Memorial Day marked the beginning of concert season for one of Reno County’s oldest institutions, the Hutchinson Municipal Band. The musicians gathered at Fairlawn Burial Park for American Legion Post 68’s Memorial Day remembrance ceremony with a setlist of patriotic songs and kicked off the 151st year of the institution. “There’s history, and then there’s lore,” said Charles Johnston, the municipal band’s personnel manager. “The Hutchinson Municipal Band started as a group of community members back in 1875. We’re not exactly sure what that looked like, but there was a band present.” Johnston said that, eventually, in the early 20th century, [...]

If all goes to plan with contract negotiations, the residents of Lawrence should find out who their new city manager is next week, Mayor Brad Finkeldei said Friday morning. The city hasn’t released the name of the top candidate yet. City commissioners skipped a scheduled executive session and voted to direct city staff members to enter into negotiations for the city manager position. Executive sessions are closed-door meetings in which commissioners can discuss specific subjects, such as personnel matters. Read more: The Lawrence Times

Just shy of 200 residents showed up to the PSU soccer pitch to pose for an aerial photo depicting the number “150” for Pittsburg’s birthday celebration on Wednesday. Read more: Morning Sun

A majority of Federal Reserve officials at their most recent meeting anticipated that interest rate increases would be necessary if the Iran war continued to aggravate inflation, according to minutes released Wednesday. Though the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee again voted to keep its benchmark rate targeted between 3.5%-3.75%, the meeting featured four "no" votes, the most since 1992, and an apparently heightened level of disagreement about where policy should go. At issue was the impact that the Iran war would have on prices and how that would work its way into monetary policy. Officials differed on how long the war's [...]

A series of fast-moving wildfires fueled by lightning, strong winds, and extremely dry conditions has scorched large portions of southwest Kansas this week, prompting a state disaster emergency declaration and a massive multi-agency firefighting response across the region. Read more: Dodge City Daily Globe

The City of Emporia announced several leadership appointments Tuesday as officials prepare for the departure of Deputy City Manager Mark Detter and restructure key administrative roles. Detter will leave the city effective May 22 to become city administrator for Rose Hill. City officials thanked him for his service and wished him success in his new position. Following Detter’s departure, Tayler Wash has been promoted to deputy city manager. City officials said the promotion recognizes Wash’s growing leadership role and contributions to several major city initiatives. Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

People in Great Bend will have one more day to set off fireworks this Independence Day. The Great Bend City Council voted Monday to designate July 3-4 as days to legally discharge fireworks in town between the hours of 10 a.m. and midnight. Read more: Great Bend Tribune

The four biggest school districts in Johnson County are joining together to prepare for possible legal action against the state of Kansas over what they say is a yearslong failure to adequately fund special education. In a statement on Wednesday, Olathe Public Schools, Blue Valley Schools, the USD 232 De Soto School District and the Shawnee Mission School District said they’ve “reached a tipping point” after 15 years of special education underfunding. Together, the districts serve about 83,000 students and said that they collectively took out more than $119 million from their general education budgets for the 2024-2025 school year to [...]

A second grocery store appears to be in the works for the city of Merriam. The Merriam City Council on Monday, in a 7-0 vote, set a public hearing for June 22 to consider establishing a community improvement district, or CID, at Merriam Town Center. Councilmember Amy Rider was absent. A CID would create an additional 1% to 2% sales tax levied on purchases at the shopping center that would go towards the district’s improvements. At the center of that improvement plan is an approximately 23,000 square foot grocery store that would be added to the shopping complex that sits near [...]

Overland Park could completely overhaul its trash and recycling collection system in favor of a new framework that gives the city more control and potentially lowers rates for some residents. Though nothing is set in stone yet, Overland Park could look to switch to a completely city-run or city-contracted trash pickup system with one or more haulers. The city could also allow homeowners associations that are content with their current trash collection to opt out. Those are all options pondered in the city’s recently completed Solid Waste Study, which looked at potential improvements to how trash is collected in Overland Park. [...]