Edgerton is the latest town in southern Johnson County to consider a new data center, despite continued pushback from residents — and this time, the community might not have a choice. Tuesday night, the Edgerton Planning Commission approved, by a 4-0 vote, a preliminary plat that combines three properties to convert an existing 400,000-square-foot warehouse at Logistics Park into a large-scale data center. The commission, however, also by a 4-0 vote, tabled the final site plan from Dubai-based company DAMAC Digital, putting off a final decision on the project for now. Planning Commission Secretary Jordyn Mueller was absent from the meeting. [...]

CrossFit championships, the Pickleball Open, Top Gun fast-pitch softball tournaments — these are all sporting events on the calendar in 2026 that are expected to draw hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors to Overland Park. They’re all examples of sports tourism as well, a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States that’s seen major gains in the last decade or so. Visit OP — the nonprofit that serves as the city’s official visitor and tourism organization — wants to see Overland Park get a bigger cut of that economic impact. Read more: Johnson County Post

One of the several grass fires burning in southwest Kansas caused an evacuation that has since been lifted for Meade. Meade County Sheriff Douglas Ritter said numerous fire crews from across Kansas and Oklahoma fought the fire south of town early Friday. Crews finally stopped its progress around 3 a.m. There were no injuries. Read more: KSN-TV

Duplex boom is attracting middle-income earners to the Midwestern city. Read more: Wall Street Journal

If the Federal Reserve still has any reasons to cut interest rates in the near future, they're getting harder and harder to find. Friday's jobs report for April provided the latest evidence that the central bank's larger concern isn't a flagging labor market but rather a cost of living that is getting increasingly harder for ordinary Americans to bear. Read more: CNBC

The Manhattan Public Library made history this week by debuting the first-ever lactation pod installed in a Kansas public library. Mayor Susan Adamchak said it’s great that Manhattan offers this kind of health service. “One of the participants in the ceremony yesterday said that she believed that this was the first to be located in a public library in Kansas,” she said. “So I think that was terrific.” Read more: News Radio KMAN

Despite economic headwinds nationally. Kansas Lt. Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland says Kansas is more than holding it’s own. Toland told Iola Radio News Friday since he and Governor Laura Kelly took office nearly 7 ½ years ago, there has been over $33 billion in private investment in Kansas, along with creation of 80,000 jobs. Another positive sign appeared last week, when Moody’s Investment Services raised the credit rating of the state of Kansas. Even in southeast Kansas, where the economy has lagged behind other areas in the state, there is positive news, such as the recent announcement of [...]

As Emporia and Lyon County continue to manage manufacturing losses and uncertainty surrounding local economic development leadership, Kansas Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said Monday that Emporia is uniquely positioned to attract new industry. “There’s a lot of expansions happening at the moment in different sectors, and so we think Emporia is well aligned to be able to get some meaningful wins,” he said. Toland visited the Trusler Business Center on Monday, bringing key state officials to meet with representatives from the city of Emporia, Lyon County and the RDA, as well as Rep. Mark Schreiber and Sen. [...]

The City of Lenexa unveiled its long-in-the-works plans for three World Cup watch parties that will be held at Lenexa City Center. On Tuesday at the Lenexa City Council meeting, Assistant City Manager Mike Nolan detailed three watch parties that will take place in Lenexa City Center, as well as the amenities and activities it will feature. The watch parties were planned to avoid clashing watch parties with Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park. The plans were part of two World Cup-related agenda items that the Lenexa City Council unanimously approved, 8-0, including approval of a special event permit for the [...]

Sen. Jerry Moran recently joined other lawmakers in introducing legislation to extend the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program for another five years. The proposed Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act would continue support for rural hospitals by allowing them to test alternative Medicare payment models designed to improve financial stability and maintain healthcare access in rural communities. Two Kansas hospitals currently participate in the program: Stormont Vail Health Flint Hills Campus in Junction City and McPherson Hospital in McPherson. Sen. Moran has supported the program since it began in 2004 and has repeatedly backed efforts to renew it during his time [...]