Four men who founded Cawker City in 1870 in north-central Kansas played poker against each other to win the right to name it. The winner, Col. E.H. Cawker, named the city after himself. … It is among numerous incorporated cities in Kansas with names that are interesting and unique. Following are 20 others.
Source: CJonline
The plan to create a common consumption area, or CCA, a designated area where people could walk around with drinks they purchased from bars or restaurants that opted in to the program, generated more questions than answers from commissioners. … As the city works to distill its ideas for a CCA into a stronger proposal, the Journal-World reached out to cities across the state about the reality of having a common consumption area. Though a law was first passed for the creation of them in 2017, a tweak to the language in 2023 made it easier for CCAs to exist. Since then, 40 others have been proposed across the state.
Read more: LJWorld.com
K.S.A. 12-741(a) grants counties the authority to enact zoning regulations without state interference so long as those local enactments do not conflict with the Planning, Zoning, and Subdivision Regulations in Cities and Counties Act, K.S.A. 12-741 et seq. Exercising that authority, Finney County adopted local rules delegating the issuance of conditional use permits to a separate Finney County Board of Zoning Appeals. A Court of Appeals panel majority held the County could not do that, while a dissenting judge agreed with the district court that it could. See American Warrior, Inc. v. Board of Finney County Comm’rs, 63 Kan. App. 2d 123, 525 P.3d 789 (2023). We granted review to resolve the dispute. We hold the County’s regulations do not conflict with state law. The Zoning Board validly issued the conditional use permit that sparked this litigation. We reverse the panel majority and affirm the district court.
Read the case: American Warrior, Inc. v. Board of Finney County Comm’rs
“We definitely need more housing in Topeka. That’s been an ongoing issue for quite some time,” said Topeka Housing Authority CEO Trey George. “We have a housing shortage across all types of housing. There’s a need for approximately 4,000 additional units for home ownership and rentals.” Renting has become the most viable option for many families due to the rising costs associated with owning a home.
Source: CJonline
Footsteps and excited chatter of medical students from the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine fill the CommonSpirit hospital in Dodge City. … The students are part of a program that immerses them in rural areas, specifically in southwest Kansas, to let them shadow health care professionals. Officials from the program hope this will encourage more future physicians to consider practicing in western Kansas, where health care facilities are regularly understaffed.
Source: KCUR News
The city of Mission may limit how many short-term rental licenses can be issued to a single owner. … Other cities like Fairway, Merriam and Shawnee have all adopted ordinances this year regulating short-term rentals in some way. Prairie Village is also looking into requiring all rentals in that city to have a 30-day stay minimum, which would effectively ban short-term rentals in that city.
Source: Johnson County Post
The multiagency center, or MAC, will be new to Wichita, but the concept of it — a dual resource center and shelter — has been tried and tested for years in cities across the country, from Eugene, Oregan to Bowling Green, Kentucky. In hopes of answering residents’ questions, The Journal connected with similarly-operating navigation centers in three cities — San Antonio, Phoenix and Reno, Nevada — to learn more about how their resource got started and the impact it has made on its community.
Source: KLC Journal
“A generational highway” that was the reaction of one Crawford County resident after attending the U.S. 69 highway study meeting in Pittsburg today. “Yeah, I think this is an interesting process that they’re doing, sharing with us information, and then gathering information from us,” said Belinda Brumfield, Crawford County resident. Belinda Brumfield is one of many Crawford County residents who attended the second round of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s U.S. 69 highway study meeting.
Source: KSNF/KODE
The City of Topeka is trying to address a shortage of police officers by offering more competitive pay. The city budget manager said there’s a shortage of 40 officers, and that there’s a growing pay gap for officers in the Topeka Police Department (TPD) compared to similar cities. Robert Perez, Topeka’s city manager, said addressing the officer shortage is a high priority. He says currently the city is forced to rely on cops working overtime.
Source: KSNT 27 News
The City of Wichita will be asking residents to do more to reduce water use in order to hold off mandatory water restrictions. Public Works Director Gary Janzen talked about a “call to action” during a workshop meeting Tuesday with the Wichita City Council. He said the plan is for the city to restrict its own water use, while calling on residents to take voluntary steps, and there will be a proposal to raise water rates for higher volume users. Janzen said the goal is to reduce water consumption by ten percent. He said the city historically sees an increase in water use during the months of July, August and September, and now is the time to change course and change habits. The plan will have the city stepping up restrictions on water use at its public facilities and parks, to follow stage two of the city’s drought response plan. The city is not officially going to stage two, which would have mandatory restrictions, but residents will be urged to take voluntary steps to reduce their water use. Residents will be asked to reduce outdoor watering and limit watering to one or two times per week.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
200 W Douglas Ave, Suite 110
Wichita, KS 67202
(316) 264-3400
info@ransonfinancial.com
Registered municipal advisor with the MSRB and SEC
© 2026 Ranson Financial Group LLC. All rights reserved.
