The Brookville Hotel, known for its family style chicken dinners, announced after generations under family ownership, it would close its doors. Owners Mark and Connie Martin announced on Facebook on Thursday that the restaurant would be closing due to COVID-19 and lack of traffic. “We hung on as long as we could , but the writing was on the wall,” the Facebook post said.
Source: KAKE – News
Nothing in 2020 has been “normal,” and the opening of the new Hubbard Arts Center certainly falls into that category. Originally scheduled to have a grand opening in April, those plans had to be put off and the center – an extension of the Derby Recreation Commission – didn’t officially open for programming until mid-June. Even with those delays, the market for the Hubbard Arts Center and the programs it offers has been clear from the start – with the center drawing a number of individuals from Derby and the surrounding area for its classes since its summer opening.
Source: Derby Informer | News
As Derby prepares to transition to a city of the first class, staff is managing the inherent changes to operations – with that process coming before the Derby City Council at its Sept. 22 meeting. With that first class status – a mandatory transition once a city’s population reaches 25,000 – comes a number of statutes that apply to cities of that size. Those statutes though, City Attorney Jacque Butler pointed out, predate the Home Rule Amendment of the Kansas Constitution, which allows cities to exempt themselves from non-uniform statutes. Charter ordinances allow for those exemptions, but Butler pointed out Derby’s current ordinances will be invalid after the transition as they apply to second class cities.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Spirit Aerosystems has announced it will be closing its plant in McAlester, Oklahoma. The closing is due to the downturn in the commercial aviation market caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX jetliner. The company said it now has an excess of production capacity. Spirit plans to consolidate some operations over the next few months and the work in McAlester will be moved to facilities in Wichita and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The McAlester plant has had around 175 workers.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
The City of Emporia may soon be getting increased access to close-contact COVID-19 testing. During Wednesday’s meeting of city commissioners, City Consultant Jim Witt updated the board on his efforts to increase availability, saying the initiative would be a partnership between Newman Regional Health and Lyon County Public Health. As with other necessary health resources during the pandemic, Witt said the added tests will also be funded through SPARK funds and are expected to total around $105,000. “We’re at the point where [the organizations] would like to be able to start the close contact testing by Monday …” Witt said. “There were questions from the commission that came up as to how this would affect our overall positivity rate, and I received an answer which was more or less that it should, but might not depending on who’s tested … If you’re doing just people that have been in close contact, you could see an upswing in positivity rate.”
Source: Emporia Gazette
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment has updated their school gating criteria after some districts opted out of following previous guidance, saying it was too strict. The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment will now include the incidence rate category, or the number of new COVID-19 cases added per 100,000 people over the prior two-week period, as well as the positive percentage rate in the county. The new guidance comes after several districts opted out of previous guidance to move students to in-person learning and allow extracurricular activities, like sporting events.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF
Kansas reported Thursday that it collected nearly $73 million more than expected in taxes in September but its top revenue official said the economic outlook in coming months remains uncertain because of the coronavirus pandemic. The state Department of Revenue said Kansas collected nearly $729 million in taxes last month, when it expected to take in $656 million. The surplus of 11% for the month was tied largely to better-than-expected income tax collections. The September collections allowed the state to finish the first three months of the 2021 budget year that started July 1 with $108 million more in tax collections than anticipated. The state collected $2.25 billion during those three months, 5.1% more than projected.
Source: KAKE – News
Projects in Overland Park, Merriam and Westwood that address walkability and improvements to major corridors have earned grant funding from the Mid-America Regional Council. “It is exciting to see local governments focus on planning for and creating vibrant assets for their residents,” said Beth Dawson, a senior land use planner at MARC. MARC’s Board of Directors and Total Transportation Policy Committee approved $877,825 in grant funding for 14 projects in the Greater Kansas City area, including eight in Kansas and six in Missouri. The grant funding is directed at efforts to create sustainable development.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan told CNBC on Wednesday that it is likely appropriate to keep interest rates anchored near zero for up to three years to aid the U.S. economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. “I think we’re going to need to keep the Fed funds rate at zero for the next probably 2½ to three years years,” Kaplan said on “The Exchange.” ” It could be that long that until we get on track, to have weathered the crisis and are on track to meet our full employment and price stability goals.” Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve’s policymaking committee voted to keep short-term rates targeted at 0%-0.25%, where they have been for the last six months, and indicated they would remain there until inflation rises consistently. Kaplan was one of two Federal Open Market Committee members to vote against the policy action, but he stressed Wednesday it is due to his desire for the central bank to have more leeway to its monetary approach.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
During a special Independence City Commission meeting Wednesday evening, City Manager Kelly Passauer announced the appointment of long-time City leader David Cowan as Assistant City Manager. Prior to this promotion, Cowan served as the City’s Director of Safety and Code Enforcement. In his new role, Passauer explained, Cowan, who is now in his 34th year of service, will oversee the operations of Fire/EMS, Park & Zoo, Public Works, Utilities, the Building Department, Code Enforcement and Memorial Hall – some of which have already been under his supervision for several years. “David is a hard worker, is passionate about the City and has excellent customer-service and problem-solving skills. I am excited to see David in his new role,” Passauer said.
Source: Independence, KS – News Flash
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