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Meeting to discuss possible sales tax hike set

info2024-09-27T10:22:41-05:00September 27th, 2024|

The Jackson County Commissioners will host a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 30, at the first floor meeting room at the Jackson County Courthouse to discuss the possibility of increasing the county sales tax by one percent, from 1.4 percent to 2.4 percent, it was reported. Members of the public are encouraged to attend to share their feedback. During the county public hearing last month to exceed the revenue neutral rate, some residents in attendance voiced their support for raising the county sales tax in order to help reduce the county mill levy. Jackson County currently has a [...]

Hospital subsidy pitched here

info2024-09-27T10:21:36-05:00September 27th, 2024|

Although “the sky isn’t falling,” as Holton Community Hospital CEO Carrie Lutz told members of the Holton City Commission and Jackson County Commission at their meetings on Monday, the hospital is facing some financial issues with Medicare reimbursement and pandemic-related problems that have hospital leaders asking city and county officials to consider a subsidy, possibly in the form of a sales tax. “You are elected officials, and our county, state and federal officials need to know that decisions you make can impact us,” Lutz told county commissioners. Lutz met with county commissioners on Monday afternoon and with city commissioners that evening [...]

COVID-19 wastewater data spiked in JoCo. Here’s why local officials aren’t worried.

info2024-09-27T10:20:36-05:00September 27th, 2024|

Despite a short-lived spike in wastewater data for northeast Johnson County last month, the overall trend of COVID-19 infections in the county and statewide has been on the decline, according to data from the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. As the next cold and flu season approaches, the county’s website shows that while sewage monitoring systems show Kansas with “very high” levels of COVID virus, the overall trend is likely downward. Activity for flu and respiratory syncytial virus in wastewater also is minimal statewide, according to the site. Source: Johnson County Post

Overland Park to cut down lanes on stretch of Santa Fe Drive, add room for bikes

info2024-09-27T10:19:49-05:00September 27th, 2024|

Overland Park intends to try out a road diet on a chunk of Santa Fe Drive next year. On Wednesday, the Overland Park City Council Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval of the infrastructure maintenance program plan for 2025. That plan identifies Santa Fe for street preservation work, and when that’s complete, the city will repaint the pavement markers to match the new traffic pattern. Director of Public Works Lorraine Basalo said the road diet would narrow Santa Fe Drive from four lanes to two lanes between Antioch Road and Robinson Street, about where the road already narrows as it moves [...]

Redlining helped spur disinvestment in Wichita’s urban core. How much is an in-fill plan changing that legacy?

info2024-09-27T10:18:44-05:00September 27th, 2024|

Just over half of all demolitions in Wichita and Sedgwick County in the last decade were of single-family homes. Of those, nearly a quarter occurred in ZIP code 67214. The area had the most single-family demolitions of any other ZIP code over the last decade. The population there is majority Black and majority Hispanic. Parts of all six ZIP codes in Wichita’s urban core, including much of 67214, touch areas that were formerly redlined. “Redlining” refers to a practice adopted by the Homeowners Loan Corp., a government-sponsored corporation born out of the Great Depression. Almost a century ago, the practice was [...]

EPA awards Iola School District $690k for clean buses

info2024-09-27T10:17:08-05:00September 27th, 2024|

The U.S. Environment Protection Agency is set to present a $690,000 ceremonial check to the Iola Unified School District. The check is part of the EPA's Clean School Bus Program. The program funds electric buses, which produce zero-tailpipe emissions, as well as propane and compressed natural gas buses, which produce lower tailpipe emissions compared to existing school buses. According to the EPA, the school district will use the funds to purchase two electric school buses and install charging infrastructure. The presentation is set for Thursday, September 26 at 11 a.m. at the Iola Elementary School. Source: KOAM News

Watch: Local firefighters receive training on how to put out natural gas fires

info2024-09-27T10:16:17-05:00September 27th, 2024|

Black Hills Energy partnered with around 50 firefighters on Thursday night to train them how to respond to natural gas fires. The training was held at Colwich Memorial Park. In addition to pipeline safety presentations, Black Hills Energy helped conduct live-fire, hands-on training exercises to allow firefighters to practice containing and extinguishing natural gas fires under controlled circumstances. Black Hills Energy said the Colwich training is one of a series of fire safety seminars the company is offering to fire departments in Kansas. The company also educates firefighters about the various characteristics of natural gas so they can safely and effectively [...]

School building consolidations being considered across Kansas this year

info2024-09-27T10:15:21-05:00September 27th, 2024|

School building consolidations are being considered across Kansas this year. The Wichita and Garden City school districts are considering merging and closing some school buildings. One much smaller community, Healy, plans to dissolve its district altogether. The Garden City Public Schools Board of Education met Thursday night to consider whether to approve a plan to close three elementary school buildings. Following our 6 p.m. broadcast, Garden City Public Schools announced that the board rejected the recommendation in a 4-3 vote. They are not the only ones who have thought of building consolidation this year. Across Kansas, Wichita Public School’s Board of [...]

Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge says

info2024-09-27T10:14:06-05:00September 27th, 2024|

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be. It’s the first time a federal judge has made a determination about [...]

Kansas seeks public input to improve state water resources

info2024-09-27T10:12:56-05:00September 27th, 2024|

With the help of Kansans’ feedback, Kansas departments are looking for ways to improve water resources across the state. A local water consult meeting was held at Memorial Auditorium in Pittsburg. Its goal is to implement a plan for the 2022 Kansas Water Plan by getting feedback on how much money should be spent, how it should be spent, and what projects should be created. Participants split up into discussion groups to talk about what they value and want to see out of the water system. For some residents, their focus was on the economic and environmental impacts. Source: KSNF/KODE

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