To address anticipated growth in the southwestern portion of the county associated with the redevelopment of the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant into the Astra Enterprise Park, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners adopted updates to the Comprehensive Arterial Road Network Plan (CARNP) on Thursday. The plan outlines recommendations for future transportation needs and access management on arterial roads in the southern and western portion of the county. The plan does not make final determinations on any road improvements but identifies policies to manage access and plan for adequate traffic capacity on arterial roads.
Read more: Johnson County Kansas

If you’ve been watching the Prairie Village market closely, you’ve probably noticed something that is a bit harder to quantify at first glance. The move-up market, particularly between $600,000 and $1,000,000, feels tight. Not new, not surprising, but more noticeable right now. The data supports that feeling. Over the past four to five years, the median closed price in Prairie Village has climbed from roughly $400,000 in 2022 to about $519,000 today. That is steady, healthy growth. At the same time, the median price of active listings has moved much more aggressively, now sitting well above $900,000 and even reaching $1.25 million in March. That spread between where homes are selling and where many homes are listed highlights a real pressure point in the market.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Soon, Merriam residents and business owners will get the chance to weigh in on the city’s much-discussed plans to transform its downtown. The Merriam City Council on March 9 took a step forward in its effort to shape the future of the downtown area, unanimously approving a $292,000 contract with Overland Park-based Shockey Consulting to create a downtown master plan. Over the years, Merriam has significantly invested in reshaping its downtown through a decades-long collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to shield the area from the flooding from nearby Turkey Creek. The city has also completed studies, such as its 2040 comprehensive plan and a Merriam Drive connected corridor plan with neighboring cities, that examine the possibilities for the downtown area. Shockey plans to build off those past efforts, according to city documents. Still, some downtown business owners remain concerned about the city’s plans along Merriam Drive, particularly with any flood mitigation steps that could result in razing buildings and displacing businesses. The ongoing purchase of downtown properties and plans to remake Merriam Drive itself have also drawn criticism from business owners in the area.
Read more: Johnson County Post

A new documentary from Kansas State University is highlighting food insecurity in southwest Kansas. “Sharing the Harvest,” produced through the Hungry Heartland Project and Engaged Stories Lab, focuses on efforts in Garden City to improve access to food. The film features local organizations working to support families in need, including Emmaus House, La Comunidad church’s mobile food pantry, and the Kansas Food Bank. The project was led by faculty members Tom Hallaq and Valerie Padilla Carroll, with support from student interns funded by the Chapman Center for Rural Studies. “This project represents the power of interdisciplinary storytelling,” Hallaq said in the release. “By combining media expertise with social analysis, our students have captured the resilience of the Garden City community while highlighting the critical need for expanded food access.”
Read more: KCLY Radio

The World Cup comes to Kansas City this summer, and many fans will want to stay up late watching and partying. Kansas is close to approving longer hours for serving alcohol during the event, after Missouri passed its own law, so bars and restaurants don’t lose business across the state line. Kansas law allows bars to serve alcohol from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. daily, but that could be changing this summer. A bill approved by lawmakers and headed to the governor’s desk would extend alcohol service to 23-hours a day during the World Cup, as a way to compete with Missouri. Zach Boblitt reports for the Kansas News Service from Lawrence.
Read more: KCUR News

The City of Wichita operates 39 boards. There is a proposal coming from the City Manager’s office to reduce or consolidate several of them. The plan was presented on Feb. 24 during the City Council Workshop by Zamaria Ball, the city’s Management Fellow. For the last six months, Ball has been studying the boards and developed a five-part justification matrix to decide whether a board should be consolidated, remain in place, or disbanded. The criteria included inactivity, vacancy duration, scope drift, overlapping missions, and access and transparency. Some, such as the Library Board, the various District Advisory Boards, or Access Advisory Board are state-mandated, “essential to core government functions,” or arose due to a legal settlement. Others, such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board or Sustainability Integration Board, arose due to public interest or upon the city’s receipt of a federal grant. These are not necessarily “operationally necessary” according to the Wichita Board and Commissions Review Draft Report and subject to evaluation.  
Read more: KLC Journal

The requisite large urn of coffee and boxes of glazed doughnuts sat on the back table as men and women, many clad in fluorescent orange and green, gathered in the Great Bend Columbus Club on a Tuesday morning in February. The occasion was Barton County’s annual township meeting, and officers from many of the county’s 24 townships were on hand. There were updates from county officials on roads, floodplains, 911 and noxious weeds, and sales pitches from vendors selling road graders and culverts. One of those reports was a broken-record ask from County Clerk Bev Schmeidler, who repeatedly makes the pleads for candidates for township offices.
Read more: KLC Journal

Wichita and Sedgwick County leaders continued talks on shared projects at their first joint meeting of the year Tuesday. Out of the five agenda items at the meeting, a discussion on potentially combining city and county fire services garnered hefty discussion. Supporters of this consolidation say it could mean public dollars are paying for one department’s response to emergencies rather than two, without sacrificing response times. They say local governments must adjust their services to meet the region’s growing infrastructure and rising population. Sedgwick County Commissioner Ryan Baty says increased alignment between the two fire departments could help raise efficiency without sacrificing response times.
Read more: KSN-TV