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Wastewater recognized by Mid-America Regional Council for sidestream treatment process

info2022-12-28T01:39:44-06:00December 28th, 2022|

Johnson County Wastewater was recently included in the Mid-America Regional Council's 2022 Resilient Success Stories. The success stories highlight climate resilient-focused policies, plans, projects or practices that are aligned with the Kansas City Regional Climate Action Plan. Wastewater was honored for the impact of the Tomahawk Wastewater Treatment Facility's sidestream treatment process. The process has resulted in a decrease in energy consumption, helping the facility meet environmental requirements and reduce costs. In the video below, Tami Lorenzen, Assistant Chief Engineer-Integrated Planning Manager and Tomahawk Project Leader, explains the sidestream treatment process at the Tomahawk facility. Source: Johnson County Kansas |

‘That’s huge’: Kansas grocery tax to drop on New Year’s Day

info2022-12-28T01:37:43-06:00December 28th, 2022|

Starting on New Year's Day, the state tax on groceries will drop two and a half percent. Right now, the plan is for the grocery tax to disappear in 2025. Say you pay $10 in taxes on groceries. With the state tax reduced by 2.5%, you could save 25 cents for every $10. "I paid, looks like 13 dollars." That's what Chuck Crawford paid in taxes on his grocery bill Monday. But, come Sunday, anyone paying $13 in state tax on their bill now, will pay just eight dollars. “Paying less on anything feels good right now because everything just seems [...]

‘We are working day in, night out’: City of Caney battling water troubles

info2022-12-28T01:35:50-06:00December 28th, 2022|

The cold weather during the last few days has added to the water woes in Caney. It's now issued a Boil Water Order after freezing pipes caused a sudden drop in pressure, but that's not the only problem they're dealing with. "This is the stuff that we have pulled from our filters," said Caney Mayor Josh Elliott. "This gets stuck in our filters. This is like goo." A day after the city's latest water troubles began, Elliott took to Facebook live to explain what was going on. "All this stuff has clogged them and we are working day in, night out [...]

Kansas public universities finalizing plan in response to shortage of K-12 teachers

info2022-12-28T01:34:07-06:00December 28th, 2022|

Education deans at public universities in Kansas working on solutions to a K-12 teacher shortage want to dramatically expand over three years state financial aid for college students in education programs and to implement a partnership to uniformly compensate student teachers. The task force appointed by the Kansas Board of Regents has also been working to refine an agreement among community colleges and universities allowing education students to automatically transfer 60 credit hours of courses. Another of 15 recommendations in the report draft would strengthen literacy instructional skills of teachers. Source: Kansas Reflector

County employees benefit from deeper dig into ARPA pocket

info2022-12-28T01:32:19-06:00December 28th, 2022|

County employees on the payroll as of November all received a special piece of the federally funded American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 funding by way of a bonus. Atchison County Grants Administrator Mark Zeltner said all fulltime employees received $1,200 and the part-timers were paid $600 bonuses before taxes. The rounds off to about $1,000 and $500 respectively. The employee bonuses are one of the top priorities Atchison County Commissioners approved as one of the internal pieces to benefit for the county. Source: News | atchisonglobenow.com

City implements mandatory water conservation measures

info2022-12-28T01:29:49-06:00December 28th, 2022|

The City of Atchison is implementing mandatory water conversation measures due to record low river levels which have limited our ability to draw a sufficient amount of water to meet the normal demand from domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. The City of Atchison is requiring all industrial and agricultural customers to limit the use of water to only what is necessary to maintain the health and personal hygiene of employees on duty. The City of Atchison is requiring commercial/business customers (e.g. office buildings, restaurants, salons, stores) to limit the use of water to what is necessary to conduct normal operations [...]

County official to retire

info2022-12-28T01:28:15-06:00December 28th, 2022|

Cara Barkdoll, longtime Register of Deeds, will retire at the end of the week. A ceremony will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, in the assembly room in the basement of the courthouse. Gov. Laura Kelly appointed Misty Rice, who has worked alongside Barkdoll as her deputy for the county department, to serve the remaining two years of the term. BARKDOLL earned an associate degree from Allen County Community Junior College before joining the appraiser’s office in 1985. Source: The Iola Register

Kansas asks U.S. Supreme Court to let states limit how long trains can block crossings

info2022-12-29T07:54:53-06:00December 27th, 2022|

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has joined 18 other state attorneys general in asking that the U.S. Supreme Court restore the rights states and local governments once had to regulate how long trains can block railroad crossings. Absent that power, the public is put at risk, the attorneys general say in their brief. Countless people have died when emergency vehicles were delayed at rail crossings, The Star reported this month in an investigation of railroad safety lapses. The problem has only gotten worse in recent years for many communities across the country, The Star reported, as the rail industry’s practices have [...]

Brad Matkin is the New Fort Scott Interim City Manager

info2022-12-27T14:07:11-06:00December 27th, 2022|

At the Fort Scott City Commission meeting on Dec. 20, Brad Matkin was promoted to interim city manager, after having served as assistant city manager since September 2022. Josh Jones, a Fort Scott Commissioner, congratulated Matkins for being moved up to interim city manager on his Facebook page, following the meeting... “As mayor, I have had the privilege of working with Mr. Matkin on many different occasions in his previous role as Assistant City Manager,” FS Mayor Katherine Harrington said. “I feel that over this time he has grown as a manager and demonstrated that he was ready to take on [...]

City to take over all operations at McPherson Water Park

info2022-12-27T14:12:36-06:00December 27th, 2022|

Beginning with the 2023 season, the City of McPherson will be taking over all operations of the McPherson Water Park. For 20 years, the operation of the facility was a joint effort between the City and the McPherson Recreation Commission. The City owns and maintains the property as well as pays its staff and a portion of the director’s salary. The Recreation Commission in the past paid the other portion and handled the hiring, certifications and daily operations. The two came to a mutual decision the City would take over moving forward. Its operation will fall under the Public Lands & [...]

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