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Plentiful wind and finite water shape life on the Plains. Audrey Rupp, a lifelong resident of western Kansas, knows the region well. These days, she manages a 1,660-acre recreational park in Hodgeman County that surrounds HorseThief Reservoir, a refreshing anomaly that long existed only in the imagination.   “It’s crazy to me that people started talking about building a reservoir out here back in the 1930s,” she says with a grin. HorseThief Reservoir glimmers among rugged bluffs made verdant by summer rains. This is Rupp’s fourth year serving as park manager. The native of Tribune, a community of about 750 people in [...]

City leaders from Hays and Russell met Wednesday to review progress on their joint R9 Regional Water Supply Project, a decades-long effort to secure a sustainable water source for both communities. The two cities have been working together for years to develop a property they own in Edwards County into a long-term supply. Hays City Manager Toby Dougherty said the project has been in the regulatory process for a decade. “Hays and Russell are jointly developing a property they own in Edwards County as a long-term water supply,” Dougherty said. “We are nearing the end of the process, but we have [...]

Another Kansas community is exploring the creation of a common consumption area. Dodge City is looking at creating common consumption areas. On Tuesday, Sept. 2, the city commission will be taking public comment on creating common consumption areas where visitors can openly transport alcoholic beverages between bars and restaurants in certain portions of the city. Read more: KSN-TV

A Kansas emergency medical service needs stuffed animals. Ellis County EMS is seeking new teddy bears to stock their ambulances. The department gives the animals to children who have to ride in their ambulances to make the experience less frightening for them. Read more: KSN-TV

The Park City City Council approved a $145 million STAR bond proposal on Tuesday to fund the Champtown development by a vote of 8-1. The planned $500 million, 160-acre development would include an 80,000-square-foot aquarium, retail, restaurants, a butterfly wonderland, and a baseball and softball complex. Read more: KSN-TV

Multiple agencies are investigating after natural gas was detected in the new Fox Ridge housing development in Newton. Newton Fire/EMS says Kansas Gas Service crews are using vacuum trucks to remove gas from the ground to reduce any risk of ignition. Officials say homes in the area are not in danger, but the source of the gas remains unknown. The gas was first discovered Friday during a site survey near Southeast 10th and Logan. Kansas Gas Service later determined the gas is not coming from its utility lines. Read more: KSN-TV

Starting next week, you can walk along downtown Salina with an alcoholic drink in hand. The city’s common consumption area begins Sept. 1. People 21 and older can buy alcohol from licensed, participating businesses and drink it in the designated area. "Maybe somebody had dinner and drinks across the way at a restaurant or bar, and they're now going to make their way down to the theatre for a show, but they want to stop at your gallery on the way, you can decide," Lauren Driscoll, Salina Director of Community and Development Services, said. "You can take that drink with you [...]

Assistant City Manager Braxton Copley presented two options to the City of Topeka Transient Guest Tax Committee (TGTC) Wednesday to help recover the $17.7 million that has been spent so far on Hotel Topeka. The TGTC voted unanimously to implement a transient guest tax structure to recoup costs related to Hotel Topeka on Aug. 27. The proposal that was approved will result in a 7% transient guest tax increase until 2028 for all other hotels in Topeka, when the rates will drop to 6% and then to 5% in 2033. To recoup the costs, Hotel Topeka will have its own special [...]

You wouldn’t know it by looking at it, but a small well on the northeast corner of Yates Center’s downtown square plays a part in the town’s history. The hand-dug well proved back in the 1800s that if residents wished to locate there, they’d still have a source of water. Wells were dug, at the insistence of landowner Abner Yates, to prove there was sufficient groundwater to put a community smack dab in the middle of Woodson County. It’s why, after a pair of hotly contested elections in the early 1870s between Neosho Falls and Kalida townships, to determine the Woodson [...]

Since 2020, Lawrence has gone from staffing three animal control officers to one, and pressure has mounted for the Lawrence Humane Society and the public to fill in the coverage gaps. An attack from a dog in Centennial Park recently hospitalized a 70-year-old woman and resulted in the death of her chihuahua. Investigations into the incident are ongoing. The aggressor dog, unleashed at the time of the attack, was sent to be quarantined at the Lawrence Humane Society. It isn’t entirely clear who the owner is, according to Lawrence Police Department spokesperson Laura McCabe. The incident has fed into broader community [...]