Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Good morning. It's Wednesday, August 12th. I'm Fletcher Jerome Powell, and this is Wichita's early edition from KMUW News. The Purple Martins are back in Wichita. Thousands of birds are gathering near the airport each evening as they prepare for their annual migration, and they're attracting an audience. The way that they're able to communicate, to organize this, and how they decide to do it, how they decide where to go. And it's just, I mean, it's one of the two amazing wonders of nature, I think. We'll spend an evening with the birds and bird watchers after the news. The Wichita Board of Education voted on Monday night to begin accepting applications for an open seat on the board. KMUW's Daniel Cottle reports. The seat in District 3 has been open since June when former school board member Knock Vong resigned to accept an out-of-state job. The school board will take applications for the seat through noon on August 26th. Applicants must be eligible to vote and live in District 3, which is in southeast Wichita. Board members plan to publicly interview qualified applicants at a special meeting in September. If the board votes to appoint someone at that meeting, the new board member would begin serving in October. The new board member would serve the rest of Vong's term through December 2027. For KMUW News, I'm Daniel K. which does Century 2 is over budget and city leaders are considering potential upgrades and increasing rental rates. KMUW's Roger Nomer reports. Century 2 was over budget by about $163,000 last year. Officials say attendance and concession sales are down. They cite economic uncertainty as part of the reason, but they also think rental rates are too low. Assistant City Manager Dante Martin says there needs to be a balance when considering a rate increase. Any increase that we make to rental rates has an impact to not only our partners that provide shows, but our customers, our residents in our community. Venue officials also want to add a center aisle in the concert hall. They're looking into private funding to finance a redesign. For KMUW News, I'm Roger Nomer. As Kansas students prepare to head back to school this month, health experts say getting vaccinated can help keep them in class. Jodi Fortino reports. Viruses can spread quickly in crowded classrooms, leading to illnesses like the flu, RSV, COVID-19, and whooping cough. Missouri and Kansas have also had recent measles outbreaks. Eddie Lyon is an infectious diseases physician at Children's Mercy Hospital. He says vaccines are one of the safest and most effective ways to protect kids against disease. It just keeps kids where they should be, which is learning and engaging and growing and being healthy and being a kid instead of being sick. Lyon encourages families to talk with their trusted health care providers for more information on vaccines and what they can prevent. I'm Jody Furtino. New research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows nutrient pollution increased in many streams and rivers across the country. But as Harvest Public Media's Rachel Kramer reports, a lot of the rise was due to the release of older nutrients stored in soil and groundwater.

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus and waterways can feed algal blooms and contaminate drinking water. The study estimates up to half of the nutrients and streams between 2000 and 2020 took more than one season to get there. Some of that stems from natural sources, but a lot also comes from farming practices like applying fertilizer. Olivia Miller is the lead author of the study. Our models were showing that that was because of those kind of lingering past inputs. agricultural runoff and also changing stream flow. Like in the Midwest, for example, it got a lot wetter over our study period and that wetting, you know, moves more nutrients into streams. Miller says the research could help inform future decisions about water quality. I'm Rachel Kramer Harvest Public Media. The Cedric County Health Department will host a vaccine clinic Thursday for students to get their required immunizations. The clinic will be from 2 to 4 Thursday at the Derby Public Schools Administration Office. Parents are asked to bring vaccination records and proof of insurance. The vaccines come at no cost to families without insurance or whose students have Medicaid. No appointment is required at this clinic. Another vaccine clinic will be held Saturday, August 22nd at the County Health Department on West Central. The Wichita area is experiencing more dangerous heat this week. Temperatures are expected to reach 106 degrees today and possibly tomorrow. City officials are urging people to check on neighbors, older adults, and family members who may not have good cooling and provide shade and water for outdoor pets. The city's also designated cooling centers at libraries, recreation centers, and neighborhood resource centers, and is offering free bus vouchers to get to them. The Wichita Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its proposed budget for the upcoming school year. The district's annual budget is worth about $1 billion. It intends to keep its mill levy rate flat this year, but with rising home values, the district will still bring in more revenue. People can give feedback on the budget at the school board's next meeting, which is the evening of September 14th at the Alvin Morris Administrative Center. The school board is also set to vote on the budget at that meeting. Exploration Place will host a series of concerts with traveling artists next month. The concerts will be in the Wichita Foundation Amphitheater as part of a new grant from the Levitt Family Foundation. The grant is helping the museum fund the series of public concerts for the next three years. Some of the artists in this fall's lineup include folk punk band Sunny War and Native American rock band Indigenous. Concerts will run from September 3rd through October 29th. More information is at Exploration.org. We'll be back after this. Support for KMUW comes from Fidelity Bank, built on a culture of compassion and community involvement for four generations. Online at Fidelitybank.com. KMUW's next pint night will be at Rain Bistro and Lounge in downtown Wichita. You can meet other KMUW listeners and get to know our staff. We'll help provide some quality conversation, but we can't do it without you. It's 530 to 7 on Wednesday, August 19th. Hope to see you there.

I'm Fletcher Jerome Powell, and this is Wichita's early edition. The Purple Martins are back. Tens of thousands of the birds are meeting up near Wichita's airport each evening as they prepare for their annual migration. And as KMUW Suzanne Perez reports, the nightly spectacle has also become a gathering place for bird watchers. Just before sunset in a hotel parking lot in West Wichita, Bob and Nancy Livingston are prepping for what looks like a mini tailgate party. Bob hops onto his truck bed, Nancy sets out a lawn chair, and they look toward the sky and wait. Oh, no, we come every year, but this is our first night this year. It's just amazing seeing all these birds. And we're Purple Martin landlords. In their backyard in Derby, the Livingstons have eight hollowed out gourds and a 12-room birdhouse where Purple Martins build nests every spring. Purple Martins are a type of swallow known for their aerial acrobatics and their rich, chattering songs. Bob says they're also great bug catchers. Our neighbors love them we have them because they eat mosquitoes in the air. They pick them out of the air. And so for about two or three houses around us, people don't have mosquitoes in the summertime. The Livingstons have been hosting the birds for about 15 years. They show up each spring to build nests and lay eggs. I'll be outside, waiting for them, and then pretty soon you'll hear their chatter. And I get so excited because I know they're home. Bob and Nancy figure their Purple Martin Airbnb and Derby has produced about 90 hatchlings this year. But now it's late summer, and it's like all the birds got a memo to head to the airport. As part of their annual migration to Brazil, Purple Martins from across the region are putting on a nightly show just north of the Wichita Airport Control Tower, gathering to roost in a cluster of trees near Yingling Aviation. It starts quietly. Around 8.30 p.m., the sky is clear. But one by one, and then dozen by dozen, the birds start arriving from all directions. Within 10 or 15 minutes, thousands of birds converge into a massive cloud that swirls and twirls overhead.

Witnessing the early August migration takes a little research. Because the roosting site can change year to year, bird watchers put out notices on social media when they start to see the Martin's gathering. In years past, the birds have roosted in Old Town, near Via Christi St. Francis Hospital, and near the former Palace Theater on East Kellogg. Lisa Veda drove around for nearly half an hour looking for this year's location. After checking last year's spot near Hoover Road, she looped around closer to the airport. And then when we finally decided to come around through here, it's too dark to see, but as we drove by here, you can just hear it. You can definitely hear it. By 9 p.m., tens of thousands of birds flap and tornado-like formations overhead. Looking up in the sky, it's almost like... You're under the ocean and you can see like schools of fish going by. Because this year's roosting spot is so close to the airport, officials are tracking the Purple Martins as part of their wildlife hazard plan. Emergency vehicles sound occasional sirens to disperse the birds so they don't affect aircraft. Lisa Veda smiles as she stares up at the sky. Well, what do you think is so magical about this? The way that they're able to communicate, to organize this, and how they decide to do it, how they decide where to go. And it's just, I mean, it's one of the two amazing wonders of nature, I think. Before long is the dramatic whistle and rush, the stage of the nightly roost when birds dive into the trees, and you can hear thousands of wings cutting through the air just above your head. Look how fast they're going into those trees. Look at that. The kids are going crazy, like chasing after the birds. For Nancy Livingston, the bird's migration is bittersweet. And the neighbors always ask, now, when are they coming? When are they coming? Because they sit out on their porch also and look forward to listen to their chatter. Wichita's Purple Martin migration normally peaks in early August, but continues through the month. For KMUW News, I'm Suzanne Perez. Thanks for listening to Wichita's Early Edition. We'll be back again tomorrow. For KMUW News, I'm Fletcher Jerome Powell. Wichita's Early Edition is part of the NPR Podcast Network. This week on Into Music, singer-songwriter Johanna Samuels discusses doing battle with her piano teacher. She'd give me reading assignments and I would like try and memorize what she did with my ears and then play it back. And she'd be like, okay, I see what you're doing, but I can also see that you're not reading. And I'd be like, yeah, and I'm never going to read, by the way. That's Into Music. This and every Thursday from KMUW. Find it at KMU.w.org or wherever you get your podcasts. You want me there. 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.