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After years of monitoring the Burrton plume, the state’s renewed focus on water quality might lead to progress on contamination. This is the hope of Tim Boese, the manager of Groundwater Management District 2. “I’m hoping the steam we’ve got going doesn’t diminish,” Boese said. Boese said there’s been a statewide focus on water quality that he hopes will lead to some changes. Most recently, the Kansas Water Office hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study to determine what the options are to deal with the plume. Boese said the state had a study done in 2020, but it was [...]

Sedgwick’s police department is accepting applications for a Citizens’ Police Academy, starting on Jan. 23, 2025 through March 13, 2025. The cost is free for interested people, and the academy takes place every Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sedgwick Police Department office at 505 N. Commercial. “Lots of agencies do Citizen’s Police Academies, and I had the pleasure of hosting it for several years when I was in Newton,” Police Chief Bryan Hall said. “It’s a program that community members can learn why police do the things they do. Most complaints come from unrealistically high expectation and [...]

The Harvey County Board of Commissioners is facing a suit for damages and the return of property from a Kansas hemp product distributor. According to district court documents, Sugarleaf Distributing LLC, based in Hutchinson, alleges that the Harvey County Sheriff’s Department seized $44,915.15 worth of hemp products legal under Kansas law in a March 2022 traffic stop and has since not released the items. Jonathan Nicol, an attorney for the company, said that the products have since spoiled. “The difficulty is it’s a big chunk of product,” he said. “Much of it is spoiled at this point.” Nicol said the driver [...]

With expiration of the former strategic plan, the City of Hesston needed a new plan put into place. When the council adopted the new strategic plan, it was the culmination of a lot of work and discussion to map out a path for getting to the established goals. “The planning process has been ongoing for the last eight months,” City Administrator Gary Emry said. “A few work sessions were facilitated by a consulting firm. We felt it was important to use the same consulting firm used in creating the expiring plan, because of his familiarity of Hesston and the organization. The [...]

Beneficient Heartland Foundation Director Brad Heppner hopes to see a ground breaking for a new credit union building in May, opening up space for a long-discussed grocery store in Hesston. Heppner provided an update this week to Harvey County Now on plans for a project that will alter Hesston’s core business district. “We’re working really hard,” Heppner said about the grocery store project. “In the last two years, we’ve undertaken 17 different agreements to make this a reality.” Source: Harvey County Now