Spring Hill Kansas now has both a mayor and enough council members to have a meeting. The small Johnson County city south of Olathe has been struggling for a couple months now to figure out whose in charge and how to move forward after a number of unusual departures and absences.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF
Getting charged up about buying a new electric vehicle? More and more Kansans are — and it presents a conundrum for the state. Officials are expecting to see more EVs on the road in the years to come, as well as hybrid cars and those using alternative fuels. That might mean cost savings for drivers — but money not spent at the gas pump also has an impact on how the state builds and repairs its roads. Driving an electric vehicle has the same impact on roads in terms of wear and tear — but users are not paying gas taxes, one of the core mechanisms the state uses to fund infrastructure.
Source: CJonline
Over half of state and local government employees are thinking about leaving their jobs, according to research released on Thursday. The statistic presents a red flag for public sector managers already dealing high rates of turnover and struggling to hire. The survey findings, from MissionSquare Research Institute, a nonprofit that studies government workforce issues, show that about 52% of state and local public sector workers are considering abandoning their jobs for different positions, retiring, or otherwise leaving the workforce. Burnout and inadequate pay are two reasons employees pointed to for feeling this way, the survey found. “If you’re working in state and local government and you’re not considering leaving your job, the person sitting next to you is,” Rivka Liss-Levinson, the lead author of the research, told Route Fifty. “I think it’s safe to say that we are definitely teetering on the brink of a public sector workforce crisis.”
Source: Route Fifty – All Content
The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) Executive Committee is inviting Kansans to share their investment ideas for the allocation of federal coronavirus relief funds allocated to Kansas through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of March 2021. “This money offers the opportunity to make strategic investments that will have long-term positive impacts on our state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. … The online submission form for proposing a SPARK investment idea is available here. Currently, SPARK is requesting proposals for program-level investments. The four Advisory Panels may consider these submissions as part of the process to determine investment priorities and make recommendations to the SPARK Executive Committee. Advisory Panels will begin meeting in the coming weeks.
Source: Fort Scott Biz
Groups of bucket trucks are making their way around eastern Marion as work to complete a long-planned upgrade of the city’s electrical system has begun. Workers for Integrated Electrical Services Commercial and Industrial in Holdrege, Nebraska, are replacing poles and cross arms where needed, replacing transformers, and installing new lines to convert older 2,400-volt electrical service to 12.5-kilovolt service for three city circuits not earlier upgraded. After lines are replaced along the circuits, IES will overhaul the city substation, including installation of a system that reroutes power quicker during an outage.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
COVID-19 has brought record setting hospitalizations in Sedgwick County, but some rural counties in Kansas have it much worse. In Wilson County, the health department reports nearly 24% of its entire pandemic cases have occurred since Jan. 3. Dr. Jennifer Bacani McKenney, the Wilson county health officer, said her community doesn’t always have the resources it needs, whether that’s ventilators or hospital beds. They’ve tried reaching out to large hospitals to help get patients care. “We will call 30-40-50, there was one point where we called I think we contacted 115 hospitals and there were no beds,” she said. “No beds that were available for our ICU patient that needed to be on a on a ventilator.”
Source: KAKE – News
A McPherson officer joined in on a dance performance with the McPherson High School dance team, The Steppers. McPherson Police Department School Resource Officer Brady Winkler joined The Steppers to dance at the high school boy’s basketball home game against Central. The Steppers asked officer Winkler to join them, and the rest is history. They danced to a mix of songs, including “Bring Em Out” by T.I. and “Yeah!” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris.
Source: KSN-TV
An economic development bill that could bring a $4 billion business and over 4,000 jobs to Kansas was approved by the Senate on Thursday. SB 347 would enact the attracting powerful economic expansion, or APEX, act which could add a significant boost to the Kansas economy if it is passed by the house and signed off by Governor Laura Kelly. The senators approved of the bill 32 to seven on Jan. 27 after it was amended. If APEX is passed into law, it could mean that a $4 billion company, which remains secret for legal reasons, could come to Kansas. Many in the Kansas Legislature believe that it is important to move quickly before the mysterious company moves to a different state.
Source: KSNT News
The Johnson County Charter Commission decided in a meeting Wednesday to wrap up its work next month leaving the county’s governing document pretty much as is. With their last votes on substantive issues, commissioners confirmed that no changes will be put on the ballot for voter approval, and there will not be any recommendations for the county commission to consider. The charter commission meets once a decade to decide whether the county’s foundational operating rules need fixing. The 25 members, chosen by a variety of civic and political groups, have been meeting since March 1, 2021, but much of that time was spent hearing from county officials how their departments are run. It wasn’t until fall that the group began to discuss ideas for improvement.
Source: Prairie Village Post
The Kansas Senate on Thursday approved new development incentive to help win the recruiting battle for a $4 billion economic development prospect that’s been characterized as one of the biggest projects in state history. The chamber voted 32-7 to approve the package of incentives for the mysterious development prospect that is considering Kansas along with another site for what Lt. Gov. David Toland described as the largest private-sector investment in state history. The bill creates a special tax incentive for economic development projects with at least a $1 billion investment, although a new provision was added to reduce corporate income taxes in order to provide a benefit to existing businesses. The incentive also would be eligible to suppliers that sell more than $10 million worth of products to the primary project.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
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