News in Brief

Image by Emily Fey

East- East Fund “Round Table” Meeting

The East Fund is sponsoring a “Round Table” meeting on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at Indian Hills Country Club for $30 a person. The meeting is intended for parents to develop ideas on how to improve East.

The Fund focuses on three areas: student and classroom programs, technology enhancements and professional development. It has provided grants since it’s start in 2003 for school improvements including enhancing the auditorium lobby, new instruments and tutoring and transportation for students. Kristin Schotte- mother of senior Matt and sophomore Tom Schotte- is one of the parents organizing the meeting.

“The great thing about the East fund is every student is touched by this organization,” Schotte said. “It is the only program at East where anyone can receive a grant. The East fund is not specific like some funding at East and the “Round Table” is our only fundraiser for the year,”

Local- Kansas Law Restricts Yard Signs

A new Kansas state law, put in place last summer, forces cities to allow citizens to place yard signs on the street. Before the new law was in place, cities controlled signage independently. The new law is receiving mixed reactions throughout the city. Prairie Village and Roeland Park are ignoring the new standard that went into effect this summer and continuing to restrict the placement of signs, instead following their previous ordinances of political signs.

“I don’t necessarily agree with the city restricting the amount of days political signs are allowed to be put up,” junior Christopher Patrick said. “People should be allowed to express their political support and opinions and do freely when they desire to.”

Roeland Park City Administrator Keith Moody gave his statement to the Prairie Village Post on the matter:

“The City Council provided clear direction to staff to enforce the regulations the city has adopted that prohibit signs in the right-of-way,” Moody said in his statement. “We view the law as unconstitutional.”

The discontent has not been contained to northeast Johnson County – Wichita and several communities across the state have also resisted the state’s law. The cities will continue to follow their own ordinances until the state interferes.

National- Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew, after striking Haiti on Oct. 6, has been named as the cause of death for over 1,000 people, according to a Reuters report. The storm was named a Category 4 hurricane on Oct. 6. Later that night, the coast of Florida experienced winds of up to 107 miles per hour.

Over 1 million people in the states affected went without power and more than 22,000 people were forced to check into public shelters as a result of the hurricane’s storms. Flooding has forced people to evacuate their homes and onto their roofs. President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Freshmen Brigid Wentz’s brother Joey Wentz, who is training in Florida for the Atlanta Braves organization, was stuck there as a result of the lockdown from the hurricane.

“My family and I were really nervous for Joey’s safety because of everything we were hearing on the news,” Wentz said. “All of the airports were closed too, so that made everything worse. Luckily he’s safe and everything is OK now.”

After surpassing 24 people on Oct. 11, the U.S. death toll continues to rise.