News & Issues
Turning from the tap
Natalie Horton doesn’t drink the tap water in Hiawatha. Neither does her 2-year-old son Silas. She already thought the water smelled and tasted funny. About a year ago, she read a Facebook post from a friend that said the water in Hiawatha wasn’t safe to drink. “I heard we had nitrates in our water, so now I buy…
Most water in Kansas safe to drink
The good news about the public water supply in Kansas is that almost all of it is safe to drink. About 96 percent of Kansans receive water from public water supplies that meet or exceed all state and federal regulations for clean water, said Mike Tate, director of the Bureau of Water for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “The vast, vast majority of…
Obesity And Diabetes In KC Area Continue To Rise
While health trends in metropolitan Kansas City are generally headed in a positive direction, two exceptions are obesity and diabetes. Every county from 2004 to 2011 saw growth in the rates of those conditions. There’s a glimmer of good news, however. Measured across shorter time frames, 2004-2007 and 2008-2011, the rates for those conditions have…
Deaf Kansans Request Medicaid Changes
It’s common knowledge that a child’s first years are critical for language development. But what if that child is deaf and has parents who don’t know sign language? Chriz Dally, a board member of the Kansas Association of the Deaf, posed that scenario last month at a meeting of state officials and members of the…
Kansas Officials Cancel Limits On ATM Welfare Withdrawals
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration will not follow through on plans to limit welfare recipients to cash withdrawals of $25 per day. Phyllis Gilmore, secretary of the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said Tuesday that federal officials objected to the limit, saying that it would prevent needy families from having “adequate access to their…