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Wichita holding steady in water usage with drought restrictions

info2024-09-09T09:26:50-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Wichita mayor Lily Wu reported a slight increase in water usage over the past week, but she said usage has been mostly steady and there has been an overall drop in water usage as the city goes into its second month of outdoor watering restrictions. The city went into Stage Two of its drought response plan on August 5th, and outdoor watering is limited to one day a week. The city is divided into four quadrants and watering is only for a specific day for each quadrant, with no watering on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Mayor said the city has [...]

City to consider altering process of approving change orders

info2024-09-09T09:25:45-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Manhattan city commissioners on Tuesday will discuss how much oversight they want to have of change orders to construction contracts. The city currently doesn’t have standardized procedures regarding who approves change orders and how, though city officials typically have asked the commission to do it if the total project costs exceeds $50,000 or if the commission originally approved the contract. However, officials said in meeting documents that the process of getting a change order in front of the commission is time-consuming, particularly with the high volume of change orders the city receives. Source: 1350 KMAN

County hoping to solidify nuisance regulations

info2024-09-09T09:22:34-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Karen Rothe, the director of the Harvey County Planning, Zoning and Environment department, currently deals with nuisance properties in the rural county areas. Rothe said right now, the rules around nuisance violations aren’t clear and she would like more weight behind the notices she does send. “I’d like something that would give me a little more leverage and would be more definitive on what a nuisance is,” Rothe said. “It’s not as clear as I would like it to be.” Right now Rothe said the main things the county considers a nuisance are broken down vehicles, things in a floodplain that [...]

KCK mayor says BPU costs residents too much. Are bills more than elsewhere in the metro?

info2024-09-09T09:19:45-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Tyrone Garner has pointed to concern over monthly bills as a reason to take a critical look at the Board of Public Utilities, saying some in the community perceive that the publicly owned asset is more of a “burden” than a “benefit.” Unlike most in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Kansas City, Kansans, get both electricity and water services through a century-old publicly owned utility founded in 1909. The BPU, a nonprofit governed by a six-member elected board, has shrunk its workforce, by far its largest operating cost, over the past several years. Elected BPU board members [...]

Why does Lenexa have a spinach festival? You can thank Popeye and a stroke of luck

info2024-09-09T09:17:10-05:00September 9th, 2024|

The Johnson County city goes all-out for its annual Spinach Festival at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park each year. The festival’s spinach-themed food offerings, rock-skipping contest, baby crawling contest, live music, crafts and more have attracted thousands of visitors during the event’s 40-year history. But many Lenexa residents are unaware that the celebration’s roots stretch back 90 years, to Johnson County’s great spinach boom of the 1930s. For a few years, Lenexa was known as the Spinach Capital of the World. It’s hard to imagine today, with most of its land dedicated to urban developments. Source: KC Star Local News

As Rosedale Arch turns 100, its admirers celebrate Kansas City, Kansas, history with a party

info2024-09-09T09:14:49-05:00September 9th, 2024|

The arch was built to honor Rosedale soldiers who fought in World War I. After the monument fell into disrepair, the community has spent decades restoring it. Now, neighbors are throwing the arch a birthday party to celebrate. The Rosedale Memorial Arch in Kansas City, Kansas, turns 100 years old on Saturday. The arch, inspired by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, was completed in 1924 to honor the U.S. Army’s 42nd Infantry Division in World War I. “The original dedication ceremony was Sept. 7, 1924, and it was a very large event for Rosedale, which had just newly become part [...]

Dog attack prompts change in animal law

info2024-09-09T09:13:24-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Parsons city commissioners on Tuesday approved changes to the city’s ordinance related to animals, including dogs. The change was sparked in part by a Parsons resident who complained early in August about a stray dog attacking and killing his smaller dog just feet from his front door. The ordinance requires a dog that’s bitten a person to be impounded and get a microchip implanted in it at the owner’s expense. The same treatment goes for any animal that attacks or wounds another domestic animal, but this is at the discretion of the animal control officer or police officer handling the call. [...]

Commission asks planners to consider variance for RV living

info2024-09-09T09:10:22-05:00September 9th, 2024|

A suggested zoning change that would allow citizens to live in qualifying RVs by seeking a variance will return to the Parsons Planning Commission as early as October. Planners in August were to consider a zoning change that would allow people to live in RVs stored on private property. However, planners voted to keep the zoning regulation that allows proper storage of RVs on private property but restricts citizens from living in these RVs. Their decision returned to the Parsons City Commission Tuesday to accept or deny the recommendation, send it back for study or suggest something different. Parsons city commissioners [...]

Gov. Kelly announces second round of water local consult meetings

info2024-09-09T09:08:50-05:00September 9th, 2024|

Governor Laura Kelly announced the dates for the second round of local consult meetings to gather input on strategies for implementing the 2022 Kansas Water Plan. The September meetings will build on the first round of local consult and Regional Advisory Committee meetings held earlier this summer. Kansans can RSVP for the second round of meetings here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WaterLC2 “Preserving the quality and quantity of our water is an existential issue for our state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “These meetings will help build a program that provides the collective, coordinated action on water conservation and quality that communities across Kansas need, in [...]

Clay County aims to improve agricultural mental health

info2024-09-09T09:07:12-05:00September 9th, 2024|

A new program in Clay County aims to lower the suicide rates among farmers. The Clay Counts Coalition is focused on preventing and treating substance abuse and mental illness in an area lacking resources. The effort starts with connecting farmers to their communities. “We know that our entire community, but particularly our farmers, are two times more likely to end their lives in suicide and struggle with mental health issues,” said Lori Martin, Clay Counts Coalition community mobilizer. Agriculture workers are sometimes overlooked in conversations about mental health. “Data shows that a lot of times, the ag community deals with it, [...]

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