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Ellis County to hear by end of month on Hansen grant for busy road corridor

info2019-04-08T07:55:59-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes says “Keep your fingers crossed,” as county and business leaders wait to find out if Dane G. Hansen Foundation will fund a $2.2 million grant request from Ellis County. The grant, if approved, would transform busy 230th Avenue north of Hays from a dangerously steep and narrow hilly rock road, bustling with semi-tractor trailer rigs, to a well-engineered two-lane paved route with shoulders, referred to as the Northwest Business Corridor. Ellis County submitted its grant application in March. “Typically they have a 30-day turnaround when they make their decisions, so we’re hoping to hear something this [...]

Augusta and El Dorado are recipients of Waste Tire Recycling Grants

info2019-04-08T07:54:09-05:00April 8th, 2019|

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s (KDHE) Bureau of Waste Management has announced the recipients of waste tire recycling grants. These annual solid waste grants are awarded to municipalities and school districts across the state. The grants total nearly $379,000 for 2019. The City of Augusta was awarded the largest grant in the state for 2019. A $75,000 grant will replace the mulch with “pour-in-place” rubber ADA safety surfacing at the Downtown Dalton Palmer Memorial Playground. In addition to the safety surface at the park, private donors have raised $6,000 in cash and materials to construct two more parklets adjacent [...]

Couple sue city over century-old tunnel under Lawrence neighborhood

info2019-04-08T08:55:09-05:00April 8th, 2019|

After discovering a century-old tunnel directly under their house, a Lawrence couple have filed a lawsuit demanding that the city either relocate the tunnel — which is still used for storm water drainage — or pay them for damages. The 6-by-6 foot, arched brick drainage tunnel was constructed in 1911 in response to a typhoid outbreak and follows the course of a ravine that once ran from Mount Oread to the Kansas River. More than 100 years later, when Sarah Merriman and Donna Geisler bought their house at 812 Ohio St., they had no idea that the tunnel ran corner-to-corner under [...]

Wind arguments at Neosho county continue to be heated

info2019-04-08T07:44:34-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Debate over a proposed electrical generation project got even more heated at the Neosho County Commission meeting Thursday. The residency of former Commissioner Jennifer Orr, who resigned March 28, continued to be an issue and some opponents criticized the Chanute Tribune, Parsons Sun and the reporter individually. Discussion continued on the Neosho Ridge project, a wind-powered electrical generation area on 44,000 acres in southwest Neosho County with 139 electrical generator towers. Critic Kim Norris said project opponents have been portrayed as bullies by developer Apex Clean Energy, Commissioner David Bideau, former Commissioner Jennifer Orr and news coverage. “I am mad that [...]

Hays assistant city manager heading to Salina

info2019-04-08T07:42:37-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Jacob Wood has been named the city of Salina’s new deputy city manager. City Manager Mike Schrage announced Friday that he has appointed Jacob Wood as the new deputy city manager. Wood was selected from a pool of 60 candidates from across the country. Wood will begin his new role at the end of April. “We received a terrific number of applicants for the deputy city manager position which is certainly beneficial, but also makes selection of a finalist much more difficult,” Schrage said. Wood has served as assistant city manager for the City of Hays, Kan., since 2015. Prior to [...]

City crews working to remove sand from streets

info2019-04-08T07:44:48-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Spring time for life-long motorcyclist and General Manager of Bikers Edge Powersports Glen McGowen is the perfect time to bring out the bike. "This is when everybody's really starting to bring out the bikes and take a ride, the warm weather brings a lot of them out," said McGowen. But the sand on the roads could steal they joy out of a joy ride. "The amount of rubber touching the ground is minimal it's very small and it doesn't take very much underneath it to actually get it to actually slide out from under you," said McGowen. The sand becomes a [...]

Johnson County implements watershed program

info2019-04-08T07:38:48-05:00April 8th, 2019|

A new stormwater management program that will see the county divided into six watersheds is being implemented by Johnson County. In a presentation to Edgerton City Council March 28, Lee Kellenberger, Johnson County water resource manager, said unlike in the past when county dollars for stormwater systems improvements would be distributed to individual cities and townships, the new program will be based on a plan that targets particular watersheds. The six watersheds are: Brush/Turkey Creek, Indian Creek, Upper Blue Valley, Marais Des Cygnes River, Captain/Kill creek and Cedar/ Mill creek. Edgerton, Gardner and Spring Hill will all be within the Marais [...]

El Dorado hears proposal on amending Failure to Appear code

info2019-04-08T07:37:08-05:00April 8th, 2019|

The City Commission heard a proposal for a municipal code amendment regarding “Failure to Appear” and the option of providing community service, in lieu of fines, at the meeting on March 18th. The Commission asked staff to revisit the community service portion. Police Chief Zieman spoke to the Commission on the topic of the community service and informed them that it is required to be offered as an option, per the insurance company. Should someone be charged with “Failure to Appear,” there is the possibility of $500 fine, 6 months imprisonment or both. The City Attorney and Prosecutor are working on [...]

Sedgwick County moves forward with $6.8 million jail expansion

info2019-04-08T07:35:06-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Things have gotten pretty cramped these days in the district attorney’s office. “I’m completely out of space here,” said District Attorney Marc Bennett. “I could not hire another attorney unless I doubled up and put two attorneys in one office. We literally converted a bathroom into an evidence locker.” Help’s on the way. To clear space for prosecutors in the congested courthouse, the Sedgwick County Commission this week approved borrowing $6.82 million to expand and renovate space in the county jail. The project will allow the sheriff’s office to transfer about 40 of its employees to the jail, which is next [...]

‘We’ll be stronger in the end’: How one Kansas town dealt with losing its hospital

info2019-04-08T07:33:53-05:00April 8th, 2019|

Nearly 90 rural hospitals across the country have closed their doors since 2010; another 355 are considered at risk for shuttering, beset by low patient volume, staffing issues or inadequate Medicare reimbursements. Fort Scott joins Independence, Oswego and Horton as Kansas communities where residents feel vulnerable and on-edge. Places like Fort Scott, a town of 8,000 in Bourbon County, about 90 minutes south of Kansas City, are at the center of the debate in Kansas over the expansion of Medicaid now allowed by federal law. Kansas is one of 14 states that has yet to grow the program, which provides health [...]

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