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The Hilton Garden Inn & Conference Center at 1715 N. Waldron St. opened for business Tuesday, Visit Hutch announced. The hotel has 112 guest rooms, an indoor pool, and a fitness center, and it will have an Old Chicago restaurant on site. As of Tuesday, Old Chicago’s website said the restaurant was “coming soon.” It also has 14,500 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, with a grand ballroom and five breakout rooms, designed to host events ranging from corporate conferences to weddings and community celebrations, Visit Hutch said in the announcement. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Wichita water and sewer customers can expect to see larger rate increases the next two years than originally anticipated. The increase is mostly caused by a continued climb in operations and maintenance costs, as well as the expected loss of two wholesale water customers. The city had been set to increase water rates by 6.17% next year. City Council members heard two new rate increase options at a workshop Tuesday. Read more: Wichita Eagle

A petition to repeal Salina's ban on pit bulls was presented to the city manager on Monday. If it gets enough signatures, the city commission would be required to either pass an ordinance repealing the ban or call for a special election for citizens to vote on the ordinance. Tyler Sartain and Debrah Corrales with Salinans Against Breed Specific Legislation, say the decades-long ban is ineffective and causing overflow in local animal shelters. Read more: KSN-TV

A controversy that's consuming several southeast Kansas communities is coming to a head in Crawford County. That controversy… solar farms and all that comes with them, both the good and the bad. Crawford County currently has a moratorium on solar energy projects that was put in place last year. The town of Mulberry presented an annexation resolution to Commissioners last week for residents who want to have their property incorporated into the town, escaping the county's moratorium on solar energy. Some of those residents, as well as others opposed to the annexation, spoke to commissioners today. Read more: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

Community leaders recognize that wages for many jobs in Hutchinson and Reno County lag those in regional and peer communities, some as much as 12% to 18%, said Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce CEO Debra Teufel. “It’s one of the hard realities we share with employers,” said Teufel, noting they’ve relied on data from Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research to make the point. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

One plan comes from a company that proposes putting small reactors 1 mile underground to directly power facilities such as data centers. The other comes from a company envisioning a utility-scale plant with a battery design that makes it capable of storing power. Read more: CJonline

According to the resolution, individuals from local faith-based organizations, referred to as “clerics,” will be scheduled by a county staff person on a voluntary basis. Clerics can be of any faith background. Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com

The Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates by a quarter point at its meeting this week and could cut at the next two meetings as well, according to the October CNBC Fed Survey. But there were concerns among the 38 survey respondents about the lack of data from the shutdown, an artificial intelligence bubble, still-high inflation and whether politics is playing a role in the Fed's decisions. Read more: CNBC

The Kansas Attorney General's Office said Monday that Bucklin City Council members will pay $100 in civil penalties and undergo additional training on the Open Meetings Act as part of a consent agreement. Read more: KSN-TV

Kansas is implementing a new firearm detection program in schools using artificial intelligence and human verification. The Kansas Legislature has allocated $10 million for a private vendor to provide the detection software. Read more: CJonline