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The House agreed to an amendment lowering by half the signature threshold on protest petitions used to block a city or county from exceeding the cap. The House also passed an amendment deleting a $60 million state fund to compensate local units of government that held annual growth in property taxes under the cap. The revised bill advanced on a vote of 87-22. Read more: The Lawrence Times

About 56.4% of the 9,425 voters opted to keep the ban. Read more: Salina Journal

Synopsis: K.S.A. 19-4607(c) requires non-elected hospital boards to submit a proposed budget ... K.S.A. 19-4610(a) directs that a hospital board shall have control over all expenditures, except those raised by revenue bonds. These statutes do not conflict... Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinions

The Ranger Road Fire — which started in Beaver County, Oklahoma — has consumed the largest amount of land, burning more than 283,000 acres in Oklahoma and southwest Kansas as of Monday. Five wildfire task forces, from across Kansas, deployed to fight the fires last Tuesday. Four task forces were county-based, with teams coming from Dickinson, Sedgwick, Shawnee and Johnson county task forces. The fifth task force was part of the Kansas National Guard. Read more: KSN-TV

Riley County commissioners are considering a restructure of county leadership that could see the creation of a county administrator position. Read more: News Radio KMAN

The ‘I like Ike Trail’ and the ‘Greyt Trail’ offer bicyclists two different historical rides through Dickinson County, celebrating Abilene’s rich history. Bicyclists can find both routes on the Gravel Kansas website. Read more: KCLY Radio

City council members heard a presentation Tuesday that urged Hillsboro to join a state program of property cleanup. Toby Kuhn with the Kansas Department of Health Environment said the program does not address not mowing lawns or pulling weeds and instead is focused on other outdoor hazards. KDHE would pick up 75% of the program’s $10,000 cost. Read more: Marion County RECORD

A new podcast by Hillsboro City Council member Ronald Wilkins is introducing the public to major department heads and what happens behind the scenes. In his first podcast last week, Wilkins Read more: Marion County RECORD

Under the policy, participating companies are eligible for an incentive of $500 per job added paying at least $15 per hour, $1,000 per job added paying at least $18 per hour, and $1,500 per job added paying at least $21 per hour. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

When a large fire breaks out in southwest Kansas, it rarely becomes the responsibility of just one department. Instead, sirens from multiple towns can often be heard responding — a direct result of mutual aid agreements that have become essential to protecting lives and property across the region. Mutual aid agreements allow neighboring fire departments to automatically assist one another during major incidents. In rural areas like southwest Kansas, where communities are spread out and resources can be limited, that cooperation can mean the difference between a contained blaze and a devastating loss. Fire chiefs across the region say no single [...]