Month: September 2017

Proposals being accepted for KCKCC’s TEDxWyandotte speaker challenge

by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC

Proposals are being accepted in Kansas City Kansas Community College’s TEDxWyandotte Speaker Challenge.

The Speaker Challenge is open to any high school or college student in Wyandotte County.

The winner will be invited to share their idea with the TEDxWyandotte audience during the event Nov. 30 at the KCKCC Performing Arts Center.

The theme for this year’s TEDxWyandotte is “Dream Big-The Lost Art of Dreaming.”

Those interested may submit their original ideas in the form of a two- to three-minute video along with a clearly written summary [email protected]. Anything goes, and participants should make sure their ideas are creative and thoughtful, according to a spokesman.

The student selected will receive speaker coaching from the TEDxWyandotte team to develop the topic. The deadline to submit ideas is Sept. 29.

TED, a nonprofit organization, started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago and has grown to support “world-changing ideas” with multiple initiatives.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event.

For more information about TEDxWyandotte, visit www.tedxwyandotte.com or contact Marisa Gray, TEDxWyandotte Organizing Committee and KCKCC staff member at [email protected] or 913-288-7163.

KCKCC wins 3 of 4 in own volleyball tourney; Independence here Wednesday

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

A narrow loss to No. 19 ranked Iowa Central was the only blemish on Kansas City Kansas Community College’s record in the annual Blue Devil Volleyball Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Winning three of four matches, the Blue Devils are right back home Wednesday against Jayhawk Conference rival Independence at 6:30 p.m. before beginning a month-long road trip that will include two tournaments and five matches, four against Jayhawk rivals. KCKCC will not return home until Oct. 30 when the Blue Devils close out regular season play against No. 14 ranked Fort Scott.

The Lady Blue Devils opened tournament play with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-18 win over Southwestern Iowa on Friday before losing a pair of down to the wire 2-point thrillers to Iowa Central, falling 25-23, 25-19, 25-23.

The Blue Devils then swept Saturday’s two matches, defeating Southeast Nebraska 25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21 and Labette 25-17, 25-14, 25-22.

“We played well,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno said. “Iowa Central is a very good team and we played them to two 2-point sets. This was a very competitive tournament with three ranked teams and a Longview team that is rated very highly.”

Two Jayhawk Conference powers, No. 5 Coffeyville and No. 11 Cowley, each finished 4-0 in the eight-team tournament while Iowa Central’s only losses were to Coffeyville and Cowley.

Kansas revenue secretary says driver’s license IT project on track for 2018 launch

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Kansas News Service

Kansas Revenue Secretary Sam Williams assured lawmakers Friday that the state’s new driver’s license system is on course for a smooth rollout at the start of 2018, despite auditor concerns to the contrary.

At issue is a critical Department of Revenue information technology project — known as KanDrive or KanLicense — to migrate records for about 2 million people from an aged mainframe to a new system. Access to those records is critical for motor vehicle offices and law enforcement agencies.

Williams told a joint panel of senators and representatives that if problems arise that would result in a rollout marred by glitches, he will push back the launch date. He does not, however, anticipate any such issues.

He was seeking to ease lawmaker worries that KanDrive’s January unveiling will play out like the troubled 2012 rollout of a new system for vehicle registration records.

That phase of the Department of Revenue’s IT modernization efforts occurred under a previous secretary and led to hours-long lines for Kansans trying to update their tags in some counties.

“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Williams said. “I can simply tell you that this product, if it’s not ready to go, it will not be put out in the marketplace.”

Williams said his department has begun training staff from motor vehicle offices on using the new system, which will continue to undergo testing this fall.

The American Association for Motor Vehicle Administrators, which allows for data communication among states, also has access to the product now. Association officials are testing it to make sure it meets the organization’s regulations and has not found any major problems, Williams said.

The 2018 launch is six years behind schedule, but the project ran into troubles over the years, prompting a series of legislative audits.

Lawmakers expressed concern earlier this month and last month after the latest audit of the project found ongoing problems.

Legislative auditors, who have been reviewing the initiative quarterly, concluded the project continued to be plagued by problems that put it at risk for compromising quality and missing the go-live date.

Williams said he hopes the next audit will show that the situation has now improved.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to kcur.org.

See more at http://kcur.org/post/kansas-revenue-secretary-says-driver-s-license-it-project-track-2018-launch.