Kansas
Why an entrepreneur has no regrets about moving from Hawaii back to her Kansas hometown
- Audra Dinell doesn’t regret moving from Hawaii to her home state of Kansas in 2020.
- While being closer to family was one draw, another was affordable living in the Midwest.
- Kansas has a lower cost of living than Colorado and Hawaii, the states Dinell lived in previously.
Audra Dinell, 38, said her move back to Kansas from Hawaii felt like she was starting over.
“We miss a lot of things about the places we left — the people, culture, mountains, and ocean — but no, we do not have any regrets about moving back to Kansas,” Dinell, who moved from Kansas to Colorado before living in Hawaii, said.
Amid the pandemic in 2020, she had an idea for a career shift and wanted to become a homeowner again after leasing a place in Hawaii.
She also moved back to be closer to family and for the “ease of living” in the Midwest where she said “things were easily accessible, affordable.”
Dinell and her husband moved from Wichita, Kansas, to Colorado in 2012 for her marketing career. They had their first child before they left Colorado for Hawaii in 2017 because of a job opportunity for Dinell.
Dinell said, “Hawaii was magical.” The high cost of Honolulu life wasn’t as pleasant.
“The cost of living moving from Honolulu to Wichita was shocking,” Dinell said.
Indeed, the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that Kansas is much cheaper than the states she left behind. As of 2022, Colorado and Hawaii were 2% and around 11% more expensive than the national average, respectively. Meanwhile, Kansas’ cost of living was 10% lower than the national average.
Dinell said Wichita, which has a population of almost 400,000, is lively. She also likes the Midwest’s community feeling.
“When I left in 2012 versus coming back in 2020, I have personally felt this energy, this collective energy, of just people lifting up our city and bringing cool things and sharing ideas and helping each other out,” Dinell said. “I just think it’s such a vibrant, cool place to be right now.”
Dinell said moving back to Kansas during the pandemic felt risky but was the right choice. After having the chance to live elsewhere, she’s happy she, her husband, and their two kids took the one-way trip to the Midwest and that she gets to live in her dream neighborhood.
Dinell and her husband also sold many of their belongings because they didn’t want to deal with the shipping delays, adding to the feeling of starting over.
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Work and life in Kansas
Work was one of the things that drew Dinell back. Before the family moved to Kansas in 2020, Dinell considered starting a women’s leadership collective.
“My husband and I were talking about potentially moving home already, and I thought about this experience that I had while working in Honolulu with a professional women’s organization, and I thought, ‘I wonder if Wichita has anything like that?’” she told BI.
She said she found a “hole in the market” for this type of community and founded The Thread.
“We help women become more confident and build up their professional communities by working on their power skills,” Dinell said.
Dinell finds people in the Midwest are helpful, including for professional opportunities.
“One of the things I noticed is in the Midwest, there are less gatekeepers than in some of the other cities I’ve lived and worked in,” she said. “I’m able to get a coffee meeting with the president of a large nonprofit and really get to know different people in the community who I can help and who want to help me grow my career and business.”
While Dinell and her family are enjoying Kansas, she said she’s still able to afford visits to Colorado and Hawaii, given the Midwest’s cost of living.
Meanwhile, she finds there are a lot of fun activities for her kids in Kansas, such as going to the science center. She also likes the local parks for her children. Dinell also enjoys the restaurant options.
She loves where she’s at now, but Dinell said she misses some aspects of living in Hawaii and Colorado. Dinell liked biking to breweries and hiking in Colorado. In Hawaii, she would hang out at the beach multiple times a week. She said she thinks the people in Hawaii are great, and the state has ideal weather.
Dinell suggested people who are thinking about moving to the Midwest to book a trip to see what it’s like.
“I have friends who have visited us from Hawaii, Colorado, many different cities, South Carolina, and they’re always so surprised,” she said. “They’re like, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know this was here.’”
What was your moving situation like? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com to share.
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
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Soccer may be wrapping up in Kansas City, but the city is about to take center stage again.
The new season of “Ted Lasso,” filmed in Kansas City, is just days away, and for families like the Brownes, the excitement is hard to contain.
“My boys were so excited. Like I’ve seen them do a lot of things they like, but I’ve never, ever seen them that level of joy and excitement for days,” Kerry Browne said.
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The show holds a special place for the family, who were among those caught up in the buzz when production came to town last summer.
Fernanda Silva/KSHB
That show has changed me more than anything else has,” Rory Browne McClain said. “
KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva had the chance to ask cast members questions ahead of the new season and brought along a question from the Browne family — what were their favorite parts of Kansas City?
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“For me, it’s the American Jazz Museum,” Jeremy Swift said. He plays Leslie Higgins in the show.
Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard, pointed to CPKC Stadium, where the press conference was held.
Fernanda Silva/KSHB
“I like so much of Kansas City, but truly, honestly, like one of my favorite things is this stadium,” Hunt said.
Juno Temple, “Keeley Jones” in the show, reflected on what the city meant to her personally.
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“I was really moved by this place, and that’s something that I will forever hold close to my heart,” Temple said.
Jason Sudeikis, who plays the show’s title character, spoke about what he hopes Kansas City viewers take away from the new season.
“I’d like to think that they feel, that we from Kansas City feel well represented by the characters and by the characters from Kansas City, the characters that he met in Kansas, like Coach Beard,” Sudeikis said.
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Hunt drew a direct parallel between the World Cup’s effect on Kansas City’s global profile and what viewers are about to see play out on screen.
“It kind of ends up being like, you know, all this media that’s happened the last month of like the world discovering Kansas City and the vibe — like that is exactly what happens to Keely,” Hunt said. “So, you’re about to have déjà vu real hard when this thing comes along.”
For Browne, the timing could not be better.
“I love that the world will get to see what we love about Kansas City,” Browne said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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The Kansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 10 drawing
02-39-44-46-56, Mega Ball: 23
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 10 drawing
Midday: 4-0-8
Evening: 0-0-3
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning 2 By 2 numbers from July 10 drawing
Red Balls: 01-03, White Balls: 02-08
Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 10 drawing
14-42-46-47-57, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Kansas Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599. For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at select Kansas Lottery offices.
By mail, send a winner claim form and your signed lottery ticket to:
Kansas Lottery Headquarters
128 N Kansas Avenue
Topeka, KS 66603-3638
(785) 296-5700
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a claim form, and deliver the form along with your signed lottery ticket to Kansas Lottery headquarters. 128 N Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603-3638, (785) 296-5700. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Kansas Lottery.
When are the Kansas Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3 Midday/Evening: 1:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. CT daily.
- 2 By 2: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Super Kansas Cash: 9:10 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Kansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Two Kansas parents were charged Thursday in connection with the shooting deaths of their two children.
The Ellsworth County Attorney’s Office charged Aaron French and Makayla French of Brookville with four counts each of aggravated child endangerment.
On March 28, law enforcement responded to a home near Kansas Highway 141 and Avenue N near Kanopolis Lake.
A 5-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy had been shot, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The 5-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The 8-year-old was taken to a Wichita hospital, where he died almost a week later.
The KBI said a young child in the home picked up a loaded, unsecured shotgun and shot the siblings.
Aaron French, 37, and Makayla French, 28, have been ordered to appear in court on July 28.
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