Traffic court is back in session for Sedgwick County, but in a new way. The traffic court room is usually packed, bringing up to 100 people into one room, making social distancing nearly impossible. So, the county went to the drawing board on how to resume court while remaining safe. It’ll be business as usual, but held in tents right outside of the county courthouse.
(Read more: KAKE – News)
In 2016, voters of Johnson County passed a Law Enforcement Sales Tax that’s paying for a new courthouse and a medical examiner’s office. It’s a one-of-a-kind facility that will serve not only Johnson County, but eventually, the region. Johnson County Medical Examiner Dr. Diane Peterson has been working to build, staff and develop policies for this state of the art medical examiner’s office for a year and a half. Slated to begin operation at the end of July, it will be the first time in the county’s history it hasn’t relied on a private coroner for autopsies. It’s one of few facilities in the country to have a C.T. scanner and the only facility in Kansas or Missouri to have Lodox full body x-ray technology.
(Read more: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF)
The federal penitentiary in Leavenworth is set to receive $356 million to construct a new Federal Correctional Institute and a satellite Federal Prison Camp. According to a Monday release from U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office, Congress appropriated $175 million for the project in fiscal year 2019 and another $181 million in fiscal year 2020, which is set to end on Sept. 30.
(Read more: Kansas City Business Journal – The Business Journals)
A man who nearly drowned at Harvey County East Lake on May 31 is recovering after the swift action of Hesston Police Chief Doug Schroeder, his wife, Vanessa Schroeder, and a bystander. After spending time in the intensive care unit, Larry Etheridge was listed as being in fair condition this week, according to staff at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis. Schroeder said he helped rescue Etheridge from under a dock at the lake after Etheridge hit his head and fell in the water while he was on a boat headed back to shore. Doug Schroeder has a history of saving lives.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
Census organizers in Kansas plan to ramp up efforts to get people counted, particularly in southwestern counties where response rates are low. Morton, Stanton, Haskell and Lane counties are showing that 15% to 30% of residents have responded to census forms delivered to their homes. Kansas has a 64.8% self-response rate, on par with most other states. Many in the counties don’t get mail at home, using a P.O. Box, for example, and a planned effort to hand-deliver forms in March was delayed by emergence of coronavirus infections. Census workers resumed the effort in mid-May and ended it last week.
(Read more: Wichita Eagle)
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.
Backyard pool sales have made a big splash this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, while many can’t wait to jump in, Lenexa wants to make sure residents are safe. The City of Lenexa requires permits for all above ground and in-ground pools, except for prefabricated pools less than 30 inches deep. Specific code requirements can be found in the Lenexa pool requirements guide, based on the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
(Read more: City of Lenexa)
Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead is one of the top visitor destinations in Johnson County, drawing more than 439,000 people from April through October. Normally at this time of year, the farmstead would have about 2,000 visitors a day streaming through the gates rushing to see the resident bison and longhorn cattle, chat with the groundhogs, ride the ponies, fish in the pond and feed the baby goats. So far this year, it’s been quiet at the farmstead. Like everything else, the attraction has been closed due to the coronavirus. Farmstead Superintendent Virgil Miles has been leading a skeleton crew to keep the place in good shape and all the animals fed. “Right now, it’s only animal care staff and construction and maintenance crews — about 10 of us on site,” Miles said. “That’s greatly reduced from the normal seasonal high of 70…and that doesn’t include all the volunteers we count on.”
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
After three months of shutdown, Strataca: Kansas Underground Salt Mine is resurfacing as one of the area’s top annual summer vacation stops. There are plenty of changes, said Reno County Historical Society executive director Michael Ables, who oversees Strataca, but most are just enhancements of the mine’s previous procedures. “We want to create extra layers of protection for guests, as well as our staff,” Ables said. “No pun intended. ”The museum opened to the public on June 2. Updates include plexiglass at ticket booths, masks are recommended, spacing is marked out on trams and waiting areas, and disinfecting protocols are bolstered to meet health recommendations.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
The new Garden City aquatics center won’t be open for a 2020 summer season, but it now has a name — Garden Rapids, with the tag line, the Big Pool. Last month the Garden City commissioners voted to keep the new facility closed this summer because of the coronavirus, but at a recent meeting they reviewed online survey results where community members voted on one of four name possibilities. The name choices were Garden Rapids, Thunder Basin, Garden Oasis and World of Water.
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)
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