Federal funding has been offered to help build a nearly $2 billion semiconductor assembly and test plant in the Wichita area, according to Sen. Jerry Moran. But there are still a lot of questions about whether the plan will come to fruition or if it will be on the scale of the initial proposal. Moran’s office says that CHIPS funding was offered to Integra but did not say how much. Earlier this month, KSN reported that Micross Components bought Integra, and the state said the sale would not affect the CHIPS application. Moran’s office says he has had conversations with the [...]

The City of Liberal has hired from within for the open city manager position. Scarlette Diseker has been hired as Liberal’s new city manager. Diseker has been with the city since 2022, previously serving as Director of Finance, Chief Financial Officer and the interim city manager since Oct. 1. Diseker is a Liberal native. Before being employed by the city, she worked for over 20 years at First National Bank, now an Equity Bank. Source: KSN-TV

The Sedgwick County Register of Deeds is launching a new service to help property owners. The service is called Property Fraud Alert. It will notify subscribers each time a document, such as a real estate deed, mortgage, lien, or easement, is recorded with their name on it. Citizens can enter as many personal, business, and trust names as necessary. Sedgwick County says that while the service will not prevent fraud from happening, it will provide an early warning. This way, property owners can take action as soon as possible. Source: KSN-TV

Aquifer levels in parts of western Kansas that rely on groundwater for everything from drinking to irrigation fell more than a foot last year, Kansas Geological Survey scientists said Tuesday. The Kansas Geological Survey earlier this month completed its annual campaign to measure the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies the western one-third of the state with water. The Ogallala, the largest underground store of freshwater in the nation, has been declining for decades because of overuse to irrigate crops in otherwise arid parts of the state. Source: KSN-TV