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The future of an indoor aquatic center in Manhattan appears more uncertain in the wake of the Nov. 4 election. At the Nov. 10 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, board member Joe Knopp said the results signaled strong concerns from voters about future spending. “I think that those are lessons we ought to be paying attention to and including them as we make future strategy decisions,” he said. Read more: News Radio KMAN

A pair of Hutchinson nonprofits are pushing forward a veterans housing project to provide transitional housing and services for veterans in need. Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

With artificial intelligence (AI) technologies becoming more integrated in public sector operations, Mulvane staff took time to draft a policy guiding responsible, ethical and secure use of AI tools among city employees — officially adopted by the Mulvane City Council at its Nov. 17 meeting. The policy includes clear definitions of AI tools, guidelines for acceptable uses (such as drafting materials, automating data tasks, etc.), procedures for data privacy, requirements for human review and approval of AI-generated content, etc. Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

Fort Scott City Commissioners on Tuesday discussed an ordinance concerning a limit on the number of dogs per household within the city. City Manager Brad Matkin said four citizens have recently brought up the topic, and several in recent years have asked about the amount of dogs permitted for a household. Matkin said he talked with the previous animal control officer and city staff had not been able to find a limit in the current ordinance. Read more: Fort Scott Tribune

The Garden City Commission approved a Master Fee Schedule ordinance and resolution at its regular meeting on Tuesday. Jared Kuhlmann, Garden City Finance Director, said city staff has been working on compiling a fee schedule for the better part of the past year, which incorporates all fees and rates charged for services provided by the Garden City. “Each department reviewed their fees compared to other cities, looked at other municipalities, looked at the last dates that these were, if there had been changes, and then had discussion on what the appropriate [fee] should be,” he said. It was a considerable project [...]

History will be in the cards for Newton next fall. With funds from a Kansas State Historical Preservation grant, the City of Newton will print a run of 2,500 playing card decks containing artwork of historic local people, places, and events. “It’s history in a different way,” said Jen Lehman, who oversees Newton’s Main Street and Convention and Visitors programs. “It makes it easily accessible to see places they don’t know about. It’s also multi-generational. The City will distribute the cards to residents at events, provide them to prospective businesses, and provide decks to the Harvey County Historical Society and Carriage [...]

It’s not back to square one with Hesston’s grocery store project, but it’s definitely back to planning. Andrea Braker, who sits on the Beneficient Heartland Foundation, gave an update on the project, as well as the makeup of the board. “With the resignation of Brad Heppner from the board, we are taking the opportunity to simplify and to re-imagine anything,” she said. ” We’re looking at alternative shapes, locations, amenities, façades. Currently, we do not have a specific plan. Plans are changing so we can get a grocery store done as sustainably as possible.” Hesston has lacked a grocery store since [...]

After multiple years of work to pull it together, Overland Park has officially launched its Portfolio Homes pilot program. This pilot offers a collection of pre-selected, nearly pre-approved designs to encourage the development of diverse housing choices and reduce costly pre-development costs. The idea, city staff have said, is to increase the housing supply in the middle of the housing spectrum, which is sometimes referred to as “missing middle” housing — that is, more mid-sized and moderately priced housing options that are largely absent from Johnson County’s increasingly expensive market. Read more: Johnson County Post

Kansas officials, Evergy and a Washington-based nuclear energy company want to bring another, though smaller and safer, nuclear reactor to the state, and De Soto is in the running as a possible location for it. De Soto city officials on Thursday night expressed interest in the potential facility, though they stopped short of fully endorsing it. For now, that only means the city is looking to learn more, not that it’s approved a nuclear energy project within city limits. The city council voted 4-0 to send a letter of interest to the Kansas Department of Commerce. Councilmember Danny Lane was absent. [...]

When a majority on the Johnson County Commission decided last spring to ask voters to continue the quarter-cent public safety sales tax beyond 2027, their hope was that revenue would reduce the reliance on property taxes for increasing ambulance, law enforcement and mental health costs in tough economic times. Now the question is: Did the commission overstep its authority? Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach thinks so. Commissioners disagree. On Wednesday, they faced off in a Topeka courtroom and handed the decision over to Kansas Third District Judge Jay Befort. Read more: Johnson County Post