City leaders have agreed to pay for Hotel Topeka, in full by the end of October. At Tuesday’s meeting, Topeka City council members passed a resolution finalizing the purchase of Hotel Topeka at City Center. Councilmembers approved paying the remaining $6.9 million needed to buy the property seven to two, with council women Christina Valdivia-Alcala and Sylvia Ortiz voting against it. The governing body approved the purchase in May of this year for $7.6 million. Before tonight’s meeting, $767,000 has already been deposited for the hotel. The city’s ultimate goal is to secure an entity that will purchase, operate, and manage the hotel.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Topeka police recently marked a grim new milestone for the Capital City with the announcement that the all-time homicide count has been broken. In 2023, the Topeka Police Department is investigating 31 homicide cases with the most recent being reported on Oct. 15. This broke a previously established record set in 2017 for 30 homicides. As Topeka reaches this new record, how does it stack up when compared with other cities in Kansas along with other U.S. cities with traditionally high homicide counts? Earlier this year, Chicago was named the “murder capital” of the U.S. with 697 homicides in 2022. The city with the highest homicide rate per capita was New Orleans at 74.3 per 100,000 people at 280 reported homicides in 2022. Chicago’s per capita rate was only 26.2.
Source: KSNT 27 News

A security breach is prompting a statewide shakeup for Kansas courts.  The Kansas Supreme Court issued a new order on Monday, putting all electronic filings and payments on hold. All filings for courts will have to be on paper or by fax, with paper filings to be hand delivered or sent by mail. “Reverting to a paper process, it is going to be a little slower after we’ve relied on technology for so long,” Lisa Taylor, a spokeswoman for Kansas Capitol Bureau said. “Hopefully, this won’t last too terribly long, we’re hoping to find out what’s wrong and fix it.” The new rules will impact all courts, except Johnson County. This comes after the Judicial branch experienced a security incident last week. The incident impacted court systems statewide, which are used to file and process cases and paperwork. Taylor said the incident left “more questions than answers.” So far, the state is still trying to figure out what happened, how it happened, and how far it reached.
Source: KSNT 27 News