Since May 27, kids in the northeast corner of the county have had the chance to swim free at the Arma Pool courtesy of numerous donations from community members.   
Source: – Latest Stories

Plans to renovate and convert a house in Holton into a duplex sparked conversation among members of the Holton City Commission about what property owners are — or could be — doing to solve the problem of available rental housing in the city.
Source: The Holton Recorder

A new collection of art is now on display in the Johnson County Administration Building, through the county’s partnership with InterUrban ArtHouse on a rotating art exhibition. This is the Administration Building’s third collection of art since the rotating exhibition began in Sept. 2024. The new art, created by Melanie Nolker, features oil paintings of birch and aspen trees, abstract acrylic paintings and more.
Source: Johnson County Kansas

Johnson County is developing a transportation connection plan for the rural, southwestern fringe, all in response to the new Panasonic Energy Electric Vehicle Battery Plant in De Soto about to come online at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. The county’s transportation plan — the draft of which can be found here — seeks to connect the site of the former plant, now dubbed Astra Enterprise Park, to neighboring southwest communities Olathe, Gardner and Edgerton as well as Douglas County to the west.
Source: Johnson County Post

Residents may soon get a chance to tell the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, what they think about using added sales tax dollars to finance the rodent-logoed, multipurpose gas station and convenience store that’s making its way into KCK.
Source: Local Kansas City Missouri & Kansas News |

The countdown has officially begun to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted across North America, including in Kansas City. Local officials on Monday morning unveiled a World Cup countdown clock in front of the fieldhouse at Overland Park’s Scheels Soccer Complex near 135th Street and Switzer Road. The event followed a weekend World Cup kickoff party at the Aspiria campus in Overland Park.
Source: News

The countdown to the World Cup is on, and cities throughout the Kansas City metro are eager to showcase their offerings while hosting visitors from around the world. Shawnee is considering hosting a music and beer festival to attract World Cup visitors as well as metro families to the heart of downtown Shawnee.
Source: KSN-TV

Firefighters in Columbus are taking advantage of this week’s summer heat to train in their newly constructed facility. They were out in the 90-degree heat today training in the department’s new “burn boxes” The containers simulate many of the conditions crews might face during a structure fire.
Source: KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com

Blinking red lights on Sunflower Wind turbines have vexed some county residents since the wind farm was built, and the lights once again are in county commissioners’ crosshairs. Commissioner Clarke Dirks brought up Monday that Sunflower promised weeks ago to switch to aircraft-activated lights that blink only when an aircraft is in the vicinity.
Source: Marion County RECORD

An Iola city councilwoman wants to bring up discussions about doing away with voting wards in Iola, and filling the Council with all at-large seats. The size and makeup of the Iola City Council is once again under the microscope. On Monday, Councilwoman Kim Peterson said she’d like to see Iola take a closer at doing away with the city’s four voting wards, and instead look at an all at-large governing body.
Source: The Iola Register