The South Hutchinson City Council heard a brief presentation Monday night on a new “workforce” rental housing development proposed for the city. Austin Parker ... offered a PowerPoint of a similar project proposed for Benton, Missouri, that included 25 buildings composed of one- and two-bedroom units, with 99 apartments ... The South Hutchinson development would start with 20 units, he said, offering one, two and possibly three-bedroom apartments “depending on what the market wants.” “The numbers are tentative, but a one-bedroom would probably lease for around $1,100 and a two-bedroom for $1,200 to $1,300,” he said. The group will seek city-issued [...]

About 2 1/2 years after the question failed at the polls by 34 votes, the South Hutchinson City Council agreed Monday to consider allowing Sunday alcohol sales in the city. Councilman Brian Garretson, who said a resident approached him to ask the city to consider it, raised the issue Monday during council comments. The council can simply authorize Sunday sales by ordinance, which residents would then force onto the ballot by petition if enough objected. The reverse happened in 2019 when an individual in town gathered enough signatures to require a vote. The issue failed 319-to-353. Source: Hutch News

After hearing more than an hour and a half of public comments on Wednesday evening, Douglas County commissioners gave preliminary approval to a set of rules for future solar farms in the county. The rules outline a number of limits for solar farms in the county, from how large they can be — up to 1,000 acres — to how far they must be set back from roads, homes and other structures. Commissioners voted Wednesday night to approve those standards, pending a minor technical change about grading at solar farm sites. The commission will still need to officially adopt the regulations [...]

The Bradford pear trees across Lawrence are replete with their springtime blooms, but the white flowers are not a welcome sight for those in the city’s forestry division. The Bradford pear is a type of ornamental pear tree native to Asia that has been popular with landscapers, but the fast-growing trees have spread to parks and other forested areas to the detriment of native tree and plant species and wildlife. It was initially thought the trees would not be able to reproduce, but that proved not to be the case as the trees began spreading, creating a widespread problem in the [...]

The trailblazing female pilot vanished as she tried to fly around the world on July 2, 1937, along with navigator Fred Noonan and their Lockheed Electra 10-E airplane. Their fate has become one of the world's great unsolved mysteries. Only one Lockheed Electra 10-E still exists. It is named "Muriel," after Earhart's sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey, who died in 1998 at age 98. That plane will become the centerpiece of the soon-to-be-created Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum at Atchison, Earhart's birthplace. Museum founder and president Karen Seaberg announced April 13 that supporters had already donated $10 million of the estimated $15 [...]

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.