Kansas’ Largest Night Rodeo returns to Pretty Prairie from July 15 through 18, with a full slate of events every night for its 89th year. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)-sanctioned rodeo begins each night with mutton bustin’—kids’ sheep riding—at 6 p.m., with the rodeo proper starting at 8 p.m., with bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping, breakaway roping, and barrel racing events every night, drawing cowboys from the length and breadth of the Great Plains.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

A new immersion center in Arkansas City is highlighting a settlement that has been called one of the most influential cities in ancient North America. Some estimates say the city of Etzanoa housed up to 20,000 ancestors of the Wichita Tribe in a complex society. It flourished along the Walnut River from about 1450 to 1700.
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

The largest city in Kansas is looking to join two cities across the globe — Big Spring, Texas and Windhoek, Namibia — in converting what is flushed down the toilet into what comes out of the water tap — treating sewage to drinking water standards and pumping it directly into the water supply.
Read more: Wichita Eagle

One public commenter spoke at Lawrence’s environmental advisory board meeting Thursday night. Board members hope to draw a crowd next month as they decide which sustainability recommendations to put before the city commission. The swath of initiatives proposed by the city’s Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board underlined the ways environmentalism touches every aspect of life in town. Proposals included preventing automotive idling near school zones, banning styrofoam, expanding public transportation and keeping it free, increasing recycling downtown, monitoring nitrate in river systems and more.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Some of the old blacktop on streets in North Newton are experiencing deterioration. North Newton Administrator Brad Harris said the trash truck is really damaging those streets on the south side of town. In a related matter, the North Newton City Council authorized an agreement with EBH Engineering out of Marion County during its June meeting to develop a capital improvement program for street reconstruction. The city is bringing in the group that will assess North Newton’s street quality, Harris said. “They’re evaluating the state of our streets,” he said. In the next few months, EBH will return with their recommendations of which streets should be done in which order, Harris added.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced the Kansas Department of Commerce has awarded $750,000 in Downtown Revive & Thrive grants to support nine building renovation projects across Kansas. When matched with more than $286,000 in local contributions, a total investment of over $1 million will be used to create spaces for business incubators. “Rural Kansas has plenty of historic and underused buildings that have potential to create new economic opportunities for communities,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “Through Revive & Thrive, we’re able to take established, unused infrastructure and give our rural entrepreneurs a place to flourish and bring their visions to life.”
Read more: Kansas Department of Commerce

In a three-hour-long work session, Halstead City Council members discussed many of the recently discussed topics, like code enforcement, e-bikes and e-scooters, cemetery improvements, and the 2027 budget. The council spent the most time talking about electric bikes and scooters, as well as trees in Halstead Cemetery. Halstead Police Chief Josh Orem told council members that they could ban the items on sidewalks, but that would eliminate riding them in a large part of town that doesn’t have sidewalks. Or they could restrict them to sidewalks, which can be a danger to pedestrians. Or they could ban it completely.
Read more: Harvey County Now