WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Wichita City Ethics Board met Monday night and decided that Mayor Lily Wu did not violate council policy in an October meeting with Wichita Fire Chief Tammy Snow.

The investigation, spurred by an ethics complaint from the union representing Wichita firefighters, stemmed from a meeting in which Wu reportedly informed Chief Snow that the fire department would have to cut 42 positions.

On Oct. 23, International Association of Firefighters - Local 135 President Ted Bush submitted a complaint to the ethics board. The complaint alleged “improper influence to a department head.”

The union cited the ordinance that the mayor was accused of violating. In a news release announcing its complaint, IAFF Local 35 offered the following text from the ordinance.

No instructions or directions shall be given by individual council members to department heads or to other city employees who shall refer such instructions immediately to the city manager, who, in turn, shall bring such improper actions to the attention of the entire council for such action as may be appropriate in each individual case.” (Ord. No. 47-858, section 17, 3-28-08).

City of Wichita Ethics Officer Kathy Sexton received that complaint and presented the findings of the investigation to the ethics board ahead of Monday night’s vote.

When interviewed by the ethics board, Chief Snow said she misspoke and overstated what Mayor Wu had told her when reporting the conversation she’d had with the mayor to the fire union. Sexton summarized the board’s ruling, based on facts presented to its members.

‘Confusing facts and not enough to say there was a violation, so the board tonight decided that there was no substantiation of an ethics violation in this case,” Sexton summarized.

From the firefighter union’s perspective, Bush voiced frustration with the board’s findings. He addressed Snow’s testimony.

“I don’t even know what overstated means, that’s a made-up word. There was no ambiguity in the conversation,” Bush said. “I was told that Mayor Wu came to [Snow’s] office, it was specific and told her to lay off 42 firefighters. I don’t know what overstatement means in that, that means nothing to me. I know what I was told.”

Moving forward, Bush said he wants further clarification about what happened.

“Someone is being deceitful if the ethics committee decides the mayor didn’t do it after [investigating] then the only conclusion is that the fire chief is being deceitful to me about the 42 positions.”

Following the board’s ruling, Wu issued the following statement.

The Ethics Board plays an important role in our community and I’d like to thank them for approaching this complaint in a timely and professional manner. From their report:

“During the investigation, Chief Snow was directly asked about the allegation that the Mayor told her to lay off the employees and the recording. She said the Respondent never instructed her to lay off any employees, and she never has.”

I appreciate the exoneration, but this claim was absurd. I have always supported our great firefighters.”

This was not just another case of a bully spreading lies in an attempt to damage my reputation while sowing division in our community. It was also a childish misuse of the Ethics Board, trivializing the serious nature of their work. It’s unfortunate Wichitans had to deal with this distraction, and a shame some believed the allegations.

Our firefighters deserve better. Wichita deserves better.

I will continue working with anyone who wants to improve the city we all love. Let’s come together and move Wichita forward!

Following the ethics board’s ruling, both parties can request further review within seven business days of the report’s release. If further review is requested, the complaint will return to the ethics board agenda.

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Hawaiian Bros' Franchisee, Ohana Restaurant Group, Answers Demand for More Kansas Restaurant Locations

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawaiian Bros is debuting its first island-inspired franchise location in Wichita, Kan. This will be the second Hawaiian Bros restaurant opened by Ohana Restaurant Group under their recent franchisee agreement.

To celebrate, Hawaiian Bros is hosting a grand opening celebration at its new location in Wichita, Kan. (1360 N Greenwich Rd.) on Monday, November 18 at 11 a.m. At the grand opening, the first 100 customers in line will receive a free t-shirt and a Hawaiian Bros gift card ranging from $25-$500 (with purchase), and one lucky winner will win Hawaiian Bros for a year. After the grand opening, the Wichita, Kan. location will be open from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily.

Hawaiian Bros will also host VIP event on Saturday, November 16 from 11am–2pm and 5pm–8pm. First responders, medical personnel, academic staff, students and local business employees will be treated to a free classic Plate Lunch.

"It's so exciting to expand as our island-inspired dishes have been growing in popularity across the great state of Kansas," said Zach Fugate, Owner of Ohana Restaurant Group. "We've been eager to open this location and bring our unique cuisine to Wichita and, next month, we will continue this momentum with our next Kansas location in Manhattan."

This location will also feature two new Hawaiian Bros menu items.

Hawaiian Bros is known for its island-inspired Plate Lunch, which offers a variety of juicy chicken or pork glazed with sweet, savory or spicy sauces; macaroni salad, a bed of fluffy steamed white rice or vegetables; and for dessert, a smooth and tropical Dole Soft Serve®. Void of freezers, fryers, or microwaves, the simple menu is prepared with the highest quality, freshest ingredients - unlike any fast-casual restaurant in the area.

To learn more about Hawaiian Bros and its offerings, visit https://hawaiianbros.com/.

About Hawaiian Bros

At Hawaiian Bros, we're inspired every day to spread the Aloha Spirit. To show kindness and respect, and to treat everyone as 'ohana - like family, in everything we do. Founded on the principles of honor, inclusion and gratitude, we respect the dignity and self-worth of every team member and guest. We value our differences and celebrate our common ground. And we say "mahalo" often, emphasizing the positives in our lives every day. Hawaiian Bros owns and franchises more than 60 restaurants serving the Aloha spirit in nine states across America and has expanded its franchise opportunities in 2024.

Hawaiian Bros has earned a variety of prestigious awards since their opening in 2018, including a number one spot on Ingram's Corporate Report of the Top 100 fastest growing companies and the number seven spot on QSR Magazine's 40/40 List of America's Hottest Startup Fast Casuals, plus many more here. For more information, visit www.hawaiianbros.com.

SOURCE Hawaiian Bros

Home/Firefighting/Fire Department Leadership

Chance Swaim – The Wichita Eagle

At the center of the controversy is a federal grant that pays the salaries of 42 firefighters and is set to expire in spring 2026, the same year the city estimates it will have a multimillion dollar shortfall. Snow told Bush during a private conversation that Wu had told her to lay off the firefighters funded under the SAFER grant program and rehire them later using funds from another federal grant.

Bush recorded the conversation and turned it over to the Wichita Ethics Board to determine whether Wu violated a city ordinance that prohibits elected officials from unilaterally meddling in the hiring and firing of city employees without a council vote.

The ethics board cleared Wu in the case after Snow and Wu denied that the mayor directed the fire chief to lay off 42 firefighters, which would have been a violation of the ethics policy. Instead, the board found, Wu had discussed it with Snow as a budgeting idea that was ultimately abandoned.

Bush said he chose to release the audio of his conversation with Snow after Wu accused him of lying, bullying and “sowing division in our community.”

“I filed the complaint to get the truth,” Bush said in an interview. “I had no reason to believe Chief Tammy Snow lied to me when she told me Mayor Wu told her she needed to lay off 42 firefighters.”

Now, Bush said, he’s not sure what to believe. In a news release Thursday night, he wrote, “It seems to me that the question that should be asked now is was Chief Tammy Snow lying then or is she lying now?”

“I believe that Mayor Wu has been consistent in her denials and, if I were her, I’d be angry right now, too,” Bush wrote. “However, I believe that her anger is misplaced. Mayor Wu is right, this was not a misunderstanding. These actions undermine the trust and faith firefighters must have in their Chief. The series of events that led us to today are frankly appalling. I would ask for Mayor Wu to join us in asking for a clear answer — why did Chief Tammy Snow claim that Mayor Wu came into her office and said ‘I need to lay off the 42 firefighters from the Safer Grant?’

“The question must be asked, if Mayor Wu never suggested or intended on laying off Wichita Firefighters, where did this come from,” Bush wrote. “Was it Chief Snow’s suggestion or was it City Manager Bob Layton’s suggestion?”

Snow issued a written statement on Thursday night through city spokesperson Megan Lovely, apologizing for the misunderstanding.

“As the Chief of the City’s Fire Department, my first, last, and always responsibility and focus is the safety of every Wichita resident and the welfare of the brave men and women who honorably serve the City and the department,” Snow wrote. “This makes my disappointment in this misunderstanding that much more personally difficult.”

“In a private conversation among colleagues, I reiterated my continued support for all of the men and women of the department. I was clearly not as direct as I should have been regarding the conversation between Mayor Wu and me as she never instructed me to do anything. I’m sorry that Ted (Bush) misinterpreted my immense support for the department as anything untoward. My intention was to have a transparent and candid discussion with union leadership as we ensure we are well-positioned to serve the community at the highest level possible.

“For that I apologize to Mayor Wu and the community for in any way causing a distraction from anything other than the Wichita Fire Department’s laser focus on keeping Wichita safe.”

The recording from September shows Snow and Bush discussing staffing troubles within the Wichita Fire Department and a proposal to eliminate 42 firefighter positions funded by a federal SAFER Grant and then rehire them with funding from a new federal grant.

“I don’t know what the mayor’s issue with that is,” Snow can be heard saying in the recording.

“She’s not stupid,” Bush said in response. “She gets rid of 42 fire positions, she’ll get smashed.” Bush clarified in an interview that he meant politically smashed.

“That’s what I told her,” Snow responded. “I said, look. I said, I can do whatever you tell me to do — because she came in, she goes, ‘You need to lay off the 42 firefighters from the SAFER Grant.'”

Snow told Bush in the recording that she then pushed back against Wu’s demand but said “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do, but I owe it to you as a department director to tell you the repercussions.”

Snow said if Wichita provided the firefighters with layoff notices, they would likely have to return $10.2 million in federal money they received for the grant program. Then the city would likely be unsuccessful in getting new grant funding after failing to meet the requirements of the first grant.

“You cannot turn money back in on a grant and ever expect the federal government to fund you again,” Snow said in the recording. “… So I told her that, and she didn’t like what I had to say, and so she went right upstairs to Bob (Layton) and pretty soon I get a phone call from him wanting me to give him the specifics. So I give him the specifics, and that’s when they backed away from it.”

“And then your help,” Snow said, referencing the Firefighters’ Union. “You guys helped at the budget thing. But they’re back. It’s back on the budget thing.”

Wichita (KS) Mayor Cleared in Ethics Probe Over ‘Budgeting Idea’ to Lay Off 42 Firefighters

Wichita Fire Union Accuses Mayor of Ordering Firefighter Layoffs

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(c)2024 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

Visit The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) at www.kansas.com

The start of the 2024-25 Kansas high school basketball season begins this week and the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association released its preseason rankings.

Below are the results of the coaches’ poll:

Boys

1. Shawnee Mission Northwest

2. Wichita Heights

3. Mill Valley

4. Olathe North

5. Wichita Northwest

6. Shawnee Mission South

7. Blue Valley Northwest

8. Blue Valley North

9. Olathe South

10. Junction City

Girls

1. Blue Valley North

2. Washburn Rural

3. Wichita Heights

4. Shawnee Mission Northwest

5. Shawnee Mission South

6. Olathe South

7. Olathe West

8. Derby

9. Blue Valley

10. Liberal

Boys

1. Kapaun Mt. Carmel

2. Highland Park

3. Shawnee Heights

4. Andover

5. Great Bend

6. Kansas City Piper

7. St. Thomas Aquinas

8. Basehor-Linwood

9. Topeka West

10. Maize South

Girls

1. Topeka Seaman

2. St. Thomas Aquinas

3. Andover

4. Maize South

5. St. James

6. Bishop Carroll

7. De Soto

8. Emporia

9. Hays

10. Kansas City Piper

Boys

1. McPherson

2. Baldwin

3. Hugoton

4. Ottawa

5. Atchison

6. Rock Creek

7. Bishop Miege

8. Fort Scott

9. Pratt

10. Eudora

Girls

1. Wellington

2. Bishop Miege

3. Topeka Hayden

4. Clay Center

5. McPherson

6. Wamego

7. Andale

8. Ottawa

9. Eudora

10. Rock Creek

Boys

1. Wichita Collegiate

2. Goodland

3. Wellsville

4. Cheney

5. Hesston

6. Beloit

7. Southeast of Saline

8. Lakin

9. Ellsworth

10. Holcomb

Girls

1. Hesston

2. Silver Lake

3. Halstead

4. Cheney

5. Nemaha Central

6. Haven

7. Goodland

8. Beloit

9. Osage City

10. Girard

Boys

1. Moundridge

2. Sterling

3. Salina Sacred Heart

4. Conway Springs

5. Medicine Lodge

6. Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan

7. Bennington

8. Plainville

9. Lyndon

10. Hillsboro

Girls

1. Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan

2. Hillsboro

3. Hoxie

4. Valley Heights

5. Eureka

6. Rossville

7. Wichita County

8. Moundridge

9. Smith Center

10. Doniphan West

Boys

1. South Gray

2. South Central

3. Olpe

4. Oxford

5. Macksville

6. Clifton-Clyde

7. Central Plains

8. La Crosse

9. Hodgeman County

10. Burden-Central

Girls

1. Little River

2. Centralia

3. Clifton-Clyde

4. St. John

5. South Gray

6. Central Plains

7. Rawlins County

8. Frankfort

9. Spearville

10. Olpe

Boys

1. Cunningham

2. Axtell

3. Dighton

4. McPherson Elyria Christian

5. Hanover

6. Lebo

7. Weskan

8. Bucklin

9. Northern Valley

10. Logan-Palco

Girls

1. Hanover

2. Lebo

3. Wallace County

4. Beloit-St. John’s Tipton

5. Bucklin

6. Marais des Cygnes Valley

7. Hutchinson Central Christian

8. Ingalls

9. South Haven

10. Attica

The Wichita Eagle

316-268-6270

Wichita State athletics beat reporter. Bringing you closer to the Shockers you love and inside the sports you love to watch.

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - One person is in critical condition following an officer-involved shooting in north Wichita on Friday night.

Sedgwick County dispatch says the call came out just before 9:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of N. Otis.

One person was taken to a local hospital with critical injuries.

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) — One Kansas mother wants to raise awareness about the dangers of bullying in hopes that school districts and parents take children’s mental health concerns as a result of bullying more seriously.

Alissa is a 6th grader in the Bluestem school district in Butler County. Her family describes her as a beautiful girl who loves art, has a bright soul, and is kind and imaginative.

“She wants what any kid wants, she wants friends, she wants to feel safe,” said Stephanie Dock, Alissa’s mother.

But for years, she’s been dealing with a world of pain hidden behind school doors.

“She wants the bullying to stop. If the bullying would stop she would like school, she wouldn’t want to die,” said Dock.

Alissa’s mother says her daughter has been bullied on and off since second grade, but this school year things have escalated.

“She was getting bullied to the extent of they’re telling her to kill herself,” said Dock.

Dock says all the bullying her daughter has endured at school and on the school bus has been verbal- but that doesn’t make it less hurtful. Alissa is now suffering from depression and self-image issues and her mother is concerned about the long-term side effects from bullying.

“A little girl came up to the playground to her and told her she was stupid and told her that her whole family should die and she should grow up homeless and alone,” said Dock.

All of this and what Alissa's mother says is a lack of response from the school has led Alissa down a very dark path.

Last week, she attempted suicide at just 11-years-old.

“She felt like there was no way out, like so many other kids do and luckily we were able to stop her,” said Dock.

After her attempt, Alissa was hospitalized at Camber Children's Mental Health Hospital in Wichita.

Camber says it's seeing an increase in serious mental health issues and suicidal ideation involving younger and younger children.

In fact, Camber hospitalizes and treats patients as young as 6 years old. It is frequently at capacity and has treated 2,000 children in inpatient programs this year alone. A representative from Camber says they’re receiving more calls for help from the community than ever before.

“There needs to be more support for parents, there needs to be more communication between the schools and the parents because the schools are a vital part of our children’s growth and development,” said Dock.

She hopes that other parents and school districts can learn from her daughter’s story and take bullying more seriously. She's working with the school to launch a formal investigation into Alissa's bullying.

If you’re a parent some signs your child is struggling include the child acting more withdrawn, depressed, talking about suicide or other big changes in affect.

If you notice these signs or changes, you're asked to either reach out to your pediatrician to decide the next steps of support or call other 24-hour resources.

COMCARE’s 24-hour Crisis Line is 316-660-7500. Camber Children’s Mental Hospital’s admissions hotline is (913) 890-7468. You can always call 988 for the suicide and crisis hotline.

For more suicide prevention and youth mental health resources click here or here.

There is always hope.