From the Alvin and Rosalie Sara Check studio PBS Kansas Presents Kansas Week.

A shift in celebration at Wichita State.

Students voiced disappointment and fear as multicultural and first generation graduation events are suddenly combined.

Is this the new normal under mounting pressure on D-I?

Also, measles returns to Sedgwick County.

An unvaccinated child marks the first case in eight years.

Health officials are warning of the exposure at a local business as they race to prevent a wider outbreak.

But first, crime concerns in the heart of Wichita, a woman brutally attacked downtown in an unprovoked assault.

Meanwhile, persistent thefts and break ins in Midtown have business owners up in arms.

That's what we're talking about on Kansas Week right now.

Hello and welcome to Kansas Week.

I'm Jared Cirillo.

We begin tonight with growing fears over safety in Wichita.

Britney Starkey is recovering after a vicious, unprovoked attack downtown.

She told Kake news she took all of the safety precautions but was still assaulted.

Her alleged attacker, a man with a prior conviction for aggravated battery, was arrested but then released shortly after, leaving Starkey traumatized and worried he'll harm others.

Meanwhile, a midtown Wichita business owner, Sharif Islam, is frustrated by a rash of recent attempted break ins and thefts.

He says the persistent crime is hurting his business and scaring the neighborhood, as he calls for increased police patrols to help secure the area.

Here to discuss this and some of the other big issues facing Kansas this week.

We welcome former Wichita mayor Brandon Whipple, state Democrat Representative John Carmichael, and political consultant Ben Davis, owner of the Cato Consulting Group.

Thank you all for joining us.

And, Mayor Whipple, thanks for joining us.

I think this is your first time back on the set since you left office.

So it is indeed.

So thanks for the invitation.

I look forward to, talk about the issues.

You're no stranger to crime in Wichita.

Obviously.

We've we've both dealt with that issue.

What can we do here?

We've been talking about this for decades.

Well, and this is the thing, when we attack crime, I think first we think about policing, and that's important.

You know, when you are in.

I were on the bench.

We increased the police, budget by quite a bit.

But really, we also have to look towards, prevention.

One of the things that, and I don't know the story more than what you guys have reported on it.

But one of the things that, I see, is something to do with mental health here.

This not only unprovoked attack.

Very strange, where the person came out.

Look like, you know, he became aggressive not only in front of to this woman, but in front of her boyfriend, in front of other people.

It didn't look rational.

And, And I got to say this.

And I hate that this is a Partizan issue now because, the majority of states, it's not a Partizan issue.

I think we're one of eight states who have yet to expand, Medicaid, for people, who excuse me, Medicare, for people who otherwise couldn't afford, treatment.

And when we think about the rise in crime and the people who are suffering from mental health, situation, I don't know if that's the case, but what sounds like think about the money that we could be utilizing to ensure that these people get the treatment that they need so that we don't have victims.

And, you know, that's something I love to hear John talk about because he's in the legislature, fighting a good fight every day on our behalf.

Let me move over to Ben Davis first.

Tell me your.

Do you agree with that?

I kind of think maybe you don't.

Well, look, there may be a mental health component to this.

I don't know.

I don't haven't seen any mental health tests or evaluations come out.

But what I would remind your viewers of, is that this is a constitutional carry state, and that people have the right and if they have the means for self-protection.

And I would say that as the young woman, as an individual or as a business owner, that some of the greatest preventative measures you can have is to make sure that you are armed in case you are assaulted by someone.

And, you know, you hate to take it to that kind of step.

But if people are being assaulted in the streets, especially a young woman, who was taking all the necessary precautions.

If businesses are being attacked, and police are not around, or we can't beef up police protection, then, you know, citizens have the right to to protect themselves and take matters into their own hands.

John Carmichael, tell me your thoughts.

Oh, I think Ben's position is absurd.

More guns doesn't make anyone safer.

The specific two examples that we just saw, the man with the business on the very edge of my district I shop near for years.

Just drove by there a few minutes ago.

That was happening in the middle of the night.

So whether he owns a gun or carries a gun has nothing to do with what was happening to his business.

Do we deal with people with serious mental illness?

By all of us, just carrying guns all the time and pulling them out and taking shots in downtown Wichita?

We have way too much availability of firearms.

And that doesn't mean that we don't have a constitutional right.

I own firearms myself.

I've been a concealed carry permit holder.

But this concept that anybody and everybody ought to be armed at all times for their protection and self-defense.

It leads to gun accidents.

It leads to children being shot.

It facilitates people committing suicide.

That is not the answer.

How much of this problem can be traced back to the homeless situation as part of the same constellation of problem?

Another bit on that.

Again, it goes back to the greatest influx of money without changing the tax code or making extreme cuts for mental health would come from the expansion of, of Medicaid.

Now, when we think about the population who are suffering homelessness, in our community, there was the autistic a few years ago, it was something like 70% of them have a diagnosed mental health issue, and it's usually a high level one.

And the other 70% have a, substance abuse issue, where they're self-medicating and 50% had both.

So the reality is, in in this story, when it took them to, to, to jail and then release them, that is the most expensive way, and medically the worst way to treat mental health.

You take them to jail, you let them calm down.

Sometimes they're able to get a little bit of medical treatment and then a right back out.

But that costs much more than if we had options to actually give people the opportunity to sit to get medication.

They are crime rates lower in states that have increased Medicaid?

I don't know, but I will argue that Wichita is, a little unique to just any random statistical number of a state.

Well, I mean, you're making the argument that if we increased Medicaid, it would provide more mental health services.

As far as I'm concerned, we have more mental health services and availability now than maybe we've had in the history of, of certainly the history of Kansas.

And yet we continue to see crime rise.

I also think there's a component here that we have to say that's just basic human nature.

Not every single crime is committed by somebody who just has a mental health issue.

People commit crimes also because they are fundamentally bad people, or they want to commit bad actions.

There are bad actors.

And to relegate everything to somehow a mental health crisis, to think that we can just therapeutically get people out of crime.

I think I think that's a that's a naive view.

Yes.

There are some that are better.

Not in every case you might not follow, but the conversation switch to folks who are homeless.

And I cited the statistic that at least 70% of the folks who are experiencing homelessness right now in Center County have a diagnosable mental health issue.

Do you have statistics to say that it's fine as far as far as it regards the homeless?

So I would, you know, topic of the conversation was on people who either are being robbed or a young woman who was assaulted, which I think is getting back to the point here to say, look, there are some people where it doesn't matter the mental health, they're just fundamentally bad people.

And if you've been given a right to protect yourself, you should exercise that.

Right.

I got I got to leave it at that.

Gentlemen.

Sorry.

We got to move on.

From public safety to public health.

In fact, a public health alert in Sedgwick County.

Officials have confirmed the first case of measles in eight years.

The case involving an unvaccinated child.

And authorities have identified a north Wichita business as a potential exposure site.

Okay, Kate Devine has more on the precautions being urged and what you need to know here today, said IT County health department announced their first case of measles in Sedgwick County.

It is in a child between the ages of five and ten years of age.

The child was exposed during travel outside of Sedgwick County.

First confirmed measles case in Sedgwick County in nearly a decade.

Adrian Byrne, the Sedgwick County health director, says the child is unvaccinated and could have exposed others at a grocery store on the north side of Wichita.

That location is kind of is aware of grocery store number one at 2524 West 21st Street, North Wichita.

And the time that we are asking for you to be aware of if you were at that location is Tuesday, April 29th from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.. Byrne says measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world.

To protect the community, health officials are now allowing infants as young as six months to get the MMR vaccine, which typically isn't given until a year old.

Ordinarily, it's 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose is 4 to 6 years of age.

But when it is in the surrounding county or in a county, then, babies can safely be vaccinated.

The child's exposure happened outside of such a county, and at this time, there's no known connection to any local schools or daycare.

And Byrne says keeping the community updated and safe is their number one priority.

And so protecting the community is extremely important to us.

So if we we will, let everyone know if we cannot identify every single person.

Ben Davis, public health officials seem to be doing the best they can in this situation.

What else can be done?

You know, I'm not exactly sure what else can be done other than encouraging people to, you know, get their kids vaccinated for the measles, which, I mean, I don't know any strong resistance, to that, whether in government or by public health officials.

It's really unfortunate case.

And people need to take the proper precautions.

I mean, unfortunately, I think vaccines have been a highly politicized thing by both the right and the left.

It's really unfortunate.

It's come down to that.

It's the unfortunate.

It affects even more of what happened through the Covid time period.

But I really hope I mean, the measles vaccine is very established.

It's it's tested.

Even RFK was saying, look, people should get their kids vaccinated for the measles.

So I hope people will take the proper precautions to protect their own kids and everyone else's.

Yeah.

John Carmichael, anything to add here?

Nothing substantial.

So we understand that there have been fears of vaccine stoked by people for political purposes.

It became accentuated during Covid.

I was in the legislature when we were, in essence, quarantined from each other and trying to deal with the crisis.

Bottom line is measles is a preventable illness.

Vaccines are safe, and you need to make sure that you and your children are vaccinated.

There are some people who have a true religious objection.

And Kansas law is very clear in defending, the exercise of that exception, I think, takes reporting indicated that perhaps in the Wichita school district, there may be roughly 250 students that take advantage or their families take advantage of that exemption.

So there's a whole lot of people out there who don't have religious objection.

It's a matter of just, frankly, getting the needles in the arms.

Brandon Whipple, I'll give you the last word.

Yeah.

Don't just say talk to you.

The advice is talk to your family physician about this.

Usually what you see on the internet, which see, just even in talk with friends, the person who, who takes care of my kids since they were babies, I trust their opinion.

And, I think one of the things with the measles that we have to talk about it and hopefully it doesn't escalate is how seriously contagious it is.

It's one of those diseases where it.

I'm not a medical doctor, but from what I read, if one of us had it here at this table, this table in this area would be contagious for at least two hours after we leave.

Which shows you just, you know, we're not talking about six feet like this.

This thing could be pretty bad if it was.

And I understand I understand people rightfully skeptical of the Covid vaccine and how all that was rolled out and handled by by people and by by the federal government and state and local governments.

But not all vaccines are the same.

And again, this is this is a established science and established medicine.

We've been almost able to eradicate, the measles as a result of it and not had any negative or proven negative side effects.

So not all vaccines are the same.

So, you know, for those watching or having questions, separate the Covid stuff out of it and deal deal with what's established medicine, established science and get yourself a routine vaccine vaccine quickly.

Is measles, mumps and rubella correct that what was known as the German measles rubella has a high relationship to fetal abnormalities in pregnancies, so it's important for everybody's health to get that triple vaccine.

Our next story changes to long standing graduation celebrations at Wichita State University are causing concern and disappointment among many students.

Several events highlighting multicultural and first generation graduates are being consolidated into a single ceremony.

Nick Nelson tells us what the university and students are saying.

I think this is like one of the most diverse schools in the state of Kansas.

And to see or something like that go is very unfortunate.

Wichita State University student Dontae Coleman is reacting to news that three graduation related events highlighting multicultural and first generation students are no longer being held.

A Wichita State spokesperson tells Kake news that in response to recent federal orders and agency guidance and state legislation this year, the university is combining the multicultural graduation celebration, the first Generation graduation celebration, the Lavender Graduation Celebration, and the Toast Graduation Celebration into one event.

The Toast, which will celebrate all students together.

Some WSU students are disappointed, including first generation students.

Well, I was a first year student myself.

It is harder for us to like, finish school and like, understand, like what's going on.

And I believe one of our first gen is able to graduate.

It's a really good celebration, and I feel like they should be able to, like, have their moment to shine.

This comes as the Trump administration continues to threaten to pull grant funding from colleges like Harvard if they don't follow new D-I guidelines.

Coleman says he's worried about what this could mean for higher education in the future.

I'm very scared for for future programs that, you know, maybe I want to start or want to get involved, that they may not be here anymore.

And whether that's due towards decisions being made by their higher administration or decisions being made here is still scary.

So Jon Carmichael, I guess my question here is, are celebrations graduation celebrations?

Being linked to D I mean, who's to say a simple party that students might throw is certainly federal funding from a university?

I think the general rule is that there has to be some sort of official involvement.

If students want to get together and have their graduation ceremony, invite their friends and do whatever they want.

That's their business.

But the question is, should we allow the president of the United States to dictate what goes on at graduations at Wichita State University?

But even more concerning, should we allow the president of the United States, through executive orders, to dictate what's being taught at not only public institu tions, but private institutions like Harvard as well?

Let's face it, Wichita State has not been on the forefront of protecting academic freedom in these circumstances.

When we had legislation that sought to ban professors from ever obtaining tenure in Kansas, Ku, K-State, other universities were there to say, no, this is a bad idea.

But Wichita State was conspicuously absent from that process.

My suspicion is that they have major donors that they are beholden to, and they caved on academic freedom.

Ben Davis yeah.

President Trump is not dictating graduation ceremonies.

The school says that their understanding of the executive order is leading them to this conclusion.

Something else tells me this has to do more with just timing and efficiency.

Look, I'm a first generation college graduate.

I worked for jobs to get myself through school.

It took me five years to do it because I had to take extra time because I was working so much.

I know what that's like.

But I graduated with all my peers at the same time.

I don't understand the kind of this this overdrawn or this kind of fear that everybody's experiencing.

Look, you graduated.

It's a great achievement.

Now go out and do something with it and stop, you know, caterwauling about not getting a special graduation ceremony.

Brandon whipple well, and, you know, Ben and I think we agree.

I mean, I'm a first generation college graduate as well.

And there's moments, when you're going through that journey, where you feel like you don't belong, where you have imposter syndrome, where, you know, it's tougher because you, you're a lot of weight on your shoulders, too.

So when we think about how, you know, these specialized graduation, programs for, for different folks who, really as a group have had to overcome certain obstacles.

What what harm does that cause to just allow them to have their graduation as planned?

And I think that, you know, my my work in the legislature, has taught me that sometimes there's a fix for a problem that doesn't exist.

Sometimes, you know, you, fix it till you break it.

And I think this is an example of that is what harm are, is being being, prevented by not allowing these, these programs to go on as, as they were planned.

I think it does more damage, to the reputation that it does good for the students.

A new partnership in Wichita is hoping to solve the ongoing teacher shortage.

Wichita State University, WSU tech, and Wichita Public Schools are launching an accelerated program to get high school students into elementary classrooms faster and with less cost.

Ksn's Adelia Lamda has more on how these Future Teacher academy will work.

I could still do something I love while also learning about how to like, take further steps and stuff.

That future step could be a licensed teacher for graduating seniors in the Wichita public school system.

A new initiative called the Future Teacher Academy hopes to inspire the future of teaching by creating a new pathway to become a teacher.

This program will like open kids eyes, students eyes to like, okay, this is important.

You know, I want to take on this challenge and stuff and hopefully influence them to want to be a teacher because it's needed.

The need for teachers is growing.

The new academy hoping to be a solution.

Graduating high schoolers will begin at WSU tech for two years, with it tuition covered by state scholarship and a para educator program.

After that, they will be able to seamlessly transfer to WSU to finish their bachelor's in Elementary Education tech.

Two years WSU two years will be a licensed credentialed teacher ready for the workforce at a low cost.

It's just it's a great opportunity for our kids.

It's great opportunity for our school district, an opportunity to create a sustainable workforce with students from the Wichita community giving back to Wichita.

It'll help me, with learning how to understand my students and learning how to always communicate with them in the right way.

Brandon Whipple seemed like a good, good story here.

You've been an educator before.

What are your thoughts?

Yeah, I think it's an amazing program.

I think any time that we can, help tighten that, pathway, for certification for, for teachers, particularly folks who are para educators, they're already in the classroom to a hands on learning.

Combine that with the curriculum that's required for certification.

And we just create a pipeline of Wichita grown people who care about our community, who now can help serve our community, by educating our kids.

All right.

And our last story, a whistleblower's explosive allegation tonight, a Kansas man sacrificing his job at a local shooting range driven by fears that it could be contaminating your drinking water.

He's sounding a dire warning about what he believes is a hidden danger.

Cakes investigator Pilar Pedroza digs into the shocking claims.

I've been working at the range that the Chaney shooting range.

It's one of the range masters for the last three years.

And during that time, I started to notice some big problems.

The biggest problem?

Years worth of lead bullets left sitting in the soil berms behind the targets.

They've been collecting there for at least 22 years.

So far as he's been able to find out.

Shockley says he found a single instance of the state removing about one and a half tons of waste back in 2002, but nothing since then.

When I brought it up, I was told, well, we don't have to clean it up unless we shut the range down.

A former police officer, Shockley has years of experience running gun ranges and says current best practice is to remove the spent bullets on a regular basis.

As long as you have a regular schedule of removing lead industry standards, 80 to 100,000 rounds for shooting lanes, you shut it down.

Go ahead and clean it up.

He estimates at minimum, there's more than 60 tons of bullets in the ground at the Chaney shooting range.

Just leaving there without doing anything and continue to use it.

That can cause problems while lead itself is fairly inert, unlikely to go anywhere, she says.

Acidic soil can change its form, leaching the lead out of the bullets and into the Earth.

According to this data from the USDA, most of the soil around the range has a pH of 5.8, making it acidic.

And over time, if it is not being removed, it's the iron oxidizing and release keep on releasing lead to the environment.

How difficult is it to get lead out of the soil once it's in there?

It's extremely difficult.

Representative Carmichael, I'll start with you.

Interesting story here, but, is there anything from a state lawmaker standpoint that could be done here?

Well, there are a number of laws, both federal and state, that prohibit contract, contaminating groundwater.

And if that is in fact what is happening, then it needs to be remediated.

On the other hand, we don't have science to show that, in fact, that lead is leaching because of acidic soil and entering the groundwater and eventually finding its way to Cheyney Lake.

Should we do testing?

Of course we ought to do some testing.

And if it's a problem, we need to remediate it.

So what you're saying is it's speculative right now.

I think it is.

And I don't mean to criticize the man who has vast experience, former law enforcement officer, really decent guy.

He's raising a good question.

And I think it's incumbent upon the Parks Department, the county, everyone involved to do whatever testing is necessary.

If there's a problem, we need to fix it.

If there's not, then people should be able to continue to use the range.

Ben Davis yeah, I don't necessarily disagree with what you just said there, especially if we don't have any type of conclusive proof that this is actually contaminating the groundwater.

Then the last thing we need is more government in people's lives or coming into their property rights or whatever.

But I think that there is obviously a balance here between respecting property rights, but making sure that those start, you know, bleeding over into the common weal and potentially contaminating that, that we're dealing with it.

And that's always the proper function of government to balance those things.

But in lieu of any type of conclusive evidence, then, you know, I think we need to be very, very careful that we had this.

Go ahead.

This is not a private shooting range.

This is owned by by the Department of Wildlife and Parks.

The shooting range has been up there for years.

It's part of the Cheney complex.

So it's probably not a private property rights owner.

It's a governmental.

So in this instance, yeah, but I could see in a different circumstance.

Yes, I would agree to your private shooting range.

Yes.

Because I know there have been similar complaints in the past in Sedgwick County when it's come to private shooting ranges, the sunflower gun range, etc., which is up in the area of sand dunes.

Yeah, some of it is below the native water level.

There are a number of issues there and I don't propose to close it down for sure, but it's something I've shot at that place too.

Yeah.

Brandon Whipple, anything to add here?

I mean, the I would add is, you know, regardless of, whose problem it is, a problem or a public problem seems more public because of the water issue is we need more information so we can identify the problem and then, look for solutions.

What we can't do is like, what happened, in northeast Wichita.

I don't know you about a problem, but nobody's dying today, so we'll just close our eyes and wait and see what happens.

And I got to tell you, as someone who's who's been elected, it always costs more money.

To fix a problem later than it is to address it.

Right when you know there's a problem.

So I, you know, hopefully, this is common sense.

We got two people of different, political backgrounds and views, and they agree this is a problem.

So hopefully our elected leaders also agree that this might be an issue and do a little scenario planning in case it's something out to get.

And we were we were even talking during the package there that this this gun range has been there longer probably 50 years at least, maybe even.

And by the way, I think it's in Reno County.

So if I for that it's Sedgwick County's problem.

Will it will be one that contaminated water gets here but it doesn't fit in Reno.

Right.

All right.

That's a wrap for this week.

Thank you so much to former Mayor Brandon Whipple, John Carmichael and Ben Davis for joining us today.

And thanks also to cake and CSN for sharing their stories.

I'm Gerald Cirillo.

We'll see you again next week.

For.