Douglas County leaders are open to increasing the number of seats on the County Commission, and will soon develop a plan to gather public feedback on such a change before potentially taking further action. As part of its meeting Wednesday, the commission discussed increasing the number of seats from three to five, which would require holding a public election. The issue came to the commission following some public concern about whether rural residents are adequately represented in county government, but Commission Chair Shannon Portillo said that to her, the issue spoke to broader questions about representation.
Source: LJWorld.com.

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.

Jeff Crick, the city’s director of planning and development services, [says] artificial trees haven’t become an approved use in the city. He pointed to the landscape material standards section of the city’s land development code, which reads, in part: “No artificial plants or vegetation may be used to meet any standards of this section …” Matt Gish with AllConstruct LLC, is building the home, … said his reasons for installing the fake palm trees, which are about 20 feet tall or so, are simple: He’s trying to create a Caribbean feel for the home, which will have a pool near the palm trees. “I suppose the city created the ordinance because they want to protect the city’s look, but I don’t think these hinder that,” Gish said.
Source: LJWorld.com.

More Kansans are opening their gas bills and wondering how they will find the money to pay. The city of Argonia says most of its residents are seeing bills in the thousands for just one month. On a warm spring day in Argonia on Tuesday (March 30), people around town still feel the impact of February’s cold snap. They tried to prepare to avoid natural gas bills beyond what they could afford. “We turned our thermostat down to 65 during the day, 60 at night to try to conserve. It didn’t help,” said Argonia resident Ken Bradfield. Bradfield couldn’t believe what he saw when he received his February gas bill last week.
Source: KWCH.