Denison is a town of about 180 people that now owes about $241,400 in gas bills, which is double the $125,000 it paid for gas in all of 2020. Vickie Wold, Denison city council president, said the Kansas Attorney General's Office is opening an investigation into price gouging during a disaster, but that might not help Denison in time. “That’ll take time, we know that. We are going to have a bill coming that we can’t pay,” she said. “We could lose our city status.” Wold said the Kansas Municipal Gas Association could get a loan big enough for all 49 [...]

The downtown Topeka area known as "the Bottoms" was admittedly old, rundown and blighted when Topeka's city government did away with it in the 1960s, says Tom Rodriguez. Still, those who lived there tend to look back fondly on that time, said Rodriguez, the author of a book published in 2012 titled "The Bottoms: A Place We Once Called Home." "In recorded interviews with former residents, almost all of them expressed a longing for the days when they used to sit out on their front porches and say 'Hello' or talk to everyone who passed by," he wrote. "They remember the [...]

Officially, Jane Foltz is retiring from the city of Abilene after 20 years, starting with the Abilene Parks and Recreation Department in 2000 and ending as the Abilene city manager. But Foltz’ service with the city of Abilene goes back a bit further. She started as a lifeguard at the Abilene Municipal Pool when she was still a junior attending Abilene High School. Foltz said that summer she was babysitting a couple kids and taking them to the pool. One day she was told one of the lifeguards had broken her arm and was asked to be the replacement. “They knew [...]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that USDA is seeking comments on a final rule to expand broadband service in rural areas by simplifying program requirements to make more companies eligible to participate in USDA’s ReConnect Program. The rule will eliminate paperwork requirements and will shorten the application process. It also enables an applicant to submit a letter of credit as proof of its financial ability to complete a project. These changes are expected to enable more companies to participate in the ReConnect program, resulting in more broadband coverage in rural areas. The changes take effect April 27, [...]