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A line recently greeted Jessica Warkentin at Tractor Supply. Warkentin showed up, planning to expand her family’s very small flock of backyard chickens in Newton, which a neighbor gifted them in November. “We said if they survived the winter, we were going to get chicks,” she said. “Last week, we spent several days calling stores to see when their chickens got in.” Tractor supply promised chicks at noon for sale. She arrived at 11:30 a.m. to be the fourth in line. She said one woman had been waiting since 9:30 a.m. While plenty of people are starting backyard flocks in Harvey [...]

North Newton City Administrator Brad Harris told city council members one of the city’s strategic-plan goals that has to do with land development will be a year-long process. They want to identify and rank available land for development. “It’s an ongoing process,” Harris said. “We are starting to talk to some landowners, and we’re starting to get some interest to start talking about what that looks like, so we’re pretty pleased that they’re coming forward to us and beginning this conversation, so we’re going to keep working away at that throughout the year and see which pieces of land are available [...]

The Hillsboro City Council meeting was interrupted on Tuesday, March 4 on the Zoom side when a pornographic image began flashing across all of the screens. The meeting, which is held in person and streamed live across Zoom to allow more people access to the meetings and provide a recording for future viewings, was paused as Hillsboro City Administrator Matt Stiles worked quickly to figure out where the cyber attack was coming from while Hillsboro Mayor Lou explained to the council, guests and Zoom attendees what was going on. “We are getting cyber-attacked via Zoom,” said Thurston. “I think that’s a [...]

The Spring Hill School District is asking voters this spring to approve a new $60 million bond measure that would pay for several projects to accommodate the district’s growing student population. The district, which straddles the line separating Johnson and Miami counties, is reportedly one of the fastest-growing in Kansas. The Spring Hill Board of Education agreed at a special meeting in January to place the bond proposal on the ballot. In a statement provided to the Post via email, Link Luttrell, superintendent of Spring Hill Schools, noted there will be no mill levy increase with the bond proposal. Luttrell also [...]

The Kansas Court of Appeals has largely sided with a district court judge’s rulings on three controversial resident-led petitions that roiled Prairie Village nearly two years ago. Like the Johnson County judge’s 2023 ruling, the three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals on March 7 found two of the three Prairie Village petitions — one dealing with limitations on rezoning and another that aimed to adopt a new city government — ineligible to go before voters. The appellate court also agreed with Judge Rhonda Mason’s decision that a third petition, which seeks to abandon the city’s current form of government, [...]

One Kansas City Democrat has developed a plan that he believes could lower Wyandotte County homeowners’ tax bills and utility costs as division among Kansas Republicans threatens to undermine the relief lawmakers promised in 2025. It’s not the first time Sen. David Haley has proposed giving counties the authority to impose a local earnings tax of up to 1%. But it is the first time his bill calls for 100% of new collections to help offset the property tax revenue that makes up most of local governments’ budgets. Like in Kansas City, Missouri, where voters have renewed their support for a [...]

Lawrence's Rock Chalk Park is one of three sites in the Kansas City-area that could be selected as a base camp for a 2026 World Cup team. A base camp includes medical staff, trainers, chefs, fans, the team and family, and could draw up to 15,000 people to the area. That's according to Ruth DeWitt, a sales operations manger with eXplore Lawrence and a member of the Unified Command planning team. The Unified Command — comprised of the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, University of Kansas and eXplore Lawrence — is assessing how the Lawrence area will address hospitality, transportation, public [...]

The Wichita City Council is scheduled to vote at its Tuesday evening meeting on implementing a city-wide municipal ID program to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as the homeless. If passed, IDs will be issued at the Multi-Agency Center starting sometime in April. The IDs, also called Air Capital Cards, will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment. Lacking ID prevents many homeless people from establishing residency and applying for jobs or housing. It is also harder [...]

Nitrate levels for the water district that serves the Yoder community are still too high. The Reno County Public Works Department says tests earlier this month show that Rural Water District 101’s nitrate levels remain above EPA guidelines. The EPA recommends that public water supplies have a nitrate level of 10 mg/l or less. The district’s nitrate level is 12 mg/L. High nitrate levels are especially dangerous for infants and can lead to a life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia. It decreases the infant’s oxygen-carrying blood cells’ ability to transport oxygen across the body. Studies have also shown an increased risk of colon, [...]

Months ago, Lawrence city commissioners approved an increase to the number of adults who can live in a home in most areas of town. With two weeks left before the change is set to take effect, some neighborhoods are pushing back. The city’s new land development code was created over a two-plus-year process, with a 14-member steering committee and several public meetings. Yet when commissioners approved the code in November, many community members said they felt the process had moved too quickly. The code aims, among other things, to improve affordability and availability of housing. One way the code intends to [...]