Education officials in Kansas are taking a two-pronged approach to reducing teacher shortages: raising pay and fast-tracking teaching assistants and other professionals to the front of the classroom. Last year, Kansas schools had more than 600 vacant positions. Many of the openings were concentrated in rural areas and the state’s most urban districts. Low pay has been blamed for much of the trouble attracting and retaining teachers. But education officials believe they have an opportunity to tackle that with the recent boosts to state funding. (Read more: Hays Post)

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) has confirmed the presence of invasive zebra mussels in Lyon State Fishing Lake in Lyon County. Routine samples collected by KDWPT Aquatic Nuisance Species staff to detect zebra mussels were found to contain zebra mussel larvae (also called veligers). Upon finding the veligers, staff returned to the lake and located an established population of adult zebra mussels. Similar sampling is conducted by KDWPT at more than 100 waterbodies across the state. The 135-acre lake is located 12 miles north and two miles east of Emporia on Rd 270. Lyon State Fishing Lake [...]

The Norton County Sheriff’s Office is warning area residents of numerous reports of a phone scam in the area. The calls were reported as a Social Security scam. “They report that they are being told that there is fraudulent activity on their Social Security number or that their SS number has been suspended,” the announcement said. (Read more: Hays Post)