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Iola’s newly established land bank is open for business. This bank is not a financial institution in a traditional sense. You can’t go in and ask for a loan, or even make a deposit. In fact, its only “assets” will be vacant lots, with the intention of filling them with new homes or businesses. The City of Iola Land Bank announced last week it is now accepting residential properties for donation. There are a few notable stipulations, said Matt Rehder, city administrator. For one, the land must be vacant with no structures, and at least 50 feet by 100 feet. The current [...]

The Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board has advanced new clarifications on Riley County’s short-term rental regulations, aiming to make enforcement more consistent and less subjective. The decision attempts to clarify vague wording with how county staff interpret when a 500-foot separation distance between units can be waived, so that decisions are based on clear standards and not arbitrary in nature. Short-term rental regulations have been in place since Riley County adopted its updated land-development regulations in 2022. County counselor Jacob Hansen told the planning board Monday that staff didn’t have any clear direction on when and how to interpret when a [...]

Synopsis: K.S.A. 2-611 mandates that county residents elect the members of county extension councils. Because this statute concerns elections, counties may not invoke their home rule authority to exempt themselves from it. Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2026-3

The Kansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a long-running dispute over an amended planned unit development application by the Riley County Commission, which Prairiewood Holdings LLC has appealed. The dispute centers on whether a protest petition from neighboring landowners has met the legal threshold under state law. The county board initially ruled the protest petition did not apply because the project was only a PUD and not a rezoning. The Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that because the amendment increased building square footage by more than 1% county regulations required the same process as a rezoning, including allowing [...]

The organizer of a petition against an agreement between the Cowley County Sheriff’s Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said this week more than 200 people had signed the petition and that she hoped to speak with Sheriff David Falletti about the issue. “That's all I want is a conversation that will hopefully lead to change,” Kaitlin Hicks said. “Sheriff Falletti has done a lot of really great things for our county and I have a lot of respect for him. Do I deeply, deeply disagree with the action the Sheriff's department has made regarding this issue? Yes. Do I think [...]

County officials say they are ready to take legal enforcement action against several property owners who have not complied with sanitation code regulations of wastewater lagoons. During the Jan. 29 County Commission meeting, Lyon County Counselor Molly Priest said that after having given notices to a number of property owners in the county, four or five had taken “little to no steps” towards compliance — mainly to do with fencing and vegetation issues — and could face Class C misdemeanor cases. Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

The Olathe City Council is set to vote on a plan to use tax pledges to repay STAR bonds for the construction of a new Kansas City Chiefs team headquarters and practice facility, estimated to cost around $300 million. Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports

We could know as early as next week the exact location of a new Chiefs domed stadium in Wyandotte County. The Unified Government (UG) said a public hearing on the project will be held in the near future, but the date for that has not been set. The public hearing comes before the UG Commission must vote to approve allowing incremental sales tax growth in the stadium and surrounding district to be used to help pay off the Sales Tax and Revenue or STAR Bonds. The commission must vote by Feb. 20. Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

The only thing missing was fateful “spaghetti western” music blaring from the sky. An impromptu snowball fight broke out on Jan. 28 between kids and members of the Newton Police Department in Military Park which resulted in heavy casualties for Newton PD. According to Chief Craig Dunlavy, the kids challenged members of the police department to the frozen water war in the afternoon and the department immediately accepted. “Who can resist a good snowball fight?” Dunlavy said. “Some of us in the office just went out, ‘let’s go have a little fun,’ we haven’t had snow in a while. We underestimated [...]

All through 2025, Halstead’s new industrial park speculative building sat empty. Mayor Gary Faelber wants to get someone into it by bringing in the assistance of a realtor. He told the council he was looking for a consensus to list the building with a realtor at the council’s meeting on January 28. The council discussed that possibility and agreed to meet with a realtor at a future date. City Manager Ethan Reimer confirmed that the building had been shown and that it’s available to all realtors through the LOIS (LocationOne) system, which is specific to commercial and industrial properties. Read more: [...]