Heroes and Helpers
Author: Mary Rupert
Customers asked to conserve natural gas
Atmos Energy, which serves part of Wyandotte County, is asking customers to conserve natural gas at this time.
A message on the company’s website states, “Due to extreme temperatures and high natural gas demand, we urge customers to conserve natural gas at this time.”
Atmos offered these tips:
Turning down the thermostat a degree or two is one way to conserve natural gas. Atmos suggested lowering the temperature to 68 degrees when home, and 58 degrees when away from home.
Another method is to lower the water heater temperature to 120 degrees.
Let the sunlight in your home in the day, then close the drapes and blinds at night to keep the heat in.
Keep the fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning.
Make sure air registers and vents are not blocked by furniture or equipment for proper air flow.
Kansas Gas Service Company, which also serves Wyandotte County, stated, “As frigid weather settles over Kansas, energy conservation is key to preventing widespread outage.”
Kansas Gas Service offered several tips:
Keep warm, not hot.
When possible wear additional layers of clothing.
Consider turning down your thermostat and check your programmable settings.
Seal leaks around doors and windows.
Apply weather-stripping or caulk to seal gaps and cracks around windows and doors to stop air leaks and prevent energy loss. If that is not an option, you can also cover windows with towels, sheets or plastic to help keep the warm air in your house. Seal air leaks in your unfinished basement, particularly along rim joists and sill plates. Add an airtight door to your fireplace to keep heated air from escaping through the chimney.
Reduce the temperature on your water heater.
Set the temperature on your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or put it on the “warm” setting. If your home will be vacant for two days or more, set the dial to the pilot position for even more savings.
Close blinds and curtains.
This helps keep warm air inside, especially if the sun is not shining. When the sun is shining, open drapes on the south-side windows to take advantage of free heat from the sun.
Change or clean filters.
A clean filter on your furnace can lower your energy consumption by 5% to 15%. Dirty filters cost more to use and overwork the equipment.
Hold off on doing chores.
Doing laundry and washing dishes can both use natural gas to heat the water and your dryer. If you can, wait until the extreme cold weather passes to complete these activities. If you cannot wait, use the cold setting where possible.
Install foam gaskets on switches and outlets.
Electrical switches and outlets can account for up to 10% of your home’s energy loss.
Change rotation of ceiling fans.
Hot air rises, so reverse your ceiling fans to a clockwise rotation to push that warmth back downward.
Additionally, remember these safety tips during cold weather:
Never use your stove or oven for home heating.
Make sure nothing obstructs a furnace’s air intake and that vents and flues are intact and unblocked to avoid the potential of carbon monoxide poisoning.
When removing ice and snow in the vicinity of meters, vents or flues, do so carefully so as not to cause damage.
Leave cabinet doors open, especially those on exterior walls, to reduce the risk of frozen pipes.
Rep. Davids announces five federal grants for Wyandotte County
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., today announced five federal grants for Wyandotte County projects.
They were among 14 grants totaling $31.2 million in the 3rd District.
Each of the Davids-requested projects were submitted in tandem with local officials and selected for their potential to improve health and safety in the community, tackle climate change, and bring economic opportunity to the 3rd District, according to Rep. Davids’ office. Appropriations requests are subject to strict transparency and accountability rules.
• The University of Kansas Medical Center will receive $2,594,226 for the purchase of a new MRI scanner allowing community members to participate in the latest research studies for many years to come, and $2,956,507 for a CT scanner allowing researchers to obtain 3-D reconstructions of internal organs, a technology the KU Medical Center currently lacks.
“On behalf of the University of Kansas Medical Center, I would like to express our sincere thanks to Representative Davids for securing this funding,” said Dr. Robert D. Simari, executive vice chancellor for KU Medical Center. “These funds will be used to strengthen KU’s research capabilities, including access to cutting-edge medical equipment for researchers throughout Kansas. These types of medical innovations ensure that all Kansans can benefit from the latest research discoveries, clinical trials and treatment.”
• The Wyandotte County Public Health Department will receive $750,000 to increase access to mental and behavioral health services by integrating mental health services and funding new staff, helping reach more residents with better care.
• The Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities will receive $3,707,250 for the purchase of an emergency electric back-up generator at the Nearman Water Treatment Plant, the primary water treatment facility in the event of electrical service disruptions.
• The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, will receive $2 million for a Kaw Point Wastewater Treatment Plant project aimed at reducing both long-term operation costs and rates paid by the public.
“We are extremely grateful to Representative Davids for the continued support and funding,” said Interim County Administrator Cheryl Harrison-Lee. “This is an important investment in infrastructure that not only supports our community today but creates great potential for our economic development growth in the future.”
• The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, will receive $1 million to address the aging infrastructure of parks in KCK. Specific upgrades include restoring rock work, improvements to shelters and play equipment, and rectifying issues with lighting for safety.
“We are excited and grateful to Representative Davids for the continued support of our parks,” expressed Unified Government Parks and Recreation director, Angel Ferrara. “Parks are a clear reflection of a community’s quality of life. They provide a sense of identity for residents and are an important factor in a community’s livability. Being able to repair and restore aspects of our parks to ensure every member of the community has equitable access to amenities, infrastructure and programming creates a better and safer community for our residents.”
Some of the grants in other parts of the 3rd District include: Olathe will receive $300,000 to upgrade technology in the Olathe Police Department, the city Police Command Post; the city of Shawnee will receive $126,750 to install solar panels at two Shawnee Fire Department locations; the city of Overland Park will receive $5. million for infrastructure upgrades to the College Boulevard Bridge in Overland Park, Kansas, and $4 million for the reconstruction of 167th Street from Switzer Road to Antioch Road; the city of Gardner will receive $3 million for their Gardner wastewater infrastructure project; the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) will receive $4 million to help further incorporate battery electric buses into the already established RideKC network, which covers the urban and suburban regions of the bi-state Kansas City area; the city of Olathe will receive $750,000 to design a new dam and spillway approximately 900 feet downstream of the current Cedar Lake Dam.
- Information from Rep. Davids’ office