The curator of the Reno County Museum decided to put Hutchinson on the map − in a new way. He created a pictorial history book, featuring dozens of photos of historic Reno County. David Reed sorted through the museum’s collection of photos and picked out the ones he thought would best represent the county. Then he researched each picture and created a fact-filled blurb. “Images of America: Hutchinson and Reno County” was released on Jan. 16, with all the proceeds from the sale of the book going to the museum. For about a year, Reed wafted through the museum’s collection, trying to find the photos that he thought were special. Many of the city’s churches, which were built during the late 1800s, are featured in the book, as are the original post office, several banks, the county jail and the courthouse. Each blurb is meticulously researched, paying attention to dates.
Source: Hutch News

Kansas is pursuing federal funding for a second microchip plant, this time at a location an hour south of Topeka dubbed “silicon prairie,” with the aid of about $371 million taxpayer-funded subsidies. Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday that EMP Shield plants to invest $1.9 billion in a computer chip manufacturing plant at Burlington’s Silicon Prairie Industrial Park. EMP Shield will create 1,200 jobs averaging $66,000 a year, the governor said. Six out-of-state suppliers are joining EMP Shield, creating an additional 1,000 jobs in Coffey County. Four production lines will produce thousands of microchips a week. Burlington has a population of about 2,600. The governor’s office said bus routes will be established to transport workers from metropolitan areas.
Source: Hutch News

The city of Abilene is creating a new comprehensive plan and master parks plan. The benefits of having the plans are to set long-term goals, give projects’ purpose and set direction for city staff and commission, said Ron Marsh, city manager. The city’s actions should relate back to the plan. “We want it to be useful for every citizen, and I’m not sure the current plan is,” Marsh said. “Things evolve and change overtime, and formats for comprehensive plans have changed over time.” The city is required by state law to have a comprehensive plan, Marsh said. The state does not require cities to have a master parks plan.
Source: Abilene Reflector Chronicle

After working at a pair of local car dealerships, Mary Rose knew more than a few things about the process of tagging a vehicle. With that in mind, Rose was hired about eight years ago by then Seward County Treasurer Kitty Romine to help motorists with registering and renewing the license plates on their automobiles. Rose had worked previously for local car dealerships Stu Emmert’s Automotive Center and Richard Rose Pontiac, giving her a significant background in vehicles and accounting. After Romine announced her retirement late last year, Rose was chosen by the Seward County Republican Party to fill the rest of the outgoing treasurer’s term through 2024, at which time she will be up for election.
Source: Liberal First

After seeing minimal expansions of its boundaries in recent years, the City of Lawrence could be poised to increase by as much as 300 acres in the next year. However, as those requests come up, so will questions about where and how the city grows. The city received four applications to annex land in 2022, totaling 295.05 acres altogether. Three of those applications were filed in the last half of the year. For comparison, there have been only six annexations into the city since 2015. Planning and Development Director Jeff Crick said the rise in annexation requests in recent months could represent the beginning of a return to the more sustained levels of growth that the city saw prior to the 2008 recession.
Source: LJWorld