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Newton sees resignation of high school, grade school principals

At its February 12 meeting the USD 373 Board of Education approved a personnel report that included the names of two building administrators under the resignation column. Newton High School Principal Blake Smith’s name was listed with his final day with the district being June 30 – the last day of the school’s fiscal year. Smith worked as an assistant principal at the high school starting in 2019, before taking over in August of 2022, replacing then principal Caleb Smith. Sherri Terrell, who’s been principal of South Breeze this school year was also listed as resigning, with her departure date in June. Harvey County Now reached out to both administrators late Monday night after viewing the personnel report and hopes to add more information to this article, once they’ve replied.
Source: Harvey County Now

info2024-02-13T10:19:51-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Topeka petition seeks to demand ‘a public vote before they raise our taxes’

Keeping Topeka’s city government from raising property taxes without a public vote is the aim of a recently initiated petition drive. The petition calls for the passage of a proposed ordinance that would ban the city from collecting more property taxes in any given year than it collected the previous year, said Topekan Earl McIntosh, the petition drive’s leader.
Source: CJonline

info2024-02-13T07:22:22-06:00February 13, 2024|News|

Rush County hospital transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital’

Rush County Memorial Hospital announced Friday that the hospital will be transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital.’ The hospital will continue to provide a 24/7 emergency room, lab and radiology services, outpatient care, physical therapy, the Wellness Center, and the medical clinic. In addition, Locust Grove Village will continue to provide nursing home services. The intermediate swing bed unit (formerly long-term care) will be closed. In addition, the rural emergency hospital model does not support inpatient services such as swing bed and acute care. The hospital cites Covid, reimbursement changes, declining population, and increasing business costs as the reasons behind the change. “The decisions were made with careful consideration to the impact they would have on our community,” a statement from the hospital reads. The hospital will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the changes and answer questions Thursday, February 15, at the La Crosse City Auditorium.
Source: KAKE – News

info2024-02-12T11:07:33-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces third solar project

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. is partnering on a 150-megawatt solar energy project near Fort Dodge Station, the company’s electric generating facility one mile southeast of Dodge City, Kan. Expected commercial operation is during the first half of 2026. Sunflower is a cooperatively operated wholesale generation and transmission utility serving seven member distribution utilities located in western Kansas. The Boot Hill Solar Project will join Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Johnson Corner Solar Project (JCSP), which came online in April 2020, and Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell Project, scheduled for commercial operation in January 2025, in providing solar power to Sunflower’s members and those they serve. Because it produces on-peak energy during the hottest days of the year when the Sunflower system experiences its peak demand for electricity, the Boot Hill Solar Project will complement the company’s other generation resources, which are powered by natural gas, coal, and wind. In addition to providing on-peak renewable energy, the project will also provide the system with incremental capacity. The Victory Electric Cooperative Assn., Inc., located in Dodge City, joins Sunflower’s six other member-owners in supporting the Boot Hill Solar Project, which will surpass the JCSP and the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell projects as the largest operating solar facility in the state. Strategically locating the Boot Hill Solar project near existing Sunflower assets will provide cost and schedule benefits to all of the member-owners.
Source: Sunflower Electric Power Corporation

info2024-02-12T11:06:26-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Prairiefire bank seeks court guidance over how defaulted bonds should be paid

Prairiefire is looking for guidance on how to pay down the first tranche of almost $65 million in defaulted debt, since the Overland Park development hasn’t yielded enough sales taxes to fully cover those obligations. UMB Bank, the trustee for Prairiefire’s sales tax revenue (STAR) bonds, seeks guidance through a legal petition filed in Minneapolis, where its Corporate Trust Services department is based. The bank on Jan. 30 asked a Hennepin County District Court judge to confirm how about $4.2 million in available funds should be applied to $14.9 million in bond principal and $1.75 million in interest that came due for Prairiefire in mid-December. Kansas’ STAR bond program is designed to draw new out-of-state visitors by helping municipalities finance commercial, entertainment and tourism projects. The bonds are covered by new sales taxes generated through the projects. However, in Prairiefire’s case, initial sales projections were overestimated. State auditors in 2021 said the project would take anywhere from 14 to 72 years longer than expected to retire the bonds. Prairiefire produced $389,459 in sales taxes to cover $16.6 million in total bond principal and interest owed as of Dec. 15, and UMB Bank transferred the $3.78 million entirety of the bonds’ reserve fund to help cover debt service. However, the bank raised conflicting provisions in its trust indenture with Overland Park on how those funds should be allocated toward principal and interest payments in the event of a shortfall. The provisions applied will affect which bondholders are due payments, and in what amounts.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal

info2024-02-12T11:01:16-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Some Midwest states take power to ban wind and solar projects away from local communities

The land in Piatt County in central Illinois is flat, and it’s easy to see for miles around Jerry Edwards’ house in a rural area north of Mansfield. In a few months, his view will include a wind farm, with two wind turbines close by. “There will be a tower the size of the Gateway Arch back this way in where the green cover crop is,” Edwards said. “And then in the field, just east of it … there will be a second right out a mile from here.” Edwards, who is the vice chairman of the Piatt County Board, was among those who voted down the project in March 2023. Then, just seven months later, the board reversed course and approved the Prosperity Wind Project in a 4-2 vote. While Edwards voted no both times, he said that on the second vote, his fellow board members felt they had no choice but to approve the Apex Clean Energy project, which will bring up to 50 wind turbines over 20,000 acres of farmland across two townships. That’s because of a new law passed by the Illinois General Assembly last year, setting statewide standards for wind and solar projects. “In a nutshell, the governor, the Speaker of the House, and the head of the Senate basically had a gun held to their head, saying you are going to vote for this,” Edwards said, “or else you subjected the county to lawsuits that would break the county.” Across the Midwest a tug of war is taking place over renewable energy projects, like the one in Piatt County. In Iowa, Woodbury County all but eliminated the possibility of wind projects by increasing setbacks for turbines. The town of New Bloomfield, Missouri, adopted regulations barring solar farms within 1,000 feet of the city limits. In Buffalo County, Nebraska, commissioners unanimously voted for restrictions that require wind turbines be at least 3 miles from any dwelling and 5 miles from a town. But Illinois and Michigan are pushing back, with new laws that make it hard for local governments to say no to green projects.
Source: KCUR News

info2024-02-12T10:55:11-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

Topeka officials move to clear homeless camps from area along Kansas River

Topeka officials are preparing to begin the implementation of an ordinance aimed at removing members of the local homeless population from camps along the Kansas River. KSNT 27 News spoke with sources with the City of Topeka and the Topeka Rescue Mission (TRM) about plans to enforce the new camping ordinance passed last year by the Topeka City Council. The ordinance places further restrictions on where people can camp in city limits, including: No camping within 500 feet of the centerline of any trail; no camping within 50 feet of the centerline of any sidewalk inside city limits; and no camping within a levee critical zone. These restrictions can be found in section 9.45.360 and 9.45.350 in Topeka’s municipal codes. Following approval of the new ordinance in late 2023, city leaders decided to implement it in a ‘phased approach’ due to factors like the impending winter season and ongoing homeless initiatives. City of Topeka spokeswoman Taylor Bugg reiterated this information following an inquiry from 27 News. “This is a standard practice of the city’s Property Maintenance Unit when it comes to violations of Topeka Municipal Code (TMC) and includes notifying residents that they are out of compliance, giving them time to correct the issue, often giving them additional time if they have made improvements, and then following up with enforcement, if needed,” Bugg said.
Source: KSNT 27 News

info2024-02-12T10:52:15-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

City commission approves $60M Wastewater Treatment Plant, $90M Cargill expansions

The full Dodge City Commission conducted a regular meeting on Feb. 5. Commissioners approved Ordinance # 3808 authorizing the execution of the loan agreement between the city and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for financing of the wastewater treatment expansion at the South Wastewater treatment facility. Due to the construction of the Hilmar Cheese Plant and city growth, additional wastewater will be received at the south facility and more capacity is needed. The estimated cost of expansion is $59,545,000 which is the amount of the loan being requested. The loan interest rate is 2.26% with a thirty year term. The payments will come from a portion of the monthly fees that will be charged to Hilmar, payment from National Beef for the upgrades that benefit their plant, and payments in years 2011-2020 of the Bio-science tenth district, Economic Development Administration and IRA credits. Commissioners approved Resolution #2024-02 approving the issuance of $91 million in Industrial Revenue Bonds by the Ford County Commission for acquisition, construction, renovating and equipping of an addition and other improvements to an existing beef processing facility to be leased to Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation. Cargill will be “expanding its finely textured beef production capacity to meet the growing customer demands,” Dodge City/Ford County Economic Development Director Joanne Knight said. “The project will include replacing an existing line and adding an additional line to drive the efficiency and productivity of GD 95 project.” The project also hopes to reduce 28,000 metric tons of C0-2 emissions through better utilization of available bio-gas.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe

info2024-02-12T10:49:01-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

A tribute to black history

The Gordon Parks Museum in Ft. Scott has something on display to further honor many historic African Americans. A tribute panel exhibit consists of more than 100 photos, posters, and information on the some of the most notable and important black innovators and leaders throughout history. It also features inspirational quotes. Each day, the museum will highlight a different “quote of the day” to promote educational activities throughout the month of February. The objective is to keep black history and diversity at the forefront of conversations throughout the year. “I do think it’s really important because I feel a lot of schools and educators decide to teach black history just during Black History Month. And it’s something we teach year-round. So having stuff open makes people come, and then they start coming at different times — and I learned more and more,” said Zaria Byrd. The exhibit is free and will be on display through February 22 in the Danny and Will Ellis Family Fine Arts Center.
Source: KSNF/KODE

info2024-02-12T10:22:49-06:00February 12, 2024|News|

They hoped solar panels would secure the future of their farm. Then their neighbors found out

Some implored the commissioners to vote to allow the so-called West Gardner plan, a utility-size array of solar panels, saying the county needed to commit to clean energy for their children’s future. But others were just as passionately opposed. … To them, the solar plant would “threaten health and well-being” and did not fit “the character of the land.” It would create “a landscape of black glass and towering windmills,” that would put lives at risk and cause “a mass exodus out of the area.” … A USA TODAY analysis of local rules and policies nationwide found that, as of December, 15% of counties in the United States had banned or otherwise blocked new utility-scale wind farms, solar installations or both.
Source: USA Today

info2024-02-09T13:30:34-06:00February 9, 2024|News|

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Newton sees resignation of high school, grade school principals

Topeka petition seeks to demand ‘a public vote before they raise our taxes’

Rush County hospital transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital’

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces third solar project

Prairiefire bank seeks court guidance over how defaulted bonds should be paid

Some Midwest states take power to ban wind and solar projects away from local communities

Topeka officials move to clear homeless camps from area along Kansas River

City commission approves $60M Wastewater Treatment Plant, $90M Cargill expansions

A tribute to black history

They hoped solar panels would secure the future of their farm. Then their neighbors found out

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