JULY 21, 2019

Wichita’s water plant: ‘Every hour that thing is running, it could fail’

Next time water comes out of your tap, don’t take it for granted. Wichita’s only water treatment plant could fail at any moment. “It keeps me awake at night . . .” said Alan King, Wichita’s director of public works and utilities. “Every hour that thing is running, it could fail — right as we’re talking, right now.”

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

Wichita’s mayor steered multi-million-dollar water plant contract to friends

Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell steered what could become the largest contract in the city’s history to his political supporters, golf partners and friends, a Wichita Eagle investigation has revealed.

OCTOBER 6, 2019

Wichita council members can take unlimited gifts. It’s not like that everywhere

In Wichita, city employees can be fired for accepting gifts, travel or meals from anyone doing business with the city, according to the city’s code of ethics. Those rules don’t apply to the mayor and city council.

OCTOBER 29, 2019

‘Knowing that it’s a lie now, I just feel terrible,’ says actress from anti-Whipple ad

A young Wichita woman says she feels she was misled into making a false campaign ad targeting Wichita mayoral candidate Brandon Whipple — an ad she says was produced by a young video entrepreneur who The Eagle has learned shares an office with a Wichita City Council member and a Republican state legislator.

NOVEMBER 1, 2019

Rep. Capps can’t explain why his firm’s listed as creator of anti-Whipple fake-ad site

A Kansas state lawmaker’s business was the original owner of a website domain — www.protectwichitagirls.com — apparently created as part of an effort to smear Wichita mayoral candidate Brandon Whipple with false allegations online, records show.

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

Longwell says he’s done with public office; Whipple promises end to backdoor deals

Wichita Mayor-elect Brandon Whipple said he sees his victory over Mayor Jeff Longwell as a win for the people of the city, who he said are fed up with backdoor deals, favoritism and influence peddling at City Hall.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

No, Mayor Longwell: This isn’t the way city business should be done

It’s disturbing enough that Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell pushed to have the city award a multi-million-dollar contract to his friends and political supporters. It’s disgraceful that, after accepting an invitation to play in a golf tournament with local executives, Longwell pledged in an email, “I’m going to be super nice to you for a long time.” And it’s downright deplorable that some city leaders say that’s “just the way it is” with government business in Wichita.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Longwell documents came at significant cost — they weren’t ‘willingly provided’

In a response to an Eagle story published Sunday, Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell says he “willingly provided . . . more than 2,300 pages of documents,” which chronicled the mayor’s cozy relationship with a group wanting to do business with the city. If that’s the case, we’d like to know when to expect a refund for the $1,092 we paid for those records. And we’d like all the records we requested.