Friday, August 14, 2026

Good morning. It's Friday, August 14th. I'm Beth Golay, and this is Wichita's early edition from KMUW News. Brothers Paige Berkham and Jack Torrey performed together as the cactus blossoms and are known for their close harmonies and musical sensibilities that recall other sibling outfits such as the Everly Brothers. KMUW's Jed Bodwin recently spoke with the brothers. We'll have that conversation after the news. Wichita Public Schools held clap-ins at several schools across the district Thursday to help celebrate the first day of school. KMUW's Daniel Cottle reports. Good morning. Staff and volunteers at Spate Elementary are welcoming students as they arrive for the start of a new school year. There are cheers, high fives, songs from Kidsbop, and bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles. It's a way to make students feel more at ease on their first day, and maybe the parents too. All right, Mom. Gil Alvarez is deputy superintendent for the district. We have a lot of community partners that are coming in and wanting just to make this a great opportunity, great day for students on the first day of school. The district is urging people to drive with caution near schools. For KMUW News, I'm Daniel Cottle.

Wichita State University President Rick Muma welcomed back Shocker students and faculty this week as part of his annual fall address. At the address, Muma and other administrators promised a commitment to affordability, applied learning experiences, and investing in academic programs. Muma also spotlighted major WSU projects in development like the new biomedical campus under construction downtown. Every day, Wichita State employees, both individually and collectively solve problems. mentor students, and create opportunities that change lives. WSU is projecting an increase in enrollment this semester, though official head counts are reported in the fall. Last year, the school reported a record enrollment of 18,458. Students will return to campus on August 17th for the start of the fall semester. WSU raised tuition this year by nearly 5%. A federal proposal to reduce standards for the Head Start program has the Kansas Head Start Association worried. Kansas State House reporter Zach Boblitt has the details. The Kansas Head Start Association says proposed federal changes could threaten the state's Head Start programs. The changes would eliminate classroom ratios and group size requirements, potentially increasing class sizes. The Trump administration says that would allow programs to serve more people. The proposal would also reduce requirements to serve children with disabilities and multilingual learners. The association says the changes could affect 6,200 Kansas children and families. Right now, the feds are... asking for public comments on the proposed changes. At the Kansas State House, I'm Zach Boblett. The Winfield School District issued a statement expressing concerns Thursday after a Winfield man killed his wife and three children before killing himself. The statement says the district is saddened by the tragedy. It says the children who died were not current Winfield students but that, quote, a tragedy of this magnitude is felt throughout our entire community. Grace Point Assembly of God in Winfield plans to host a community vigil tonight to honor the family. It will be held at 8.30 p.m. in the sanctuary at 7th and Harder Streets. Wichita City officials unveiled a new municipal court program Thursday that will text people reminders for when they are expected in the courtroom. Defendants with the schedule hearing in municipal court will soon receive an automated text message letting them know when and where to appear for their case. Residents can reply stop to opt out of the program at any time, but city officials say they hope the alerts will help reduce the number of people who are jailed for failing to appear in court.

A California study last year found pre-trial incarceration decreased by 20% when defendants received text reminders. Extreme heat is continuing in the Wichita area with temperatures reaching up to 107 degrees yesterday. Today and Saturday are also weather alert days as forecast call for afternoon temperatures above 100 both days. The city has designated cooling centers at libraries, recreation centers, and neighborhood resource centers and is offering free bus rides to get to one. High temperatures could slip down into the 90s early next week before triple digit temps return for another round. Experts say it's important to stay hydrated, take breaks from being outside and avoid strenuous activity. The city of Wichita removed a voucher requirement for people needing bus rides to cooling centers. The bus rides also have been extended through the weekend. KMUW's Roger Nomer has more. The voucher requirement sparked controversy at the city council earlier this week. City manager Dennis Marstall says vouchers are needed to make sure people aren't just riding the bus with no destination. The city also uses vouchers to collect data about bus usage. Vice Mayor Dalton Glasscock says removing the voucher would make getting to a cooling station easier. And so I think in the extreme heat, we just need to make as little barriers as possible for people. 15 libraries and resource centers along bus routes are open as cooling centers. Free rides from the cooling centers to another destination are also provided. For KMUW News, I'm Roger Nomer. The Kansas Department of Transportation will accept applications for its 2026 agency cost share program starting Monday. The program offers financial assistance to local programs for transportation projects that will improve safety in rural and urban areas. The estimated fund for 2026 is close to $12 million, an increase from previous years. Officials say the increase was due to less snow and ice removal during the 2025-26 winter season. In the spring, the program awarded $5.9 million to nine projects. The deadline to submit applications for the fall is September 24th. More information is at ksdot.gov. The Kansas Turnpike Authority announced plans yesterday for a half million dollars in improvements and its increasing tolls to help pay for them. The multi-year plan is designed to preserve and modernize the Turnpike system, which runs from Kansas City to the Oklahoma State Line. The plan calls for preserving the roadway, improving interchanges, and expanding capacity in growing travel corridors.

The Turnpike Board approved a toll increase, 3% for passenger vehicles and 4% for commercial vehicles, each year for three years. The new tolls start September 1st. We'll be back after this. Support for KMUW comes from Fidelity Bank, ready to serve with online banking services that give you greater control anywhere, anytime, online at Fidelitybank.com. This is Wichita's Early Edition. I'm Beth Golay. The critically acclaimed Minneapolis-Minnesota music duo, The Cactus Blossoms, have two performances in Kansas this weekend. Brothers Paige Berkham and Jack Torrey say they're looking forward to returning to the Sunflower State as they continue a year of touring, which included a spring run with their friend and mentor, songwriter, Nick Lowe. KMUW's Jed Bowdoin recently spoke with their brothers and has more. Hey, I'm Paige. I'm Jack. Hey! So I guess the last time I spoke with you was 2024, which was the last time that you played, the Bartlett Arboretum. Do you have any memories of that show? I'll let the tree expert take this one. No, the funny thing is I was excited to play there because I'm one of the people that actually is interested in trees and learning about them. So I thought it was going to be fun. You know, I had checked out the place before and saw that they booked a lot of... friends of mine and I thought great music happening there and I could kind of tell that there was a real music lover involved with it just from looking at their their bookings and everything and so yeah we had a good time we played we had a guy named Chris, who goes as Lou Hazel, opening for us for that show, and he's a great singer-songwriter, too. And we just had fun rolling around before we played kind of in between our sound check time and the showtime, getting the tour of all the trees there. And yeah, it's a really special place. Never seen the mountain rain. You also have this cover of Niklos, lately I've Let Things Slide Out, which is a really great rendition of that. It doesn't mention drinking once, but it is the ultimate hangover ballad about letting your life slide. It's a wonderful song.

put that song out this spring just before we went on a tour with Nick, kind of Colorado down to the southwest and up the whole West Coast. We had a really great time with him. It was just us as a duo opening for Nick Lowe solo. And it was a blast. At the beginning of the tour, he knew that we had recorded that and he said, you know, you guys can do that if you want to in the set. And we're like, no, we want to hear you do it. Well, we said, what if someone drove three hours to hear you sing that great song you wrote? And then we came up and sang it. And you didn't. That could ruin someone's day. So he seems to really have embraced you as a peer, which has got to be a very cool feeling. You know, obviously he's very much our, you know, in a mentor role. He turned 77 on this tour we're on. You know, he's done it all. He's 10 times as talented as us, but he still treats us as peers in music. And that's, yeah, that's a huge honor.

So how much does the set change from night to night? Yeah, we'll see. We don't really have a method to our madness, so maybe if we have a lot of fun playing a couple songs in Lawrence, we might definitely do them the next night in Belle Plain. Or we'll switch it up because it's going to be beautiful weather outside. And we're just going to play some slower waltzes and put people to sleep on their little blankets. Tell me, baby, what I've got to do. The cactus blossoms will perform at the bottleneck in Lawrence Saturday and at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plain on Sunday afternoon. Thanks for joining us for Wichita's Early Edition. We'll be back again on Monday. For KMUW News, I'm Beth Golay. And I found you. I'm just in Esperado. Wichita's Early Edition is part of the NPR Podcast Network. This week on You're Saying It Wrong. Fletcher passes kindergarten, okay. Oh, that's kindergarten? Oh, gosh. What tough teachers? What can I say? It's back to school time. This week on Your Saying It Wrong from KMUW Studios.

The fatal shooting of a teenager at a protest in Seattle has gone unsolved for six years. This is open in your face. How are there no answers? Our investigation has uncovered new evidence and witnesses who say they've never talked to police. Did police ever call you? Not once. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded podcast from NPR.