🌱 Gender Changes Spike Before New Law + One Dead After Shooting

Hey, everybody! It's me, Nicole Fallon-Peek, your host of the Patch newsletter. Keep reading for the most important things happening around town.

But first, your local weather:

• Friday: Some sun with a t-storm; warm. High: 95 Low: 74.
• Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a t-storm. High: 86 Low: 68.

From our sponsor:

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Here are the top three stories in Topeka today:

1. On Thursday, Jun. 29, one person died in a shooting that happened on SE Gilmore Ct. in Topeka. According to law enforcement, there were three victims involved in the shooting with one having non-life-threatening injuries and the other two being taken to the hospital to treat life-threatening injuries. After the victims arrived at the hospital, medical staff pronounced one of the victims deceased and their identity has not yet been released. (WIBW)
2. Ahead of a new state law restricting transgender individuals, the number of people officially changing their gender in Kansas has jumped more than 300 percent this past year. The new law legally erases these individuals' right to identify with a gender other than the sex assigned to them at birth and restricts them from changing state documents such as birth certificates and driver's licenses. The Kansas law will go into on Saturday, Jul. 1, but directly conflicts with a 2019 federal court order to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates. (KSN.com)
3. Six statewide nonprofits will join the Kansas Volunteer Commission's 2023 Service Enterprise initiatives, including Topeka's Habitat for Humanity. The organizations will focus on strategically leveraging volunteers to help with a variety of initiatives that aim to meet the commission's organizational needs more effectively and efficiently. Each organization will undergo training performed by Kansas' Volunteer Commission and is funded by AmeriCorps, which is a federal agency that's designed to encourage national service and volunteerism. (WIBW)

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Today and tomorrow in Topeka:

Friday, June 30

• Friday Flicks: Encanto At The Topeka & Shawnee County Library (1:00 PM)
• Summer Music Series At The Weather Room (5:30 PM)

In partnership with T-Mobile:

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From my notebook:

• Are you aware of the city ordinances regarding firework displays? The Topeka Police Department is sharing the complete schedule for when fireworks are allowed to be discharged and when they are not. (City of Topeka Government via Facebook)
• Local management staff in Topeka is making an effort to keep downtown streets and alleyways clean throughout the city. AIM Strategies recently formed the Clean & Safe Downtown Topeka Task Force to encourage downtown business owners, residents and workers to keep the area a nice place to live, work and play. (WIBW)
• The Kansas Department for Children and Families celebrated the ribbon cutting of their brand new Topeka Service Center earlier this week. Their renovations took about eight months to complete and cost upwards of $900,000. Visit here if you're interested in seeing an overview of the project. (Kansas Department for Children and Families via Facebook)

Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Friday. See you all soon for another update!

— Nicole Fallon-Peek

About me: Nicole Fallon-Peek is a journalist and copywriter with a degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. She has served as a freelance reporter, managing editor, copy editor, and editorial director for a variety of B2B news outlets. She currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.