Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday voted 3-1 to move forward with a plan for the Tenant Eviction Defense pilot program they approved in March. Once the program is up and running, a nonprofit legal service provider will attend the weekly answer docket, which is when tenants who have received an eviction notice have a chance to deny claims that a landlord has made in a petition. The provider and project team will work to speak with renters as well as property owners or landlords at the docket. They will hand out paper or online intake forms to tenants to assess their demographic [...]

Officials from Mulberry, Arma, Frontenac, and Pittsburg met with county officials at Memorial Auditorium in Pittsburg Wednesday morning to check in with each other and brainstorm ideas to support each other. Read more: - Morning Sun

Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas Interim President Lyle Butler says his reaction to the recent Michelin layoffs, which will impact 100 employees, was the same as many in the community: disappointment. “My first feeling is for the employees and their families, because that forces change,” he said. The RDA was the first to release information last Thursday, announcing it had been notified of Michelin’s decision to restructure its agricultural track and wheel operations, laying off 100 Emporia employees as part of a phase-out expected to continue through the end of 2026. Michelin is the latest of several companies to [...]

Scooters and e-bikes have raised concerns about safety, and another Kansas City suburb is doing something about it. Olathe now has new rules in place. The goal is to keep everyone safe. The City of Olathe is asking all parents and guardians to go over these new rules with their kids. One change includes: Anyone under 18 years old must wear a helmet when riding an electric scooter or e-bike. “We want our children to be safe. We want our parents to be informed about the capabilities in what they’re purchasing in that device,” City of Olathe Public Information Officer Cody [...]

The Finney County Commission adopted a Special Use Permit application form for data centers and amendments to the Special Use Permit Base application form at its regular meeting on Monday. Mackenzie Phillips, Finney County Development and Administrative Coordinator, said on Feb. 17 of this year the Commission approved a resolution establishing Article 36 in the county’s Zoning Regulations which deals with Special Use Permits. “Article 36 created a new framework for the review and approval of land uses that may involve unique impacts, operational considerations or broader policy implications and that require approval by the Board of County Commissioners,” Phillips said. [...]

Six people spoke during the Finney County Commission’s Public Comment period during its regular meeting on Monday. Speakers Jackson Turner, Tucker Turner, Ross Marston, Polly Witt, Rance Schreibvogel and Harold Mai spoke against Data Centers coming to the Finney County area. Jackson Turner said he knew the meeting was not about a specific Data Center coming to the area, but the application form in the event someone approaches about putting in a Data Center but said there’s already a project in the works. Read more: Garden City Telegram

A proposed two-year moratorium on commercial solar projects in Jackson County failed on a 4-4 vote during the Jackson County Planning Commission meeting last Thursday evening. During the meeting, which drew about 40 people to the Jackson County Courthouse, 15 minutes of comments from both proponents and opponents of a solar moratorium were allowed, with each person allotted one minute to speak. At the end of the discussion, planning commission member Doug Fisher made a motion to approve a two-year moratorium on commercial solar projects in the county. The motion was seconded but did not pass on a 4-4 vote. Read [...]

Most people in Johnson County who follow the Royals already knew by Wednesday morning that the former Sprint campus near 119th Street and Nall Avenue was out of the running for a new baseball stadium location. That much had been announced by the team back in January. But the news on Wednesday that the Royals reached a deal with Hallmark Cards to build a downtown stadium near Crown Center — bringing a downtown location that much closer to reality — meant that some of the neighbors who had vigorously opposed it for Johnson County could exhale a little more. Read more: [...]

Kansas utility regulators are weighing the benefits and costs of approving construction of a $493 million transmission line that would travel through four southwest counties. Multiple Kansas landowners protested the line’s construction and route during nearly three days of hearings in March at the Kansas Corporation Commission, which will make a decision on the proposal by May 13. They contend the line will disrupt agricultural activities, harm the environment and offer few benefits for Kansans. Utility officials said the line is necessary to provide electricity stability for Kansas, as well as 13 other member states in the Southwest Power Pool. Rapid [...]

A ballooning housing market. Thinning resources for homelessness services and affordable housing projects: Wichita’s housing challenges remain after voters overwhelmingly rejected a 1% sales tax that could have addressed them. What’s next without a $150 million allocation earmarked for affordable housing and Second Light, the city’s homeless resources campus? That set-aside was only about 18% of the total tax that would have been collected. There’s little evidence that Wichita voters don’t see the need for more resources to go into housing and homelessness. The bigger problem, according to polling done by Wichita Documenters and Wichita Forward, was voters’ lack of trust and [...]