Category: Communities

Wyandotte County has highest unemployment rate in Kansas

Wyandotte County has the highest unemployment rate of all the counties in Kansas at 7.1 percent, according to September statistics released today by the Kansas Department of Labor.

Kansas City, Kan., has the highest unemployment rate of all the largest cities in the state, at 7.2 percent, according to information from the Kansas Department of Labor.

Unemployment in Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., decreased by about four-tenths of one percent from the August rate, according to the report. The rate declined about six-tenths of one percent from one year ago.

In Wyandotte County, 4,921 persons were listed by today’s report as unemployed. There were 64,655 persons employed in Wyandotte County.

Museum plans Halloween History Howl on Saturday

The Wyandotte County Museum, 126th and State Avenue, Bonner Springs, is planning a Halloween History Howl from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18.

The event is a family fall festival geared to children, said Jennifer Laughlin, museum curator. It will include pumpkin painting, a magic show, fire trucks and police cars, sheriff’s station children’s identification cards, Schlagle Library display, face painting and a balloon artist.

Refreshments of cider and popcorn are included with the admission price of $5 for children ages 2-15. Adults are admitted free with their children.

Also at the Wyandotte County Museum, the exhibit, “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Project,” will continue through Nov. 15. A Smithsonian traveling exhibit, it is the history of migrant workers.

The museum also plans a historical bus tour on past and present entertainment in Wyandotte County on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 18, she said.

To be included on the guided bus tour are such sites as Carnival Park, Big 11 Lake, and the old Granada Theater in downtown Kansas City, Kan.

For more information on the bus tour or other activities, call the museum, located inside Wyandotte County Park at Bonner Springs, at 913-573-5002.

KU Hospital wins Consumer Choice Award

In the only award where members of the community choose the individual hospital they feel provides the highest quality service, The University of Kansas Hospital has won the 2014-2015 National Research Corporation Consumer Choice Award for Kansas City.

It is the third year in a row The University of Kansas Hospital has won the award for Kansas City outright. This is the 19th anniversary of the Consumer Choice Award and the award is based on local results from a national survey of 290,000 households. The award recognizes hospitals which possess:
• Best Overall Quality
• Best Overall Image/Reputation
• Best Doctors
• Best Nurses

The University of Kansas Hospital not only led other area hospitals when these four categories were combined, but also the hospital led all other area hospitals in all four individual categories as well.

The award comes as the hospital earlier this year was one of only 14 hospitals nationally to be named in all 12 data-based national “Best Hospital” lists from U.S. News & World Report.
Bob Page, president and chief executive officer of The University of Kansas Hospital, said consumers have also shown their support for the hospital by choosing it in record numbers for their healthcare needs.

Page also noted that being the choice of consumers means the growth of the hospital is often at full capacity and needs an additional hospital building. Plans for the 92-bed Cambridge North building at 39th and State Line Road have been announced. The hospital is working to raise $100 million dollars from the philanthropic community for the project.

– Story from KU Hospital