News

After much back and forth, the Wichita City Council has approved a law that allows golf carts to be driven on some city streets. In January, the council passed a more restrictive ordinance, then withdrew it and sought feedback from residents at district advisory board meetings. “This will save police time. It’ll legalize golf carts so police don’t have to go out when somebody calls and says ‘somebody’s riding a golf cart,’” councilmember J.V. Johnston said. State law prohibits the use of golf carts on city streets unless a city passes its own ordinance regulating golf cart use. The new ordinance [...]

After months of pushing back and forth between Peabody Main Street Association and Kansas Department of Commerce, the two have resolved their differences and Main Street will get the second half of a grant awarded in 2023. Lt. Gov. David Toland announced last week that Commerce would pay out the second half of Main Street’s $1.5 million COVID-19-era Building a Stronger Economy grant. The grant came into dispute after Commerce learned the grant was being administered by a former Commerce employee and convicted felon still on probation in Pennsylvania for forgery, theft, and attempted theft. The former employee, Jonathan Clayton, still [...]

If there were any qualms about support for rebuilding a local nursing home destroyed in a Friday fire, those were answered emphatically when more than 70 locals crammed into the fire station for a special Yates Center City Council meeting. Yates Center Health and Rehab was destroyed after a nearby grass fire, fueled by wind gusts in excess of 50 mph, quickly consumed the facility. All 38 residents were safely evacuated, and transported to other nursing homes in the area. Monday’s meeting, as much as anything, served as a rallying cry for the community, and for a brainstorming session as to [...]

Experiences of local tenants prompted Lawrence city commissioners to pursue creation of a tenant bill of rights, and to explore what it would take to ensure tenants can have legal counsel. Those discussions — among other possible actions — are still in early stages, but the first step came with a presentation to the commission Tuesday evening. Lea Roselyn, the city’s affordable housing administrator; Christina Holt, assistant director of KU’s Center for Community Health and Development; and Vince Munoz, of Lawrence Tenants, presented results of a Lawrence and Douglas County tenant survey. The survey is the work of LiveWell Douglas County’s Sexual Violence [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted to change occupancy limits to allow a maximum of four unrelated adults per household in the least dense areas of town, and a maximum of five in the rest of town. The city’s new land development code was created over a two-plus-year process, with a 14-member steering committee and several public meetings. Commissioners approved it in November, and it’s set to go into effect in April. The code aims, among other things, to improve affordability and availability of housing. One way it intended to do that was by increasing the occupancy limit in some neighborhoods from [...]

The Kansas Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation restored the revenue-neutral transparency protections to a bill passed by the Kansas House of Representatives by a vote of 115-6. The bill would have rewarded local governments for raising taxes while stripping those provisions from property tax increases. House Bill 2396 removed the “Truth in Taxation” bill’s revenue-neutral requirements — which require county clerks to send notices to taxpayers of every taxing subdivision notifying them of a proposed increase and the time and date of a hearing at which the entire tax increase would be voted upon. HB2396 instead would have replaced those [...]

Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces the construction of its newest renewable energy resource, the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell facility, is complete. The commissioning process and initial synchronization to the electric grid are now underway, marking a significant step forward in Sunflower’s commitment to supplying reliable, cost-effective energy to its member utilities. Source: Homepage

A tower of 100 empty plastic gallon jugs might seem an unlikely object in a museum exhibit. But the tower presents an effective monument, making the often invisible clear to see: the importance of water in our history and everyday lives. “Ripples. Water, Community and You” will be on display at the Johnson County Museum through Jan. 10. Source: Johnson County KS News & Sports |

Kansas students are spending fewer days in school than they did decades ago, and the state’s top education leader wants that to change. Education Commissioner Randy Watson is urging districts to cancel breaks or extend the school year to make up for days that were canceled because of inclement weather. Most districts lost about eight days of school this winter because of snow or bitterly cold conditions. Watson recently told the Kansas State Board of education that districts should also consider half-day summer school in June and July, at least for kindergarten through third grade students who are below grade level [...]

The Wichita City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a municipal ID, the City of Wichita ID, in an effort to lower barriers for Wichitans who lack standard documentation for a state-issued ID, such as people who are homeless. IDs will be issued at City Hall and the Multi-Agency Center, where services for the homeless are being consolidated. The ID will display a person’s name, photo, address, date of birth and ID number, making it I-9 compliant to verify an individual’s identity for employment. Source: KLC Journal