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Graduate students at KU will present research on various city issues, including affordable housing and the land development code, at a drop-in event next week.  The students are inviting community members, elected officials and city staff to stop by the event from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 8 at the Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania St. The graduate students are part of KU’s urban planning and law programs. Students interviewed community members, city staff members and a new local advocacy group called the Coalition for Collaborative Governance. Students also dug through public records, news articles and research papers.  Source: The Lawrence [...]

The City of Emporia is proud to announce the launch of a new online tool designed to keep residents, businesses, and visitors informed about street closures due to construction projects and community events. The Construction and Community Event Street Closure Map is now live and available to the public at: www.emporiaks.gov/livemap. This dynamic, interactive map provides real-time updates on closures, helping users plan travel routes and stay informed about ongoing infrastructure improvements and upcoming local festivities. Source: www.emporiagazette.com - RSS Results in news,government/*

The first of three new welcome signs into the City of Arkansas City was installed Wednesday at the south entry point along 61st Road South, near the Arkansas River. “This marks the start of a broader initiative to update and standardize signage at all major city entrances,” a press release states. “The aim is to enhance visibility, consistency, and the overall impression of the city for both visitors and residents.” The native Kansas limestone sign and was hand-engraved by Silverdale Quality Stone incorporating a key part of the city’s new logo — two rivers — reflecting Ark City’s historical and geographical [...]

Shawnee Mission School District officials are proposing a new building to expand and improve services for early childhood education, currently offered in the Broadmoor Center and in some elementary schools. The discussion is still in the very early stages but was mentioned at the school board meeting on Monday as part of an update on the district’s budget. If approved, the building would likely go at the site of the former Katherine Carpenter Elementary, 9700 W. 96th St., in Overland Park, which is being demolished. Source: Johnson County Post

With little fanfare, the Shawnee Mission school board wrapped up a year-long study on donations by giving its final approval to a policy regulating when and how private money can be accepted to fund school staff positions. The board voted unanimously Monday to approve the policy and accept a few minor edits of the first draft that was introduced two weeks ago. Board members asked some clarifying questions but did not discuss the policy at length. Source: Johnson County Post

A piece of McPherson’s firefighting history has come home. The McPherson Fire Department has recovered its 1949 Seagrave Fire Engine, a truck that served the community from 1949 to 1975. After nearly 50 years away, the vintage vehicle was delivered back to town Tuesday morning, arriving just before noon and now housed behind Fire Station No. 2. Source: KSN-TV

Elected officials with Wichita and Sedgwick County want to speed up the process of getting $15.5 million in opioid settlement dollars into the community. The city and county decided in 2023 to pool their funds after they signed on to a national settlement agreement with opioid manufacturers and distributors for their role in the opioid crisis. But that money has largely been sitting untouched as the governments waited for guidance on how to spend it from a local needs assessment and strategic plan that were completed earlier this year. Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

The city of Merriam is officially moving to a single trash hauler for all residents. The Merriam City Council on Monday voted 6-0 to approve a single waste hauler ordinance, which means all Merriam residents will be on a citywide contract with a single trash hauler. Source: Johnson County Post

Service providers and housing officials gathered Thursday to launch their first day of a their functional zero campaign, an effort to ensure that there are more people staying housed across the state than falling into homelessness. Planning bodies for each region, called continuums of care, participated in a homelessness summit in Topeka to mark Kansas becoming a Built for Zero state. The zero each region will be pursuing is functional zero, a milestone used to gauge how well a community is dealing with homelessness. Source: KLC Journal

A research study conducted by Downtown Wichita suggests that the number of housing units in the downtown area may need to double over the next five years to keep up with demand. Construction continues on Wichita State University's Biomedical Campus, which is expected to bring roughly 3,000 students and 200 staff members to the downtown area by spring 2027. Heather Schroeder, the executive director of Downtown Wichita, said the development serves as a strong selling point to attract developers to build in the area. Wu said that more retail stores, possibly even a grocery store, may be possible if the downtown population [...]