Construction of a proposed multiuse trail along the GVI drainage ditch north of Kisiwa Village Road will not proceed, city leaders agreed Tuesday after the city’s parks director confirmed the city did not own sufficient right-of-way to construct it as planned and a landowner to the north was not willing to sell. To proceed without buying the land would require altering the drainage ditch or building a retaining wall, which Park Director Justin Combs said was cost-prohibitive, or using eminent domain to take the land, which none of the city council members expressed support for. Source: Hutch News

The KMU Executive Committee has named Brad Mears as Interim Executive Director when Colin Hansen steps away from the association in early January. Hansen is joining the Kansas Power Pool (KPP) on February 1 as the agency’s CEO/General Manager. Mears has been with KMU since 2007 and has served as the organization’s Assistant Executive Director since 2014. In that capacity, he has been involved in both the strategic positioning and day-to-day operation of the association. Source: KMU Dispatch.

KDHE data through Saturday show case rates have been falling across the state for the past eight weeks while positive test rates have remained mostly steady. School-aged children — especially those too young to get vaccinated — have the highest case rates and positive test rates of any age group. Kansas and all of its counties have either "high" or "substantial" community spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The improving indicators now contrast with last year's fall wave, when Kansas was in the midst of its worst surge of the coronavirus pandemic. Many schools were forced to [...]

Residents heard more details Monday about a proposed redesign of the city’s bus routes that includes an Uber-like “microtransit” option. Lawrence Transit has proposed two options for a long-awaited redesign of the city’s bus routes and held the first public meeting Monday to present the proposals and get input from residents. Transportation consultants explained that both proposals use traditional routes complemented by a microtransit service that uses a van or a smaller bus that riders can request on demand. Source: LJWorld.com.