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The Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday evening meeting on implementing a city-wide municipal ID program to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as the homeless. If passed, IDs will be issued at the Multi-Agency Center starting sometime in April. The IDs, also called Air Capital Cards, will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment. Lacking ID prevents many homeless people from establishing residency and applying for jobs or housing. It is also harder [...]

Nitrate levels for the water district that serves the Yoder community are still too high. The Reno County Public Works Department says tests earlier this month show that Rural Water District 101’s nitrate levels remain above EPA guidelines. The EPA recommends that public water supplies have a nitrate level of 10 mg/l or less. The district’s nitrate level is 12 mg/L. High nitrate levels are especially dangerous for infants and can lead to a life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia. It decreases the infant’s oxygen-carrying blood cells’ ability to transport oxygen across the body. Studies have also shown an increased risk of colon, [...]

Months ago, Lawrence city commissioners approved an increase to the number of adults who can live in a home in most areas of town. With two weeks left before the change is set to take effect, some neighborhoods are pushing back. The city’s new land development code was created over a two-plus-year process, with a 14-member steering committee and several public meetings. Yet when commissioners approved the code in November, many community members said they felt the process had moved too quickly. The code aims, among other things, to improve affordability and availability of housing. One way the code intends to [...]

As the measles virus spreads around the country, with Kansas’ first case reported in Stevens County March 13, Sedgwick County health officials are preparing for possible cases. “It’s a matter of time before it reaches Sedgwick County,” Adrienne Byrne, the county’s health department director, said in a March 12 interview. If the measles is confirmed in Sedgwick County, Byrne said the agency is planning ways to educate the public on the virus, which hasn’t been widespread in the U.S. in more than two decades. The measles is a highly contagious virus that’s spread through the air when an infected person coughs [...]

One resident of a Yates Center nursing home did suffer smoke inhalation after Friday’s fire destroyed the facility. The remaining residents, patients, and staff were all safely evacuated following the wildfire. Fire officials say they are not 100% certain what caused the rapidly spreading prairie fire that burned down the Yates Center Health & Rehabilitation facility, in Woodson County, Kansas. According to a news release issued by Mission Health Communities, owners of Yates Center Health and Rehabilitation, they say it was a “swift and coordinated response” by everyone that saved lives Friday. Reports say the fire initially set a group of [...]

Residents needing some sidewalk repairs may be able to get some help from the city of Emporia. The city is publicizing its annual Hazardous Sidewalk Program, and City Engineer Jim Ubert says it’s a good way to get portions of sidewalks replaced. Sidewalks are considered hazardous — and thus eligible for repairs under the program — if they have portions deemed unsafe because of “broken or missing pieces, unevenness or upheaval which causes a ½-inch or more difference in height between two adjoining portions of the sidewalk.” Sidewalks are also eligible if they have “an abrupt change in elevation.” As Ubert [...]

A bill that would limit local governments' ability to regulate what is described as a “no-impact” home-based business failed to get out of a Senate committee Monday. The Senate Commerce Committee voted down a bill limiting city regulations on a "no-impact" home based business despite attempts to allow a little more municipal regulation. The bill had been opposed by cities across the state including Shawnee, Topeka, Overland Park, Prairie Village, Liberal and Garden City. Source: Sunflower State Journal

Riley County is looking to better enforce short-term rental regulations. The county adopted short-term rental criteria in January 2022, when land development regulations came into effect. Because it can be difficult to enforce short-term rental regulations when someone doesn’t have a license, a county can use help from the state’s authority to set rules in place. Amanda Webb, the county’s planning director, said Monday she has been researching how other counties and cities in Kansas and Missouri regulate short-term rental properties. Webb referred to Independence, Missouri’s regulations as an example. The city of Independence limits the number of short term rentals [...]

The Manhattan city government is considering changing its policy to publish legal notices on its own website, taking advantage of a loophole in state law. City governments are required to notify the public about certain legal changes by publishing them in the local newspaper of record. They also go to the newspapers’ websites and the Kansas Press Association website in a searchable database, which is free to access. Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach in 2023 wrote an opinion that small cities (populations 2,000-15,000) could essentially opt out, citing “home rule.” Since then, a few city governments have considered posting legal notices [...]

Kristi Northcutt has been chosen as the next director of the Kansas Public Management Center, which is part of KU’s nationally recognized School of Public Affairs & Administration. Northcutt will begin her new role on May 12. Source: LJWorld