In celebration of Kansas Day, here are the 24 incorporated Sunflower State cities identified in U.S. Census records as having names that end in “ville,” listed in order of population, plus one in Nemaha County that’s unincorporated but nevertheless has 182 people. The list doesn’t include “Larryville,” a common nickname for Lawrence, or “Aggieville,” the Manhattan bar district.
Source: CJonline
Vaughnie Tinsley and Darline Cyre are eager to turn to the next chapter of their storied love for a library in Merriam. The two friends are among the readers preparing for the permanent closure of the Antioch Library at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28. With six decades of operation, the library, at 8700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, is the system’s oldest branch. It is being replaced with the new Merriam Plaza Library at 6120 Slater St., scheduled for an official opening on March 20.
Source: Joco 913 News
Overland Park will study ways to support reinvestment in the busy College Boulevard and Metcalf Avenue “employment hub.” This week, the city is starting the public engagement leg of a months-long process to develop a College & Metcalf Overlay District Study. The resulting document will focus on possible reinvestment in the corridor in the area bounded by I-435 and 119th Street on the north and south and Nall and Metcalf avenues on the east and west
Source: Johnson County Post
The city of Westwood is asking a judge to rule that it can move forward with the sale of its only city park for new development — a move that several residents have hoped to stop at the ballot box with a public vote on the matter. The city last week filed a suit in Johnson County District Court, asking a judge to decide whether a resident petition aimed at preventing the sale of the park is legally sufficient to be placed on the ballot. Residents filed the petition after the Westwood City Council in October, following months of debate, voted 5-1 approving plans for a mixed-use development on 8 acres, including the 1-acre Joe D. Dennis Park at Rainbow Boulevard and 50th Street. Johnson County-based Karbank Real Estate Company is looking to build an office and retail development on the land, which also includes the former Westwood View Elementary School, as well as a piece of vacant city property, previously occupied by the Westwood Christian Church. Karbank has agreed to pay off a $275,000 debt the city still owes on the church property, and has offered the city $2.65 million to purchase the school property from the Shawnee Mission district. It would demolish the building and grade much of the land for the city to build a new 3.8-acre park to replace Joe. D Dennis.
Source: Joco 913 News
The 50th Biking Across Kansas tour, the annual celebration of bicycling and the Sunflower State, will hit the highways and byways Saturday through Saturday, June 8-15. BAK organizers revealed this special golden anniversary route at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 20. Online registration will open at 6 a.m. Monday, Jan. 29 at bak.org. “This year marks an amazing half-century for our annual bike tour across the state of Kansas,” said David Rohr, BAK board president. “As we pedal into our 50th year, we want to invite new and veteran BAK cyclists to help us celebrate this milestone. Whether you crossed Kansas with us fifty years ago, last year, or sometime in the decades in between, we welcome you back to ride in 2024. Participants will enjoy the fun of traveling with this friendly community of bicyclists, taking in the beauty of the Kansas landscape, and experiencing the warm hospitality of the Kansas towns and people.” The 2024 route begins just west of Tribune, KS where the first tour began in 1975. Riders will cover approximately 489 miles in the span of a week, staying overnight in Scott City, Ness City, Hoisington, Lincoln, Concordia, Frankfort, Holton, and concluding in Atchison, KS on the banks of the Missouri river. Riders pedal between 50 and 80 miles each day. With this many cyclists on the roads, BAK organizers urge motorists to be vigilant and share the roadways, said Executive Director Bryan Toben, noting state and local law enforcement will be helping keep everyone safe. Riders may be in groups or alone, and they may be strung out over several miles.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe
The Pittsburg Fire and Police Departments participate in another year of Battle of the Badges Chili Cookoff with the American Red Cross. People donating blood today and tomorrow can try both types of chili and then vote for their favorite. Organizers say the event has brought in more than a hundred sign ups for donations. The Fire and Police Departments both say the competition is heating up this year.
Source: KOAM News
The city of Emporia is into a community survey designed to get “crucial information and feedback” on city priorities, programs and services. The city effort follows a 2022 collaboration with the ETC Institute on a similar survey. The goal with this survey is to compare perspectives on items including but not limited to communications, facilities, streets and sanitation. The city is requesting “candid feedback” for “a deeper understanding of areas for improvement and concerns,” saying survey results will have a big role in upcoming city decisions. Several residents have already received a mailed survey. The survey will go online at a later date. Word on when results will be posted is pending.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
Hillsboro schools will get infrastructure improvements after a 464-59 vote Tuesday to approve a $13.35 million bond issue.
Among items to be funded will be a tornado shelter, heating and air conditioning upgrades, a new stage and auditorium sound system, new plumbing, secured entrances, new gym bleachers and new fire alarms, new roofs, and a greenhouse.
Source: Marion County RECORD
The original branch in the Johnson County Library system is getting set to permanently close its doors after nearly 70 years in operation. Antioch Library, 8700 Shawnee Mission Pkwy., will cease operations after Sunday, Jan. 28, in order to make way for the new Merriam Plaza Library branch nearby. The Antioch branch first opened in 1956 as Johnson County Library’s first official branch and served as the county library system’s headquarters for decades before Central Resource opened in the mid-1990s. “Everybody just loves this branch,” Assistant Branch Manager Sheida Bates is quoted in a post to the library’s website. “And the people who grew up coming to the branch are now bringing their kids here.” Its replacement, Merriam Plaza, is set to open its doors for the first time on March 20 next to the Merriam Community Center just a few blocks away from the Antioch branch. No patron services will be available at either Antioch or Merriam Plaza branches during the transition. A new library branch co-located on the same site as the community center is several years in the making, and it’s a concept also being explored in Prairie Village with the county’s second-oldest library branch at Corinth.
Source: Johnson County Post
Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday agreed housing incentives should be as flexible as possible. In an initial discussion about how to use sales-tax revenue to develop workforce housing, the commission acknowledged Manhattan is in a housing crisis and that it needs to take steps to address that. “We do a lot of studies at the city,” mayor Wynn Butler said. “We do a lot of talking at the city, and now it’s time to take some action on the housing. So I think that’s where we are going. I think the commission all agrees with that philosophy.” City staff asked the commission for direction about how to use funds from the 0.5% economic recovery and relief sales tax, which voters passed in 2020. Seventy percent of that revenue is dedicated to paying down city debt and fixing infrastructure, 20% to creating new jobs and 10% to workforce housing. Kristen Dolf, assistant to the city manager, said the city projects a total revenue of $80 million between 2023 and 2033. That means an estimated $8 million will be available for workforce housing. Over the past year, the Workforce Housing Steering Committee has reviewed the housing market challenges and discussed the “workforce housing initiatives” portion of the sales tax. Some of the committee’s recommendations include incentives on projects like higher density housing, prioritizing housing projects over parking developments, avoiding repetitive actions like studies and avoiding specific requirements for the sales tax funding.
Source: themercury.com
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