County firefighters were kept unusually busy during this past week fighting blazes in dry conditions and high winds. In all, they battled 24 fires through the week, with no fires reported only one day. Many of the fires had rekindled after controlled burns.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal
The Ogallala Aquifer has a visibility problem. It’s easy to see when drought, farm irrigation and city taps drain the great reservoirs of the Southwest. Bathtub rings paint the red rock walls surrounding Lake Powell as it shrinks, sounding alarm bells loud and clear. What about a body of water that’s locked away in a subterranean labyrinth of gravel and rock reaching more than 300 feet underground? The Ogallala may hold as much water as Lake Huron, but we can’t see it. And, problematically, that means we can’t see it disappear. That hasn’t stopped people like Brownie Wilson from trying to bring the aquifer’s decline into focus. He’s one of the Kansas Geological Survey crew members who fan out across western and central Kansas every year to check hundreds of water wells that tap into the Ogallala.
Source: KAKE – News
The resolution asks voters to consider a constitutional prohibition on counties raising property tax valuations by more than 4% in any year. … Lawmakers have considered ways throughout the session to address rising property values and the tax bills associated with them. The proposed constitutional amendment would limit tax-assessed property values from growing by more than 4% per year. There are exceptions for new construction, changes in property class or when property is transferred to another owner.
Source: Kansas Reflector
The McPherson Fire Department (MFD) evacuated residents on the north side of McPherson due to a gas leak Wednesday night. “Crews on scene for a gas leak,” the MFD said in a Facebook post. “Several residents have been evacuated.” The MFD says they received a call around 7:20 p.m. for the report of a gas leak in a residential area near the intersection of Oakmont Street and Oak Park Drive. McPherson Fire Department Chief TJ Wyssmann said six homes were evacuated.
Source: KSN-TV
The City of Wichita Golf Board of Governors met on Tuesday to discuss an increase in membership prices for city courses. The decision is still pending an official vote. The plan is to raise adult individual membership costs by $12 and couples by $18. Another change would be increasing the annual equipment replacement fee from $37 to $50. “There’s not been money in the golf division to spend on the improvements that need to be made, so it’s really across the board,” said City of Wichita Golf Director Jesse Coffman. “We’re trying to improve all of the golf courses and all the facilities for all of our members.”
Source: KSN-TV
This will be the second year in a row that some wheat farmers in Kansas will not have a crop. “You look out there, and it’s just a fog of dust across there,” said Brian Mitchell with Mitfarms. “It’s awful.” Mitfarms is in western Kansas and is not alone in seeing very dry conditions affecting the wheat crop. KSN Agriculture analyst John Jenkinson says the topsoil across the state is not good this year.
Source: KSN-TV
For some Wyandotte County residents, the area’s online auctions of property with delinquent taxes, otherwise known as virtual tax sales, have become an unwelcome tradition. The most recent sale was held online through a third party platform on March 28. Homes at least three years behind on taxes were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Commercial properties delinquent on taxes for at least two years and vacant lots delinquent for at least one year were also tax sale eligible. Critics say that holding the auction virtually instead of in person has hurt access for both elderly constituents and those with poor internet.
Source: KC Star Local News
ederal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said policymakers should move their benchmark rate above 5% this year and hold it at restrictive levels for some time to quell inflation, with the exact level depending on how quickly price pressures ease. To put inflation on a steady path down to 2%, monetary policy needs to move “somewhat further into restrictive territory this year, with the fed funds rate moving above 5% and the real fed funds rate staying in positive territory for some time,” Mester said at an event Tuesday in New York with the Money Marketeers of New York University.
Source: Bloomberg
Planning continues as a local Topeka non-profit works to return a grocery store to central Topeka. Although the Central Topeka Grocery Oasis group last month signed a lease with GraceMed Capitol Health Clinic for one acre north of the clinic at S.W. 12th and Washburn, efforts to launch a grocery store in neighborhood are still in very preliminary stages. CTGO chair, Marge Ahrens said the group was grateful to GraceMed Health and those who have helped in the quest for a grocery store.
Source: CJonline
Buhler district voters rejected an $8 million bond that would build a new district office building, which included classrooms for the district’s Ad Astra Academy, a large community/board room and an indoor sports complex. The bond also included $800,000 going toward elementary school playgrounds. With 15.76% of voters weighing in, the unofficial total of all 26 precincts was 578 voting for the bond and 954 voting against it. With 1,532 votes submitted, the yes votes came in at 38% of the total cast, with the no votes totaling 62%.
Source: Hutch News
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