The capital city is being honored for its work to make Topeka a better place for people to bicycle. Tuesday, Jan. 28, the League of American Bicyclists recognized Topeka for its efforts to create a better place for people to bicycle. Topeka was honored with a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) award. Topeka is one of 459 communities nationwide involved in a movement to create safer streets for everyone.
Source: KSNT 27 News
In early January, northeast Kansas was blanketed with history’s third-largest single-day snowfall. What did it cost the city? From Jan. 4-5, the City of Topeka saw 14 inches of snow during the blizzard. Starting on Jan. 4, city crews started working 24-hour operations in 12-hour shifts. Crews worked until Jan. 13 plowing streets and treating residential neighborhoods for ice. According to the Kansas Open Records request, the total cost for equipment, labor, materials, contractors and fleets was $972,685.
Source: KSNT 27 News
A top legislative priority for House Republicans got out of a committee Tuesday with the panel approving a bill that would cut the state property tax levy for schools by 1.5-mills. The House tax committee amended the bill to ensure that the revenue loss from cutting the 20-mill tax levy would be backfilled with revenue from the state general fund. The proposal is estimated to cost about $823 million over five years.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
The secretary of state on Tuesday got behind a bill that would allow a small western Kansas school district to secure funds from a bond election that was invalidated by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. Clay Barker, deputy secretary of state and general counsel for the agency, testified before the Senate local government committee on a bill that would validate a bond election held by Greeley County Public Schools last May.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
Despite more than 60% of Kansans supporting constitutional limits on property tax valuations, Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins says the Kansas House of Representatives will not take up the amendment recently passed by the Senate tax committee. According to State Affairs, Hawkins said late last week that even if the full Kansas Senate passes Concurrent Resolution 1603, it will not get a vote in the House.
Source: The Sentinel
Pottawatomie County Commission Chair Terry Force tried Monday to alleviate any concerns or anxiety about the new board. After thanking every one for attending, he said, “This is a learning time for us all. It’s an anxious time for some group leaders and employees (wondering what) four brand new commissioners are going to do to us. Rest assured. This group here has a diverse background. A lot to offer. “Collectively this will be an extremely good and effective board,” he continued “I don’t know of anyone with an agenda. We just want Pottawatomie County to be the best place to live for tomorrow and years to come. We’re not here for heads to roll, just to make sure this county is run properly following the policies in place. If the policies don’t fit, we will look at them and adjust as necessary.”
Source: themercury.com
…councilmembers weighed the costs of administering the annual license tags and the burden to residents and decided that the revenue from the tags and late fees fell short of supporting the cost of running the program.
Source: Johnson County Post
Topeka officials on Friday pitched an idea to Manhattan area leaders: Why not join forces make one big metropolitan area?… The benefit is showing a higher population to be able to compete for businesses and economic development projects or programs that might have a higher population cutoff than any of those cities has on its own.
Source: themercury.com
As of Jan. 17, public health officials reported that they had documented 66 active cases and 79 latent infections in the Kansas City, Kansas, metro area since 2024. Most of the cases have been in Wyandotte County, with a handful in Johnson County.
Source: CJonline
U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as investors sought out safe-haven assets amid a massive stock market sell-off. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped seven basis points to 4.557%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 4.225% after falling close to five basis points. One basis point equals 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices. Stocks tumbled on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite being hit hard by a large decline in the technology sector. Last week, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released an open source AI model that reportedly outperformed OpenAI’s in several tests. The company said it launched the large-language model in December for less than $6 million, causing investors to question the billions of dollars they have spent to build and train AI models.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
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