info2024-09-18T11:21:52-05:00September 18th, 2024|
A Crawford County commissioner, pastor, and Morning Sun news reporter discussed childcare at Tuesday’s regular meeting, exchanging at times heated comments on the validity and process of the funds from the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA). The conversation of childcare further carried into this week’s meeting with Victory Life Church Pastor Donny Talent speaking during public comment. Source: Morning Sun
info2024-09-18T11:20:30-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Emporia Main Street’s ongoing “Adopt a Garden” program received a major boost Monday evening when volunteers from Flint Hills Technical College and the Emporia State University women’s basketball team pitched in to clean up downtown garden beds. Students spent about some time weeding, removing trash, and tidying up the beds to help keep the city’s green spaces vibrant. “We’re really excited we had volunteers from Flint Hills Technical College and the ESU women’s basketball team helping us out,” said Community Development Coordinator Jess Buchholz. “The downtown gardens are a big part of our community, and having the help of local volunteers [...]
info2024-09-18T11:19:26-05:00September 18th, 2024|
The Halstead Planning and Zoning Commission opened a public hearing as the board tried to draft regulations regarding battery energy storage systems or BESS. Concurrent, a renewable energy company, wants to build the Tallgrass Prairie Energy Center in the Halstead Industrial Park. The lithium ion battery storage system would use the Evergy transmission system and substation located on the south side of the Industrial Park. Concurrent would build the facility and then sell it to a private company. Aidan Pelligrino, Concurrent’s managing director of development, asked the commission to make changes in some of the wording to the draft of the [...]
info2024-09-18T11:17:48-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Most married couples figuratively put out fires together, whether it’s visiting a principal about one of their kids or baking cupcakes last minute the night before a school bake sale. In the case of Jeremy and Stephanie Ashby of Walton, though, they literally put out fires together. Both are on the Walton Fire Department. Jeremy is the fire chief, while Stephanie is a firefighter/EMT. Stephanie has worked for the City of Walton since 2012. There, she’s the city clerk and became an EMT for Walton in 2020 and a firefighter at one point. “She literally looked at me one day and [...]
info2024-09-18T11:15:51-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Hesston’s new dog park will begin to take more shape very soon, as crews are slated to start setting posts for the new canine enclosure. “They may not string the fence until we are done with some of the construction,” Parks Foreman Josh Hastings said. “They’ll set posts and come back and string fence as one of the latter things.” While the posts are being set, Hesston Park crews will be over-seeding the area, as irrigation will be installed for good grass inside the fence for the dogs. There will also be the construction of a simple, yet effective, bathroom. “We’re [...]
info2024-09-18T11:14:08-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Classrooms are a place for eager and enthusiastic minds. It’s no different inside the Historic Oxford Schoolhouse, says April Bishop. Bishop is a docent at the Leawood schoolhouse, located in Ironwoods Park, 14701 Mission Road. It is her job to guide visitors through the experience of a one-room schoolhouse. Often, the adult visitors generate the narrative. “They say, ‘I had this desk’ or ‘That photo looks like my schoolhouse’,” Bishop said. “Instantly, they have a connection with it or knew someone who went to a one-room schoolhouse. It’s mostly them talking about their memories rather than me talking about information.” Indeed, [...]
info2024-09-18T11:12:46-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Kansas farms have expanded their operations and are now bigger than ever, which has led to an economic boom. But that also means fewer farmers, and that has contributed to depopulation in rural parts of the state that were socially isolated to begin with. Kansas farms are more specialized, sticking to large-scale farming of one or two commodity crops. There are government incentives for these crops, and bigger farms get more federal dollars. That economic efficiency might actually be hurting smaller towns, exacerbating some of the health challenges rural Kansans already face. Larger farms push out smaller farms and lead to [...]
info2024-09-18T11:10:56-05:00September 18th, 2024|
“Kansas has been a magnet for economic development lately,” says Jeri Hammerschmidt, a senior housing specialist for First Step Builders in Independence. “Everybody wants to come here. We’ve got the highways and the railways and all of that. But you can’t really recruit these things unless you have your housing and you have your day care, right?” The annual report of the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) shows the agency funded 61 housing developments across the state in 2023, creating 3,234 new homes in 38 counties. Twenty-five developments fell under the “affordable housing” definition and the rest were moderate income, meaning [...]
info2024-09-18T11:09:23-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Some of Hutchinson’s most recognizable landmarks are one step closer to getting a facelift. Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds were the center of discussion at a public hearing held in Hutchinson. The city council heard from the public and then voted to push STAR bond(s) to the next step. The Cosmosphere, Memorial Hall, and the old Landmark building are all set to be improved, remodeled or renovated. Source: KSN-TV
info2024-09-18T11:08:01-05:00September 18th, 2024|
Firefighters from Hutchinson are on the move, heading to Colorado to help fight a wildfire. Three firefighters left with a brush truck heading west to help with the Pearl Fire northwest of Fort Collins, close to the Colorado-Wyoming state line. So far, the fire is 128 acres in size and is 5% contained, according to InciWeb. The fire started around 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office determined that the fire originated on private property and was human-caused. Source: KSN-TV
