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Like always, Olpe Downhome kept the southern Lyon County community hopping well into the night Saturday. And as usual, activities started around sunrise with breakfast, a bike ride and 5K run/walk to get the event started. Fishing, a vendor fair, car show, volleyball, music, food, a parade, wacky games and a parade were among a day’s worth of highlights. Read more: d2430

City officials in Ark City Friday said they’re continuing to pursue every possible avenue in helping local businesses to recover from a hail storm in June that caused extensive damage. Some affected business owners have shared struggles with handling the cost of recovery and fear they could be out of business. The June 17 storm, which produced baseball – to softball-sized hail measuring up to 3.75 inches in diameter and wind gusts reaching 86 miles per hour, caused widespread damage to both residential and commercial properties throughout the community. Read more: Local – Cowley Post

Wichita school district leaders have given an initial go-ahead to put another bond issue to voters next year. The amount and details of a bond have not been decided. But school board members during a workshop Thursday approved a tentative two-year budget plan that would keep the district’s mill levy flat and seek a bond vote in November 2026. Addi Lowell, chief financial officer for Wichita schools, said another bond issue is the only reasonable way to finance needed repairs and upgrades, and the timeline would work in the district’s favor. Read more: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

Hand-carved signs welcome motorists to Arkansas City. Few people realize how much work went into the three new stone welcome signs at the entrances to Arkansas City. The wording and the logo are not just painted on, everything is actually carved into the stone, and all of that work was done by hand. Craig Wilson of Mulvane and his apprentice, Laura Macias, did the carving on all three of the stone signs that welcome visitors to Ark City. Wilson said once the design was completed and given to them, they drew it on the stone using a stencil that was provided [...]

Under K.S.A. 12-757, if owners of 20 percent of the total real property within specified distances from land to be rezoned sign a protest petition, the governing body must approve the rezoning by a supermajority. If a protesting owner is a tenant in common or a joint tenant with right of survivorship in a relevant tract, their signature requires that acreage proportionate to their ownership interest within the specified distance be counted toward the 20 percent needed for a successful protest petition. Read more: Kansas Court of Appeals

Property maintenance director John Schardine said the city doesn’t like to have condemned properties on the books for long if it can be avoided. “We always like to lift the condemnations as quick as possible,” Schardine said. “So, once the occupants are out of that house, there’s really no reason to condemn it, unless it’s unsafe. So, if it’s a structure violation, yeah, we’re going to keep it condemned until it’s brought into compliance. “But if it’s a just a utility issue with sanitation, we will get the folks out. We’ll secure it. We’ll tell the owner he’s got to keep [...]

An online public opinion survey indicated 58% supported the initiative, with 40% opposed and 2% no opinion. Overland Park, Prairie Village, Salina, El Dorado, WaKeeney, Pratt and Goodland are among the Kansas cities that allow chickens. Read more: Hays Post

First responders from Ellinwood and Great Bend spent more than four hours in the July heat Wednesday afternoon during a water tower rescue operation... A water cleaning crew was doing routine maintenance inside the water tower. He fell while inside the tower... it was an extensive extrication just because of the height and all the technical rescue that goes into that. Read more: Great Bend Post

The Abilene City Commission voted to hire Jon Quinday during a special meeting June 26. Quinday began his role July 1. Read more: Abilene RC

The additional revenue would primarily fund street and sidewalk projects outlined in the city’s capital improvement plan. Read more: Abilene RC