During the August 4, 2026, meeting, the Hutchinson City Council addressed potential improvements to public meeting protocols and authorized funding for upcoming city infrastructure projects. One topic of informal discussion was the distinction between public comments and public hearings. Councilwoman Stacy Goss highlighted inconsistencies in how these sessions are currently managed. While public comments are intended for citizens to address the council without receiving feedback, public hearings are designed for active engagement between city officials and the public. Assistant City Attorney Cody Smith was tasked with recommending a potential restructure to Mayor Scott Meggers – possibly consolidating public comments to the [...]

Riley County officials on Monday reviewed how the county should approach potential data center development as the technology becomes more common and communities across Kansas consider regulations. Planning director Amanda Webb updated commissioners during a work session sharing information from a recent data center planning summit in Topeka and examples of regulations being considered by other communities. Webb said the county is still in the information-gathering stage and is focused on understanding the potential impacts of data centers before considering any regulatory changes. Read more: News Radio KMAN

A recent string of cyber attacks on U.S. water systems underscores the threat the municipal water sector is facing and the criticality of emergency preparedness and cybersecurity measures. According to multiple news reports, cyber attacks across seven states last week were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). News of the cyber incidents followed another report that more than 30 water systems in Minnesota were targeted in a coordinated cyber attack last weekend. The seven states affected in the most recent attack were not named, but according to a CBS News report and others, Minnesota and Michigan were among seven [...]

Lawrence loosened its short-term rental rules ahead of the World Cup in hopes of catching a wave of visitor demand. Those temporary licenses expired this week, and a couple of local hosts say it was more bust than boom. In January, Lawrence city commissioners voted to temporarily lift the city’s cap on the number of short-term rentals — such as Airbnb and Vrbo listings — that property owners may hold, as Kansas City and surrounding areas prepared for a surge of visitors. Kansas City hosted six World Cup games between June 16 and July 11. According to KC2026, about 413,000 people attended [...]

Lawrence’s new city manager, Majed Al-Ghafry, has officially moved to town and started his job. He attended his first city commission meeting Tuesday evening. During the city manager’s report, Al-Ghafry said he was honored to be a part of the fabric of the community and that he’s enjoyed his first week living in the city. “We have plenty of incredible opportunities for us, so we’re going to get to work,” he said. City Commissioner Kristine Polian thanked Casey Toomay, assistant city manager, for stepping in as acting city manager throughout the transition and hiring process. Polian also welcomed Al-Ghafry. “I think [...]

Usage of golf carts, UTVs and worksite utility vehicles on Winfield streets could become legal in the coming weeks as commissioners discussed potential changes to the current ordinances during a work session last week. Currently, golf carts are only allowed in certain areas, such as at the Winfield Fairgrounds and some residential neighborhoods around golf courses. They are not allowed on state or federal highways, such as U.S. 77 or U.S. 160, except for at legal crossings. Citizen-led efforts to allow more golf cart use have failed at least twice since 2022. Winfield city manager Taggart Wall said staff has drafted [...]

Next to an old steam locomotive in a park on the west side of Kinsley is a sign positioned on atop two telephone poles: One arrow points to the east — New York, 1,561 miles; the other points west — San Francisco, 1,561 miles. Thus, earning Kinsley, KS., the nickname, “Midway USA.” But most Kansans have been taught that the geographic center of the contiguous 48 United States is near Lebanon, Kansas, closer to the Nebraska border. How did Kinsley get this nickname? “I moved here in 1979," Julie Miller said, "and I saw the Midway sign in the museum, and [...]

The home park for Wichita’s minor league baseball team has been generating far less revenue than needed to cover what’s owed on the debt for its construction and upgrades to surrounding infrastructure. According to city financial reports, in 2025, the Equity Bank Park generated $204,970 in revenue from the 2% tax levied as a community improvement district (CID), a special taxing district where additional revenues are collected to help cover the costs of improvements. The city’s total CID bond repayment for that same year was $714,716. During a July 7, 2026, city council meeting, the city’s finance director, Mark Manning, reported [...]

The scope of cyberattacks on U.S. water systems has grown to include at least seven states and may be far wider, officials and experts warned, as the authorities raced to safeguard the nation’s water supply against an assault that increasingly appeared to be the work of Iran. While there were no indications that any water supply had been altered or made unsafe to drink, state and local officials throughout the country were on high alert for potential problems in vulnerable computers that are commonly used to monitor and adjust water quality, including chemical-treatment levels and water pressure. Minnesota first publicly reported [...]

Machinist Mason Grimmett criticized the Wichita Police Department’s reliance on high-speed equipment that reads, logs and converts into searchable files the license plate of everyone driving in range of nearly 200 specialized cameras in the city. Last month, Grimmett used his five-minute public comment slot at a June meeting of the Wichita City Council to express apprehension about local law enforcement’s deployment of cameras capable of capturing images of plates on moving vehicles day or night. The city’s warrantless effort to document routine movement of street traffic placed images in a database that could be retrieved and shared with other law [...]