Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced that $117,408 has been awarded to support 18 new tourism marketing projects across Kansas. These grants will help communities expand their marketing efforts, reach new audiences, and inspire more visitors to explore the Sunflower State. “Tourism creates jobs, supports local businesses, and strengthens communities,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “In 2025 alone, tourism activity generated $8.4 billion in visitor spending across the state, and investments in tourism marketing help communities build on that economic impact by attracting new visitors and showcasing everything Kansas has to offer.” In total, the 18 grant recipients will invest almost $244,000 in matching funds towards approved marketing projects, leveraging the grant funding to expand their promotional reach. 
Read more: Kansas Commerce

The City of Emporia acknowledged voters’ approval of restrictions on high-impact data centers and certain battery energy storage systems Wednesday, while emphasizing that a court must still determine whether the petition measures are legal under Kansas law.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Emporia voters approved prohibitions on high-impact data centers and certain battery energy storage systems Tuesday while rejecting a quarter-cent sales tax to renovate the Lee Beran Recreation Center and build a second recreation facility.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

Protecting property access and fairness were central concerns Oct. 20 as Ellis County commissioners advanced a countywide right-of-way review, building on years of discussions about road and bridge maintenance, subdivision needs, staffing, equipment and policy. The review builds on recurring Public Works updates and annual special work sessions featuring all-day road tours covering approximately 200 miles. The latest step establishes a framework for examining maintenance responsibilities while safeguarding access and fairness, not a blanket decision to close roads, discontinue service or leave landowners landlocked.
Read more: Hays Daily News

Voters overwhelmingly reject data centers in their communities on Election Day The tally for all ballots across the country on whether to restrict data centers was 44-1. Voters overwhelmingly rejected a variety of artificial intelligence data center projects and initiatives across the country on Tuesday at the ballot box. This year has seen around 50 local data center-related ballot measures across the U.S., according to Ballotpedia. On Nov. 3 alone, 45 ballot measures were set to be decided by voters on the issue of data centers.
Read more: KMBC

Cities and counties across Kansas decided on sales tax questions on Tuesday. Out of the 19 sales tax questions put in front of voters in the KSN viewing area, 11 of them have passed so far. Some results have not been released. A full list of the sales tax questions and their results is below.
Read more: KSN-TV

Kansas voters weighed in on several school bond measures Tuesday that would fund millions of dollars in facility upgrades and new construction projects. Most got the thumbs-up. Below are the results of those measures and the projects each bond would finance.
Read more: KSN-TV

Voters in El Dorado on Tuesday decided to ban large data centers and battery energy storage systems for 10 years. The ban passed with the support of more than two-thirds of voters. The ban was brought to the city commission in June via a citizen-led petition. The proposal was originally denied by the commission and sent for review by a district court. After the court decided that the petition was valid, the commission voted to put it on the ballot. The city released a statement after the election, saying that the ban will go into effect after the current data center moratorium expires on Nov. 30. The city also said that leaders are going to focus on rebuilding trust with the community.
Read more: KSN-TV

Nakia Hope-Paul remembers going to visit the Old Quindaro Cemetery ever since she was a little girl. Whenever she pays her respects, she admires the Signal Tree, which has stood watch over the cemetery since Quindaro was founded in 1854 in what is now northeast Kansas City, Kansas. Years ago, abolitionists would hang flags on the tree’s branches to warn people at the bottom of the bluffs about slave catchers patrolling the hillside. More than 4,000 gravesites are recorded between two cemeteries in Quindaro, according to the Wyandotte County Historical Museum. You can find headstones for Civil War veterans, Native Americans, people who escaped slavery and abolitionists. While neighbors like Hope-Paul take it upon themselves to tend to the gravesites and preserve Quindaro’s legacy, the cemetery is legally considered abandoned.  Cemeteries like it are scattered across Wyandotte County — 18 in total, with tens of thousands of graves. That’s unusually high compared to the rest of the state — Wichita only has two — and even the country. Local historians and the local government don’t have a good answer for why. 
Read more: The Beacon

Bourbon County commissioners on Monday adopted a policy stating that county-owned equipment and property will not be used for personal purposes, with no exception for commission approval. The motion passed 3-1, with Commissioners Mika Milburn-Kee, David Beerbower and Gregg Motley voting in favor and Commissioner Joe Allen voting against it. The policy will be added to the county’s personnel manual. Milburn-Kee said the goal is to remove any confusion about who can authorize use of county property. “Everything here belongs to the taxpayers, and I just want to be responsible with their money and their equipment and the documentation of its use and the liability of it as well,” Milburn-Kee said.
Read more: The Bourbon County Monitor