993 as the Kaw River was within about 1.5 feet below flood stage. Armourdale was evacuated as a precaution.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a member of the Wyandotte County Historical Society board of directors.