The Wichita City Council approved new regulations for pet owners this week. One major change is an amendment to pet microchipping. It costs about $20, and your pet doesn’t need to be put under. It’s injected like a vaccine. The city council is also looking into grants to help pay for some of the costs. The goal: lowering euthanasia rates in overpopulated shelters.
Source: KSN-TV
In an effort to secure rides for thousands of FIFA World Cup visitors before prices go up, Johnson County commissioners have agreed to lease fifty shuttle buses for two summers from now. The fleet of 50 Ford F650 Glaval Concorde III vehicles — which each can carry up to 35 passengers each — may not totally cover the county’s transit needs while the international tournament is in town in 2026, but “it was as many as we could get,” said Josh Powers, the county transit director.
Source: Johnson County Post
The City of Lawrence announced Friday that it is closing the camp where people are living behind the Amtrak Station in East Lawrence. “The City’s Homeless Response Team began working with individuals staying at the camp several weeks ago and informed them today that the camp must be vacated by Tuesday, Oct. 15,” according to a news release from the city. The city in fall of 2022 opened its sanctioned camp behind Johnny’s Tavern in North Lawrence. That camp was also the first major camp the city closed, effective in April. Some people have been living in the woods near the Amtrak station for years; some moved there after the city-sanctioned camp was closed. Some advocates and residents of the camp have said they feared once the city-sanctioned camp was closed, Amtrak would be next. “Helping the individuals relocate can be a time-intensive project as the Homeless Response Team is focused on finding the best solutions for each individual’s or family’s needs,” according to the city’s release. “Over the next two months, campers will be supported with wrap-around services to aid in their recovery from homelessness and get connected to shelter or housing.” “The goal of this effort is to help each person living at the camp exit unsheltered homelessness by October 15,” the release continued. “Investments in the multi-disciplinary Homeless Response Team, which allowed team members to begin forming relationships and understanding the needs of these individuals, and expanded shelter capacity make this effort possible.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
USD 258 will have a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday for its new elementary school classroom wing and technology building. The district also laid out its budget for next year. School officials will cut ribbons Wednesday to mark essential completion of a new classroom wing and technology building within Humboldt USD 258. The ribbon cutting ceremonies will be at 6 p.m. at Humboldt Elementary School, which is getting the new classroom wing, bus lane and parking lot. The ribbon cutting for the new technology building will be at the high school at 6:30, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amber Wheeler said. An open house is expected in early 2025, after the rest of the work encompassing the $17.5 million bond issue is completed. Wheeler expected the rest of the work, including replacing an elevator at the high school, replacing and renovating the heating and cooling systems and new fire alarms and roof work, to be done by the end of the year. CONSTRUCTION progress was a centerpoint of Monday’s USD 258 Board of Education meeting, Wheeler said, although board members approved a few other items. They hired Penny Herder, Klhoeigh Shaffer and Anya Woods as paraprofessionals at HES. Board members also scheduled a Sept. 3 budget hearing to discuss the district’s 2024-25 spending plan, which would be supported with an ad valorem tax levy of about 55 mills. That levy is a full mill lower than this year’s levy of 56.469 mills. That’s because of a slight decrease in the levy for USD 258’s local options budget, from 14.7 to 13.8 mills. Combine that with the 20 mills assessed for general fund obligations, another 8 mills for capital outlay projects and 13.5 mills to pay for the aforementioned construction projects, and you have a projected total of 55.339 mills, although that number may change a smidgen once final assessed valuations are determined later this fall.. That means the owner of a $100,000 home would spend about $636 to support USD 258 for the fiscal year. That figure does not account for property taxes to support other entities, such as the City of Humboldt, the county or Allen Community College. And while the mill levy should be slightly lower, the total tax dollars generated will increase, because of an uptick in the school district’s assessed valuation.
Source: The Iola Register
The Riley County government will now have more power to go after local nuisances in unincorporated areas, something that has been a long time coming, local officials said. Senate Bill 384, which Gov. Laura Kelly signed in April, sets up procedures for the removal and abatement of nuisances in the unincorporated areas of the county. Riley County deputy county counselor Bryant Parker said Thursday the bill will give the government more authority to stop nuisances from going unaddressed.
Source: 1350 KMAN
The Junction City Commission this week considered establishing the city government’s own website as the “city newspaper” to avoid paying for the publication of legal notices. Three commissioners — Pat Landes, Jeff Underhill and Ronna Larson — expressed support for the idea and asked city attorney Britain Stites to provide more information on website visits and how much the city government would save by doing it. Currently, The Junction City Union is the official city newspaper. “What has happened, in the last 20 years, the internet and online publications have affected the paper press,” Stites said. “Not saying it’s good, not saying it’s bad; but that has been the reality of the market there. The reality is, their prices have gone up, but the readership has gone down — so if we publish things in there, are people really getting notice? The charter ordinance establishing the city website as their newspaper would require publication in the newspaper and to go through a protest period so it’s not a one-and-done thing or easy to do.” Stites said the city spends “hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year” on public notices. Because The Union is weekly, he said publishing notices that way also limits them on their time frame. He asked some questions on how the newspaper switching to a magazine format would affect deadlines. He also did not contact The Union before putting this on the agenda. Legally, governments have no control over the format of newspapers, which are necessarily separate (usually private) entities because they report on governments. Pinaire expressed opposition to the idea, saying having a community newspaper is valuable and doing this would “cut the knees off of the newspaper.” “I think the quality of the journalism has improved and so have the pictures, and it’s a valuable tool for the community,” Pinaire said. “This is our only newspaper,” Pinaire said, adding that communities across the nation that have lost their newspaper have set up non-profit organizations to replace them. “I think we need more support of the newspaper, not less. It’s been a rough business, sure, to survive, and we’ re not going to help it by that approach.”
Source: themercury.com
Pet owners in Wichita will have to have their dogs and cats microchipped under new animal regulations that are going into effect in Wichita. The requirement is one of several recommendations made by the city’s Animal Services Advisory Board, and the recommendations have been approved by the City Council. Jan Jarman with the city’s legal department said the requirement will be hard to enforce, but it’s important to have pets microchipped because that helps in returning lost pets to their owners. She said the city will be doing outreach activities to make people aware of the requirement. The Wichita Police Department recommended a number of changes to the city’s animal laws: Increased fines for dog bite convictions with a first-time bite increasing from a $250 mandatory fine to a $500 fine, a second offense from a $500 fine to a $1,000 fine, and a third offense from a $1,000 fine to a $2,500 fine; Removal of mandatory dog pen requirement for dangerous dogs, leaving the determination to the discretion of Animal Services; Require microchip on all dogs and cats at the age of five months, unless a veterinarian advises that it is not in the best interest of the animal; Simplify pet licensing prices to $15 for spayed/neutered and $50 for those that are not. This is not an increase for spayed or neutered pets but is a $15 increase for those that are not; Simplify veterinarian requirements regarding vaccination and license information that is transferred to City Licensing; Allow licenses to be purchased for length of a rabies vaccine, up to three years; Allow three dogs/three cats per household. An animal maintenance permit will be required for four; Allow a dangerous dog to be cared for by an animal professional for evaluation; and The licensing provisions will take effect January 1, 2025, due to necessary computer upgrades.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Through the Kansas Department of Commerce and Kansas Arts Commission, Belle Plaine’s Bartlett Arboretum was recently awarded a Public Arts and Murals grant to install a new mural at the front gate. Highlighting natural floral and fauna, the mural is intended to hint at what’s within the arboretum, with Wichita artist Elisabeth Owens transforming the entrance into a display of arboreal delight. Owens has completed murals along Wichita’s Douglas Avenue, been exhibited at the Wichita Art Museum and participated in Art at the Arb. Plans are to debut the mural during TreeFest on Nov. 10.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
An end-of-summer tradition, Mulvane is getting set to host its Old Settlers Days festival from Aug. 22-25. The theme for this year’s 151st iteration is “Party by the Pix.” Starting out as a community picnic, the annual festival has grown to include a number of events focused on “preserving the past and building for the future.” Festivities planned for this year include the traditional parade, rodeo, talent show, carnival, a pair of street dances and more.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Director of the Riley County Historical Museum Katharine Hensler joins the 27 News Morning crew with a look into the museum’s cemetery preservation program.
Source: KSNT 27 News
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