Kansas State Fire Marshal Mark Engholm will be traveling across Kansas the new few weeks for public meetings where he will provide information about development of the 2026 Kansas Fire Prevention Code. Engholm says he will be listening to ideas about what should be included in the code to protect Kansans. Currently, Kansas has the oldest state fire code in the country, and his goal is to make it one of the most modern. The first of these meetings will be held Tuesday, April 14th at 2 PM at McPherson Fire Station 1 at 312. East Kansas. Other meetings will be [...]

A major downtown redevelopment project is set to bring new life to one of the city’s historic landmarks, as the City of Dodge City announced a partnership with Noble Hospitality, Inc. to develop the Marshal Hotel in the heart of the community. Read more: Dodge City Daily Globe

The Harvey County District Court will move outof the courthouse for remodels, and there’s a strong possibility of it landing in the closed Walton Rural Life grade school. The county continues to plan for a large-scale courtroom remodeling project and is currently seeking a location to house the court, court services, and possibly the county attorney’s office for up to three years. “We have done our due diligence to gather information on multiple publicly listed buildings in our county,” Harvey County Administrator Kevin Frymire said. “At this point, the Walton school building appears like it may be our most cost-efficient option. [...]

A project to provide housing for homeless and low-income people in Johnson County was previewed Friday with a ribbon cutting of an 1880s-era house converted to four apartments. The two-story house just east of downtown Olathe is the first of three locations of rental units developed by Metro Lutheran Ministry, a Kansas City nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty. The property at 510 E. Park Street is one of three locations that will yield a total of 16 rental units once the rental process is up and running. Another 10 units will be in a multi-family building in Overland Park, [...]

Olathe police are now able to assess some emergencies before arriving, thanks to its new Drones as First Responders program. The Olathe Police Department launched the program last month, using four remotely operated drones to gather real-time information at active calls. The Olathe City Council approved the program, which costs about $720,000 for three years, in August 2025. The city purchased the drones from a company called BRINC. Funding to pay for the drones comes from the department’s capital projects reserve fund. The drones, which are located strategically throughout Olathe to maximize coverage area, are able to get to the scene [...]

It’s an achievement that ought to be recognized: the state of Kansas has been awarded more than $200 million to chart a path to try to stabilize and remake rural health care. And if that goal can be accomplished, the initial success will pale by comparison. At a recent discussion at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas called “The Effects of Federal Health Policy on Kansas,”  panelists discussed what’s happened to get the state to the threshold of change and where the transformation process can go from here.  A large portion of that discussion focused [...]

Jackson County leaders are set to hold a meeting Thursday on a moratorium proposal tied to a major solar project. The Jackson County Planning Commission is set to talk about and possibly recommend a solar moratorium to the county’s board of commissioners during a meeting on April 9 in Holton. Members of the local community will have a chance to offer their comments and recommendations during this sessions. Read more: KSNT 27 News

City commissioners wrote their own headlines for what they wanted to see happen in Eudora 10 years from now at an extra meeting Saturday. Among the ideas were a new recreation park, waterpark, K-10 commercial center and amphitheatre. Those ideas were just one piece of an hours-long meeting where the City Commission discussed economic development in town. Commissioners discussed how to strengthen downtown, draw in outside spenders from K-10 and drive more local spending. Saturday’s work session was informational only and did not include any action taken by commissioners. They did, however, provide input for city staff that could guide future decisions. City [...]

"Ryker" has been picked as the name of Topeka's new police dog by people visiting the Topeka Police Department's Facebook page. The new canine partner of police Sgt. Joshua Miller was given that name after it received 238 votes in public balloting conducted on the TPD page, the department announced April 9. Read more: Topeka Capital-Journal

Topeka's city government will try to sell property it owns at 1121 SE Quincy St. — including a huge, iconic, former water tower that's about 85 years old — in its current "as is/where is" condition. The mayor and council voted 10-0 late April 7 to authorize city manager Robert Perez to engage a real estate broker to help the city try to sell that property, which is also the site of a parking lot the city maintains. The vote came after deputy city manager Braxton Copley said the water tower and an underground storage tank on the property haven't been [...]