A vote to use property taxes to bankroll a $15 million bond project for Winfield schools passed with 59.5% of the vote, according to unofficial figures posted by the Cowley County Clerk on Tuesday. The bond will provide revenue for upgrades to safety and security, air quality and HVAC systems, along with deferred maintenance. Just 13% of voters in the district cast ballots with 676 in support of the bond question and 460 opposed.
Source: CourierTraveler

Rural communities in Saline County will soon have a new option for broadband internet. Nex-Tech, an information technology company, announced Tuesday that it is making progress in a project in rural Saline County to route fiber optic cables and become a local option for high-speed internet. Nex-Tech’s broadband service is a step toward one of the County’s goals in utilizing American Rescue Plan Act funding. Among several others, the issue of access to broadband internet for Saline County’s rural residents has been a focus of the board of commissioners.
Source: Salina Journal

Beginning in January, people stopping by the City-County Building might have noticed some offices shifting locations and teams of construction workers navigating the building. For the past six months there has been an ongoing project to remodel parts of the building to accommodate more judges and provide more courtroom space after a state mandate increased the number of district court judges in various parts of Kansas. Court Administrator Todd Heitschmidt said the process for getting new judges has been a long time coming, but the change was abrupt. “We’ve always been asking for more judges, and just never thought we’d get them,” Heitschmidt said. “Then we got three at once.”
Source: Salina Journal

Hutchinson City Council had lots of proclamations and concerns during their Tuesday morning meeting…. “The fictional character Clark Kent also known as Superman, arrived in Smallville, Kansas in a spaceship during a meteor shower,” Hutchinson Mayor Jon Richardson proclaimed. “I, Jon Richardson, Mayor of the City of Hutchinson, Kansas, do hereby proclaim that June 15-17, 2023, the City of Hutchinson shall be known as: Smallville, Kansas; the home of Clark Kent.”
Source: Hutch News

Topeka city manager Stephen Wade … had requested a leave of absence, for reasons that aren’t being made public, [Mayor] Padilla said. The leave will last for an “extended” and “undisclosed” amount of time, the city said in a news release. … The mayor and council voted 10-0 Tuesday to temporarily name Richard U. Nienstedt, of Ottawa, as acting city manager. Neinstedt retired in March from the city of Ottawa, the city of Topeka said in a news release. The mayor and council also voted 10-0 to authorize Padilla to negotiate an employment agreement with Neinstedt.
Source: CJonline

The top bid reached $5 million Wednesday morning as the end neared for a three-day auction in which participants that include Topeka’s city government are seeking to buy The Hotel Topeka at City Center, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd. The auction’s reserve, which is the minimum price a seller will accept as the winning bid, had not yet been reached. Meanwhile, City Councilman Spencer Duncan said the city doesn’t plan to own the hotel long-term. … Topeka city manager Stephen Wade said in a news release last week that the city, if it acquires the hotel, will look to experts and team up with private-sector partners while developing a holistic approach to redeveloping it.
Source: CJonline