Overland Park hopes a short-term revision to its development codes will jumpstart its small-scale housing pilot program. The temporary amendment will allow up to 12 projects to move forward using home designs in the city’s new Portfolio Homes program. The exact sites are unclear, but the emphasis is on sites that are ripe for redevelopment or may be hard to build in a typical residential project. The pilot program was originally designed to make it easier to build a wider variety of housing options at less expensive price points — often called “missing middle” housing — amid a widening housing shortage. The city’s Portfolio Homes offers a collection of 26 pre-reviewed plans for smaller single-family homes and duplexes. City planning staff hoped to see developers or homeowners come forward with interest in using one of the home designs for an infill project or single-family lot. However, so far, no projects have moved forward under the Portfolio Homes program since it officially launched last year.
Read more: Johnson County Post

New signage is bringing long-forgotten history to light at a Johnson County creek, and reframes a name that residents have debated for years. Instead of changing name of Negro Creek, local leaders chose to tell its story publicly.
Read more: KCUR

One is a combat veteran and former military criminal investigator. Another is a seasoned commander who moved to Kansas from the Austin, Texas, police department. A third oversaw law enforcement at the University of Colorado Boulder. But with only one or two years on the job, three of eastern Kansas’ top law enforcement officers — Sheriff Eric Kirsch of Wabaunsee County, Chief Chris Vallejo of Topeka and Chief Doreen Jokerst of Overland Park — are bringing major changes to their shops. Although their backgrounds are different, they share some common ideas: a commitment to transparency, a desire to build community trust and a willingness to do things differently.
Read more: KLC Journal

It has been years in the making, but on Wednesday, Empirical Foods is opening is its new beef production facility in Garden City. The new plant is 280,000 square feet and is located at Jennie Barker Road and U.S. Highway 400. The facility will produce ground beef that is 95% lean and will employ 250 workers. Empirical said the new plant will increase beef supplies and will deliver cost savings to restaurants, food service providers and retail customers.
Read more: KSN-TV

Members of the Hutchinson City Council finally spoke publicly about their views regarding data centers during Tuesday night’s city council meeting at City Hall. Council member Stacy Goss kicked off the discussion during council comments towards the end of the four-and-a-half hour meeting. “First thing, I believe that we should discuss a moratorium. on data centers until we have appropriate zoning in place,” Goss said. “Currently, and this is a huge concern of mine, under current zoning a data center or BESS (battery energy storage system) could go into a residential area. Because we have not defined what utilities are in our zone, what is a major or minor utility, and what’s their appropriate use or class.” Goss said that while the assumption might be that data centers would only be allowed in the city’s I3 industrial zoning, that isn’t currently spelled out in the city’s zoning regulations.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Wichita police will buy a single robot dog for $340,000, the Wichita City Council decided in a narrow 4-3 vote Tuesday. The vote was initially delayed last month so council members could learn more about the police department’s technology at its March 24 workshop meeting. The robot, also known as Spot, was created by Boston Dynamics originally for use in manufacturing sites. The robots have since begun to be used by police departments to resolve hostage situations and during bomb calls. Originally, the Wichita Police Department asked for two robot dogs, one for the bomb squad and another for its SWAT unit. But with approval for just one robot, the department said that will go to its bomb squad.
Read more: Wichita Eagle