Ellis County fire crews spent Sunday afternoon and evening battling a wildfire that started in Ness County. Crews were dispatched to the large fire approaching the county around 3:20 p.m. Darin Myers, the fire chief and county administrator for Ellis County, said over 20 fire apparatus and 52 firefighters helped fight the blaze. Estimates show the fire burned about 8,500 acres in the county. Myers said that no homes were lost in the fire and that it was difficult to access because of open range and limited county roads. One firefighter was treated by Ellis County EMS and transported to Hays Medical Center for smoke inhalation.
Source: KSN-TV

As Kansas voters decide whether counties can choose to have a sheriff at all, there’s one county in the state that hasn’t had one for years. Riley county is the only county in the state that doesn’t have a sheriff’s office, and has been operating that way for nearly five decades. Captain Josh Kyle, who’s been with the Riley County Police Department since 1991, said it’s perhaps one of the most unique law enforcement structures in the country. “In most consolidation across the country, what you see is partial consolidation…We are completely consolidated from the top-down,” Kyle told Kansas Capitol Bureau in an interview on Friday. “The communications center, the records section, patrol, the jail… all of us are the Riley County Police Department.”
Source: KSN-TV

The City of Wichita has put out a request for reuse for the former downtown Wichita Public Library. The building is located a 223 S. Main next to Century II. The location operated from 1967 to 2018 before the library was moved to its new location near McLean and 2nd Street. It also served as the county’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic in 2021. “It is a beautiful building. It is one of those buildings that we know is still quite functional and in a great location,” said Mayor Brandon Whipple on Thursday at his weekly media briefing.
Source: KSN-TV