Shawnee County leaders are looking for ways to save money as costs rise for a widely-used weight loss drug. Shawnee County commissioners held a work session on Monday, Aug. 31 to discuss issues impacting the county's employee benefit program. One of the major contributing factors to these problems includes the rising cost of GLP-1 weight loss medications. Read more: KSNT 27 News

Merriam is welcoming its first grocery store in eight years with a new Trader Joe's opening Wednesday morning at Antioch and Shawnee Mission Parkway. The city has been without a grocery store since 2018. Now, residents are getting two at once Trader Joe's and an Aldi, which is joining Merriam Town Center just a few blocks away. Read more: KSHB News

After years working as a traveling dentist, Dr. Michael Kemmling was ready to fill a different gap. When a dental broker reached out about an opening in Eudora, he said he jumped at the opportunity to serve a smaller community that still allows him to enjoy his family life in Shawnee. For the past three months, he’s owned Eudora Dental. The move comes six years after he last owned a dental practice. After 10 years of running his own practice in Shawnee, Kemmling sold the business to explore different opportunities in dentistry, like working for a pediatric surgery center before leaving [...]

During its peak season, Carey Park uses around 400,000 gallons of drinking water a day, mostly irrigating the Carey Park Golf Course. But the City of Hutchinson is making plans to replace that with treated wastewater that would otherwise be released into the Arkansas River, Utilities Department Project Manager Erin Patterson said on Thursday, Aug. 27, at a public meeting about the project. As part of those plans, the city is considering how it could simultaneously enhance the pond north of Stremel Fields for recreation. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

In the meantime, the county will release proposed zoning regulations for data centers to the public on Sept. 24 to gather public feedback and plans to consider whether to continue the pause into 2027 at a meeting on December 2. Read more: Wichita Eagle

In the early 2000s, city officials at the time decided to “get back to the basics,” with Vision Metcalf, a strategic plan that emphasized building community areas with an emphasis on walkability and community gathering spaces — including the city’s downtown. Read more at: KC Star

Iola already has many of the ingredients of a strong community. What it needs now, according to the ideas emerging from a community conversation last week, is a clearer plan for bringing those pieces together and creating a future that gives people reasons to stay. By the end of the evening, dozens of ideas had been narrowed to three broad priorities: recreation, kids’ safety and city pride. Read more: The Iola Register

Kansans are increasingly clashing with local governments and law enforcement over the use of automated license plate readers. Two Kansas communities have terminated their contracts with camera manufacturer Flock Safety following resident pushback. Read more: CJonline

Andover’s city administrator, Jennifer McCausland, will leave her position at the suburb and begin her new one in Wichita in late October. McCausland has worked in Andover for more than 15 years. She was promoted to the city administrator position in September 2019 after being assistant city administrator for nine years. Read more: Wichita Eagle

Local government officials consider hyperscale data center development with an eye toward economic benefits and property tax revenue that would allow them to meet Kansas residents’ demands to lower taxes. But in Kansas and nationally, an outcry against data center development is rising, with a recent Gallup Poll showing that 48% of Americans “strongly oppose” building data centers in their neighborhood, while an additional 23% fall into the “somewhat oppose” category. A scant 7% “strongly favor” and 20% “somewhat favor” the idea. Data center distrust is so strong that Kansans are putting forward petitions to stop local governments from developing the facilities. In [...]