News

The Girard City Council is soon expected to make a decision on which burning ordinance to move forward with. The council mulled over three ordinances during Monday’s regular meeting. City administrator Johanna O’Brien presented three ordinances. Two were very similar while the third differed. O’Brien noted that the Girard Fire Chief Jeff Turner expressed his support for the third ordinance, which included a permit for open burning. Read more: - Latest Stories

Brent Clark, City Administrator for the City of Valley Center, has announced his resignation effective October 24th, 2025. Clark has accepted a position with SEH, Inc. to serve as the Civil Client Service Manager. Clark has served as City Administrator since July 2019, leading Valley Center through a period of significant growth and progress. Source: City of Valley Center

Today, in remembrance of Charlie Kirk, Minnesota Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, and all victims and survivors of political violence, Governor Laura Kelly, in accordance with Executive Order #20-30, directed flags throughout the State of Kansas to be lowered to half-staff effective immediately Friday, September 12, 2025 until sundown on Sunday, September 14, 2025. Read more: Kansas Governor

This panel is unanimous in our opinion of potholes: they are abysmal. But, in Kansas, making a successful claim against a city for damages resulting from a driver hitting a pothole is a different subject that requires compliance with the law. When we apply two legal principles to this case—the public duty doctrine and discretionary function immunity—it means any recovery is barred by law on this claim. Source: Court of Appeals: Martin vs. City of Topeka

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The Wichita City Council has added five municipal crimes that city prosecutors can use to ban what police call “problem people” from the Old Town Entertainment District. The city can now ban from Old Town anyone caught in public — specifically, in Old Town — urinating, defecating, being nude, having sex or engaging in other sex acts, or exposing themselves without consent. The change imposes a $500 mandatory minimum fine for any of those crimes, if committed in Old Town. In addition, anyone caught in Old Town after being banned “shall be punished” by a maximum fine of $1,000 or by [...]

The Halstead school Board approved spending about $30,000 for the installation and implementation of the school safety alert system known as Centegix. With the continued concern for incidents like school shootings, school districts are starting to look for solutions that can help keep them safer. Superintendent Ron Barry said that after the board asked him to look into an alert system for the district, he considered several options before deciding on Centegix as his recommendation. Read more: Harvey County Now

On the edge of town next to the railroad tracks, the sound of pads crunch and whistles echo. A train chugs by toward the grain elevator that backdrops the football field that features only a handful of players. But it’s getting harder to field a football team year after year. More towns across western Kansas are adopting six-man football, a version of football with smaller teams to help keep the sport alive. Read more: Hays Daily News

In addition to helping private landowners conserve and protect natural havens for the public’s benefit, a Douglas County program could potentially branch into protecting some urban agricultural land in perpetuity. The pilot Douglas County Land Protection Program is the result of a partnership between the county and nonprofit organization Kansas Land Trust aimed at protecting biodiversity, supporting local farming and more. Read more: The Lawrence Times

Lawrence city commissioners directed the police chief Tuesday to work with community members to implement safeguards with the use of advanced surveillance camera integration and technology.  Commissioners heard from 42 people about the Axon Fusus program Tuesday evening, and 38 of them directly asked the commission to pause further integration of cameras around the city with police technology. The discussion lasted more than four hours. Dozens of residents have spoken out during public comment and in writing to the commission asking that the rollout of the program be paused so the public can discuss concerns. Read more: The Lawrence Times