Wichita

We hear it from celebrities, athletes, even politicians such Vice President Joe Biden, the f-word is everywhere. "Every word that comes out of their mouth, 'f this, f that," Wichita resident Johnny Smith said. Click here to see where Kansas ranks for cursing It's an effective communication tool according to some. "If I say, 'f you,' you know I'm being rude," Wichita residnet Adam Poston said.  "If I say, 'I'm having an f-ing good time,' you know I'm having a great time!"

by Michael Schwanke (WICHITA, Kan.) If you're in the market for a rental home and you're shopping on Craigslist, area Realtors say be careful. Scammers are using the popular site to take your money. The scammers are stealing home listings off the Internet, and then re-posting them on Craigslist as a "Home for Rent. " Realtor Mike Grbic says it's been happening for several months, "But has gotten much worse the past couple of weeks. " We're getting a lot of calls from people thinking they're going to rent a $250,000 house for $900 a month.

Laurie Garland was back in her bedroom when she heard her front door kicked-in. "All of a sudden I hear crash at the front door.  My 13-year-old son Harrison is yelling mom,” Laurie said. She saw two figures running toward her son.  The other, police say a 23-year-old man, was walking down the dark hallway toward Laurie. "He had his hand wrapped with either a towel or a t-shirt.  And, he did have a gun in his hand,” Laurie said. But that didn't scare Laurie. "And then all of a sudden I honed in on the end of that gun and I could see an orange tip,” Laurie said.

Signs of the times---I heard someone typing on a typewriter yesterday and it took me awhile to recognize the sound. Rest well Fred--- I was saddened to hear of the passing of broadcaster Fred White earlier this week.  I wasn't surprised that he'd kept his struggles with his health private, the last thing he'd ever want to have done was to draw attention to him. My first experience with Fred was with my ears-upon arriving in Wichita in...

Santa Fe, New Mexico is a town that offers a unique way of living and prides itself on being different. The town has added fluoride to its water since the 1950s, but now, the city council has voted to stop adding it. The council decided and already voted, but there were concerns about how open the process was. So now, members will vote again...but most have already made their decision. "Over the years has been beneficial," said council member Ron Trujillo, "I do understand that I'm going to keep my stance that there's enough fluoride occurring in this community that we don't need to add to it. " There isn't enough according to the CDC. Santa Fe and Wichita are similar when it comes to naturally occuring fluoride.

Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson says stop worrying about Louisiana, Hawker Beechcraft is staying where it belongs in Wichita. The governor made the announcement Tuesday morning.  He, the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County worked out a $45 million incentive package to keep the plane maker in town.   "I think this is an early Christmas for the people of Hawker Beechcraft.   "We will go forward with some renewed lift under our wings," said CEO Bill Boisture. Hawker is staying with the help of $40 million from the state.  The money will come from Hawker employee income tax with holdings.  Parkinson says they'll take the money Hawker employees are paying the state and reinvest it in the company.  $30 million will go to research and development and $10 million to educating employees at places like the National Center for Aviation Training.  Wichita and Sedgwick County will each chip in another $2.5 million, rounding out the $45 million package.

Wichita emergency crews work two motorcycle accidents - both happening within minutes of each other. The first crash occurred on K-42 and Hoover around 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon. Investigators say one person was critically hurt when a vehicle changed lanes and clipped the motorcycle. The rider was ejected. Although a helmet was worn, the rider was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Just north of Wichita, an SUV collided with a motorcycle on K-254 and Webb.

Gas prices jumped around 12 cents overnight.  Many stations are selling gas at $3.45 a gallon for regular unleaded. That's up from around $3.33 on Tuesday.  

National Train Day is tomorrow, but supporters of passenger rail in Wichita will get a jump on it today. They're holding a press conference this afternoon at Union Station to discuss "significant developments" in the push to have Wichita connected to Amtrak's network. Vice Mayor Pete Meitzner as well as local business representatives will be on hand for the event. Eyewitness News will be there, look for updates later this afternoon.

by Eyewitness News One of the most heated races in Sedgwick County was the race for Wichita mayor. Wichitans went to the polls and elected a new mayor Tuesday.  City Councilman Carl Brewer. Brewer took in 62% of the vote, current mayor Carlos Mayans had only 38%. Brewer also showed strong numbers in the primary, and in a recent FactFinder 12 Scientific Survey. You'll find the latest results HERE .

The Ironhorse subdivision near Galicia Hospital is indicative of a lot of Wichita neighborhoods, where lot of windows were blasted out by the hail.     Homeowners were busy late Sunday afternoon after the storm passed, boarding up the holes left behind. There were no reports of any injuries in this neighborhood, but there easily could have been with flying glass crashing into homes. Olivia Newfarmer played it safe and smart. She took cover in her basement to ride out the storm.  "I heard hail hitting the side of the house--had no idea it was cracking the windows out.  But it sounded like a tornado literally coming toward the house because that hail and that wind was just going so strong," Newfarmer says.

A man has been arrested after he fired several shots into the air. It happened near Prince and Audrey around 11 a.m. Saturday. Officers responded to the report of a man walking down the street with a gun. Witnesses said the man fired a couple of shots into the air. The man was quickly taken into custody. No one was hurt. Police said the man may have been drinking.  

Each day, we comb through pages upon pages of crime reports from the Wichita Police Department.  Below is a quick glance at some bits and pieces from those sheets and information from the daily police briefing. Aggravated Sexual Assault - A 31-year-old female reports she was walking home from her brother's house near 19th and north Santa Fe around 3:20 a.m. Saturday. She said she was approached by 3 men in a pickup truck. The suspects offered her a ride, she declined, and the truck drove away.

Signs of the times---I heard someone typing on a typewriter yesterday and it took me awhile to recognize the sound. Rest well Fred--- I was saddened to hear of the passing of broadcaster Fred White earlier this week.  I wasn't surprised that he'd kept his struggles with his health private, the last thing he'd ever want to have done was to draw attention to him. My first experience with Fred was with my ears-upon arriving in Wichita in...

A combined shutout from the Shocker pitching staff and a Casey Gillaspie grand slam helped Wichita State defeat Northwestern 5-0. Aaron LaBrie improved his record to 4-1 with the win. The Shockers leader in ERA tossed two scoreless innings in relief and allowed two base runners. LaBrie's ERA now stands at 0.91. Brandon Magallones took the loss for Northwestern. He fell to 5-6 despite throwing seven innings of one run ball. Magallones allowed six hits and one walk, and recorded three strikeouts.

It's an eyesore that makes the area look unsafe. That's one example of what Wichitans are saying about an abandoned building near Kellogg and the Kansas Turnpike. A viewer asked FactFinder 12 Investigators to learn more about the East Pike building, with all its broken windows and boarded entrances. "I've had customers ask if it's safe to stay here," says Dave Rasmussen, manager of the nearby Hampton Inn. Rasmussen says the broken windows became a noticeable problem in the past couple of months.  He's also seen firefighters using the building for training.

We hear it from celebrities, athletes, even politicians such Vice President Joe Biden, the f-word is everywhere. "Every word that comes out of their mouth, 'f this, f that," Wichita resident Johnny Smith said. Click here to see where Kansas ranks for cursing It's an effective communication tool according to some. "If I say, 'f you,' you know I'm being rude," Wichita residnet Adam Poston said.  "If I say, 'I'm having an f-ing good time,' you know I'm having a great time!"

  KATIE HATFIELD   "I'm so excited to be working with The Crew. Having grown up in Wichita, I love being back to spend time with family and play with our two boxer puppies!"  

Wichita police say someone used bolt cutters to breach a gas tank at a local gas station...and made off with 150 gallons of gas. It happened at D&T Gas in the 800 block of S. Woodlawn. Police believe the theft happened between Monday and Wednesday. Authorities are going over video from that gas station, but have not yet found anything suspicious. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

A new call center is coming to Wichita and it's bringing hundreds of jobs with it.  Starwood Hotels and Resorts plans to open a call center in Wichita later this year.  However it's still waiting on Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita to approve an incentive package. The customer service center would go in on East Harry, in the location where Office This used to be. Steve Bacci owned three businesses at that location, but had to move two of them. "There are a lot of tenants who had to relocate, who had to find new office places within the Wichita area, office out of homes," said Bacci.