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Public weighs in on Century II’s future

info2019-01-08T09:51:59-06:00January 8th, 2019|

Four District Advisory Board Meetings on Monday night, focused on the future of Century II in Wichita. For nearly eleven months, a committee of volunteers have weighed options about the facility’s future. Committee members said they found significant damage to the roof, leaks around the HVAC system, air conditioning that needed to be repaired and asbestos issues inside. But the committee hasn’t made a decision on it’s future, yet and community members had the chance to voice their ideas. (Read more: KAKE - News)

Kansas embraces unconditional housing program for mentally ill

info2019-01-08T09:41:59-06:00January 8th, 2019|

Kansas officials see a solution to chronic homelessness and the burden placed on state institutions, jails and law enforcement in the work of a psychiatrist who believes mentally ill people can help themselves without any strings attached. The idea is to provide those who need treatment with unconditional housing and the support services they need, even if they are substance abusers who are likely to violate traditional program requirements for curfew and sobriety. Sam Tsemberis, a Columbia University faculty member and proponent of the Housing First concept, is working with Kansas Aging and Disability Services to refine and possibly expand this [...]

With multiple concerns, Great Bend says ‘no deal’ to lease agreement

info2019-01-08T09:40:31-06:00January 8th, 2019|

The City of Great Bend owns real estate located on Southeast 10 Road, just south of and east of the Arkansas River Bridge. This land was acquired in the late 1960s or early 1970s and was formerly occupied by Abram “Leedy” Krause. Krause vacated the real estate in the late 1970s and it has been vacant since that time. Ivan Perales requested to lease the approximately 8.8 acres on a five-year lease at $500 per year. Perales has a small livestock operation on adjacent land that he wishes to expand. Attorney Mark Calcara from Watkins Calcara represented Perales at Monday’s Great [...]

Johnson County provides courthouse history

info2019-01-08T09:37:32-06:00January 8th, 2019|

Since the creation of Johnson County in 1855, the county court system has occupied three different facilities. The current building has housed the Tenth District Court of Kansas for more than half a century. In the beginning, Johnson County used space on the second floor of the Harry Case Building (built in 1859) as the county courthouse. Then county voters approved a special tax to build the first official county courthouse at a cost of $36,414. Located north of the present courthouse, the three-story brick building opened in 1892. The current courthouse opened in 1952. When construction began in 1951, the [...]

Wichita State forecasts increased local job growth for 2019

info2019-01-08T09:33:25-06:00January 8th, 2019|

The Wichita area is now expected to add an increased number of new jobs in 2019. According to a revised employment forecast from the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, the city is now expected to add just over 2,700 new jobs this year to push its year-over-year employment growth to 0.9 percent. That’s up from the 2,400 jobs and 0.8-percent growth rate forecast in October. The increase will be led by continued growth in the city’s production sector, with CEDBR now saying manufacturing is expected to increase by more than 800 jobs this year. Combined [...]

100 plus streak ends: Chetopa’s Altoona-Midway snaps six-year losing skid on basketball court; exhibit great class in victory

info2019-01-08T09:32:40-06:00January 8th, 2019|

For the Altoona-Midway boys basketball team, this wasn’t just a monkey on their back. It was more like a baboon. A 500-pound weight? More like a ton. But the larger the obstacle, the greater the satisfaction after having overcome that barrier. No doubt there are still some gigantic smiles on the faces of Jets players, coaches and fans today. For the first time in more than six years, the Altoona-Midway High School boys tasted victory in a varsity basketball game, defeating the Chetopa Hornets 37-31 Friday night. “To say the kids were pretty excited after the game tonight would be an [...]

County leaders see growing need for mental health co-responders working with police

info2019-01-08T09:30:13-06:00January 8th, 2019|

The number of mental health-related 911 calls continues to climb in northeast Johnson County. And to meet that growing need, Johnson County Mental Health is deploying a second mental health co-responder to assist law enforcement agencies in the Shawnee Mission area. This second staff member will split focus on assisting the police departments of Prairie Village and Leawood. The existing northeast area co-responder will continue responding to mental health-related calls across five police jurisdictions and eight other cities in northeast Johnson County. Tim DeWeese, director of the Johnson County Mental Health Center, said the need for mental health co-responders is “definitely [...]

Labette County discusses fees for copies for the public

info2019-01-08T09:28:53-06:00January 8th, 2019|

Labette County commissioners discussed fees to charge the public for copies during a short business meeting Monday before touring roads and buildings. Register of Deeds Julie Becker discussed the copy fees and shared a spreadsheet of what other registers of deeds charge for copying in Kansas. Another deed register created the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet shows that Labette County charges 25 cents per page when a customer is in the deeds office and $1.05 for emailed or faxed copies. Index pages cost $5. These are large pages from books that record all properties in the county and track ownership from when the [...]

Pratt solar farm is ready

info2019-01-08T09:27:26-06:00January 8th, 2019|

Electricity from 22,232 solar panels is now flowing into the city of Pratt power grid from the solar farm built east of town. The Pratt Solar Farm is now online in test phase, feeding electricity into the city’s power grid, right on schedule, according to city manager Rick Eckert. At a groundbreaking ceremony last summer at the solar farm site east of Pratt Community College, Mayor Doug Meyer projected a start-up date for the city grid to gain electricity from the solar farm in January 2019. “This is a cooperative project between Kenyon Energy, Inovateus Solar and the city of Pratt,” [...]

Finney County approves zoning amendments

info2019-01-08T06:47:54-06:00January 8th, 2019|

The Finney County Commission approved amendments to two county zoning regulations at its meeting Monday, changing rules regarding the transfer of conditional use permits and temporary signage. Under an amendment to Article 28 in the zoning regulations, a conditional use permit for a certain property can be transferred twice to two separate entities if the transfer is for the same use, according to the amendment. The transfer includes a $200 fee, is granted at the Neighborhood and Development Services’ discretion and is conditional on the new owner not changing more than 10 percent of the building footprint. The change allows Neighborhood [...]

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