In Lawrence, Algerian flags are seen just about anywhere, symbolizing the bond formed between the surrounding community and the Algerian Men's National Team, which has been based in Lawrence during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team, too, says it won’t forget the city’s welcome. Read more: KSNT 27 News

A growing petition urging Pottawatomie County leaders to hit pause on a proposed high‑impact data center has already gathered more than 500 signatures, with organizers arguing the project is moving forward without enough transparency. John Watt, a local resident and organizer, is leading a local petition calling for a three‑year moratorium on the data center proposal in Pottawatomie County. Watt said the goal isn’t to stop the project outright, but to slow it down so residents and officials can fully understand its potential impact. The petition claims high‑impact data centers pose risks to public health, safety and infrastructure. Watt says the [...]

It might be the most forgotten ordinance throughout all of the communities of Harvey County: curfew. All of the communities in the county, excluding Burrton, do have some form of curfew ordinances on their respective books. However, violations are few and far between. “Generally speaking, it’s an education thing, and officers routinely tell the juveniles to get home and make sure the parents know they were contacted and are headed home,” Newton Deputy Police Chief Scott Powell said. “That being said, the curfew violation does give us authority to stop and speak with juveniles out past curfew to make sure they [...]

Work on Beale Infrastructure’s De Soto data center is officially underway, and much to many residents’ dismay, the project scope has nearly doubled in size since it was announced last August. California-based Beale Infrastructure began construction in April on the 300-acre site at the northwest corner of 103rd Street and Edgerton Road, just south of Kansas Highway 10 and west of the Panasonic plant. That same month, the De Soto Planning Commission approved significant changes to the scope of the $3 billion project. What was originally four buildings totaling 1.14 million square feet is now four buildings totaling nearly 2.9 million [...]

After three years of design and fabrication, a climbable bicycle sculpture is now open in Roeland Park’s R Park. The Mighty Bike, a 12-foot sculpture designed for children (and adults) to play on, officially opened to the public in mid-June. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, community members came up with the concept for The Mighty Bike: A climbable art sculpture that imagines a flying bicycle, styled as a 1960s model. That idea solidified in 2023, when Roeland Park residents raised enough funds and the Roeland Park City Council included the then $170,000 sculpture in its budget. Since then, The Mighty Bike has [...]

Multiple wildfires continue to burn in Colorado, and some Kansas fire crews are working to put them out. That includes firefighters from Hutchinson. During a long year of wildfires in Kansas, local departments depended on each other for mutual aid. But in some cases, that help came from across state lines, so it’s only natural that crews in Kansas want to repay that service. “It’s no different from what they’ve been called to do already,” said Justin Holzreichter, the Hutchinson Fire Department division chief of operations. Read more: KSN-TV

A proposed solar farm in Finney County is one step closer to reality. The Finney County Commission voted Monday to approve a special use permit for a roughly 3,850-acre property in western Finney County. The Lone Bison Solar project would construct a 330-megawatt commercial solar farm, including two solar arrays, solar modules, tracker systems, inverters, collection lines, access roads and a substation that will interconnect with an existing 345-kilovolt transmission line. Monday’s decision does not mean construction will begin. It only means that the county considers the project appropriate for the land under current zoning regulations. Read more: KSN-TV

The Kansas Water Office (KWO) announced the opening of the State Water Infrastructure Grant Program, previously called the HB 2302 Grant Program, which provides funding for up-front technical assistance and on-the-ground actions needed to address water quantity and quality issues around the state. This program was made possible by increased funding to the State Water Plan Fund with Sen. Sub. for HB 2302, a bipartisan bill signed by Governor Kelly from the 2023 legislative session. Read more: The Sabetha Herald

The Hutchinson City Council approved temporary regulations for large-scale data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) to provide safeguards and create a public process for any potential future development at its meeting Tuesday evening. The regulations prohibit large-scale data centers and utility-scale BESS in all residential districts and require conditional use permits in commercial and industrial districts. Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

A McPherson official asked Reno County Commissioners at their June 24 meeting to consider groundwater usage a regional issue instead of on a county-by-county basis, due to deepening wells in McPherson County. Jon Kinsey, director of planning, zoning and environment for McPherson County, said McPherson and Reno, Harvey and Sedgwick counties are included in the Equus Beds Groundwater Management District, formed in 1975 to manage groundwater supplies within the counties. According to a June Water Information Management and Analysis System Program (WIMAS) study, McPherson County has seen its wells deepen by 7.75 feet from the late 1970s to today. Read more: [...]