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Shawnee County using cameras and AI to help catch criminals

info2024-10-09T09:37:22-05:00October 9th, 2024|

Connect Shawnee County is a registry of 321 registered cameras and 855 integrated cameras that police and deputies use to canvass areas. The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office said the registry lets officers quickly find cameras in an area, saving officers time. “Officers generally have to walk or drive the area to determine if there are cameras available; this system reduces that time, allowing officers to be available for other policing activities,” Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Shayna Anderson said. Citizens of Shawnee County can participate in the program by registering their cameras with the sheriff’s office. Those who register their cameras [...]

NLC, Local Infrastructure Hub Help 1,000+ Cities Develop Competitive Federal Infrastructure Grant Applications

info2024-10-09T09:35:40-05:00October 9th, 2024|

The National League of Cities (NLC) announced today that more than 1,000 cities have utilized the Local Infrastructure Hub’s free grant-writing trainings designed to help communities develop competitive grant applications for federal funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. NLC runs a program within the Local Infrastructure Hub focused on helping small and mid-sized cities, towns and villages effectively pursue federal infrastructure funding. To date, participating cities have secured more than $315 million in federal infrastructure dollars for their communities. The Local Infrastructure Hub has designed resources to help cities craft competitive applications for specific federal [...]

OZtoberfest returns to Wamego

info2024-10-09T09:33:05-05:00October 9th, 2024|

The town on Saturday transformed into the land of Oz as people came from all over to partake in the OZtoberfest festivities. The city holds the annual event celebrating “The Wizard of Oz” on the first weekend of October each year. In addition to the costume contest, OZtoberfest included an outdoor market, car show and beer and wine garden along with other activities. Wamego Chamber of Commerce event and tourism coordinator Tegan Kreider said many groups came together to help the community deal with the influx of people. “There’s a lot of groups involved,” Kreider said. “The car show group, which [...]

Ribbon-cutting held for Wichita’s new water plant

info2024-10-07T09:56:21-05:00October 7th, 2024|

Wichita officials had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the city’s new water treatment plant. Mayor Lily Wu said the plant won’t be commissioned until next year, but it has reached functional completion. She said it will serve about 20 percent of Kansas residents with clean and safe drinking water. Public Works Director Gary Janzen gave credit to previous director Alan King for his guidance and direction in starting the project. Janzen said the next steps will be to conduct performance testing, which has already begun. He said the facility will be pumping an average of 50 million gallons per day to [...]

City intents to issue new STAR Bonds for Sports of the World

info2024-10-07T09:55:07-05:00October 7th, 2024|

The Garden City Commission approved a resolution declaring the city’s intent to issue STAR Bonds for a Phase II of the Sports of the World project at its regular meeting Tuesday. Danielle Burke, Garden City Assistant City Manager, said the resolution came about after the project developers expressed interest in expanding the STAR Bond District to include a Phase II. “The project is anticipated to include four softball fields, four baseball fields and several areas for future development needs,” she said. “The fields can be used as soccer fields or flag football fields as well.” The bonds would be given in [...]

JoCo lifts cap on property tax refund pilot for low-income seniors

info2024-10-07T09:53:57-05:00October 7th, 2024|

Older, low-income residents and disabled veterans can apply next year to have the entire amount of their county property tax bill refunded under changes approved Thursday by the Johnson County Commission. Commissioners unanimously voted to continue a pilot program for 2025 that issues relief payments toward the part of their tax bill that goes toward the county taxing district. But they removed a $200 cap that is in place for the current year. The portion of the tax bill to which this applies is for the county operations only and does not include individual levies for county parks, libraries or schools [...]

Olathe set to get $2.4M from opioid settlement — Here’s how city wants to use it

info2024-10-07T09:53:06-05:00October 7th, 2024|

Olathe plans to use some of its opioid settlement funds to build on existing health programs and add to a growing coalition of city employees and contractors working to address substance abuse issues. That will include a brand new pilot program specifically focused on addressing barriers to substance abuse recovery for individuals and some new hires to aid in that effort. At least initially, all of these additions will be covered by settlement dollars. On Tuesday, representatives from the Olathe Fire and Police departments presented their plans for the new positions and program to the Olathe City Council. Source: Johnson County [...]

Big road project planned for Osborne County, open house planned

info2024-10-07T09:52:02-05:00October 7th, 2024|

A major road project is scheduled for more than three miles of U.S. Highway 281 in northern Kansas starting in January. The project is big enough that the Kansas Department of Transportation is holding a public open house about it on Oct. 21. The project will reconstruct over three miles of U.S. 281 and replace the North Fork Solomon River bridge south of Portis in Osborne County. KDOT’s open house about the project will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 21, at the Portis Community Center, 206 Market Street. During the open house, KDOT staff will provide a [...]

Baxter Springs hosts 7th annual Back the Badge event

info2024-10-07T09:50:53-05:00October 7th, 2024|

Baxter Springs community members came together today to raise money for local reserves through an annual event. The 7th annual Back the Badge event was held in the American Bank parking lot in Baxter Springs. It’s a collaboration between the Baxter Springs Police Department reserve officers and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department reserve deputies. Donations of any amount were raised through 2024 Back the Badge shirts, pulled pork sandwiches, chips, and drinks. This year also included a raffle for a gun. All proceeds go toward equipment and needs for reserve officers and deputies. Source: KSNF/KODE

Shawnee County offers new incentive for snow plow drivers

info2024-10-07T09:49:22-05:00October 7th, 2024|

Shawnee County is trying to make it easier to find snowplow drivers for the winter months. Snowplow drivers are getting a boost from Shawnee County with an offer of some financial incentives while they apply for their licenses. A major hurdle for these drivers is obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL). “We give them an opportunity, a single opportunity, to gain a class-A CDL,” said Curt Niehaus with Shawnee County Public Works. “And while they’re attempting to obtain a class-A CDL, Shawnee County pays their salary and benefits.” New employees are expected to repay the money over two years once they [...]

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