Wyandotte County was ranked near the bottom of Kansas counties in health rankings were released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Ranked 96th overall in Kansas, Wyandotte County was low on most categories covered by the health rankings. It is among the bottom five counties in the state for health.
The fifth annual rankings again listed nearby Johnson County as the top county in Kansas. Woodson County in southeast Kansas was the lowest on the list.
Along with health factors, this ranking includes social and economic factors such as rates of graduation, numbers of children in poverty, single-parent households, and violent crime.
Wednesday’s forecast includes a red flag warning and a wind advisory for Wyandotte County. (National Weather Service graphic)
A red flag warning and a wind advisory will be in effect Wednesday in Wyandotte County.
The red flag warning will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., while the wind advisory is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Today’s forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of showers after 5 p.m., the weather service said.
Most of the day will be mostly sunny, with a high near 59.
Tie down any loose objects outdoors today. Windy weather will see a south wind of 14 to 19 mph increasing to 23 to 28 mph in the afternoon, and winds could gust as high as 39 mph, according to the weather service forecast.
Wednesday afternoon relative humidity values (National Weather Service graphic)
Relative humidity values today will fall to 20 to 30 percent, which will create a high fire danger, given the strong winds.
On Thursday, a cold front will move into the area, bringing a threat for thunderstorms, the weather service predicted.
Before Thursday, scattered thunderstorms will move through the area late Wednesday. Strong storms are not expected on Wednesday at this time.
Severe thunderstorm risk Thursday (National Weather Service graphic)
By Thursday afternoon, a line of strong to severe thunderstorms is expected to develop just west of the I-35 corridor and spread into central Missouri through the evening, the weather service said.
Depending on the degree of instability, a few of these initial storms could be super cells for a brief time near the I-35 corridor with large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes.
Storms will then develop into a line moving toward central Missouri with large hail and isolated damaging winds the primary threats, the weather service said.
Two amendments affecting gaming in Wyandotte County went down to defeat on Tuesday night in the Kansas Senate.
Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, R-5th Dist., offered an amendment on the floor to a southeast Kansas gaming bill that would change the state’s share of slots revenue at the racetrack from 40 percent to 22 percent, the same rate paid by state casinos.
Several votes on the amendment were taken, and the final 19-19 vote on his amendment did not pass.
Sen. David Haley, D-4th Dist., proposed an amendment that would eliminate smoking on the casino floors.
Currently, smoking is allowed on the state casino floors, although smoking has been banned in most other public places including restaurants. However, Missouri casinos still allow smoking.
While both amendments lost, the southeast Kansas gaming bill passed 28-10. It reduced the total amount of money investors would need to pay the state.
Another amendment to the bill, by Sen. Tom Holland, would have allowed veterans organizations to have three electronic gaming machines, but the amendment was withdrawn.
House Bill 2272 eliminated an earlier version about industrial revenue bond property tax abatement and added language on gaming that would drop the amount of investment required in infrastructure in a southeast Kansas casino from $225 million to $50 million. The privilege fee required by the casino manager to the state was dropped from $25 million to $5.5 million.
