Month: June 2022

UG offers African American Community Forward Response

The Unified Government Health Department has launched the African American Community Forward Response, focusing on providing a variety of services and resources to African Americans throughout Wyandotte County.

The Health Department will hold weekly events each Monday at the Quindaro Community Center, 2726 Brown Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The events will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Aug. 8, except for July 4.

As part of the African American Community Forward Response, the Health Department also is holding the Dotte Day Community Fest on Saturday, June 25.

The June 25 event will run from noon to 3 p.m., and will offer free lunches and a live remote broadcast, giveaways and music from Hot 103 Jamz radio.
The services available include:

• Free physical health screenings (including blood pressure, lung sounds, diabetes screening and diabetic foot checks, cognitive status checks and other health services)
• Financial planning, including $50 to open a savings account at Reliance Credit Union.
• Free job training, including resume building and assistance with creating a KansasWorks account online
• Free mental health screenings for kids and adults
• Nutrition information
• Family planning information and resources
• Free COVID-19 health services including free testing, vaccinations and booster shots.

“We want to provide the tools and resources that will empower our African American community to govern its physical, mental, financial and family well-being,” said Kay Sharp, AACF response coordinator with the Health Department. “This includes access to free health screenings and vaccinations, family planning resources, better nutrition, more robust short- and long-term financial planning strategies, job training and employment resources.”

Sharp emphasized that, although the African American Community Forward Response is targeted to the African American community in Wyandotte County, everyone is welcome to attend these events.

Partner organizations participating in these events include the Kansas Black Farmer’s Association, Reliance Credit Union, Wyandotte County Workforce Partnership, Donnelly College and the Unified Government Public Health Department.

Those who are attending events who are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19 are asked to wear a mask when indoors. Free disposable masks will be available at these events.

  • Story from UG Health Department

Kansas sports wagering aims to beat Jan. 1 deadline, begin operations during football season

Gov. Laura Kelly dismisses idea of luring Kansas City Chiefs across state line

by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Sports wagering in Kansas is effective July 1, and the governor said Monday she is optimistic state regulators will have live betting up and running as early as football season.

The new law will allow Kansans to bet on their favorite teams through the four state-owned casinos, which may use digital or in-person avenues to engage in business. Under the control of the Kansas Lottery, alongside the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, casinos can establish their own sportsbooks or partner with up to three online betting operators to launch mobile platforms.

To date, major operators like Bally’s, DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM have announced plans to partner with the state casinos. American Indian tribes can negotiate new or updated gaming compacts to include sports wagering, a process that is already underway, said Gov. Laura Kelly.

Regulators must set up guidelines and launch operations by Jan. 1, 2023, but Kelly provided a more optimistic timeline. She said the latest goal she heard was for sports wagering to go live this fall, sometime during the collegiate or professional football season.

While projections for how much the state stands to gain from legal sports wagering vary, once up and running, Kelly touted the potential to help in critical areas.

“We’re not going to be balancing the budget on the revenues coming in from sports betting, but every little bit helps,” Kelly said. “It allows us to do things like fully fund our schools, fully fund our roads and expand broadband.”

The state Racing and Gaming Commission plans to present a set of draft rules at the July 22 meeting for how it will receive, consider and approve proposed gaming facility contracts. At that time, the commission can approve these regulations.

Under the new state law, 80% of sports wagering revenue will be deposited into a fund for attracting a professional sports team to Kansas, contributing to speculation that the state could be gunning to bring the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line. But Kelly poured cold water on the idea during a news conference Monday, saying any past remarks about the possibility were offered tongue-in-cheek.

“I have never approached the Chiefs, nor has anybody in my administration,” Gov. Kelly said. “Quite honestly, the amount of money that this bill would generate and put into that fund would not come close to being what you would need to be able to attract a major league team.”

In addition to the professional sports team fund, the law also establishes a white-collar crime fund to help with gambling addictions.

Casinos can enter into agreements with professional sports franchises and venues, like Sporting Kansas City or the Kansas Speedway, to place kiosks at their facility, allowing fans to place bets while watching the game.

The long-sought law gained approval 73 to 49 in the House, and in the waning hours of the veto session, the Senate followed with a 21 to 13 vote. The governor signed the legislation into law in May.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/20/kansas-sports-wagering-aims-to-beat-jan-1-deadline-begin-operations-during-football-season/

Unemployment rate lowest ever in Kansas

Gov. Laura Kelly today announced that Kansas hit the lowest unemployment rate in the state’s recorded history, at 2.3%.

Unemployment continues to decline in the state, even as the unemployment rate nationally holds flat. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kansas has the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the country relative to other states.

“My administration has worked to ensure that every Kansan who wants a job, can have a job,” Gov. Laura Kelly said. “I’m proud that we have achieved the lowest unemployment rate in our state’s history at 2.3%, over a full percentage point below the nation’s unemployment rate. We will continue breaking economic records by prioritizing job creation, business investment, and workforce development.”

Preliminary estimates reported by the Labor Market Information Services division of the Kansas Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 2.3% in May, a decrease from 2.4% in April and a decrease from 3.4% this time last year. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in the United States as a whole has remained at 3.6% for three consecutive months, a rate significantly higher than Kansas estimates.

Kansas began keeping records of monthly unemployment rates in January 1976.

Since the start of the Kelly administration, Kansas has secured 654 economic development projects worth $8,943,214,898.00 in capital investment and has retained and created 43,111 jobs.

According to Kansas Department of Labor statistics, the Wyandotte County unemployment rate was 3.2 percent in May 2022 as compared to 2.9 percent in April 2022. The May 2022 rate represents 2,525 persons who are unemployed. One year ago, in May 2021, the Wyandotte County unemployment rate was 5.3 percent.

The Kansas City, Kansas, unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in May 2022 as compared to 2.9 percent in April 2022. The May 2022 rate represents 2,349 persons who are unemployed. In May 2021, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in Kansas City, Kansas.