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Officials celebrate Kansas’ ‘economic transformation’ at new soybean plant

info2024-09-20T09:59:07-05:00September 20th, 2024|

While this southeast Kansas town’s population peaked more than 100 years ago, the opening of the region’s largest ever economic development project means its best days are ahead, Lt. Gov. David Toland said Thursday. Toland spoke to a crowd of more than 100 state and federal lawmakers, economic development officials and construction company representatives who gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the Bartlett soybean crushing plant just south of Cherryvale. The town’s population peaked at 4,700 in 1920 and is now 2,200. Toland, a Democrat and Iola native who also serves as commerce secretary, said the project reminds him of [...]

Changes are coming to the housing voucher program in several Kansas counties

info2024-09-20T09:57:56-05:00September 20th, 2024|

Changes are coming to the housing voucher program in several Kansas counties. Sedgwick, Butler, and Harvey County, excluding Newton, are moving to payment standards set by ZIP code for their housing voucher programs. In Wichita, people previously received a flat rate for their voucher. Starting Jan. 1, the amount someone receives will be based on ZIP code. The change is happening through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson is concerned about landlords who don’t have good motives I always think about the ways they try to get out of dealing with people, and [...]

Mulvane officials say water is safe to consume

info2024-09-20T09:56:19-05:00September 20th, 2024|

Mulvane residents are assured that their water is safe to consume despite a more pronounced chlorine smell. The City of Mulvane normally gets its water from Augusta. However, recently, the line running from Augusta to Mulvane under the Walnut River failed, leading Mulvane to switch to its groundwater reserve system. That water is treated through Reverse Osmosis, which passes it through a filter that removes minerals, salts, and other impurities and disinfects it with chlorine. The water from Augusta is surface water, which was first treated through lime softening, then chlorine. That process removes calcium and magnesium from the water, along [...]

Washburn law school receives funding for rural practice program

info2024-09-20T09:55:02-05:00September 20th, 2024|

A local law school receives $1 million to expand rural legal practice across the Sunflower State. Washburn University School of Law has received a large grant to expand the school’s Rural Legal Practice Network and Externship Program. This $1 million grant comes from Patterson Family Foundation in Kansas City Missouri, according to a news release from Washburn University. With the funding, the program is able to be developed by creating a more diverse network of rural practitioners that gives access to legal resources and an opportunity for students to connect and learn from mentors. Source: KSNT 27 News

City of Topeka loses gender discrimination lawsuit, has to pay nearly $500,000

info2024-09-20T09:54:02-05:00September 20th, 2024|

The verdict for a gender discrimination lawsuit involving the Topeka Police Department (TPD) came down on Thursday. A jury in a federal court delivered unanimous agreements on Sept. 19 for the cases of two plaintiffs, Jana Kizzar (formerly Jana Harden) and Colleen Stuart, who sued the City of Topeka and former TPD Police Chief Bryan Wheeles in early 2023. The women made accusations that the TPD was a “good ol’ boys system” with a pattern of gender discrimination. The lawsuit was filed under the Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964. Court documents obtained by 27 News show both women will [...]

Salina K-9 killed in the line of duty

info2024-09-20T09:52:30-05:00September 20th, 2024|

A K-9 member of the Salina Police Department has died in the line of duty. “It is with a heavy heart that the Salina Police Department announces the passing of one of our canines, K-9 Tyrann,” the SPD said in a news release. Police say “Ty” died Wednesday in an accidental fall from an elevated position. He was on duty at the time. “Ty was an active and faithful public servant, serving since February of 2021,” the department said. “His loss will be felt by the department members and the community.” The SPD is working on services for Ty and will [...]

City of Topeka invites community to help celebrate ‘Good Neighbor Day’

info2024-09-20T09:51:09-05:00September 20th, 2024|

Topekans are being invited to take part in National Good Neighbor Day at a local library later this month. The City of Topeka posted to social media Wednesday, Sept. 18 about the special upcoming event which will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library’s Learning Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about community engagement and getting involved in their local neighborhoods. People will also be able to learn how to use the SeeClickFix app to help improve the city and get safety tips from the Topeka [...]

City may take another look at its animal ordinance

info2024-09-20T09:49:54-05:00September 20th, 2024|

A new city of Parsons law that increased penalties for dogs at large that bite people or attack other animals may be revised again in the future. Parsons City Commissioner Tom Shaw on Monday brought up the dog ordinance and said he thought it needed to have more stringent penalties for owners allowing their dogs to run at-large. Now the penalty for having a dog at-large is a $30 fine plus $110 in court costs. That didn’t change when the ordinance was amended earlier this month. The recent ordinance change offered penalties for dogs that bite. If an at-large animal bites [...]

Fed slashes interest rates by a half point, an aggressive start to its first easing campaign in four years

info2024-09-19T09:17:44-05:00September 19th, 2024|

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday enacted its first interest rate cut since the early days of the Covid pandemic, slicing half a percentage point off benchmark rates in an effort to head off a slowdown in the labor market. With both the jobs picture and inflation softening, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee chose to lower its key overnight borrowing rate by a half percentage point, or 50 basis points, affirming market expectations that had recently shifted from an outlook for a cut half that size. Outside of the emergency rate reductions during Covid, the last time the FOMC cut [...]

Cyber attack on city of Wichita limited to police records, internal investigation finds

info2024-09-19T09:16:08-05:00September 19th, 2024|

A ransomware attack that crippled the city of Wichita’s network for more than a month starting in May was limited to a Wichita Police Department records system, city officials said Wednesday. That means the Russian hacker group — LockBit — that claimed credit for the attack did not access bank card numbers, social security numbers or other private information about city customers or residents — unless the Police Department kept those records as part of an investigation. The breached records include potentially sensitive information about witnesses, victims and suspects in 77,000 police cases. They included incident reports, arrest reports, supplemental reports, [...]

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