Franchise Opportunities in Wichita, KS

One of Wichita’s favorite annual events is the Wichita Asian Festival, which every October fills Century II with cultural performances and dozens and dozens of food vendors.

Now, several local Asian American organizations are banding together to put on an open-air springtime version of that event.

Saturday’s Asian Night Market, scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at Naftzger Park, 601 E. Douglas, will feature 24 vendors, and most of them will be selling Asian food. Among the local restaurants that will be participating: Headz & Tailz, Himali Eats, Mi No Bakery, Pho KC, Paradise Biryani and Komugi Japanese Bakery.

Four food trucks also will be there, including Noble House, MKM Thai Food Truck, Thai Riffic Food Truck and Travieso’s, and four of the city’s popular boba tea shops also will be serving: Feng Cha, Kung Fu Tea, ICTea and Joy Tea.

The event also will include vendors selling clothing and other cultural items.

The groups organizing the event were looking for a way to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which is in May, said Taben Azad, a member both the Wichita Asian Association and the National Association of Asian American Professionals. They wanted to put on an event that mirrored the grand Asian Night Markets regularly put on in big cities across the country, including on the east and west coasts.

“Those cities have bigger populations of Asian Americans, but we have a sizable population that is growing here in Wichita, and we wanted to bring that to the community,” he said.

The event will have the same vibe as the Asian Festival but won’t have the pageants or cultural performances, Azad said. It will include family friendly events like face painting and balloon animals.

The organizers hope that the Asian Night Market will become an annual activity in Wichita.

“We don’t want this to be a one-and-done event,” he said.

Admission is free, but people are encouraged to bring cash to buy food and drink.

This story was originally published May 25, 2022 11:56 AM.

Kansas is known for its wild, beautiful skies and sunsets, but on Sunday night Wichitans will be able to gaze at a “super flower blood moon.”

In the Wichita area, the celestial event begins around 9:27 p.m., according to Timeanddate.com’s eclipse map.

The phenomenon, dubbed super flower blood moon, is made up of three celestial events happening at the same time. The first is a “supermoon,” which is a nickname for what astronomers call a “perigean full moon — a moon that is full and its closest point in orbit around earth.” This means the moon looks larger because it’s closer to earth, according to a NASA moon website.

Flower moon is a term used to describe a full moon that happens in the month of May, and is used to signify the flowers that bloom during this month. Native American culture also refers to it as a budding moon, egg laying moon and planting moon, according to Timeanddate.

A blood moon occurs during a total lunar eclipse and derives its name from its red glow.

A lunar eclipse is when the earth lines up between the moon and the sun. “When this happens, the only light that reaches to moon’s surface is from the edges of the earth’s atmosphere. The air molecules from the earth’s atmosphere scatter out most of the blue light. The remaining light reflects onto the moon’s surface with a red glow, making the moon appear red in the night sky,” NASA explained.

All three events are supposed to happen simultaneously Sunday night.

The National Weather Service in Wichita forecast calls for Sunday night to be mostly clear with a low around 59.

If you are unable to watch it outside, NASA is hosting a livestream of the event at moon.nasa.gov. You can also tune in on Facebook, YouTube and NASA Television.

A new report Thursday said Kansas is at an elevated risk of blackouts this summer.

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - As temperatures warm up in the months ahead, so does the risk of possible blackouts across the country.

A new report Thursday said Kansas is at an elevated risk of blackouts this summer. You may remember in February of 2021 when we had rolling blackouts to conserve energy.

If blackouts happen this year, they’ll happen on the hottest days when energy demand is highest. Those are also the days you’ll want to keep your air conditioner on.

Eyewitness News spoke with an energy expert who said power grid operators are preparing for higher demand than ever before. But even then, there’s a lot that can happen that’s out of their control.

The North American Reliance Corporation warns on the hottest days this summer, power grids might not be able to meet that demand in some areas.

“I think this is a pretty standard warning, but because of the pandemic and the war (Russian invasion of Ukraine) and inflation, there’s probably even more risk out there that’s associated with peak demand,” said Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Energy Economist Ashok Gupta.

Gupta said when peak demand can’t be met, that’s when blackouts happen. The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) predicts this summer that demand will be higher than ever before at 51.1 gigawatts.

The SPP operates the grid for Kansas and 13 other states. The summer, it said it’s prepared to serve more than 55 gigawatts, but Gupta said there’s always the possibility of the unexpected. Rolling blackouts during the February 2021 cold snap is a prime example.

“You have to build 10 to 20 percent over n case things go wrong, and even then, things go wrong,” Gupta said. “So, we pay for all of that redundancy in the system, and the best way to deal with that is by managing the demand side of the equation.”

To reduce demand and the chance of blackouts, conserving energy on peak days can make a significant difference.

“As you start adding up over a neighborhood, a second of a city, a city, and our entire service area, those collective efforts can help moderate the demand for energy,” said Every spokesperson, Gina Penzig.

Penzig said in addition to keeping the lights on, conserving energy can also help to keep your bill down.

While inflation, supply chain issues and the conflict in Ukraine could impact the grid across the country, there are other factors regionally that could impact Kansans. One of those is drought across states in the SPP. That means less energy from hydrogeneration.

The drought in Kansas also means we’ll use more energy to irrigate crops.

Copyright 2022 KWCH. All rights reserved.

Less than five years after opening, Opti-Life has closed.

Saturday was the fitness center’s last day in business near 21st and Webb Road.

“We all had held out hope that there would be a solution,” said an e-mailed letter from the business to members.

“We had both a member that was organizing a group as well as the YMCA express interest in the last few weeks.”

In a community where the Greater Wichita YMCA is celebrated for some of the best facilities nationwide, and locally owned Genesis Health Clubs also has a powerful reach, Opti-Life faced an uphill battle when it opened in January 2018.

It sounds like the pandemic was a big factor in the decision to close. The e-mail said Opti-Life is “yet another victim to covid.”

“Due to the mandated shut down and the lingering fear thereafter, we went from 1350 members to around 335,” the e-mail said. “Since then, we have grown to over 650 members, but we needed another year to build back to the 1,300ish it would take to make Opti-Life a viable business.”

A $350,000 SBA loan the owners were hoping for did not come through.

Matt Lillie started Opti-Life with Tien Huynh to be what he called a “mental, physical . . . holistic experience.”

“I see what happens when you don’t have these things in your life,” Lillie said at the time. “Nobody wants to be in a nursing home, but yet our nursing homes are full. Why is that?”

Lillie, who also founded the Physicians Development Group that develops and operates skilled nursing facilities, assisted living centers and memory-care units, on Sunday said he wasn’t quite ready to discuss Opti-Life’s closure.

In 2017, Lillie said he wanted Opti-Life to be somewhere “to really become healthy — not just from lifting weights or working out. You can’t outwork a bad diet.”

“To live a healthier life. … To live a more engaged life. … That’s my hope for Opti-Life.”

In 2019, Opti-Life hired Chicago-based Power Wellness to streamline back-office functions and add medical integration to the business.

Lillie and Huynh had hoped to build more Opti-Life sites.

The e-mail to members noted what an impact the center had on some people.

“On more than one occasion, we have heard it said that Opti-Life quite literally ‘saved’ their lives.”

The note also apologized to members — including one who had just joined Saturday — for the short notice.

“Please know we fought to keep it alive until the bitter end.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2022 12:44 PM.

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - The Kansas Honor Flight’s first trip of 2022 is complete after a welcome home ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the Red Roof Inn in Wichita.

Over 90 veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War went on the three-day trip to Washington D.C. to visit a series of war memorials. Donald Fanning, one of the many on the trip, said his recent efforts have been leading up to this moment.

“I was in awe to see so many people,” Fanning said. “I didn't think there would be that many. I figured just, you know, basic family and stuff. But oh, the room was packed.”

Fanning is an Army veteran from Eureka. He is currently collecting aluminum cans to raise money for the organization.

“If I could get more people, more veterans involved in this, the better,” he said. “I don't care if you're Desert Storm, Desert Shield…”

“Bring it. Let's get you on this trip.”

Since December, Fanning has donated 2,700 pounds of aluminum cans, raising over $1,600. He’s also brought in $700 in monetary donations.

“When you go on these flights, that's something you'll probably never see again,” he said.

His welcome home Wednesday was a long time coming, as it was for so many others who never received one after returning from active duty. But, he’s not the only one with something to celebrate.

This year is the Kansas Honor Flight's tenth anniversary. The organization has given over 3,000 veterans the chance to take off from Wichita for these trips.

"Most 'Nam vets will never talk about it in public, but together like this, we're all brothers, and it's not a problem to talk about any of it,” Fanning said.

For grandson and grandfather Remington Roe and Leonard Nelson, the celebration was just reuniting.

"Very emotional,” Roe said. “I missed seeing him even after his three days. I missed him, and I was excited."

“Awesome,” Nelson said when asked how his grandson’s reaction made him feel. "That's my boy."

The Kansas Honor Flight is taking three more trips this year. Anyone interested in participating, donating or volunteering can email [email protected].