Cities across the U.S. have been introducing tougher measures to address the growing problem of homelessness, prompting a number of court challenges that could set guideposts on how far municipalities can go. Local governments have been experimenting with a range of homeless policies, such as involuntarily removing people from the streets when they appear to be mentally ill, confiscating belongings or evicting the homeless from public property. City officials say the measures are necessary to address situations that are threatening public safety and leaving homeless people themselves living in conditions that are unsafe and unsanitary. Source: Wall Street Journal

Bill Fiander went above and beyond the call of duty by attending the 2002 funeral for Emogene Shepard, president of the Tennessee Town Neighborhood Improvement Association, said her grandson, Michael Bell. As an employee of the city of Topeka's planning department, Fiander had worked with Shepard and shared her commitment to making a better place out of the violence-plagued central Topeka neighborhood where she lived.... Tennessee Town benefited from Fiander's considerable skills and education, as well as his willingness to connect with residents on a personal level while realizing he was "helping living, breathing people," Bell said. Fiander's last day with [...]

Business owners around the state will now have better access to advanced business support, research and expertise, thanks to a Kansas State University initiative to create more than 3,000 jobs and generate $3 billion in investment by 2030. Officials from the university and Network Kansas —a statewide network of nonprofit, business-building organizations and resources — on Tuesday morning announced a partnership between the two entities that will bring university-level resources, research and professionals to businesses in communities around the state. Source: CJonline

A Topeka-based construction materials company is hoping to establish a new quarry in Eudora, and it wants the Eudora and Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissions to reconsider after they voted nearly unanimously to recommend against the project. At its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will consider the request from Mid-States Materials to return the original conditional use permit application to the Lawrence-Douglas County and Eudora planning commissions for further discussion and an updated recommendation. The Douglas County Commission has to give its approval to revisit the application because back in November, the entire seven-member Eudora Planning Commission and all but two [...]

City commissioners Tuesday took another step to make Lawrence the first city in the state to prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to tenants who receive government assistance, such as Section 8 housing vouchers. After about two hours of divided public comment, city commissioners expressed support for an ordinance that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential tenants on the basis of their “source of income.” However, commissioners ultimately agreed to delay passage of the ordinance for a month to give the city’s legal staff more time to refine the ordinance, especially in understanding how the new regulation may impact not [...]