Wanting to be proactive rather than reactive, the City of Valley Center took a step toward regulating solar farms. The city council on Jan. 7 gave first-round approval to an ordinance that sets rules for such operations.
Source: Ark Valley News
After hang-ups over an additional gas station and convenience store, the Olathe City Council unanimously approved the zoning changes for a new ultra-accessible theme park and sports arena during its Jan. 7 meeting. Behind the plan is Lamar Hunt Jr.’s company Loretto Properties, which he runs alongside his son-in-law James Arkell. Hunt Jr., son and namesake of Chiefs’ founder Lamar Hunt, also owns the Kansas City Mavericks hockey team.
Source: Joco 913 News
Kansas State University has opened a new collaborative office space designed to drive research commercialization, industry partnerships, and economic growth. Located in the Kansas State University Foundation’s Edge District, the facility brings together the Kansas State University Research Foundation, the Office of Corporate Engagement, and K-State 105.
Source: KCLY Radio
A fight over fluoride in drinking water in Abilene, Kansas, could preview battles likely to play out in cities across the country as the next presidential administration puts a spotlight on the issue. Plus: President-elect Trump’s immigration policies will likely affect the meatpacking industry, and in turn, the cost of food. Members of the incoming Trump administration want to remove fluoride from public water. It’s drawing more attention to the mineral many cities add to public water supplies to strengthen peoples’ teeth. As Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga reports, a town in Kansas just went through that debate last year.
Source: KCUR News
With the potential for Southern Cloud Unified School District 334 to dissolve, five area superintendents will meet on January 22nd in Glasco. Representatives from five surrounding school districts will attend, including, USD 379 Clay County (Clay Center and Wakefield schools), USD 273 Mitchell County (Beloit schools), USD 333 Cloud (Concordia schools), USD 224 Clifton-Clyde, and 239 North Ottawa (Minneapolis schools). The meeting will discuss the potential distribution of 334 school boundaries if their board votes to close Southern Cloud. USD 379 Superintendent Brett Nelson said that in previous situations, the state made decisions when all entities were not in agreement.
Source: KCLY Radio
Groups on both sides of a proposed bond issue for Wichita schools have named leaders and launched campaigns ahead of the February election. Wichita United for Better Education, a political action committee formed by Republican strategist Ben Davis to oppose the bond issue, said on a new website that the Wichita district should focus on basic maintenance and student test scores rather than building new schools. Bradley Dyer Jr., a senior business development officer with Credit Union of America, is spearheading a “Yes for Wichita Kids” campaign in favor of the bond issue. He said the proposal is a responsible plan to make long-term improvements.
Source: KCUR News
New wind installations aren’t allowed in about one-fifth of Kansas counties, in part to protect the nation’s last, largest swath of tallgrass prairie.
Wind power can spark passionate reactions – at times dividing neighbors and communities – but unlike many other hot-button topics, how this one shakes out across Kansas may not follow political lines. Researchers at the University of Kansas have begun exploring the drivers behind the regulations that vary county by county and control where wind farms are – and aren’t – allowed. They’ve created a first-of-its-kind interactive atlas that pulls together rules for the state’s 105 counties, creating “a real gold mine” for analysts to plumb in search of patterns, urban planning associate professor Ward Lyles said.
Source: KCUR News
It’s a first for Kansas. School districts statewide have asked for more bond project money than the Department of Education can give out. This means some districts have to wait to make improvements. Dozens of districts are looking at their needs closely, meaning that historical questions put some district leaders in a position to table their requests. This puts their local votes on the back burner until at least July 1 of the next fiscal year.
Source: KSN-TV
Kansas schools that use PowerSchool are still looking into how a cybersecurity incident may have impacted their students and employees. Last week, Kansas school districts were notified that PowerSchool was the victim of a nationwide data breach from approximately Dec. 19 to Dec. 23. The company said the breach involved student data. Some Kansas school districts that use PowerSchool are Andover, Buhler, Haysville, Rose Hill and Winfield.
Source: KSN-TV
Federal funding is helping reconnect a southwest Kansas community. Liberal received over $1.6 million from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program. Currently, the city of 20,000 is split by the Union Pacific Rail Line. This money will be used to study sites where an overpass can be built so trains don’t tie up traffic.
Source: KSN-TV
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