Month: February 2020

Saturday events

Wyandotte County Democratic Breakfast to be Saturday

Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor-CEO David Alvey and Manhattan, Kansas, Mayor Usha Reddi will be the guest speakers on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Wyandotte County Third Saturday Democratic Breakfast. Reddi is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. The breakfast buffet will begin at 8:15 a.m., with the program at 9 a.m. Saturday at Las Islas Marias, 7516 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The breakfast is open to all Democrats. The cost of the buffet is $10. Students and those on a limited income may pay $6. It’s not required to purchase a breakfast to attend the program. Those who are planning on purchasing a breakfast should make reservations to [email protected] by Friday, Feb. 14. Reservations are not required to attend. Students who attend the breakfast for the first time may have their breakfast paid by a sponsor.

Family story time planned
 Family story time is planned from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 15, at the youth services craft room, Main Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, 625 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. There will be reading, dancing and singing. The story time is geared to children ages 2 to 6. For other library activities, visit www.kckpl.org.

Spanish singing lessons planned
 “Clases de Canto,” or Spanish singing lessons, are planned from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in Conference Room B, South Branch Library, 3104 Strong Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The Spanish language singing class is taught by Sandra Zamora. For other library programs, visit www.kckpl.org.

Children to read to a dog
 A program where children can read to a dog will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 15 in the storytime room at the West Wyandotte Library, 1737 N. 82nd St., Kansas City, Kansas. Trained dogs will provide a safe environment. This program is for ages 5 to 11 only. Children under age 9 must be accompanied by an adult. Advance registration is necessary to https://kckpl.librarymarket.com/events/read-me.

Library plans Valentine’s cupcake decorating
 Children and teens may decorate cupcakes from 2 to 3 p.m. Feb. 15 at the storytime room at the South Branch Library, 3104 Strong Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. They will have a time limit to decorate a cupcake. Then children will vote for their favorite decorations. Registration for the program is required to 913-295-8230, Ext. 3.

Church plans taco sale
 Christ the King Catholic Church, 3024 N. 53rd St., Kansas City, Kansas, will hold a taco sale from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16. The proceeds will benefit Christ the King parish.

Basketball planned at KCKCC
 The KCKCC women’s basketball team will play Fort Scott Community College at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Kansas City Kansas Community College fieldhouse, 7250 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The Blue Devils men’s basketball team will take on Fort Scott Community College at 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at Kansas City Kansas Community College fieldhouse, 7250 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The KCKCC men’s team is playing for a share of the Jayhawk Conference title.

Sweetheart Dinner Dance planned
 St. Mary – St. Anthony Catholic Church basement, 615 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will be the site for the Sweetheart Dinner Dance sponsored by the German-American Edelweiss Society from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Feb. 15. The event includes dinner and dancing. The Willie Karst Band will perform. Tickets, available at the door, are $20 for adults, with ages 5 and younger free.

Church plans benefit concert
 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1300 N. 18th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will hold a benefit concert, “The way of love,” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15. Performers will include Gustavo Cornejo, Fedra Cooper Barrera and Luis Portillo.

Almost all vaping flavors would be banned under Kansas proposal

by Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Kansas News Service

Topeka, Kansas — A proposal to ban all fruity and sweet vaping flavors in Kansas has upset both pro-vaping and anti-tobacco groups.

Hundreds of popular flavors would disappear. Menthol would remain. The flavor restrictions wouldn’t apply to traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes.

Vape shop owners say the proposed ban on flavored e-liquids would push more people to smoke. Health advocacy groups, meanwhile, want the ban to include menthol and extend beyond vaping.

Hutchinson vape shop owner Kesha Brandt told lawmakers Thursday that she got into the business after losing two family members to lung cancer. Vaping, she said, helped her stop smoking after 12 years of the habit.

“I had to quit,” she testified. “I had to make sure I was there for my kids.”

Others warned the possible ban would kill jobs and shutter small businesses.

“Out of my 400 flavors, 399 will be gone,” Topeka vape shop owner Eric Cope said.

But the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association say a complete flavor ban — menthol included — would help prevent new generations of addicts.

Smoking has become less popular with Kansas teens. State data shows half of high schoolers here reported having tried a cigarette in 2005. By 2017, that was down to about 25 percent, but a third said they had vaped.

Republican committee chairman Rep. John Barker voiced frustration with the advocacy groups.

“If you get 95 percent of what you want up here,” he said about pushing for a menthol ban, too, “you guys need to call it a win.”

Other groups that wanted Kansas to ban flavors included the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce — which said tobacco and nicotine addiction cuts into worker productivity and pushes up health care costs — and the state’s main teachers union.

“We need all the help we can get in schools,” said Mark Desetti of the Kansas National Education Association.

School districts across the country and in Kansas are suing Juul, which manufactures small vaping cartridges popular with minors, claiming the company targeted kids with its marketing.

The Trump administration has also said it would crack down on most vaping flavors, but only for the type of cartridge-based vaping systems that became popular with teens.

The Kansas bill in question would codify the federal government’s new minimum tobacco-buying age of 21 in Kansas. People caught smoking or vaping underage wouldn’t face criminal prosecution anymore, though sellers would still face penalties for breaking the law.

The proposal would also get rid of cigarette vending machines and hike the fee that tobacco sellers pay every two years to the state. That fee hasn’t gone up since 1972 and would increase from $25 to $100.

Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter @Celia_LJ or email her at celia (at) kcur (dot) org. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on the health and well-being of Kansans, their communities and civic life.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
See more at https://www.kcur.org/post/almost-all-vaping-flavors-would-be-banned-under-kansas-proposal.