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New sales tax to support health care goes into effect in Norton County

info2024-10-02T09:33:08-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

Starting Oct. 1, Norton County residents will see a change in the cash register as a 1% sales tax increase to support health care goes into effect. Kevin Faughnder, Norton County Hospital’s CEO, said it’s tough for rural health nationwide to succeed financially. Faughnder says he is excited as a hospital employee, but understands the importance of the change. “From a taxpayer perspective, it’s always tough to pay more taxes, and I think that’s why it’s really important for us to be responsible with how we use this money,” Faughnder said. “So both excited and mindful of the fact that we [...]

Arkansas City to upgrade water system

info2024-10-02T09:31:20-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

Arkansas City has launched its new Drinking Water System Improvement Master Plan. The city says the initiative is critical to address aging infrastructure and improve efficiency. “We are excited to take this next step toward modernizing our water system,” City Manager Randy Frazer said in a news release. “While the new treatment facility was a tremendous achievement, we recognize the need to continue investing in our infrastructure to ensure reliable water service for our residents and businesses. This master plan represents a long-term commitment to sustaining our water system and distributing costs equitably.” While the city has recently improved the water [...]

Union hopes new bonus will plug gap after ‘unprecedented loss’ of Shawnee County dispatchers

info2024-10-02T09:30:17-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

Emergency dispatchers in Shawnee County will be receiving a new retention bonus in a move praised by law enforcement and a local union. Shawnee County commissioners approved of a new $3,000 retention bonus for dispatchers in late September. This new plan, which has a $94,000 price tag, also comes with various pay rates for different shifts. 27 News reached out to the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office for a response to the recent approval of the new retention bonus for dispatchers. Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Abigail Christian responded to these questions on behalf of the law enforcement group. Local Communications Workers of American [...]

Petition to lift breed-specific ban in Salina fails

info2024-10-02T09:28:22-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

An effort to lift a dog breed-specific ban in Salina has hit a roadblock. Salinans Against BSL (Breed Specific Language) has been working for years to lift the breed-specific ban. Last week, a petition containing 1,814 signatures requiring the city to either repeal or modify the ban was delivered to the Saline County Election Office. Under Kansas Law, petitions must have the signatures of at least 25% of registered voters who voted in the last municipal election. The city says that of 1,814 signatures, only 1,369 were accepted by the Saline County Election Office, which fell below the 25% requirement. The [...]

Wamego may close burn pile to non-residents

info2024-10-02T09:26:48-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

The City of Wamego’s burn pile has always been intended for city resident use only, however city officials have never enforced the rule and county residents have been allowed to haul debris there. That may soon change. Wamego City Manager Stacie Eichem on Monday informed the Pottawatomie County Commissioners maintaining the burn site has become a bigger job than what current city staff can manage. If the city is to allow county residents to continue to use the site as they have been, a full time employee will need to be hired. Wamego City Commissioners offered to leave the burn site [...]

Andover modifies policy on financial guarantees, bond terms to make suburb more ‘developer friendly’

info2024-10-02T09:25:20-05:00October 2nd, 2024|

Andover is attempting to make development easier and faster for developers. This month, the city of Andover's Council unanimously approved changes to its policy on public infrastructure financing for developments up for special assessments. The changes will reduce the financial guarantee requirements of developers and modify bond servicing terms for the city — among other things. Special assessment petitions are methods utilized by cities to finance public infrastructure improvements — such as streets, sidewalks, storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water and traffic control signals — by charging the cost directly to the properties benefiting from the improvements. The method allows the costs [...]

Petition to repeal Salina’s pit bull ban falls short of goal

info2024-10-01T07:45:09-05:00October 1st, 2024|

A petition to force the Salina City Commission to take some kind of action on the current pit bull ban has been rejected.... 'Of the 1,814 signatures submitted, only 1,369 were accepted... This means the petition fell short by 22 of the required number of signatures. Source: Salina Journal

Grant will help study hunger problem

info2024-09-30T09:14:49-05:00September 30th, 2024|

As part of the ongoing process of working to improve living in rural Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly recently announced 14 grant recipients of the Rural Champions program. One of those recipients is Cowley County, where the monies will be used to develop strategies to combat hunger. This is the second year that the state, through its Office of Rural Prosperity, has awarded the Rural Champion grants to organizations within counties with fewer than 40,000 population. An application for Cowley County last year was unsuccessful. This time, though, the state is awarding the county through the Legacy Community Foundation one-year wage stipend [...]

No Wile E. Coyote: Watch Johnson County animal officer save coyote tangled in wire fence

info2024-09-30T09:13:38-05:00September 30th, 2024|

On Sept. 24, Deputy Dwayne Shoop, a former Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy turned animal control officer, was called to wrangle the American jackal that had been stuck for several hours near West 135th Street and South Spoon Creek Road. Video of the encounter was posted by the sheriff’s office on social media. “It’s typical,” the deputy later said about getting a call regarding a coyote. After a call from the property owner, Shoop said he came upon the coyote that was hanging by its left leg in the fence. The coyote had a bewildered face with wide eyes and an open [...]

City to discuss $10 million upgrades to Sunrise, Sunset cemeteries

info2024-09-30T09:12:22-05:00September 30th, 2024|

Some of the proposed upgrades to Sunrise Cemetery include the construction of a new shop and office, renovating the existing shop, paving a section of the maintenance lot and fencing the maintenance yard. At Sunset Cemetery, upgrades could include building a new joint maintenance shop with Sunset Zoo, installing a new irrigation system, adding columbaria, making storm drainage and utility improvements, reconstructing cemetery roads, improving accessible sidewalks at the entry and Carriage House and making repairs to the memorial arc. Source: 1350 KMAN

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