The City of Lawrence has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in back overtime to dozens of firefighter captains, police sergeants and other city employees. Following both an outside and internal review, the city determined it had mistakenly misclassified certain positions as not eligible for overtime when they actually were, according to a city news release Friday. As a result, the city will be paying back overtime totaling $998,600 to 21 fire captains, 24 police sergeants and three city planners. “The City has a responsibility to ensure employees are paid accurately and fairly,” Human Resources Director Lori Carnahan said in the [...]

As the home-buying season gets underway in Lawrence, those in the industry say the city is facing a historic shortage of homes on the market that requires city leaders to take action. Lawrence Board of Realtors President John Huntington said that in his 30 years of experience, he has never seen such a low inventory of homes for sale. As of this past week, he said, only 44 homes were on the market in Lawrence. “We’ve never come even close to numbers like this,” Huntington said. By contrast, around this time last year there were roughly 400 local listings. The board [...]

Most of the four-story building, erected in 1910 as a downtown office building, has been vacant for more than 50 years — and it shows, with crumbling plaster ceilings, grime-coated floors and deteriorating plywood in the windows. ... Their plans now, [Mark] Davenport said, are to convert the building into a boutique hotel. “It will be like a hotel style, but unique to the building,” Davenport said. “So, not like a hotel chain vibe, but it will present the history and character of the building in the décor and design of the building.” The first floor housed some retail space. Its [...]

The new terminal project at the Garden City Regional Airport is progressing. Rachelle Powell, director of aviation at the GCRA, said the initial investigation into the project began in 2016. ... The new terminal will be built in the same foot-print of the existing facility but will nearly triple in size, Powell said. It will be longer and wider and will also have a partial second story that will house the restaurant facility as well as extra seating where people can come watch airplanes and will include a baggage belt and a larger hold room. Once constructed the new terminal will [...]

After being in central Kansas since the 1950s, ElDorado Bus, a division of Forest River Inc., will close its facility in Salina. Forest River issued a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (W.A.R.N.) Act Notice to employees this week telling them the operation at 1655 Wall St. in Salina will close. The notice said the closure is because of a reduction in business caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility is set to close during a 14-day period from May 10 to May 24 and termination of employment will occur during this time as well. Source: Salina Journal.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.