Being stuck behind a train is a common excuse for being late Newton. Wednesday, motorists can be stuck behind a house. The City of Newton sent out a notification that parts of Main Street will be blocked Wednesday morning as crews will begin transferring a home northward upon Main Street to North Newton. The home will be moved a little under a mile northward …
Source: Harvey County Now
A 56-year-old Wichita man had his toy laser taken from him after shining it at a law enforcement plane flying above the scene of a drive-by shooting, police said. The laser incident, which appeared on a police report released Tuesday morning, happened at 2:08 a.m. Saturday in the 600 block of South Terrace, which is near Kellogg and Oliver. The laser was pointed at a Kansas Highway Patrol plane helping police after the drive-by shooting. Police interviewed and released the man, but took his laser as evidence. It’s a federal crime to point a laser at an aircraft, with the possibility of a hefty fine and up to five years in prison.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Rachelle Mathews, currently the acting chief financial officer for the City of Topeka, will be the new director of finance for the City of Lawrence. The city announced Mathews’ hire in a news release Tuesday afternoon. Her position will be effective Monday, April 15. Mathews received her Bachelor of Arts in business and accounting from Kansas Wesleyan University and her MBA from Washburn University, according to the release. She’s a certified management accountant, and she began her career in public finance as an accountant in Topeka in 2015, according to the release. She is currently studying for the Government Finance Officers Association certified public financial officer credential. “As I enter this chapter of my career, I am very much looking forward to growing and learning inside the City of Lawrence,” Mathews said in the release. “This position is more than the numbers. It’s a commitment to serving this vibrant community and contributing to the financial well-being of the organization.” Mathews is an active member of Women in Public Finance, according to the release.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Inflation rose again in February, keeping the Federal Reserve on course to wait at least until the summer before starting to lower interest rates. The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs, increased 0.4% for the month and 3.2% from a year ago, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The monthly gain was in line with expectations, but the annual rate was slightly ahead of the 3.1% forecast from the Dow Jones consensus. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI rose 0.4% on the month and was up 3.8% on the year. Both were one-tenth of a percentage point higher than forecast. While the 12-month pace is off the inflation peak in mid-2022, it remains well above the Fed’s 2% goal as the central bank approaches its two-day policy meeting in a week.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
People who are booked into jails statewide have long waited several months — even more than a year — for beds at state mental hospitals, so their competency to understand court proceedings can be restored. Douglas County is now working on a local solution to that problem. The Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council heard a report about the program Tuesday morning. The county plans to launch the new process on April 1. The district attorney’s office cannot prosecute people who are not mentally competent to participate in their own defense, Douglas County DA Suzanne Valdez said Tuesday. Katy Fitzgerald, criminal justice coordinator for the county, said defendants are now seeing an average wait of about 14 months before a bed opens for them at a state mental hospital. But “A recent change in state legislation allowed counties — if they met certain conditions — to conduct competency evaluations and orders for restoration without sending those in custody to Larned or Osawatomie state hospitals,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Source: The Lawrence Times
High nitrate levels in Rural Water District 101, which serves the Yoder area, warrant a change in water sources. It is not the first time the area has dealt with the problem. “Nitrate levels have continued to be above allowable limits,” said Reno County. The last nitrate level test was on March 4 and tested at 12.5 mg/L, which exceeds the Kansas and Federal (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L. Nitrate levels in many water sources have increased due to applications of inorganic fertilizer and animal manure in agricultural areas, according to Reno County. Since initial test results and a public notice on Aug. 12, 2020, Reno County has tested quarterly. Each test has been above the EPA MCL. “On August 12, 2020, Reno County received a precautionary public notice for acute nitrate violation from KDHE,” said Reno County. “A warning was then sent to Yoder residents to limit water usage, especially for infants under 6 months. Subsequent notices were sent notifying residents that bottled water will be provided, upon request, to any household with members at increased risk from the nitrates, such as infants, nursing mothers, pregnant women, and other at-risk customers as identified by a health care provider.” Reno County says Public Works is talking to the City of Hutchinson to purchase water.
Source: KSN-TV
More than 90 acres of land next to Interstate 135 is set to be annexed into Salina. The annexation of 92.81 acres north of Water Well Road comes after a request by a developer to the city with the intent to create a new convenience store-travel plaza in the community.
Source: Salina Journal
Today’s interest rates may tempt public financiers to try to play the spread between tax-exempt and taxable bond yields. That invites heightened federal scrutiny, but there are some strategies likely to avoid the bite of the IRS. … For long-term debt issued for public facilities construction, for example, there is in some cases an allowable “temporary period” of a few years during which the proceeds can be invested at a profit. In the case of short-term borrowing for operating budgets, so-called revenue anticipation notes are allowable as long as they mature within a defined time period. … For 2024 and going into 2025, it’s pretty likely that the U.S. Treasury yield curve will remain inverted, with short-term taxable rates exceeding most yields on longer-term municipal paper, so the arbitrage issue will be pervasive. The arbitrage window will close only when the Federal Reserve allows the Treasury yield curve to normalize with short rates drifting to levels materially lower than the rates on muni debt. That seems unlikely until T-bills start trading two full percentage points lower than they are in today’s market — probably not sooner than late 2025, barring a recession.
Source: Governing
… more prominent commentators are calling on the Fed to go slow on cutting interest rates. Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected Consumer Price Index report added fuel to calls for caution. A consensus is forming that bringing down inflation to the Fed’s 2 percent target will be a long struggle, scrambling the central bank’s outlook on rate cuts. There’s more doubt now about a rate cut in June, even as markets continue to bet on one. “We think it’s a coin flip as to whether the Fed cuts interest rates in June or if it takes a more conservative approach and waits until September” …
Source: NYT Dealbook
The Kansas Pet Animal Advisory Board held preliminary discussions on regulating pet boarding facilities to keep animals staying at them safer. “We have seen an increase in licensees and we’ve seen an increase in complaints in that category,” said Heather Lansdowne, director of communications for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. “It involves a lot of nonrelated dogs comingling together and can be potentially problematic.” Most stays at dog boarding facilities go off without a hitch, but there have been injuries and deaths of dogs reported in Kansas facilities. Last year, an Olathe family lost both of their dogs while boarding them at a facility called Lucky Paws.
Source: CJonline
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