News

After nearly 17 months, Marion will have more than an interim city administrator starting this summer. City council members voted 5-0 Wednesday to hire Brian Wells to fill Marion’s city administrator position, vacated in January, 2024, by Brogan Jones. Retired Emporia city manager Mark McAnarney has been filling in as interim administrator since then. Source: Marion County RECORD

The City of Lawrence on Monday will begin using parking boots to immobilize vehicles of people who have three or more unpaid parking tickets that are 60 days or more overdue. The new system is replacing a criminal process that required people to go to Lawrence Municipal Court to handle outstanding fines. Effective Monday, May 19, city staff members will be able to put boots on cars of people who are considered habitual violators. “The violators will get a 48-hour notice that the car could be impounded if the outstanding parking tickets aren’t paid before then,” according to the city’s parking [...]

Frontenac’s City Commission meeting Wednesday night was short, sweet and to the point. The stand-out piece of business was adopting a new ordinance regarding mobile homes. Not considered to be permanent structures handicaps the city’s attempts to condemn mobile homes considered to be a nuisance and in need of demolition. Like a vehicle, they have a vehicle identification number (VIN) and are taxed as personal property, meaning the city has to do a title search to locate the owner. The new ordinance mirrors other ordinances regarding homes with the addition that trailer park owners will be required to register new trailers. [...]

The municipal bond tax exemption emerged untouched Wednesday after a 17-hour House Ways and Means session on the tax portion of the Republicans' massive budget reconciliation bill. The marathon mark up — and early Wednesday morning passage — of the $3.8 trillion tax legislation advances President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" encompassing his domestic agenda. The municipal market for months worried that the tax portion would target muni bonds in part or whole, but reported feeling cautiously optimistic after the bill's first draft left munis untouched. Source: The Latest

In dry western Kansas, the sound of artificial rain spraying from center pivot irrigation sprinklers fills the spaces between the small towns. Irrigation has turned this region into a productive agricultural powerhouse, churning out millions of bushels of grain. Heath Koehn farms with his dad near Montezuma over the Ogallala aquifer that supplies farmers with irrigation and communities with drinking water. He knows that changes are coming to the way they farm. “Changes are going to have to be made with that aquifer. It’s like adapt or die,” Koehn said. Source: Garden City Telegram

The Macksville City Library addition was completed in the spring of 2023. After having raised funds for over a decade, the dream was finally a reality – with space for programming, for a children’s area, for tornado safety, for community gatherings, and more. Source: Homepage

Panasonic’s main customer — almost certainly Tesla — wants the Japanese company to move a little faster getting its gigantic EV-battery plant in De Soto up and running. Tesla no longer uses a Chinese-made battery for its ubiquitous Model 3 after pivoting to domestically produced cells last year to qualify for federal subsidies, the Financial Times reports. President Trump’s tariffs also make using Chinese batteries less profitable. When the 4.7 million-square-foot plant comes fully online, it’s expected to increase Panasonic’s EV-battery output by 60%, while other leading automakers, such as Honda and Toyota, delay launching their battery factories, the report says. [...]

Tom Nass and BG Gilliam from Pineville, Missouri, completed their 891.7-mile journey along the Chisholm Trail today, arriving in Abilene, Kansas— named one of the Top 10 True Western Towns by True West Magazine. Their journey in the saddle began on February 14 near San Antonio, Texas, and spanned 88 days, testing them through all types of weather, including snow, dust storms, and intense heat. Gilliam had dreamed of this adventure for years, and it didn’t take much convincing for Nass to saddle up for the ride. Brenda Dyer accompanied the pair, scouting the route and providing critical support throughout their journey. [...]

The city of Andover is leaning into what one local writer called its “fling with the Wild West” as inspiration for a new community event on May 17. Several HeritageFest activities tie into Andover’s beginnings in the late 1800s as a stop on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and the July 16, 1898, robbery of both the train depot and the daily nighttime passenger train. The free HeritageFest is happening from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at The Heritage, a mixed-use development with a public plaza at Kellogg and Yorktown Road. Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More [...]

A new internet project near Wichita State University is expected to bring faster, more reliable service to homes, schools, and businesses throughout south-central Kansas. On Thursday, Wichita State leaders joined state officials and representatives from the nonprofit Connected Nation to break ground on Kansas’s first “carrier-neutral” Internet Exchange Point (IXP). The facility, which will be located across from WSU’s Eck Stadium, is expected to be completed by spring 2026. Source: KSN-TV